Arizona
In Arizona, these young Native American voters seize their political power
Left to right: Lourdes Pereira, 23, Matthew Holgate, 23, Alec Ferreira, 25, Shelbylyn Henry, 32, Xavier Medina, 25, and Nalani Lopez, 19. The six voters met with NPR at the Phoenix Indian Center in downtown Phoenix, Az.
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Left to right: Lourdes Pereira, 23, Matthew Holgate, 23, Alec Ferreira, 25, Shelbylyn Henry, 32, Xavier Medina, 25, and Nalani Lopez, 19. The six voters met with NPR at the Phoenix Indian Center in downtown Phoenix, Az.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR
Young and Native voters could make or break the 2024 election in Arizona for President Biden. Four years ago, both groups helped Biden win the state by just 11,400 votes, making him the first Democratic candidate to carry Arizona in over 20 years.
This year, these voters are expected to not only be influential in the race for the White House but also for control of Congress.
In between, there are young, Native voters deciding how to use their electoral power.
But strategists and politicians familiar with organizing Native voters agree: more needs to be done to court this significant voting bloc.
“Native voters are powerful, and we can’t be ignored anymore. We’ve shown that,” said Jaynie Parrish, executive director of Arizona Native Vote. Parrish is part of the Navajo Nation. “And we just need other people to meet us where we are and get on board.”
The battleground state is home to 22 federally recognized Native tribes and nations. The U.S. Census estimates that more than 300,000 people in Arizona identify as Native American. Each tribal government and community, whether it’s rural or urban, has its own unique governance, history and challenges to participating in state and federal elections.
“We are fighting against structures that weren’t built for us… They weren’t meant for us there. They were trying to kill us all. We’re not supposed to be here,” Parrish said. “We’re not supposed to be voters.”
Organizers say challenges remain with outreach from the Democratic and Republican parties.
Outreach that goes beyond asking for a vote. Arizona state GOP Rep. David Cook said that Native voters are stereotyped as affiliating with Democrats, leaving votes on the table for the Republican party.
“[Republicans] need to get outside their comfort zone and go out and meet those Americans, those Arizonans in this state,” Cook said, whose legislative district borders five tribal reservations. “That one Native American vote on that reservation, no matter what party, is just as important as my [own] vote.”
Cook said that he has seen limited attempts to bridge that gap from his party in Arizona, something he sees as shortsighted when many conservative issues could overlap with issues in Native communities
“Tribal members on reservations have a lot in common with those people that live off reservations in small rural communities,” he said. “They want good schools and education opportunities. They want good jobs, but really careers to raise families on. They want good roads and bridges and stuff for their kids. And they want to live in safe communities.”
When asked who is responsible for conducting outreach to tribal members, the Republican National Committee told NPR it doesn’t have a point person but is rolling out voting resources in Navajo. The Arizona GOP did not respond to NPR’s requests about tribal outreach, but there are signs that statewide candidates acknowledge the need to mobilize the community. Kari Lake, a Republican running for Arizona Senate, has a Natives for Kari Lake group.
Democrats have a head start. They formed outreach roles on the national level at the Democratic National Committee, down to the local Navajo County office.
Loren Marshall, 38, is the director of campaigns and engagement for Northeast Arizona Native Democrats, a project of the Navajo County Democrats. Marshall, who wasn’t registered to vote until 2020, works to get tribal members registered to vote and has put an emphasis on courting young voters.
She said she’s encountered pushback from younger voters over not wanting to be active in a system that damaged their communities.
“‘Why would we want to participate or get involved in something that just has not been something that we’ve practiced or something that we’ve done as Natives’,” Marshall said, repeating comments she’d heard.
Still, she said she’s confident turnout will be high for Democrats this year, partially due to their focus on community-based organizing.
“We’re going to be able to get a lot of folks to come out, and the voter turnout is going to be pretty high,” Marshall said. “It’s going to be a great election year in tribal communities.”
Arizona ranks as the top third state where young voters are most likely to shape the presidential race, according to data from Tufts University, and the top state for young voter impact on the Senate election.
NPR spoke with six young indigenous-identifying Arizona voters to discuss what political parties need to do to win over their potentially election-deciding vote this November.
- Alec Ferreira, 25, San Carlos Apache Tribe, youth program coordinator for the San Carlos Apache Tribe Vice-Chairman
- Lourdes Pereira, 23, Hia-Ced/Tohono O’odham tribe and Yoeme, archivist at Hia-Ced Hemajkam LLC and program specialist for the Administration for Native Americans
- Matthew Holgate, 23, Diné, Navajo Nation, director of student engagement at the American Indian College
- Nalani Lopez, 19, San Carlos Apache tribe and Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, student at Scottsdale Community College
- Shelbylyn Henry, 32, Diné, Navajo Nation, lead Navajo organizer with the indigenous organizing group Wingbeat 88
- Xavier Medina, 25, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, police officer with the Pascua Yaqui Police Department
Read more of their conversation below. These responses have been edited for clarity and length.
What do people get wrong about you and your community?
Sitting in a classroom at the Phoenix Indian Center in December, the six voters open up about where they are from. Their tribes, hometowns and reservations span across urban and rural areas and state and country borders.
Ferreira: That there’s nothing going on in our community. When in reality, for us in San Carlos, there’s so much going on. Whether it be good or whether it be bad. There’s a lot of opportunities for our people to grow.
Pereira: I think people, at least specifically with the Hia-Ced, what I’ve heard is like people just call us Mexicans or like, ‘oh, you guys aren’t really Native.’ And you know, the border crossed us. We didn’t cross the border.
Lourdes Pereira, 23, is part of the Hia-Ced O’odham and Yoeme communities. The recent Arizona State University graduate is passionate about preserving tribal culture. She identifies as a Democrat.
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Lourdes Pereira, 23, is part of the Hia-Ced O’odham and Yoeme communities. The recent Arizona State University graduate is passionate about preserving tribal culture. She identifies as a Democrat.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR
Holgate: I think so many times outsiders will come into our communities just assuming that, ‘I need to be the voice for you or the savior for you,’ when in reality, we have so many educated people and people who are entrepreneurs and pioneers in different areas.
Lopez: People will come onto our reservation to practice shooting their guns because they just think it’s empty farmland or they don’t know that it’s an actual community living there. They just think it’s like farmland in between the two cities.
What do politicians get wrong?
The six tribal members all agreed on one overarching theme: politicians on both sides of the aisle haven’t taken the time to get to know their communities. They detailed problems with water access, poor infrastructure and fracturing business sectors. Problems they wish they could tell candidates vying for their votes.
Pereira: When they get the opportunity for a photo op, they’re just using students to come out and take a few pictures, and that’s it. I would rarely get an opportunity to say what I’m doing, and if I did speak, it would be 2.5 seconds and they’re gone. They really don’t care. But because you’re Native and because you’re you, they really just want you in the picture.
Matthew Holgate, 23 and part of the Navajo Nation, considers himself an independent that leans Democrat. Holgate is an advocate against human trafficking, with a focus in tribal communities.
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Matthew Holgate, 23 and part of the Navajo Nation, considers himself an independent that leans Democrat. Holgate is an advocate against human trafficking, with a focus in tribal communities.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR
Holgate: I’ve also had leaders who have really changed my life because they come, they go to my grandmother’s house and they see that she doesn’t have running water… And I think there’s so many politicians who stop at the parade and that’s like the most exposure they’ll ever have.
Finding their political voice
Whether or not they were old enough to vote in 2020, all six referenced the last presidential election as a defining moment where they felt their voice was heard. Native Americans have only had the right to vote in federal elections for 100 years — a right several reflected was still fought for by their elders for decades after. To these six, the act of voting also honors that past.
Henry: You hear it all the time: ‘Vote. Your vote matters. Your vote matters.’ And for so long ours didn’t. It felt like we had no influence, no power. So 2020 was where everything kind of turned around. And it showed a lot of people, and it showed a lot of us, the potential we have. So ever since then, I keep up with the voting.
Shelbylyn Henry, 32, belongs to the Navajo Nation. She found her political voice during the 2020 presidential election, as she watched her community grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Shelbylyn Henry, 32, belongs to the Navajo Nation. She found her political voice during the 2020 presidential election, as she watched her community grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR
Ferreira: I heard a lot of the politicians saying that ‘Hey, we need the Native vote.’ We didn’t necessarily show up in 2016 as much as we should have… It didn’t feel like it mattered until 2020. That was the first time it felt like it mattered because it was the first time that we decided the election.
Holgate: Voting and politics in general, is more of a family thing for me… As an indigenous person.. we’re fighting for land, and for water and for natural resources. And it just feels so lonely at times, especially being in an urban setting where most of your friends are non-Native, urban. They have no clue about what we’re facing back home or what our families are facing. And that’s always a struggle. I think it’s a lonely journey, voting and stuff for me.
Local issues stay top of mind
For Xavier Medina, 25, who belongs to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, his job as a tribal police offer influences his political opinions. Despite previously identifying as a Democrat, he now sees himself more in the middle, and is primarily concerned about public safety in his community.
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For Xavier Medina, 25, who belongs to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, his job as a tribal police offer influences his political opinions. Despite previously identifying as a Democrat, he now sees himself more in the middle, and is primarily concerned about public safety in his community.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR
Medina: Something that I have personal encounters with every time I clock in with my job is a huge drug issue. A lot of fentanyl [has] leaked into my community where there’s countless overdoses to the point where I’m afraid of running out of Narcan and doing CPR on these subjects.
Holgate: Education’s so huge for us in Native and indigenous populations. But I think something that I’m starting to look at now is how do I empower students from tribal nations in high school to graduate?
Pereira: We are a border tribe. And specifically with Hia-Ced O’odham ancestral territory Aravaipa, which is a sacred spring, was desecrated. We had to actually go back to rebury our ancestors. And it was the most disturbing thing…these are sacred cemeteries that [former President Donald Trump] blew up with his wall.
Ferreira: The lack of economic opportunities, lack of things for our kids to do and thus leads to more problems right there in itself. Of course, we’re just barely scratching the surface of it. But crime is running rampant in my community. It’s not something I’m proud of. It’s something that’s quite scary, to be honest with you.
Choosing a political party? It’s complicated
These young millennial and Gen Z voters have experienced both the current Biden and former Trump administrations. They have kept the receipts of what has helped, hurt and not changed in their communities.
Nalani Lopez, 19, lives in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. She’s also part of the San Carlos Apache and Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes. This year is Lopez’s first presidential election, and despite supporting Biden in 2020, she’s unsure if she’ll back him this time.
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Nalani Lopez, 19, lives in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. She’s also part of the San Carlos Apache and Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes. This year is Lopez’s first presidential election, and despite supporting Biden in 2020, she’s unsure if she’ll back him this time.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR
Ferreira: Honestly, I am somebody who doesn’t necessarily subscribe to the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. I fit right in between…when I hear about these two options. I’m not inspired. I know I probably shouldn’t be saying that, but it’s the truth. I don’t feel like I’m going to make America a better place by voting for one or the other because at the end of the day, we still see the same issues on our reservation.
Medina: Before I was a police officer, I worked in behavioral health, and that had more of a Democratic atmosphere. Now, being a police officer, it’s the polar opposite, working in a predominantly far-right conservative atmosphere. It’s just like, well, where do I place it? Because both leaders don’t adequately express the needs of my people or for myself.
Lopez: I remember, [in 2020,] I would Instagram message people like, ‘if you can vote, please vote for Biden,’ because I just remember it being such a close election during that time. I wasn’t able to vote… but now for 2024, I’m not super impressed by either candidate… They’re not really seeing community problems up close and personal.
Will Biden keep their votes?
Despite a hesitancy for Trump, these voters are also unclear on Biden’s record. Ferreira was able to link the reopening of a sawmill on the San Carlos Reservation to funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s landmark climate bill. Still, he called it a PR flop. Pereira said she hasn’t seen any change — the border wall, which she also notes has disrupted local ecosystems on Hia-Ced ancestral territory— is still up. Henry expressed disappointment over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
That said, the Biden administration has boasted billions of dollars to Tribal communities from bills and agency projects aimed at COVID-19 pandemic relief, infrastructure, business and climate. But making that clear is a different challenge.
Alec Ferreira, 25, works as the youth program coordinator for the San Carlos Apache Tribe Vice-Chairman. Ferreira, who identifies as an independent, told NPR he doesn’t feel inspired by any of the candidates running for president.
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Alec Ferreira, 25, works as the youth program coordinator for the San Carlos Apache Tribe Vice-Chairman. Ferreira, who identifies as an independent, told NPR he doesn’t feel inspired by any of the candidates running for president.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR
Henry: Trump is never going to be a choice for me. Biden, it’s very much on the scale of closer to no, but it’s so complicated… I’m gonna go by actions, not by party, not by who’s telling me who to vote for. So it’s just going to be a lot more research and keeping an eye open on the news and different news media too.
Medina: As Native people in the room, we have a sentimental part in our environment and making sure our environment is protected… That’s what predominantly got me to vote for Biden. Trump, I’m not the most confident of giving my vote to still, but I try to be as open-minded as I can be to this upcoming election, but it’s a lot of pressure to choose one side.
Lopez: I think a lot of young voters, once they vote for someone, they’ll vote for them, but they won’t really keep up with what they’re doing. If you just ask a random person like, ‘Oh, do you know [Biden’s] record?’ They’re not going to know. I just don’t think it’s something that a lot of people keep track of.
Pereira: I at least have to acknowledge that with Biden was [U.S. Secretary of the Interior] Deb Haaland. And that was huge for us in Indian Country. Me, just even being a Native woman, that was major.
Holgate: I’m leaning towards President Joe Biden just for the sake of continuing some of the work that we’ve been able to do… President Trump’s office really lacked the voice of Native people, and it felt it was more liaisons. Whereas you see in President Biden’s cabinet, there’s an actual Native person there who has lived in our shoes or in the place that we know and the hardships.
Ferreira: [Biden] doesn’t have everybody’s vote. He has a lot of work he still has to do. There is so much work that needs to be done within Indian Country…Nothing’s ever a lock. In these past four years, things have gotten a lot more expensive, too. Yeah, Biden has given a historic amount of money to Indian Country, but the cost of everything in this country is a lot more.
A final message to politicians? ‘It’s our time.’
Holgate: My message to Republicans and Democrats is just to see us and to acknowledge us…Come to our table. Or bring us to your table.
Lopez: I don’t like when people come to our communities just to take a quick picture for 30 seconds and go back on their way. I really want people to take the time to listen to what we have to say, especially from the people and community members.
Ferreira: Remember who is running the table right now. It’s our time. Native people, we decided at the last election. We can very well decide the next one.
PHOENIX — Breezy winds kicked up a blanket of dust across the Valley on Sunday, and forecasters say more is on the way this week.
Visibility in Phoenix became so bad on Sunday that Sky Harbor airport stopped flights for over an hour
The wind and dust peaked Sunday afternoon and gradually improved into the evening, said Michael Graves, an air quality meteorologist with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
“You might’ve seen the mountains a bit obscured in the distance,” Graves told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday. “A lot of haze in the air.”
By Monday morning, skies had largely cleared and dust levels near the ground had dropped significantly.
Expect more gusty, dusty days this week
The relief may be short-lived.
ADEQ is watching for increased afternoon breezes Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, this time from the west and southwest. Though the winds are expected to be weaker than Sunday’s, Graves said forecasters cannot rule out dust.
“I wouldn’t say windstorm,” Graves said. “I would just say we’ve got some waves coming in. They’re going to increase our afternoon breeziness.”
It’s enough to kick up dry, exposed dirt, which could create pockets of dust. There is a slight chance of broader regional dust transport, Graves said.
It will impact people with asthma, COPD or respiratory conditions the most. Graves advised those with issues to monitor conditions and stay indoors during the dustiest hours.
“If you’re going to be outside, be outside during the times when it’s less dusty or hazy,” Graves said.
Graves noted that spring weather systems typically pass to the north of the Phoenix area, delivering wind and slight temperature drops but little to no rain, a pattern likely to continue.
KTAR News reporter Kellen Shover contributed to this report.
The University of Arizona and Tucson are known for yearlong warm weather, but when is it too much? With temperature reaching record highs in March, the city of Tucson has already reported increased temperatures for this year.
In the wake of the third annual Southern Arizona Heat Summit, integrating voices throughout the City of Tucson, community stakeholders and experts from UA gather to speak about possible solutions and policies to address rising temperatures and extreme heat.
The summit strives to ensure that the lived experiences of Southern Arizona residents are voiced. The first summit commenced in 2024, in response to the declaration of an extreme heat emergency in Arizona by Gov. Katie Hobbs, as part of a larger plan called Arizona’s Extreme Heat Response Plan.
With representation from organizations such as the American Red Cross, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, Arizona Jobs with Justice, Tucson Indian Center and many more, the summit emphasized the importance of the perspective and concerns of stakeholder groups throughout the community.
The summit included a variety of UA experts, including faculty representing the School of Geography, Development and Environment; the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy; the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.
One particular project, led by Ladd Keith at the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, is a part of the Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory, which is funded by the United States’ Department of Energy to explore extreme heat throughout Arizona. SW-IFL works in collaboration with other national laboratories including those at ASU and NAU.
The team works to analyze extreme heat in the southwest and rural areas, and how communities deal with heat by conducting interviews. The team has also prescribed policy to Pima County and the City of Tucson regarding more effective strategies to combat rising temperatures, such as green stormwater infrastructure.
Anne-Lise Boyer, a post-doctoral researcher with the Climate Assessment for the Southwest, shared that the team particularly analyzed extreme heat in three parts: heat mitigation, heat management and heat governance.
Mitigation deals with prevention through strategies such as green infrastructure and planting trees, while management includes cooling sensors and heat warning systems. Governance allows these measures to be enacted through policy.
In Tucson, some of the most meaningful work the team has engaged in has been drafting the City of Tucson’s Heat Action Roadmap in 2024, which outlines goals to mitigate and mandate extreme heat and its impacts while prioritizing community voices.
The goals of the roadmap include informing and educating citizens of Tucson on the adverse effects of extreme heat and cooling people’s homes and neighborhoods by incorporating heat risk in regional planning. These steps are essential to practicing heat management, especially as the city of Tucson grows.
“I think the most interesting thing about being based in Tucson is that because the heat has been here for a long time, it’s like a laboratory in itself,” Boyer said. “We have all this research and all this collaboration happening with local actors because it’s a pressing issue in Arizona.”
As the annual heat summit recurs, new ideas and perspectives continue to be shared throughout the community. Boyer shared that this year, the Southern Arizona Heat Summit focused on the youth perspective, highlighting middle school and high school students and how heat impacts their everyday lives. Many students spoke about how heat shaped their lives at home, school and sports.
“That’s one of the goals, to have community members participate and give their input in how they wish the city will deal with the heat,” Boyer said.
Boyer and Kirsten Lake, a program coordinator for the SW-IFL team, also shared how the impacts of extreme heat impact some neighborhoods and communities in Tucson more than others, and that their research often evaluates these factors to determine where heat management efforts would make the greatest impact.
“Its important when you’re putting into effect some of these measures, that you make sure you put it where it’s going to make the biggest difference,” Lake said.
The work of the SW-IFL team is not just locally known. The Brookhaven National Lab based in New York deployed a specialized truck to Tucson to collect information on the atmosphere and rising temperatures. The SW-IFL team hosted the Brookhaven team.
Additionally, Keith’s work has led to a guidebook called “Planning for Urban Heat Resilience” which focuses on the adverse effects extreme heat poses to marginalized communities across the country.
“It is so different from place to place and neighborhood to neighborhood because you have to take the whole context into account,” Boyer said. “They recommend first to document the heat impacts in your communities.”
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PAGE, AZ (AZFamily) — A person accused of making terroristic threats toward a northern Arizona medical facility was arrested Friday morning.
Just after 10:30 p.m., police received a report of a person calling the facility and threatening to kill staff and Native Americans, according to the Page Police Department.
Authorities said staff placed the facility on lockdown until officers identified the suspect and arrested them outside their home.
The suspect was booked on charges of disorderly conduct, threatening and intimidating, and making terroristic threats. Police have not publicly identified the person.
“The Page Police Department is grateful for and supports the medical staff’s decision to put the medical facility into lockdown until the suspect was arrested and the situation was rendered safe,” the department said in a Facebook post.
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