When it comes to turning Arizona blue, Tristan Topps has been there on the ground where the success has been most visible in Legislative District (LD) 18. With this experience, Tristan is running for the Maricopa County Democratic Party (MCDP) First Vice Chair on December 19th and she intends to build upon the foundations to better engage with marginalized, underrepresented and minority communities.
Like many Arizonans, Tristan came to the state in 2001 following family ties as her mother, a proud ASU Sun Devil, was raised in Holbrook.
After education that included the historically black college Hampton University for a journalism degree and George Washington University for a master’s degree in strategic public relations, it was only natural for Tristan to come home and put her talents to work in Phoenix. She quickly became an active volunteer within LD18 and began working on even larger projects with her free time.
Tristan became a founding member of the MCDP Black Engagement Committee and also was appointed as the Affirmative Action Liaison to the LD18 Executive Board where she worked to educate and mobilize voters in black and brown communities.
In fact, the work Tristan participated in and saw her fellow Democrats do in LD18 flipped the district from solidly red in 2014 to fully blue in 2018. Local “neighborhood teams” of multiple precincts mobilizing their communities, “Tukee Talks” where candidates engaged in town halls in the district and other community service projects are some of the tactics that Tristan wants to support and encourage to keep the Party relevant even outside of elections.
Tristan believes in accessibility, focus and visibility as being keys to growth of the Party. She knows what it feels like to be overwhelmed by all there is to see and do at a MCDP convention. She also knows a lot of people aren’t the political junkies most precinct committeepeople (PC) are. Tristan wants to understand the barriers to entry for PCs and be accessible and engaging to potential recruits during and after election season.
But this approach will vary. Each volunteer is different. And each LD is different from solid red parts of the County to fierce battlegrounds to safe blue districts. Tristan wants to attend these LD meetings and work with LD teams to provide them the support they need to achieve their goals.
She praises the impressive work the LDs have already done in recruiting PCs and says that the current leadership team has done a lot to lead to the victories we had in 2020. As a certified human resources professional, Tristan sees the importance of building the bench for the party.
Tristan wants to continue to recruit and train volunteers to connect them with candidates. She also wants to see a centralized application pool for campaign staff and give more young people the ability to gain experience in the campaigns.
She wants to examine ways to bring on new donors. Reaching the grassroots as well as expanding the Circle of Friends to build resources necessary for the future.
Outside of the Party, there are many groups that could be helpful allies to the cause. Doing many of the same things the Party does, Tristan sees collaboration as an untapped resource.
And perhaps most importantly, Tristan sees a focus on minority and marginalized communities as indispensable for the Party. This focus has to include reasons for these communities to vote instead of just assuming that their votes will be there on election day.
If you agree, if this sounds like the future you want to build, then vote for Tristan Topps this December 19th.
Convinced? You’ll like Damián Preciado who is running alongside Tristan Topps for Chair. Learn more about him here.