“A question I always hear is ‘When is Arizona going to change?’” said Araceli Villezcas, program coordinator for One Arizona.

The answer turned out to be November 2020.

Arizona, a solid Republican stronghold, became the quintessential swing state in the 2020 national election.

As of November 19, Democrat Joe Biden had edged out incumbent Republican Donald Trump by a margin of less than 11,000 votes. Prior to this year, a Democrat had not won state’s 11 electoral votes since Bill Clinton in 1996 — before that, it had been nearly 50 years since Arizona voted blue.

Democrat Mark Kelly also decisively defeated Republican Martha McSally. This will be the first time two Democrats have occupied both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats since 1953.

Demographics have changed noticeably in Arizona. Census data shows the share of white residents has steadily decreased, while Latinos now make up nearly a third of the population.

Rising population, and with it a growing number of registered voters, has also played a significant role in Arizona turn from red to purple. There are now 4.2 million voters in the state, more than double 20 years ago. That’s a jump from almost 40 percent of the population to 58 percent in 2020.

Credit goes largely to grassroots organizations like Villezcas’ One Arizona. When the organization was first formed in 2010, it had a goal of registering 12,000 Latino voters. This year, the group registered 185,000 Arizonans.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, One Arizona had to change a lot of its strategies. Villezcas said the organization did a lot of phone banking; calling unregistered voters and helping them navigate the election process. She said they also did voter registration drives, where residents could drive up in their car and register to vote, and some door knocking in safe, socially distanced ways.

One Arizona also worked to make sure the voters they registered actually showed up on election day. Vianey De Anda, Civic Engagement Communications Director for one of the organization’s partners, said they were providing voters the resources necessary to vote, including polling information, what kind of I.D. to bring and who to contact in case of an issue.

De Anda said canvassers knocked on over 63,000 doors to ensure voters were turning in their ballots or had a plan for election day. She said she heard stories of canvassers walking ballots to the voter’s mailbox just a few steps away.

“If that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes,” De Anda said.

Efforts like these contributed to Arizona’s high voter turnout rate for this general election. 3.4 million people voted in the state’s election, representing a 79.9 percent turnout, the highest rate since 1980.

Villezcas said seeing those numbers were powerful, but “it was a little of what we expected just from talking to folks throughout the year.” Regardless, she said Latinos, as well as other people of color and younger people, shattered expectations.

For some, Arizona’s change from red state to swing state was not a surprise.

“It has been happening for quite some time,” said Thomas Volgy, a professor of political science at the University of Arizona, in an email interview. “What has changed is that for the first time the two political parties have recognized this and are pouring resources into the state.”

Volgy described the politics in Arizona as similar to that of the nation: heavily divided, with independents navigating the middle.

Since 2000, the number of voters who chose “other” for their political party skyrocketed, from 15 percent to almost 32 percent of the total number of registered voters in the state. Meanwhile, the percentage of Republicans declined from half to a third.

Volgy says Arizona’s “no party preference” voters have often decided most statewide elections.

Independent voters in Arizona supported Biden by a margin of nine points. In 2016, Trump won these voters by three points over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Bill de la Rosa, an immigration activist and scholar and Biden campaign surrogate, said that from the beginning of the former-Vice President’s run, there was a concerted effort to reach independent and moderate voters. The campaign used Republican surrogates to reach these voters, notably Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Arizona Senator John McCain.

Latino voters, the second largest demographic group of voters in the state, played a large role in Biden winning, as well. CNN exit polls show the Democrat won almost two-thirds of these voters.

Volgy said Latinos became one of the most critical targets in this year’s election, after what some activists say was years of neglect.

Oscar De las salas, who serves on the council of Latinos for Biden, said the Latino vote was often overlooked in Arizona by politicians and political organizations in the past.

“Hispanics have always been in the back of the room, not because they want to, just because there hasn’t been an open opportunity,” De las salas said in an interview with Annenberg Media.

Part of de la Rosa’s role in the Biden campaign in Arizona was going on radio and TV to make the case for why the election was so important and why Latinos needed to pay attention and vote for Biden. He said he hoped the results give the Latino community a chance to exercise its growing political power, with “lawmakers that are attentive and listening and that are held accountable to the issues that we want to see on the table.”

Those issues included education, immigration, public health and the economy.

Monica Ruiz, a lifelong Arizona resident, said the divisiveness of this election motivated her to vote.

“I don't want my students, I don't want my son, even my future grandkids, to grow up in a racially charged society,” she said.

De la Rosa said Biden and the campaign also highlighted Biden’s Catholicism, reminding voters Biden not only talks about religion, but practices it.

However, this message did not resonate with every Latino voter. Some Trump supporters said the president’s support for the anti-abortion movement cemented their support for him.

Giselle Aguiar, a Latina Trump supporter from Phoenix, questioned how Biden could be a practicing Catholic when he supports abortion.

Aguiar was born in Puerto Rico, grew up in New York and lived in Florida for some time before moving to Arizona about 16 years ago. She said she used to be a self-described “diehard Democrat” but switched parties when she became a Christian.

“My worldview changed to a Biblical worldview and that’s why I can’t vote ever again for a Democrat,” Aguiar said.

Monica Evans Pena, a Latina voter from Peru who has lived in Maricopa for 15 years, described herself as a “Christ follower.” She said that title has a profound effect on how she votes.

However, de la Rosa also warned against taking Latinos for granted. Even though demographics are currently playing in the favor of Democrats, if the party ceases to reach Latino voters, they may not vote, or even vote Republican, instead, he said.

De la salas supported Biden this time but said he has voted for Republicans in the past.

“I vote for the profile of the person who is going to represent me and represent the community with the best assets of that person for us,” he said.

While it seems like Democrats now have the advantage in Arizona, this by no means guarantees success for the party in the state for the future. According to de la Rosa, though, it is possible.

“If state representatives can show Latinos also why their investment matters, I think Arizona can follow the path of California and become a Democratic stronghold,” de la Rosa predicted.

Villezcas said One Arizona still has work to do for future elections.

“Moving forward, we continue this work, because it doesn’t stop in 2020, and it didn’t stop on November 3,” she said.

Ruiz said this election showed her their voices matter.

“We as Latinos, we need to just really start paying attention because our opinion matters,” Ruiz said. “We do amazing things out there in the world that other people will never do. And so what we say, what we do and how we vote for should matter, as well.”