A Phoenix gathering set for this Saturday is built around a bet: that Democrats will finally break the Republican grip on the Arizona Legislature in next month's election. Organizer Alejandra Gomez is behind the Arizona Peoples Convention, a free event meant to bring community members together around a shared vision she describes as building the Arizona they deserve.
The convention is scheduled for Saturday, October 24, at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, according to prensaarizona.com. Gomez, who serves as executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, is organizing the event as what 12News describes as an effort to set an agenda for a Democrat-led Legislature. The event's own website says it aims to bring communities together for a day of learning, connection, conversation and civic participation.
The convention is a joint effort involving several organizations, including CHISPA, OVOV and Worker Power, per the same prensaarizona.com account. Organizers say the free event will bring together roughly 2,000 community members, with a program that includes working sessions, participation from elected officials, and space meant to connect experienced organizers with people looking to get involved in community activities.
An Agenda That Hinges on November
What makes Saturday's convention notable isn't just its size — it's the uncertainty hanging over its purpose. Per 12News, the convention's agenda depends on whether Democrats win control of the Capitol in November 2026, meaning the policy wish list organizers are building could remain aspirational if the outcome breaks the other way.
That outcome may come down to very little. Just a few legislative seats could flip control of Arizona's Legislature, according to the Arizona Capitol Times. Republicans have held majorities in both chambers for much of the state's history, the outlet notes, but those margins have stayed slim, leaving Arizona Democrats hoping today's political environment favors a takeover of the statehouse.
Topics planned for the convention include affordable housing, voting access, education, immigrant rights and other issues organizers describe as matters of public interest, the Arizona news outlet reports. LUCHA's broader electoral push this cycle, a campaign called LUCHA Blue, is coordinating door-to-door outreach, phone calls, mail, digital communication, peer organizing and voter education ahead of the vote, according to the same source.
Arizona's Place in a Bigger Fight
Arizona isn't operating in isolation here. Democrats nationally are targeting new trifecta governing majorities — control of the governor's office plus both legislative chambers — in several states during the 2026 midterms, according to the Arizona Capitol Times. Campaigns across those states are leaning on messages about rising costs of living and federal cuts to social safety-net programs, the outlet reports.
In Arizona specifically, Democrats hope to flip both Republican-controlled chambers of the statehouse while Republicans hope to flip the governorship, according to ABC News. On the Republican side, gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs's campaign has emphasized eliminating or replacing income taxes along with broader tax reform and affordability measures, the network reports. Democrats, for their part, said back in 2024 that if they secured a trifecta they would pursue workers' rights and reproductive-rights legislation, ABC News notes.
Whether any of that translates into action at the Capitol next year remains tied to results still weeks away. For now, the Arizona Peoples Convention stands as a dress rehearsal of sorts — a room full of community members, elected officials and organizers planning for a Legislature that, as of Saturday, Democrats do not yet control.
