How renters can apply for help from the state and Maricopa County.
The fire that tore through the offices of Arizona Democrats’ headquarters in the wee hours of the night last week didn’t just destroy the old building at Central Avenue and Thomas Road that has served as the gathering place for thousands of Democrats since 2002.
The flames and smoke, plus the action taken to extinguish the blaze, ruined political memorabilia from conventions and campaigns, customized voter maps that adorned the walls, and cell phones, landlines, computers and tablets needed to contact voters ahead of the general election.
The party’s data, voter lists and other crucial information was backed up electronically and is secure, party officials said.
Authorities believe the fire was set intentionally, and in recent days have gathered video of the apparent possible arsonist. They have not said publicly what the video shows or whether they have identified the person. Valley Metro cited the ongoing investigation in rejecting The Arizona Republic’s request under the public-records law for video captured on one of its cameras.
While investigators work the case, Democrats are gingerly surveying the extent of what was lost.
The building housed the Arizona Democratic Party; the Maricopa County Democratic Party worked out of smaller quarters on the northwest side.
It wasn’t fancy. The carpet smelled, the furniture was dated, and the plumbing wasn’t great.
But it was theirs.
“It reminded me of the work that we do every day to help working families,” Democratic Party Chair Felecia Rotellini said Tuesday. “It was the place where we gathered.”
The fire incinerated the county offices, where four full-time staffers and a volunteer worked every day before the pandemic took hold in March. Before that, a dozen or so phone bankers would rotate through the space to contact voters.
Gone is a wall displaying hundreds of political pins and buttons — from JFK to former Gov. Rose Mofford to Gabrielle Giffords’ run for Congress, to “Bazta Arpaio,” the campaign that helped unseat former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in 2016.
Campaign workers and volunteers from around the state would add buttons to the wall over the years, as election days would come and go and campaign offices emptied.
The fire destroyed memorabilia from Janet Napolitano’s campaigns for governor, including a signed shirt and signed Arizona license plate, said county party chair Steven Slugocki.
Gone are bumper stickers dating to former Attorney General Terry Goddard’s run for governor in 2010, posters from the 2000 Democratic National Convention, photos of President Bill Clinton during a trip to
Arizona and campaign trinkets from former U.S. surgeon general’s 2012 run for the U.S. Senate.
A life-sized cutout of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was ruined. A similar cut-out of President Barack Obama survived the flames. So did a charred gold trophy the county party created to award to volunteers for registering voters.
For Maritza Miranda Saenz, the county party’s executive director, the most meaningful item lost was the business card of Jacqueline Adams, a well-known progressive activist who manned the front door. Adams served as the county party’s treasurer when she died in 2015.
When Miranda Saenz joined the county party in 2017, she found Adams card tucked inside Adams’ desk.
“I put it on my desk as a reminder of who’s shoes I’m filling,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion.
On the state party side, historic photos from conventions, campaign events, and office openings were damaged by the overwhelming stench of smoke.
Some of the memorabilia dated to Gov. Bruce Babbitt’s campaign for governor in the late 1970s and Carolyn Warner’s days serving as superintendent of public instruction from the 1970s and 1980s.
The American and Arizona flags, tucked away in a large conference room on the northeast side of the building, survived the fire.
So did the papier-mache donkey painted
in the bright colors of Arizona’s flag. The donkey, from the 2016 convention in Philadelphia, greeted everyone who passed through the building’s glass doors.