Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA)

Notable funders of LUCHA include left-of-center organizations including the Sixteen Thirty Fund (sometimes styled “1630 Fund”), Funders for Justice,^{2 3} the Open Society Foundations, and labor unions including the National Education Association, Fast Food Workers Committee, and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99. ⁴

LUCHA came to widespread notice in late 2021 after activists associated with the group pursued U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and confronted her in a bathroom over Sen. Sinema’s resistance to support $3.5 trillion social spending legislation backed by the Biden administration. ⁵

Background

Living United for Change in Arizona was founded in Phoenix, Arizona in 2009 as a 501(c)(4) political advocacy organization. ³⁶ The organization is a partner of the Center for Popular Democracy, a left-of-center national organization that supports left-progressive groups active on the state and local level. ⁷

In 2011, reports indicate that LUCHA was organized as a front group for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). Immediately after ACORN was dissolved in 2010, Monica Sandschaeffer, a former Arizona ACORN official,⁸ was LUCHA’s executive director.⁹

In 2008, Sandschaeffer and three other ACORN members were reportedly arrested for disrupting a meeting of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors while protesting against Sheriff Joe Arapaio.⁸ In 2007, the FBI investigated the Arizona branch of ACORN for “voter registration fraud of non-citizens” in the city of Phoenix.¹⁰ In 2010, Judicial Watch, a right-leaning watchdog group, obtained records that showed that the FBI concluded “that ACORN’s employment practices [perpetuated] fraudulent voter registration,” but that charges were never filed under the Obama Administration because of technicalities that Judicial Watch called “questionable.” ¹¹

Activities

During the 2024 election cycle, Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) claimed to advocate for volunteers to knock on doors for one million homes in the state of Arizona to increase voter mobilization. ¹²

In June 2024, LUCHA and Arizona State Rep. Oscar De Los Santos (D-Phoenix) filed a lawsuit to challenge a ballot initiative placed on the state ballot which would permit local police to arrest immigrants that cross the border illegally while designating the making and selling of fentanyl as a felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. LUCHA claimed the ballot initiative violated the Arizona state constitution by violating the state’s “single-subject” requirement for ballot measures. The suit was unsuccessful. ^{13 14}

In June 2023, LUCHA launched a campaign with the Working Families Party to support the campaigns of Tucson Councilmember Lane Santa Cruz (D) and Mayor Regina Romero (D). ¹⁵

In 2022, the Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of LUCHA, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Arizona Students’ Association, and the Arizona Democracy Resource Center to challenge H.B. 2492 which required individuals registering to vote to list their birthplace. In March 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona struck down H.B. 2492. ^{16 17}

In October 2021, LUCHA activists confronted Arizona U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) over her refusal to support the Biden administration’s proposed $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill. ¹⁸

In May 2021, LUCHA, All Voting is Local Arizona, the Arizona Advocacy Network and Foundation, and the Arizona Coalition for Change/Our Voice Our Vote sent letters to 15 county boards in Arizona urging more funding to be allocated to polling stations. ¹⁹

People

Alejandra Gomez is the co-executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), working in the role since 2015. She previously worked as the executive director of the Arizona Center for Empowerment, a left-of-center worker organizing and advocacy organization focused on Arizona’s Latino immigrant communities. From 2013 to 2015, Gomez was the national deputy organizing director of the United We Dream. From 2012 to 2013, Gomez served as the Arizona field manager of the New Organizing Institute. Prior to this, Gomez worked on the 2012 reelection campaign of then-President Barack Obama. ²⁰

Tomas E. Robles Jr was the co-executive director of LUCHA until October 2022. ²¹ Robles previously worked as a left-of-center organizer in Arizona since 2010 and was also co-executive director of the Arizona Center for Empowerment. ²² Robles previously served as a United States Marine and has worked at several left-of-center groups including the United Farm Workers Foundation and the Cesar Chavez Foundation. ²³

As of 2022, Alicia Russel is the president of LUCHA. She is also a director at the Center for Popular Democracy. In 2006, she worked as the treasurer and spokesperson for the Arizona Minimum Wage Coalition. ^{24 25}

As of 2022, Raquel Teran was a board member of Lucha. Teran served as an Arizona State Senator from an appointment in 2021 through 2023, but resigned to run in a Democratic Congressional primary that she lost. Prior to this, Teran was the head of the Democratic Party of Arizona. ^{24 26}

Financials

During the 2022 election cycle, Living United for Change in Arizona spent $279,424 in independent expenditures, all of which was spent to support Democrats. During the 2020 cycle, LUCHA spent $1,049,687, all in support the campaigns of Democrat-leaning candidates. In the 2018 cycle, LUCHA spent $177,253 supporting the campaigns of left-wing candidates. ²⁷

Funding

In 2023, Democracy Fund Voice made a $500,000 grant to Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA). From 2019 to 2021, Democracy Fund Voice made three grants to LUCHA totaling $375,000. ²⁸

In 2019, George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) donated $1.5 million to LUCHA. In 2017, OSF contributed another $250,000 to LUCHA. ²⁹

In 2017, the Ford Foundation made a grant of $500,000 to the New Venture Fund for its Partnership Fund to support LUCHA. ³⁰