Margin of Victory
Democracy is decided in the margin. This is a podcast about the elections, votes, civic engagement, and how political power is often won through the margins, and the LGBTQ Americans who have always lived there.
The Referenda: Sent to the Voters
This election, every single measure on this November's Arizona ballot came from the Legislature, not from voters: for the first time in twelve years, zero citizen initiatives qualified.
Hosts Michael Soto and Spencer Morgan return with Dr. Brian Dille for a full deep dive into all eight propositions Arizona voters will decide this November — from election-process changes and an anti-DEI constitutional amendment to transgender-athletics restrictions, local tax preemption, and a school-funding mandate. Equality Arizona's published 2026 Voter Guide recommends a "No" vote on all eight measures, with Props 142, 144, 318, and 320 flagged as the organization's highest priorities; the hosts build on...
Up and Down the Ballot
Arizona's 2022 governor's race was decided by about one point. The Attorney General's race came down to 280 votes out of 2.5 million cast. This November, every one of Arizona's statewide offices is contested, and while they take up a lot of oxygen, they are not anywhere close to all the races on your ballot.
Hosts Michael Soto and Spencer Morgan sit down with Dr. Brian Dille, professor of political science at Mesa Community College, for a full walkthrough of the Arizona ballot: the statewide executive offices, the Corporation Commission and Arizona's congressional races, control of the state Legislature, the...
Welcome to the Margins
In the 2024 election, more than a third of U.S. House races were decided by margins smaller than 13 percentage points. Arizona has a population that's about 13 and a half percent LGBTQ+. That's one in three congressional races decided by a margin smaller than the size of a single demographic group in one state.
Welcome to Margin of Victory, a national democracy show that uses Arizona and LGBTQ+ civic life as its lens. We cover the elections, votes, civic choices, and organizing work that decides power at the margins. Hosts Michael Soto (Executive Director of Equality Arizona) and...
