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SBDC research shows that Letters to the Editor (LTR) at the Arizona Daily Star are an effective means of reaching voters in our three precincts, particularly Independents who are crucial to successfully turning our legislation blue. 

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Following are the editorial requirements of Arizona Daily Star: 

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When writing about political issues, authors should fully disclose their relationship with an issue, campaign or candidate. Facts must be annotated by links shared in the "Notes" field. Notes field text is not included in the letter word count. Letters containing information that cannot be easily verified, libelous statements or name calling will be rejected. 

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Please include in your letter any expertise or special interest in the topic. For example, "As a professor of mathematics, I know the value of arts education." 

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We suggest you write, edit and save a copy of your letter before copying it into the form. 

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Submissions may be edited for clarity or length. All submissions become the property of the Arizona Daily Star. Only original material sent exclusively to the Arizona Daily Star will be considered for publishing. Letters to the Editor should be no more than 160 words. 

 

If you do not receive an automated email thanking you for submission - we did not receive it (a common reason is your submission does not fit the allotted word count) 

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The LTR word count is ~150 words, 170 words maximum allowed to incorporate your expertise or special interest in the subject. This does not include the headline. 

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Below is a sample LTR that club member Karla Trippe sent to the Arizona Star and was published. 

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Title:  An Open Letter to Millennials and Gen Z 

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I come from a family of newspaper publishers and spent 30+ years pitching stories to the industry. Any editor knows that a reporter must have two independent sources for any story to prove it’s factual and opinion-free. Sadly, your generation is absorbing information from social media and podcasts that are almost 100% opinion-based. Your active participation in disinformation allows a corrupt group of individuals to overtake our federal government, resulting in a loss of life, rights, jobs, and financial opportunity. Recently, a millennial told me that there had been no increase in the number of plane crashes. The difference is that the media is suddenly reporting them. This comment is as factually incorrect as stating that Russia didn’t invade Ukraine*. It’s also disrespectful to the 87 people who have died so far this year. 

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Change your pattern. Subscribe to print and TV news that sources its stories and proves its worth with awards, not legal fees. As Trump weaponizes the press pool, facts matter more than ever. 

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Karla A. Trippe 

SaddleBrooke 

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Notes to the editor to back up facts in the LTR:

* https://nypost.com/2025/02/21/us-news/trump-reverses-course-says-russia-could-have-been-talked-out-of-invading-ukraine/ 

* https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/12/media/what-trumps-gulf-of-america-obsession-is-really-all-about/index.html 

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Here are the critical points for a good letter: 

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• Single topic 

• Demonstrated knowledge/expertise 

• 2-3 supporting facts 

• Clear, concise verbiage 

• Spell and grammar check your letter 

• Facts are annotated in the Notes section of the form 

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Karla's letter above was on a topic personal to her. Following is a list of topics that will help Democrats in this off year: Please remember that your target audience are Democrats and Independents in LD-17, CD-6 and Pinal County. 

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• Security 

  • Secure the border with dignity not racial profiling 

  • Secure border from human trafficking, smugglers, cartels, etc.

  • Secure our health/financial/private data 

  • Secure Arizona water from federal government/international corporate interference 

  • AI will be used more in 2025 to 2028 to make scams harder to detect, experts say, with a direct impact to seniors 
     

• Economy 

  • Trump promised reduced prices. (Products like xyz) have risen by __% (fill in the blank) at my Bashas/Frys/Safeway/Walmart since he took office. 

  • Beef prices are skyrocketing because herd size is decreasing. We will have to go to Mexico for beef meaning we will have to pay tariffs. 

  • Trump’s tariffs have caused an increase in (fill in the topic). 

  • My friend/relative lost his/her job due to DOGE.
     

• Public Education 

  • Arizona lawmakers slashed funding for K-12 public schools, higher education, water and transportation due to an ongoing budget crisis driven by universal voucher program 

  • The loss of the Dept. of Education will impact Title 1 which supplements local funding for low-achieving children, especially in high-poverty schools in Pinal County. 
     

• Climate Change 

  • Protect Arizona water from federal government/international corporate interference 

  • Select crops to grow that benefit our climate. Pima cotton shouldn’t be grown in Pinal County. 

  • We must find better ways to protect our citizens, particularly seniors, from heat. 

  • Arizona Corporation Commission continues green-lighting cost increases.

  • Foreign corporations should not be buying vast quantities of Arizona water.
     

• Voting Rights 

  • U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds Ruling Against Arizona’s Unlawful “Reason to Believe” Voter Registration Rule 

  • Arizona voting laws make it unclear which elections voters are allowed to vote in 

  • Voter suppression and intimidation needs to stop (armed ballot drop box "watchers," for example).
     

• Healthcare 

  • Ciscomani voted yes on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in spite of his district's overwhelming support to enshrine reproductive rights in the Arizona constitution. (You can find information on Ciscomani’s votes at the www.votesmart.org site.) 

  • Ciscomani voted yes on the House Budget package cutting $880 billion from Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for the 1 percent after Trump promised one week prior not to touch Society Security, Medicaid or Medicare. 

 

Last suggestions:

You should not use the online submission form to write your letters. You can lose everything you write because the form can time out and you'll get an error when you click "submit".  Use your favorite text editor to create your letter and then cut and paste it into the online form.

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In the location/town dropdown box, scroll down in order to to select "Saddlebrooke" which is hiding in the list below what you can initially see in the list of options.

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Letters must come from individuals. We would like to receive a copy of your letter so we can use the content for other programs like social media. Please send a copy to : info@saddelbrookedemocrats.org and me@ktrippe.com.

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Submit your letter HERE.

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 Thank you! 

 

   - - - Your Friends at the Saddlebrooke Democratic Club. We are in this together.

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