PHOENIX — Astrid Pizarro stood in front of a dozen high school students last week as her fellow organizers scrambled to find umbrellas.

Dark clouds loomed as Pizarro prepped her team to canvass a nearby neighborhood. She began by asking them how they felt about the upcoming election. Some were excited, others were nervous.

“I’m scared that all the work we were pushing to do wasn’t enough,” she confessed. “But overall I’m super hopeful because every single day I get to work with you guys. I get to work with you guys on talking to voters that look like us.”

The office at Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, was humming as volunteers gathered, all with the goal of turning out Latino voters. LUCHA, which is Spanish for “fight,” is one of several groups targeting these sometimes unreliable voters.

Latino voters are a critical bloc in Arizona and neighboring Nevada, which are playing host to two hotly contested Senate races. While both parties have outreach efforts aimed at Latinos, the stakes are higher for Democrats.