Julie Erfle hails from rural North Dakota but has called Arizona home for more than twenty years. She began her career in Phoenix as a television producer at Channel 5 and later at 3TV.
Personal tragedy led Julie down the road of political advocacy, and in 2011, she launched the blog, Politics Uncuffed, and began work as a communications director and consultant on candidate and initiative campaigns. In addition to her consulting, Julie writes a column for the Arizona Mirror and is a fellow with the Flinn-Brown Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and Leading for Change.
Julie’s addicted to great coffee and bad reality television and spends her free time arguing the merits of public policy, brunching with her girlfriends, and exploring the world with her husband, Alan, four sons, and ferociously adorable pit bull.
MY STORY
I was born and raised in rural North Dakota—you betcha!—in a town so small it lacked a stoplight. I was the nerdy kid who excelled at speech and debate, watched the evening news and read the newspaper from cover to cover. But I had no intention of becoming a journalist. I was more L.A. Law than Murphy Brown. I was going to be an attorney.
During my freshman year of college, my older sister convinced me to change my degree to “anything other than political science,” so I chose broadcast journalism on the advice of a friend. I worked a variety of comms jobs those years, including as a radio DJ, a production assistant with a film company, and a production crew member at the local PBS affiliate.
I graduated summa cum laude from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a degree in broadcast journalism, but never made it to law school. Instead, I followed my husband to the desert and landed a job at Channel 5 as a writer/producer. A year later, I moved over to Channel 3 and became part of the creative ad team charged with branding and promoting the station and its talent.
After my sons were born, I left my job at 3TV and worked from home as an assistant to a local media buyer. I took on numerous volunteer positions, including Chair of my son’s preschool board, and a short time later, added an additional role of caregiver for my husband, Nick, who nearly lost his life while battling testicular cancer.
Nick eventually recovered but was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2007. His death at the hands of a previously deported undocumented immigrant lit a fuse in the already contentious debate around illegal immigration and permanently altered the course of my life.
Though I initially resisted opportunities to become politically active, I decided to speak out after watching different groups use my husband’s death to promote nativist policies.
My activism began with immigration reform but quickly spread into other areas, including voting rights and educational equality. I launched a political blog, Politics Uncuffed, and eventually became the communications director for a statewide campaign and the executive director of a progressive communications nonprofit.
In 2016, I started my own communications consulting business, Erfle Uncuffed, to work directly with candidates, nonprofits and campaigns on message and brand development. I am also a fellow with both the Flinn-Brown Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and Leading for Change and a columnist with the Arizona Mirror.
When I’m not debating or writing about the merits of Arizona policy, I can usually be found at a boxing studio releasing my inner G.I. Jane or taxiing kids to and from sports games and practices. I’m addicted to great coffee and bad reality television and love exploring the planet with my travel and life companion, Alan, and our four sons.