Tara Larson Arbitter
Tara Larson Arbitter is a seasoned marketing strategist, tireless advocate for meaningful change, and lifelong Democratic campaign volunteer. As the Director of Lost Causes at the Can’t Win Victory Fund, she brings two decades of expertise in business development, branding, and campaign execution to the fight for fair maps and competitive elections.
Tara honed her marketing, messaging, and design skills working with Fortune 500 brands in the high-stakes world of NASCAR before pivoting into women’s health and maternal wellness brands. Across industries with vastly different audiences, she developed a deep understanding of how to connect authentically with people from different backgrounds, values, and lived experiences—an expertise that now informs her work engaging and mobilizing the diverse voters essential to building winning Democratic coalitions.
Since 2016, Tara has been instrumental in crafting messaging for her county’s Democratic Party, helping build a wall against further rightward shifts. Whether she’s coordinating events, creating campaign materials, training GOTV volunteers, or knocking on countless doors, Tara’s persistence and hands-on approach ensure no task is too big—or too small.
Originally from Iowa, Tara grew up a farm girl where her lifelong love of animals first took root and ultimately shaped her vegetarian lifestyle and deep commitment to animal welfare. That same sense of civic responsibility was also shaped early: as an Iowan, her first entry into "voting" was her county's Presidential Caucus, giving her an unusually hands-on introduction to grassroots democracy and political organizing.
After graduating from community college, she packed up for warmer weather and earned her bachelor’s degree in Global Business Marketing from Arizona State University—attending night school while working full-time on the trade marketing team at General Mills.
Outside of politics, Tara is a dedicated kitten foster, passionate animal advocate, and the kind of person who keeps an animal rescue kit in her car in case a stranded pet or injured wildlife crosses her path. She and her husband of 15 years live on the lake in North Carolina, where they spend much of their free time enjoying the outdoors and the wildlife that surrounds them.
