Democrats Energized to Take Back Seats in Glendale’s LD20

A blue wave is cresting in American politics.
A blue wave is cresting in American politics.

An energetic field of progressive Democratic candidates in Glendale and Phoenix are running to oust right-wing, pro-NRA, anti-abortion incumbents in Republican-leaning legislative district 20.

AZ Senate

  • Douglas Ervin, a pilot and triathlete, is the former Chief Development Architect of AFS Technologies in Phoenix.
  • Larry Herrera is a Traffic Engineering Analyst for the City of Tempe. He ran for state Senate in 2016 but lost to Kimberly Yee.
  • Matthew Marquez is a Field Organizer for the state Democratic Party and is a precinct committeeman.

The Democrats are working to oust the noxious incumbent, Paul Boyer, a state representative running for Senate, who is endorsed by the NRA and Arizona Right to Life. Boyer is tied to the anti-consumer ALEC organization (American Legislative Exchange Council), which writes right-wing model statutes. Notoriously, Boyer supports school vouchers, opposed the expansion of Medicaid and supported legislation that would have legalized discrimination against gay people.

Read more

Governor Ducey bends under pressure from student protestors

Wednesday’s National School Walkout event at the Arizona Capitol culminated in a two-hour sit-in at the office of Gov. Doug Ducey, who did not come out to meet with the students. Montini: Gov. Doug Ducey disses student protesters … lesson learned.

Gov. Ducey has said he is meeting with various interest groups – not high school students, obviously – and has promised to come up with his own legislative proposals, possibly as early as next week. The governor has hinted that could include something similar to Rep. Randy Friese’s bill on emergency seizure of weapons.

Emulating our Twitter-troll-in-chief, on Thursday Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey goes on tweetstorm over gun control, one day after student sit-in:

Gov. Doug Ducey said Thursday that his plan to improve school safety in Arizona could include tighter gun laws in several areas, a surprising move for a Republican governor in a red state.

In a flurry of afternoon tweets, Ducey outlined what his office said will be the basic components of his plan. Ducey said he is working on a bipartisan bill to tackle the issue.

“We are building an aggressive plan that address all these issues around school safety,” he tweeted. “Arizona can lead the nation in tackling this — and in a way that is non-partisan. We’ve done this on other issues, and we can do it again.”

Ducey’s posts came less than 24 hours after students from the group March for Our Lives Phoenix staged a dramatic sit-in outside his office.

Ducey did not meet with the students, but has talked with other interest groups in recent weeks.

Read more

Whiny Republicans respond to student protests at the Arizona Capitol

Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley covered this story from her perspective the other day, Republicans Recess as Students & #AZHouse Dems Stand in Silence for Gun Violence Victims, and now Howard Fischer reports on the GOP perspective the following day, Republicans accuse Democrats of political theater over gun legislation:

A Prescott Republican lawmaker lashed out at Democrats Thursday, accusing them of being more interested in political “theater” than solving the question of gun violence in schools.

Rep. Noel Campbell said all lawmakers are upset about the shootings at Majory Stoneman High School in Florida, and he acknowledged the anger and frustration of students who walked out of their classrooms a day earlier on the one-month anniversary of that event.

“But I have a feeling some of you down here just want to be seen and not do anything,” Campbell said in his floor speech, citing not only the presence of students in the gallery on March 14 but also Democrats taking close to an hour to introduce the students by name and call attention to them and their demands for changes in state gun laws.

That, Campbell said, is not the way “to get things done.”

“It hardens positions,” he said, with the “theater” of Wednesday resulting in many Republicans choosing to leave the floor rather than sit through the introduction of individual students and the Democrat floor speeches.

“You drove us out of here,” Campbell said, saying Democrats are not interested in working with Republicans.

“You want to make an example of us. You want to embarrass us,” he said. “Well, see how effective that is.”

Campbell said if Democrats are interested in legislative solutions, they should forego these kinds of public spectacles and instead work with Republicans behind closed doors.

Read more

Frank talk on Weaponized Narratives at Joel D. Valdez main library

Weaponized Narrative: Information Warfare as the New Battlespace Saturday, March 17, 2018 (2:00PM – 3:30PM) Joel D Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave. Tucson Description Join us for a FRANK Talk about information warfare. “Weaponized narrative is the latest term for information warfare, focusing specifically on the role of new media in shaping opinion. … Read more