Katie Hobbs extends her lead for Secretary of State

Posted on November 16, 2018 by | Leave a comment

On Thursday, Democrat Katie Hobbs more than doubled her lead over political neophyte and  Trumpster Steve Gaynor for Secretary of State with votes from Maricopa and Pima County. She has padded her lead to 13,171 votes. It is unlikely that Gaynor can expect a dramatic turnaround with votes trending in favor of Hobbs over the past week.

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The Arizona Capitol Times reports, Hobbs is poised to become secretary of state:

Katie Hobbs is going to be Arizona’s next secretary of state – and a heartbeat away from governor – absent a sudden and unlikely last-minute burst of votes from Maricopa County favoring Steve Gaynor, her Republican opponent.

Vote tallies late Thursday put the Democratic contender more than 13,000 votes ahead of Gaynor.

Close to 89,000 ballots have yet to be counted.

About 4,000 of those are from Pima County, a Democratic stronghold. Given what has been the trend there, Hobbs is likely to pick up 60 percent of those votes.

Gaynor has outpolled Hobbs in Yuma County. But state election officials report that only 265 ballots are left to be counted there.

That leaves about 85,000 of yet-to-be-counted ballots from Maricopa County.

To make up the difference, Gaynor would need to pick up more than 55 percent of those outstanding ballots. But the record to date has shown Hobbs gaining slightly more Maricopa votes each time than her GOP foe.

This race could be called today, Saturday at the latest.




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Breathtaking Hipocrisy

Posted on November 15, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Cross-posted from RestoreReason.com.

There are many things to be upset about in today’s world, especially in the political arena. What probably gets my blood boiling quickest though, is the unadulterated hypocrisy I see coming from the Right.

According to the Arizona Capitol Times, AZ House Speaker Mesnard recently criticized Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes for his opening of certain Emergency Early Voting Centers during the General Election. He accused Fontes of selectively choosing where to open these centers and said, “those type of ‘shenanigans’ foster doubt in the public about the integrity of our election system.” Mesnard added that “And I cannot think of a more dangerous reality than people questioning the integrity of an election system.”

Okay, maybe he really does believe this. It is of course, something that any patriotic American should be worried about. Even if he does believe it though, his party and foremost, its leader (President Trump), has been stoking this “dangerous reality” ad-nauseam. And, the Arizona Republican Party recently jumped on his bandwagon with unfounded claims of deliberate election fraud by the Democrats. Continue reading →

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Sen. Jeff Flake threatens to hold up judicial nominees over protection for Mueller

Posted on November 15, 2018 by | 4 comments

The always desperate for media attention Arizona Senator Jeff Flake Flake says he’ll oppose judicial nominees until Mueller bill gets vote:

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said on Wednesday that he will oppose any of President Trump’s judicial nominations until legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller gets a vote.

“I have informed the majority leader I will not vote to advance any of the 21 judicial nominees pending in the Judiciary Committee or vote to confirm the 32 judges awaiting confirmation on the Senate floor until … [the bill] is brought to the full Senate for a vote,” Flake said from the Senate floor.

Flake’s threat will block the Judiciary Committee from approving judicial nominations and sending them to the full Senate without help from Democrats. Republicans hold a 11-10 majority on the panel and many of the most controversial nominees pass along party lines, meaning they would need either Flake’s vote or a Democratic senator to flip.

On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has slightly more leeway. With a 51-49 majority, Flake would need a Republican colleague to join him and every Democrat to block a judicial nominee on the Senate floor.

His decision comes after McConnell blocked Flake from bringing legislation to protect Mueller from being fired to a vote before the Senate.

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Posted in Arizona Congressional Delegation, AZBlueMeanie, Congress, Corruption, Courts, GOP War On..., Justice, Law Enforcement, Legislation, Party Politics, Protest, Scandals

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Democratic Victories in LD18 Creates a Template for other Districts to Follow

Posted on November 15, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Full Disclosure: This writer is a PC for LD 18.

Artwork courtesy of LD 18

In a post-election legislative district monthly meeting with Felicia Rotellini, the chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, present, a jubilant crowd filled the LD 18 Democratic office in Tempe as they celebrated the victory of 92 percent of the district’s Democratic candidates including the reelection of State Senator Sean Bowie, State Representative Mitzi Epstein, and the election of State Representative Jennifer Jermaine.

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Posted in Activism, Arizona State Legislature, Campaigns, Civil Rights, Commentary, Community, David Gordon, Editorial, Education, Elections, Legislation, Political Events, Uncategorized

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Katie Hobbs is maintaining her lead for Secretary of State (Updated)

Posted on November 15, 2018 by | 2 comments

In the one race still too close to call, Democrat Katie Hobbs is still maintaining a lead of 5,916 votes over political neophyte and Trumpster Steve Gaynor for Secretary of State.

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We are still a few days away from all outstanding ballots being tabulated. Here is the latest from the AZ Data Guru.

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Here is Jim Nintzel of the Tucson Weekly’s take on this race:

The tightest race was between Democrat Katie Hobbs and Republican Steve Gaynor for Arizona Secretary of State. Hobbs, a state lawmaker, had a slim lead of roughly 5,600 votes as of Tuesday morning, but the vast majority of remaining votes were in Maricopa County, where Hobbs was leading Gaynor by about 12,000 votes. If that trend holds, Hobbs could pull off the upset over Gaynor, a political newcomer who loaned his campaign $2.3 million of his own money (and raised just $212,000) in his bid for public office. Hobbs, by contrast, raised just $925,000 for her campaign as of mid-October and spent less than half of Gaynor’s total.

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Posted in AZBlueMeanie, Campaigns, Elections, Governor, Party Politics

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