What took so long for Republicans to file a complaint against David Stringer?

LD 1 State Representative David Stringer, a “radioactive” and “repulsive” figure.

As noted in yesterday’s piece on the “Tyranny of the Majority at the Arizona House of Representatives,” House Democratic Minority Whip Reginald Bolding made a motion to institute expulsion proceedings against Legislative District One  Representative David Stringer after it was revealed that he was the subject of sexual misconduct charges while living in Maryland 35 years ago.

The Speaker of the House, Russell Bowers ruled that Representative Bolding was out of order and Republicans were spared having to vote in support of such a “radioactive” and “repulsive” figure who, like Don Shooter last year, has not seen the need to resign for this revelation and for his racist comments over the last several months.

To their credit, Republican House Member Kelly Townsend finally led the way in referring the Stringer matter through a complaint to the House Ethics Committee. If the complaint against Stringer proceeds without any new revelations or insights, the entire House may then proceed to vote to censure or expel him.

The question for Republicans is what took so long to file the complaint?

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Tucson Chinese Cultural Center’s Lunar New Year Celebration

  Every 12 years of the Asian zodiac, it’s the Year of the Pig. Chinese New Year is on Feb. 5, 2019, but for us Japanese, we start on January 1st. More info: http://www.tucsonchinese.org/ Support volunteer citizen journalism at the Blog for Arizona with a donation today. Your PayPal contribution keeps the Blog online and … Read more

A preview of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary

We are living in the era of the perpetual campaign. It is only January 2019, and already the 2020 presidential campaign is well underway. “You can’t tell the players without a scorecard.”

So Dylan Scott breaks it down for you at Vox.com. The biggest questions so far about the 2020 Democratic primary, answered:

Any Democrat with dreams of occupying the Oval Office can see Donald Trump is a vulnerable president who hasn’t broadened his appeal beyond his base. A lot of them are going to run for their party’s nomination next year. Some already are.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Kamala Harris have already entered the fray, and a few dozen others are seriously considering runs. The Democratic field promises to include a record number of women and nonwhite candidates, a mix of high-wattage stars and lesser-known contenders who believe they can navigate a fractured field to victory.

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We have a long way to go, in other words. It’s silly to pretend anybody knows how this campaign is going to end, and the 2016 election should have humbled all political prognosticators. Still, the 2020 campaign has already started. Here is what you need to know to get oriented:

Who is definitely running for president in 2020?

On the Democratic side, several Democrats have already made it official. (An “exploratory committee,” for legal purposes, means they are already a candidate.) They are, in rough order of public profile:

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Ward 3 Council Open House on January 30

“Please mark your calendars for a Ward 3 Open House at our office at 1510 E. Grant Road on Wednesday, January 30th from 5:30-7 pm. We had a wonderful New Year Open House last January filled with great company and I hope to see you all there again this year.” (from Councilman Paul Durham’s e-newsletter … Read more