LD9 state Senate candidate Victoria Steele with Pamela Powers Hannley, LD9 House representative.
Here’s some great news: Democrats in Legislative District 9 in northern Tucson will get to pick their Arizona state Senator in the August 28 primary — because there is no Republican running.
This means we are talking about Sen. Victoria Steele or Sen. Jim Love.
LD9 is the best-organized Democratic district in Arizona, with 250 precinct captains (an increase of 91% from 2016). By any measure — whether it is registering voters, signing up people for voting early or meeting voters face to face — the volunteers in LD9 is have risen to the challenge.
Steele vows to take action
Speaking at the recent LD9 meeting, Steele emphasized four pressing issues that face voters today: Continue reading →
At a July 14 press conference, Yahya Yuksel announced he will stay in the race despite rape allegations which he tried to cover up. An angry crowd of 35 rape survivors and other women chanted “Shame on You!”
Candidate Yahya Yuksel persists in a bizarre campaign for the CD2 Congressional seat in Tucson — ignoring repeated calls for him to drop out of the race, disavowment by the Pima County Democratic Party, and cancellations of invitations from Democrats of Greater Tucson and Represent Me AZ.
Some of your Blog for Arizona writers: Larry Bodine, Carolyn Classen, Michael Bryan, Pam Powers Hannley, and Linda Lyon
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Lynching in America continued from the 1920s up to 1980, according to Pima County Public Defender Joel Feinman.
Arizona incarcerates a higher percentage of the population than South Africa did during apartheid. “We are not the land of free and home of brave as long as that statistic is true,” said Pima County Public Defender Joel Feinman.
He spoke recently at a program on mass incarceration sponsored by the Arizona Ground Game (TAGG), a grass-roots Progressive organization that encourages active citizenship through neighborhood building.
“Mass incarceration is a long and ugly story, a bloody and racist tour of where we’ve been,” he said. “The good news is that mass incarceration is actually one of easiest political problems to solve.”
Plea bargains
Part of the problem is the universal use of plea agreements to end criminal cases. In 2013, 97% of criminal cases in the federal system were resolved by plea bargains.
“The average sentence for federal narcotics defendants with a plea agreement is 5 years,” Feinman said. “For defendants who went to trial, the average sentence was 16 years — more than 3 times the years in prison because they chose to exercise their constitutional right under the 6th amendment to have a trial by jury.”
Plea bargains are an unfair contract, where the prosecutor (the Pima County Attorney) has all the bargaining power and the defendant has none. “The criminal justice system is more interested in moving cases along than dispensing justice,” he said. “As a result, you get the highest incarceration rate and the highest number of people in prison. The judge is not the most powerful person, not the jury, not our state representatives or congress people — it is your local prosecutor. They are by far the most powerful person in the criminal justice system.”
Candidates Billy Kovacs, Mary Matiella, Matt Heinz, Barbara Sherry, Bruce Wheeler, and Ann Kirkpatrick.
The CD2 Congressional candidate forum on July 19 was a classic Democratic assembly, with at least 450 attendees including hecklers, cheering and booing, and horrendous audio.
The PAC RepresentMeAZ organized the event at Tucson High School and gave out report cards about the candidates. The results will be posted soon on Facebook. At the last event, Bruce Wheeler was the crowd favorite, and I’m guessing this time it may be Billy Kovacs.
Sure enough, Billy Kovacs was the audience favorite at the July 19th candidate forum. Second place went to the winner of our last Forum, Bruce Wheeler.
Kovacs, Maria Matiella, Bruce Wheeler, Barbara Sherry and Matt Heinz staked out ultra-progressive positions, leaving a beleaguered and defensive Ann Kirkpatrick as the odd person out.
Highlights:
All the candidates agreed to support the winner of the August 28 primary. Mail-in ballots will be sent to voters on August 1.
The audience groaned as Kirkpatrick and Heinz sniped at each other. See videos and attack ads in the comments section at https://goo.gl/6QtjfH. I have no tolerance for candidates who go negative against fellow Democrats.
All the candidates supported federal legalization of marijuana except Kirkpatrick. Why, Ann, why must weed be outlawed as a Schedule 1 drug?
The candidates — except for Kirkpatrick — took the radical, left-wing position to abolish ICE, the internal immigration enforcement agency. Arizona Star columnist Tim Steller called this “a loser of a political position.”
All but Kirkpatrick supported Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, for calling the president’s remarks “cowardly and shameful” when he bowed to Putin.
Regarding impeaching the president, supporters were Kovacs, Matiella, Sherry, and Kirkpatrick — but not Heinz or Wheeler.
Most of the candidates wore teal ribbons for Sexual Assualt Awareness.
Pima County Democratic Party Chair Jo Holt will be speaking on “Electing Democrats and Looking forward to the General Election”. The Arizona primary is on August 28, 2018 so don’t forget to vote. Share this:FacebookTwitterMoreEmailTumblrPrintPocketRedditLinkedInGooglePinterestLike this:Like Loading...
Hosted by Presidio San Agustín del Tucson and La Cocina Restaurant & Cantina “Tucson’s official birthday party will take place in the Presidio District on Aug. 20, the City’s actual birthday, from 5-7:30 pm. Hosted by the Tucson/Pima County Historic … Continue reading →
City of Tucson’s Official 242nd Birthday FREE Monday, August 21st at the Presidio San Agustín del Tucson 5:30 pm Gates open Music by Los Changuitos Feos 6:00 – 6:45 pm Flag and Cannon Firing Ceremony 6:45 pm Family-friendly food tasting celebrating the … Continue reading →
Hosted by AEA Latino Outreach and 3 others “It’s time for our candidates to let us know how they specifically plan to fix our broken public education system. Arizona Center for Empowerment is inviting candidates running for governor, the Arizona … Continue reading →
The RSVP Deadline is August 19th The Child Separation Fiasco: How did we get here? The policy of family separation evoked alarm and outrage from the general public this summer. But this practice is merely the latest in a decades-long … Continue reading →
“Brought to you by the Pima County Public Defenders Office and the Reentry Coalition of Pima County. Whether you have a family member who has recently been incarcerated, is serving a long sentence, preparing to release, or has recently released, … Continue reading →
“Join us on August 24 to learn about the current status of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the opportunities in revisiting the agreement, and the current status of negotiations between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Mr. Lopez will also discuss … Continue reading →
August 25, 2018 Special Day Full of Fun and Excitement in Greenlee County, AZ! Contact Greenlee County Democratic Party Chair, Susan Breen, for more information and to let her know you’ll be there. Email: suebreen53@hotmail.com 10:00 AM –Save Our Schools … Continue reading →
“This year for Women’s Equality Day (Aug 25), Tucson NOW and the other organizations involved in the Courageous Conversations event planning are having a fundraising event at Dusty Monk (see flyer above). A portion of the sales will go toward … Continue reading →
AZ Celebrates The 19th Amendment 2018 Sun, August 26, 2018, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM DESCRIPTION “This year’s program is all about the women. . . the ones who are courageously speaking out about their past abuse and harassment through … Continue reading →
LD 10 Rep. Kirsten Engel will be speaking about the Southwest Key Facility & Family Separation at Arizona’s Border. She was first elected in Nov. 2016 and is facing a 4 Dem primary on August 28, 2018. Share this:FacebookTwitterMoreEmailTumblrPrintPocketRedditLinkedInGooglePinterestLike this:Like Loading...
Hosted by Tucson Refugee and Iskashitaa Refugee Network “Learn the facts about refugee resettlement and gain knowledge on the struggles and successes of a new American: • Who is a Refugee, Asylee or an Immigrant? • Review of Global, National, … Continue reading →
Vote in the Democratic, Republican or Green primaries for several offices this August: all Arizona statewide offices (i.e. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, two on Corporation Commission, etc.); as well as one U.S. Senate … Continue reading →
“Join the Tucson David Garcia Team, we will be watching the returns come in, eating some delicious food, and celebrating all of our efforts in Tucson! This special night belongs to all of the volunteers and staff of the campaign! … Continue reading →
“You’re invited to our 2018 Primary Night Unity Party! Join us as we come together to celebrate the end of Primary season and the beginning of the 2018 General Election. Sit back, relax, and watch the Primary Election results roll … Continue reading →
“Come celebrate with Kelly Fryer and watch the Primary Election Night results! We are so grateful to all of our supporters who have powered this campaign so far, and hope you can join us on this special night as we … Continue reading →
“Over a year after Steve began his non-stop road trip across Arizona, we will have our victory party right back where we kicked off the campaign, The Arizona Inn! Doors open and 6:30. Come to join us and watch live … Continue reading →
Hosted by Maricopa County Democratic Party andArizona Democratic Party “Come watch Primary Election Results with the Arizona Democratic Party and MCDP! This event is free (contributions welcome). Join us as we learn which candidates will move on to November.” https://www.facebook.com/events/600018750399463/Share … Continue reading →
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29 AT 7:30PM | REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES Commemorate the 50th anniversary of the legendary 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago (held August 26–29) at this special screening of Haskell Wexler’s acclaimed 1969 political documentary/drama, Medium Cool, shot during … Continue reading →
With the Nov. 6 general election getting closer every day, our mission of covering "Politics from a liberal viewpoint" has never been more important. Your donation will directly be a force for change for the better in Arizona.
John C. Scott Radio Show Talks with Writer Larry Bodine
The John C. Scott Political Forum – 1030 KVOI AM
Radio broadcaster John C. Scott interviewed Blog for Arizona writer Larry Bodine recently about:
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Posted in Campaigns, Commentary, Elections, Larry Bodine, Political Events, Primaries
Tagged Ann Kirkpatrick, Bill Kovacs, Bruce Wheeler, Joe Arpaio, Kelli Ward, Martha McSally, Mary Matiella, Matt Heinz, Yahya Yuksel