Larry Bodine 
Jo Holt, the Pima County Democratic Party Chair since 2015, will continue to work behind the scenes to elect Democrats — coordinating action between the state party and local legislative districts (LDs) — if she is re-elected on December 15.
Holt redefined the role of the county chair to leave direct voter contact to the LDs. “The nature of the county party’s support is behind the scenes,” she said. “It’s a little quiet.”
She has three priorities for her next term:
A suppressed memo from a civilian oversight commission studying the Tucson Police Department reveals that the department has shut down the Traffic Enforcement Division and a night patrol program, cutting the number of traffic stops and tickets by more than half.
“The Tucson police have just gotten out of traffic enforcement business. It’s rare to see someone getting a ticket pull over, but it’s so common to see people running red lights. We spend too much on the police department to tolerate this,” says Jim Hannley, a former member of the Independent Audit and Performance Commission, and author of the suppressed TPD IAPC Memo.
Hannley, a safety advocate and TPD critic, was appointed to the commission in 2014. He wrote the 10-page memo calling on the mayor and city council to confront the Police Department about abandoning traffic enforcement. “It seems that the interests of public safety must prevail over the discretion of the officers whose job it is to make our streets and roads safer,” he said in the Feb. 4, 2016 memo.
The commission voted on April 6, 2017, to suppress the memo, according to an April 10, 2017 email sent by Joyce Garland, CFO/Assistant City Manager.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP8f1Pvubys
Alison Jones, a Democratic precinct committee person and activist, promises to reach out to progressive community and labor groups that have been shut out the Democratic party, if she is elected Pima County Democratic Party Chairperson.
“If we can collaborate all these groups, we will be a force to be reckoned with,” she said. “We have got to reach out to these marvelous organizations that share our values and want the same things we want,” naming Arizona Ground Game, Labor, Mi Familia Vota, Justice Alliance, Planned Parenthood, YWCA, and AZ Blue 2020. We need to be working with these groups and using the best ideas.”
She announced at the LD9 Democrats meeting on October 23 that she is challenging current Chair Jo Holt, who has held the position since November 2015. The new chair will be elected by precinct committee persons at a mandatory meeting on Saturday, Dec. 15.
It was not what I expected to hear. I was out canvassing one hot afternoon for Ann Kirkpatrick and Kyrsten Sinema when a man answered the door and said he was a Republican. I was politely backing away when he asked to see the literature I was holding.
“I’m going to vote Democratic this year to put a check on Trump,” he explained, to my surprise.
I recounted the story to another Democratic Committeeperson, and she said she had a similar experience. She was canvassing and the guy at the door said he had never voted Democratic, but he would this year, because of Trump.
I wondered if it was a general phenomenon. Before you write this off as my wishful thinking, hear me out.
Data Orbital, a data analytics and survey research firm, released the following announcement:
With only 6 days remaining until Election Day, over 1.2 million ballots have already been cast in Arizona. Shattering past midterm election turnout figures for the state, these early ballot returns reveal major trends that will continue to play out through Election Day.
The major takeaways for current ballot returns are:
Republican ballot advantage far ahead of 2016: On this same day in 2016 – a Presidential election year – 1,228,936 ballots had been returned, with the Republican Ballot Advantage being +6.4% percentage points, with a margin of 79,180 ballots. With a larger ballot advantage of +9.4% this cycle and a margin of 114,512 ballots, the statewide ballot advantage is likely to see only minor shifts, barring any unprecedented Democratic return numbers in the final week.
Democratic voters holding their ballots longer than 2016: Democratic voters are holding onto their ballots longer than in 2016, averaging 12.44 days compared to 11.36 days in 2016, but shorter than their 13.26 day average in 2014. Meanwhile, Republican voters aren’t holding onto their ballots as long, sitting at an average of 11.76 days compared with 11.97 days in 2016 and 13.48 in 2014.