Larry Bodine

Larry Bodine, a journalist and attorney, is the former Chair of LD18 Democrats, a Board member of Democrats of Greater Tucson for 5 years (3 years as President) and has been an elected Precinct Committeeman since 2006 in Arizona and Illinois. He was a Delegate to the 2024 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. ✍He began writing for the Blog for Arizona in June 2017. ✍His 44-year career includes reporting for the New York Daily News, which was then the largest-circulation US newspaper, at a time when he won 7 awards for investigative journalism. ✍Larry is an attorney and is a member in good standing of the Wisconsin State Bar. ** SCROLL DOWN TO SEE MY ARTICLES BELOW **

Rape Allegation Surfaces Against CD2 Democratic Candidate Yahya Yuksel

July 15, 2018July 14, 2018 by Larry Bodine

Read: Accused Rapist Yahya Yuksel Must Drop Out Now from CD2 Race

A Pima County Sheriff’s report has surfaced, stating that CD2 Democratic Congressional Candidate Yahya Yuksel was accused of rape by a 16- or 17-year-old girl when he was 17 and both were in high school in 2007.

The report also quotes a witness who refutes the girl’s claim.

Yuksel denied the “false allegation,” in a legal motion, stating, “The investigating officer found no reason to pursue the allegation after speaking with the accuser. For the record, I did not know of the existence of this allegation until recently,” he stated.

“Such a criminal allegation of moral turpitude is utterly disastrous to my reputation, especially for someone like me who is considering running for elected political office,” he stated.

When reached by phone yesterday, Yuksel said he would be issuing a statement.

The 2008 report

In the sheriff’s report dated March 13, 2008, the teenage girl said she and Yuksel were drinking Sky vodka and cola at a friend’s house. The report blacks out her name. She told the officer that Yuksel began kissing her and she tried to push him off, “telling him that she did not want to.” She stated that Yuksel began “feeling me up.” “He then pulled off her shorts and swimsuit bottoms, put on a condom and had intercourse with her. She stated ‘no’ the whole time and tried to push him off. During intercourse, she cried a little bit and then blacked out,” the report states.

David Schapira, Democratic Candidate for AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction

David Schapira’s 4 Arguments for InvestInEd

July 1, 2018July 1, 2018 by Larry Bodine

There are four good arguments in favor of the InvestInEd public initiative, according to David Schapira, a Democratic Candidate for state Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The InvestInEd public initiative creates a dedicated funding source to keep teachers in Arizona classrooms and give students the one-on-one attention they deserve.

Schapira is former Senate Democratic leader and current Tempe City Council member. He spoke at a recent meeting of the LD9 Democrats in Tucson.

➊ It will restore the $700 million in state funds cut from education over the last 10 years. “The Republican majority in the Legislature decided to balance the budget on the backs of our kids. Pima and Maricopa county colleges county lost every penny of funding from the state, and the universities cut were cut too,” Schapira said. “The RedforEd movement convinced the Legislature to put money back into public schools. But even after that our public schools still have $700 million less than they did a decade ago.”

How Candidates Ralph Atchue and Hollace Lyon will Flip the State Leglislature

June 30, 2018June 30, 2018 by Larry Bodine

Ralph Atchue and Ret. Colonel Hollace Lyon, LD11 Democratic state legislature candidates.

Democrats need to flip only two seats in the Arizona Senate and only five seats in State House for Democrats to get parity with the Republicans. Democratic candidates Ralph Atchue for State Senate and Retired Air Force Colonel Hollace Lyon for State House in LD11 spelled out the winning issues that will carry them into office in November.

They spoke recently at a rousing meeting of Democrats of Greater Tucson.

Funding public education. “Access to quality public education is Arizona’s economic driver. The state has abdicated its responsibility to fund public education. It’s been left to cities, counties and school districts to raise taxes,” Atchue said.
Cutting corporate tax giveaways. “74% of corporations in Arizona pay the minimum of $50 a year in income tax,” Lyon said. “We have $12 to $14 billion that we’re giving away in tax loopholes in this state. The more companies we invite here, the more tax breaks we give them. We don’t put sunset clauses on our tax incentives. They’ve been accumulating for decades. We need to go back and see if they are still giving us a return on investment.”
Access to affordable healthcare. “We support opening up Medicaid, AHCCS (state health care coverage) and CHIP (children’s healthcare insurance). We’ve gotten locked into employer-controlled healthcare, and if we can start moving away from that and it would be a benefit,” Atchue said.
Jobs that pay well. “If you give a person a job where they feel good about themselves, they will become invested in the community and are better contributors. They feel a sense of dignity. It’s unfair to need three jobs to make ends meet. They never get enough time to spend with their kids. We need good jobs, fair wages, and a comprehensive program to let that happen to everybody,” Lyon said.

Subscribe to my weekly Getting Active in Local Politics newsletter at http://eepurl.com/dmzvUb. Then go to a meeting and Get Active in Local Politics!

They also called for Outlawing Dirty Money in campaign contributions and establishing real ethics in government. “The state doesn’t follow through on conflicts of interest. Andy Tobin was appointed to the Arizona “Corruption Commission” (Corporation Commission). His son works for one of the companies he oversees. This is a conflict of interest. So the state legislature decided to make an ethics decision and they changed the definition of conflict of interest to allow that,” Atchue said.

Atchue is an Air Force veteran and a seasoned campaigner, having worked in many Arizona political campaigns, for Ann Kirkpatrick, for Tom O’Halleran, and including his state senate run in 2016. Ralph is distinctly aware of the issues facing Arizona’s middle-class families and small business community and will work to rebuild the middle class.

Colonel Lyon commanded twice, served at NATO Headquarters in Belgium, as well as at the Pentagon. She served as a state senate campaign manager in 2012 and in 2014 and ran for the Legislature herself. Lyon is serving her second term as Chair of the Saddlebrooke Democratic Club. Since 2015, she has also served as the Senior Vice Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party.

Arizona Will Have a Democratic US Senator, So Long As…

August 2, 2018June 29, 2018 by Larry Bodine

Martha McShifty, Kooki Ward, Evil Joe and Congress member Kyrsten Sinema

Two new polls show that Arizona will have a Democratic US Senator — but that depends if Democrats actually become politically active and work for a candidate. And we know from the 2016 election how accurate polls can be.

✪ “In a GOP state that President Trump carried by not quite four points, the Democrats are positioned to pick up a Senate seat in their efforts to gain the majority of the upper chamber,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

When the GOP candidates are matched against Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in hypothetical general election contests, Sinema leads all three. Sinema (57%) is strongest against Arpaio (32%) where she is ahead by 25 points. Sinema’s (49%) lead narrows against McSally (38%) to 11 points. Sinema is also ahead of Ward by 10 points, 48% to 38%.

✪ Echoing this projection, a new Emerson College ePoll finds Rep. Kyrsten Sinema in the lead for the Democratic nomination and also ahead of her three Republican rivals in hypothetical head to head match ups.

In the head-to-head matchup, Sinema leads all her Republican challengers. McSally appears to be the strongest competition (trailing Sinema 40% to 32%), while Arpaio (trailing 54% to 30%), and would most likely have the most difficult time defending the seat for the Republican Party if he was to receive the nomination.

Damning Polls: 59% of All Arizona Voters Reject Gov. Doug Ducey

June 30, 2018June 27, 2018 by Larry Bodine

Gov. Doug Ducey is a stooge of the Koch Brothers, who fund him with Dark Money and instruct him on how to destroy life in Arizona. — Gov. Doug Ducey is a stooge of the Koch Brothers, who fund him with dark money and instruct him on their anti-education agenda.

In a stunning new poll of Arizona voters, 59 percent of Republicans, Independents and Democrats combined said that they want someone else to lead the state besides incumbent Doug Ducey.

Only 26 percent of voters said Ducey should serve another term and 15 percent said they were unsure in the new June 26, 2018, NBC-Marist poll.

Confirming how fed up Arizonans are with Gov. Ducey, a June 25 Emerson College ePoll reports that Ducey has a lower approval rating (31%) than President Trump (43%) in Arizona and that a majority of voters (64%) think education funding is not enough.

Devastated public schools

Under Ducey, Arizona ranks 48th for public school funding and dead last in the nation for teacher pay. Arizona has cut more from education funding than any other state in the nation, a decline of more than 35%.