Larry Bodine

Larry Bodine, a journalist and attorney, is the Chair of LD18 Democrats, was President of Greater Tucson, and has been an elected Precinct Committeeman since 2006 in Arizona and Illinois. He was a Delegate to the 2020 Democratic National Convention.   ✍He began writing for the Blog for Arizona in June 2017 — See https://blogforarizona.net/author/larry-bodine  ✍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.

Farley Wins Debate with Garcia in Race for Governor

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Prepared and articulate, Democratic candidate for governor Steven Farley won a friendly debate with David Garcia at the Maricopa County Democrats convention in Phoenix on Aug. 19.

You can disagree in the comments, but Farley was clearly the candidate who can beat Doug Ducey:

  • He had specific answers about funding education and where to get the money. Garcia gave general answers and anecdotes.
  • Farley has actually been elected to office 6 times over the last 11 years.
  • Garcia lost in the 2014 race for Superintendent of Public Instruction to Diane Douglas, who did not campaign publicly.
  • Farley is a sitting state senator and Garcia is an ASU professor.

Hundreds of precinct committeemen and officers attended the event, which was live-cast on the party’s Facebook page and moderated by Brahm Resnik of NBC channel 12 news.

.6% Education Sales Tax

Farley: opposed, because it’s a regressive tax that hurts the poor. “The Arizona chamber of commerce says every year that we need to fund education and we need more corporate tax breaks, guess which one the legislature has listened to. These business leaders are calling for a 1% increase in your sales tax, but they should start calling for a tax increase on themselves. If they are sincere about improving our education system, they should share some of the burdens and not just let middle-class people take it again.”

Garcia: in favor, with an increase to 1% or 2%, but with additional dollars coming from closing tax loopholes.

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Schapira to Fight Right-Wing Conspiracy to Destroy Public Schools

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David Schapira is a Democratic candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
David Schapira is a Democratic candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

At first, David Schapira thought that Republican state legislators didn’t get it. He thought they didn’t realize the damage caused by taking $1.1 billion out of our public school system.

But after six years in the state legislature, he realized he was wrong.

“They do get it,” he said. “They are intentionally working to dismantle the public school system in Arizona.”

Speaking at the Tanque Verde Valley Democrats meeting, Schapira warned ominously, “Our public schools are on life support. If Diane Douglas is re-elected, she will let our schools die,” he says.”

A mountain of a man at 6-foot-5, he vowed to fight back. Schapira is a Democratic candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction, which oversees the state of Arizona’s public school system and directs the state’s Department of Education.

Schapira, age 37, knows how to get elected. He’s a Tempe city councilman, a former state representative and senator. As the leader of the Senate Democrats, he served on the Education Committee for six years.

Importantly, he’s a teacher. He has taught school high school, worked as a school administrator and has been at East Valley Institute of Technology for the last four years.

His proudest achievement is the Tempe Free Preschool program for low-income families, launched in April 2017.  “I’ve seen education from every perspective it can be seen from,” he says.

Douglas not qualified

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Sen. Flake Shows He is “Pond Scum” with 3 Votes Against Healthcare

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US Senator Jeff Flake says that his severe unpopularity “probably puts me somewhere just below pond scum.” After his three votes on July 25 to take away health insurance for 22 million to 33 million Americans, he proved that he is indeed pond scum.

And his votes loyally support Trump, despite what Flake says.

  • On the day when Sen. McCain famously gave a thumbs-down to a bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, Flake voted in favor of it.
  • When widely-hated Sen. Ted Cruz offered an amendment to create junk health insurance policies, Flake voted in favor of it.
  • When wacko anarchist Sen. Rand Paul offered an amendment to flat-out repeal the Affordable Care Act, Flake voted in favor of it.

Each of these draconian measures was voted down in the epic failure of the Republican repeal effort.

Gutless wonder

Flake, however, should be remembered as the gutless wonder that he is. In his new book, he even admits that his vote against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in 2008 “was more of an act of cowardice than conscience.”

The slim book is a pathetic attempt to mollify voters, criticizing Trump while attempting to don the mantle of Barry Goldwater (remembered by the tagline “In your guts, you know he’s nuts.”) The New York Times calls the book an intellectual failure designed to get him gigs on the rubber-chicken speaking circuit.

The book is total BS. Flake votes with Trump 95.6% of the time.

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Voters Get Clear-Cut Choices of Candidates for Ward 3 of Tucson City Council

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Tucson voters in northernmost Ward 3 have clear-cut choices among the three Democratic candidates running for the city council, as they spoke to Democratic precinct captains in the sprawling Ward.

Voters will select one in the primary on August 29. The winner will run against an “independent” in the general election on November 7. Some 88,700 people (36% Hispanic) live in the Ward, which sprawls from River Road on the north, to Swan on the east, to I-29 on the west, and Drachman on the south. Click here to see a map.

The Intellectual: Paul Durham

Paul Durham
Paul Durham

Attorney, MBA in finance.

Raised $41,000 in contributions and matching funds.

Key issues: run Tucson 100% on solar power, attract jobs that pay well, build community.

Lived in Tucson since 2004.

Voted for Hillary.

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