AZ Congressional Delegation

Pima Dems elect Jorgensen, party slate by acclamation at reorg meeting

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Jogenson007-sm72by Pamela Powers Hannley

The Pima County Democratic Party elected a slate of new officers— including Don Jorgensen as chair– by acclamation at Saturday's reorganization meeting. The whole election took about 30 minutes.

Although there were rumors about wild card candidates (from the business friendly Latinos who took over Legislative District 3) running against the suggested slate and although the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) met with progressive precinct committee (PsC) people to encourage them to run for statewide or county offices, there were no surprises on Saturday. (The progressive faction and the business friendly Latino faction are represented on the Executive Committee and on the State Committee, making both groups more diverse in multiple ways.)  

Nearly 150 voting PCs attended the reorganization meeting at Amphi High School; 51 were needed for quorum.

Chair Jeff Rogers– who led the local party with a strong hand through two, often-contentious terms– called the meeting to order and ran it. He started by congratulating the Dem foot soldiers for helping to elect President Barack Obama and a Democratic majority of Congressional seats– Ron Barber, Raul Grijalva, Ann Kirkpatrick, Kyrsten Sinema, and Ed Pastor.

Arizona State Senator Steve Farley nominated Jorgensen (pictured at left), a candidate who he said "has blue blood, in a good way".

In a short speech after his speedy, uncontested election, Jorgensen– dressed in the Dem Party Chair "uniform" of blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a blue blazer– came across as smart, friendly, inclusive, and spot-on with the issues that reflect Democratic values.

"I know that it is wrong to have more laws to regulate a woman's vagina, than assault weapons; more laws that support prisons more than public education; and laws that allow you to be pulled over because of the color of your skin," Jorgensen said, alluding to multiple right-wing bills passed in recent years by the Arizona Legislature.

"We need to work smarter and speak louder," Jorgensen continued. "We are not going to be complacent as we were in 2010. The work starts tomorrow." More about the elections after the jump.

Rep. Matt Salmon advocates for a government shutdown

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

We got rid of this fool back in 2002 when Janet Napolitano defeated him for governor. Now former and newly-elected Rep. Matt Salmon is back in Washington, making a fool of himself and embarrassing Arizona once again. Will we never learn? GOP Rep: ‘It’s About Time’ We Had Another Government Shut Down:

Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation this morning, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) enthusiastically called for a government shut down:

Screenshot from 2013-01-06 13:58:12SALMON: I was here during the government shutdown in
1995. It was a divided government. we had a Democrat [sic] President of
the United States. We had a Republican Congress. And I believe
that that government shutdown actually gave us the impetus, as we went
forward, to push toward some real serious compromise. I think
it drove Bill Clinton in a different direction, a very bipartisan
direction. In fact, we passed welfare reform for the first time ever,
and we cut the welfare ranks in the last decade and a half by over 50%.
These are good things. We also balanced the budget for the first time in
40 years in 1997, 1998, 1999. And when I left we had an over $230
billion surplus. This was with a Democrat [sic] president, A Republican —

HOST: You think that’s a good idea?

SALMON: Yes, I do. I really do. I think it’s about time!

WaPo story on Rep. Kyrsten Sinema

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Washington Post today has a profile of Arizona Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema in the style section of the newspaper, Kyrsten Sinema: A success story like nobody else’s (excerpt):

Sinema likes to crack herself her up. She likes to crack everyone
else up, too, even though this last tendency — the aspirationally
comedic — is forever getting her in trouble.

“I think there’s this
pressure to get rid of the fun that makes us human,” Sinema says a few
minutes later. “It hasn’t worked on me.”

Sinema is a bracingly
unfiltered talker, a precocious achiever, a high-energy persuader, an
adjunct professor, a lawyer, a marathon runner, a lover of designer
clothes. She is a holder of many, many degrees — this she’s happy to
tell you in a humble-braggy sort of way. And she can be a lot of fun to
hang out with, a rambling, kind of kooky monologist who can pivot from
whimsical and wacky to substantive and earnest without a pause.

BlogForArizona Commends Congressman Barber

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By The Writers of BlogForArizona

Since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, we at Blog for Arizona have urged Ron Barber to take the lead in Congress in advocating for common sense gun laws. We wrote numerous posts and started a petition that now has over 400 signatures. 

We have watched with deep admiration as Congressman Barber has taken increasingly strong stands on the subject and has occupied an ever more prominent place in the national conversation. His statement on December 19th (posted after the click) is an example of the kind of powerful, personal testimony we hoped to hear from him.

He should know that his constituents and supporters across Arizona, and the nation, stand firmly behind his efforts. Hopefully, this trend will continue, and we have increasing confidence it will. We know that if Ron speaks from his heart at every possible opportunity, millions of Americans will be moved and we just may wind up with sane gun laws as a result.

Read more after the click…

POSTS WILL CONTINUE BELOW

And then there’s Ann Kirkpatrick

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by David Safier Raúl Grijalva gave his usual strong, eloquent statement on the gun regulation issue (Man, can that guy speak, and write). Ron Barber is showing a willingness to take a prominent place in the discussion (I think he was on MSNBC a few minutes ago). And then there's Representative-elect Ann Kirkpatrick. When the … Read more