Cheryl Cage ran unsuccessfully twice against Senator Al Melvin for his seat in LD 26 in 2008 and 2010. She recently chaired the successful campaign of LD 9 House Rep. Dr. Randy Friese in Nov. 2014 (and had chaired former LD 26 Rep. Lena Saranik’s successful campaign as well in 2006). This recent win in LD 9 was an upset over incumbent Republican Rep. Ethan Orr.
She succeeds former Chair Don Jorgensen, as she was elected at the 2015 Pima County Reorganizational Meeting today. Here’s her resume:
Pima Dems Welcome Independent Voters (press release) Along with women, the poor, the sick, seniors, public employees, union workers, the LGBTQ Community, African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and working class families, add independent voters to the list of Americans the Republican Party wants to disenfranchise. An Arizona Capitol Times article today published in the Arizona Daily Star under the headline … Read more
Back on December 17, 2013 I reported for Tucsoncitizen.com that the JFK bust on a 5 foot tall pedestal at El Presidio Park (just west of the Pima County Courthouse) was stolen. Here’s an update on that bust which had been placed there in 1964 (after President Kennedy was assassinated) by the Pima County Democratic Party.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jason Ground, Communications Director
Date: March 31, 2013
Cell: 520.954.0715
Email: news@pimadems.org
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.