linda valdez

ACLU of Arizona’s “Sixty Years of Daring to Create a More Perfect Arizona” exhibit opening at Arizona History Museum

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This traveling exhibit is closing at Etherton Gallery (135 S.6th Avenue) on Feb. 2nd, moving to the Arizona History Museum, 949 E. 2nd Street on Feb. 5 (to March 5), 2019. From Tucson the exhibit travels to Prescott, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Winslow, and  back to Tempe where it started.

“HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ACLU OF ARIZONA’S 60 YEARS OF DEFENDING CIVIL LIBERTIES

Since 1959, the ACLU of Arizona has worked in courts, the Legislature, and communities statewide to protect the constitutional rights of all people. With the help of nearly 20,000 members and tens of thousands more supporters, we are able to take up the toughest civil liberties fights. Our work is not about one person, one party, or one issue. It is about all of us, we the people, coming together and daring to create a more perfect Arizona. We are in this together.
More information.
This exhibit will be open from February 5th to March 5th 2019.
Opening Reception and Workshop about Civil Discourse February 6th 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.”

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Reading by Linda Valdez, author of “Crossing the Line: A Marriage Across Borders”

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Linda Valdez, author of “Crossing the Line: A Marriage Across Borders” (Texas Christian University, 2015,  $22.95). “Not a typical immigration story, Crossing the Line is told by a middle-class American woman who fell in love with the son of an impoverished family from rural Mexico, a man who crossed the border illegally to be with her. … Read more

The Top Two blackmailing of AZ Democrats begins!

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

Open and Honest Elections filing

From the AZ Capitol Times comes this teaser for their January 12th edition of the Yellow Sheet:

Top two and anti-dark money rolled into one

By: Yellow Sheet Report January 12, 2016 , 4:18 pm

The campaigns for dark money disclosure and a “top-two” style primary election system have officially joined forces under the aegis of Open and Honest Coalition. In a news release today, the coalition announced the filing of “separate, but aligned” proposals to amend the Arizona Constitution.

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They want it to be a jungle out there for voters

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

jungle

The year is new and, of course, the Top Two, AKA Jungle Primary people are very busy peddling their harebrained idea to gullible pundits. The latest to take the bait is Arizona Republic‘s Linda Valdez, who is arguably the most liberal member of the paper’s editorial board.

Quoth Linda:

First, you get rid of partisan primaries.

The system is a relic. These days, people who register to vote with no party affiliation make up the largest group of voters in the state. They can vote in partisan primaries, but few independents engage in elections devised to serve the political parties they have already rejected.

Partisan primaries are ruled by a few die-hard voters who represent the fringes of each party. Because most districts are not competitive, the primary candidates those extremists pick usually win in November. No moderates need apply.

In 2012, there was a ballot initiative to create a non-partisan, open primary system. It looked popular, but it failed after a “dark money” campaign raised doubts in voters’ minds.

“You learn a lot from failure,” says former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson, who championed the measure.

He made a checklist of what to do differently. He’s ready to try again to pass an open primary initiative.

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