Todd Clodfelter

Democratic Candidates for LD10 House Shine in Drive to Oust Clodfelter

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LD10 Democratic candidates.jpg
Left to right, candidates Kirsten Engel, Domingo DeGrazia, Nikki Lee and Catherine Ripley

Democrats have four impressive candidates for the Arizona House in Legislative District 10 in eastern Tucson, united in their effort to oust Republican incumbent, Todd “Confederate” Clodfelter.

  • UofA Law Professor Kirsten H. Engel is running for a second term in the AZ House, after serving on the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, and Judiciary and Public Safety committee.
  • Newcomer Domingo DeGrazia, son of famous Tucson artist Ted DeGrazia, is a licensed pilot and a trial attorney in juvenile court. “I have a constant drive to better myself, creativity and tenacity to see a fight through to the end,” he says.
  • Catherine Ripley is a retired 26-year Navy officer and current political science teacher at Pima College (and earlier at Harvard, Boston University, and M.I.T.). In her first run for office, she says, “I’m a former diplomat, Mom, and business executive. I’ve seen famine and war. I’m here to bring my skills and experiences, and have the tools to hand Todd Clodfelter a defeat he’ll never forget.”
  • Running as a Clean Elections Candidate, newcomer Nikki Lee has a young campaign team of Millennials, including herself at age 36. “We have so much excitement on our campaign, doing innovating things, understanding the life of young people.”  She has  launched the “A to Z podcast” for young people.

LD10 has two AZ House members and one Senator, David Bradley, who was on hand and running without opposition. Clodfelter is notorious for his Confederate Flag screen saver, which he claimed wasn’t racist. His signature legislation throws a meager $150 tax credit at teachers to cover school supplies rather than help them in any meaningful way.

If you could pass one bill…

Asked if they could pass only one bill in the Republican-majority House, the candidates said it would be to:

Engel: End the hundreds of corporate sales tax loopholes and use the money to fund public schools.

DeGrazia: Stop gun violence.

Lee: Help veterans recover from PTSD and brain injuries.

Ripley: Enact common-sense gun policy, including a ban on bump stocks.

If you could reverse one law…

Asked what law or bill they would want to stop, the candidates said:

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Marijuana to Bump Stocks to Tax Giveaways: How Did your #AZHouse Rep Vote?

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Arizona House Democrats
There have been many lively debates in the Arizona House in 2018. This team of House Democrats fought for consumer protections and fought against risky financial deals in a “regulatory sandbox.” (Pictured are Reps. Mitzi Epstein, Kelli Butler, Athena Salman, Pamela Powers Hannley, Ken Clark and Isela Blanc.)

In the middle of each Legislative Session, there is a frenetic time period called “crossover week”. It is characterized by a flurry of debates and votes in a compressed timeframe. The purpose is to pass on as many wacky bills as possible in each chamber of the Legislature before successful bills are passed to the other chamber. (Hence, the name “crossover week”).

In the last two weeks, the Arizona House has voted on more than 100 bills. I think the House is up to ~250 bills that we have sent to the Senate. Of course, this list includes the good, the bad and the ugly. Below the fold are a few of the recent votes on gun violence, tax giveaways, mandatory sentencing, and drugs. All of these bills are still alive and have been sent to the Arizona Senate. If you don’t like these bills, tell your Senators and Representatives. (On the voting below, green = yes, red = no, purple = excused absence, yellow = absent.)

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Healthcare Forum: We Want to Hear Your Stories

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Banner University Medical Center
High-tech medical care at Banner University Medical Center

For the past 30 years, my career has focused on health promotion, disease prevention, behavioral research, and communications. I have seen, photographed, and written about the good, the bad and the ugly parts of our country’s healthcare “system”.

I saw the rise of HMOs (health maintenance organizations) in the 1980s. I cheered the Clintons for at least trying to fix the overly complicated mess in the early 1990s. I saw costs going up every year and service going down. I saw a health insurance system that was creaking under the weight of its own complexity, while big insurance and big pharma collected huge profits. As managing editor of the American Journal of Medicine, I stood proudly by the Editor-in-Chief when he and the Editorial Board called for Medicare for All on multiple occasions.

Along the way, I have heard stories about huge medical bills, uncompensated hospital care, outrageously expensive drugs, limited or delayed access to medical care, premature death and disease, medical bankruptcy, and the medical consequences of poverty.

Now, as a member of the Arizona House and the ranking Democrat on the Health Committee, I want to hear your stories.

Do you have concerns about the future of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid and Kids Care? Is the cost of medical care or prescription drugs a worry for your family? How would dramatic cuts to these programs impact you? Come to the 200 Stories: Tucson Healthcare Forum on Oct 29.

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Final General Election results 2016 – LD 10 House & TUSD Board

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Since Election night Nov. 8, 2016 we have been awaiting the final tally of Pima County’s early & provisional ballots for these 2 close races:

LD 10 House (two seats, one open):

Todd Clodfelter (R)   45,627

Kirsten Engel (D)  45,530

Stefanie Mach (D), incumbent  44,770

Incumbent Rep. Mach has apparently lost, after serving 2 terms in the Arizona House.  This was Clodfelter’s 3rd try for this same seat in LD 10.

TUSD Governing Board  (3 seats, nonpartisan, unpaid):

Mark Stegeman, incumbent   57,466

Kristel Foster, incumbent  54,352

Rachael Sedgwick  50,205

Betts Putnam-Hidalgo  49,519

Brett Rustand  47,683

Cam Juarez, incumbent 47,444

Lori Riegel  41,734

Incumbent Juarez has also apparently lost his bid, served for 1 term (4 years). Political newcomer (former teacher/3rd year law student) Rachael Sedgwick will be joining Prof. Mark Stegeman, Kristel Foster and current President Adelita Grijalva and Michael Hicks on the board.

http://www.tusd.k12.az.us/contents/govboard/govboard.html

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Watch AZ Citizens Clean Elections debates online – LD 9 and LD 10 races

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Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission held 2 debates recently in Southern Arizona.  The LD 9 House debate was held at PCC Northwest campus on Oct. 14 and the LD 10 Senate & House debates were held at PCC  District Office on Oct. 18.

LD 9:  Rep.Randy Friese (D), Pam Powers Hannley (D) and Ana Henderson (R), seeking 2 House seats.

Rep. Matt Kopec (D), who was appointed to this seat in January,  was defeated in the Democratic  primary on August 30 by Hannley.  State Senator Steve Farley in LD 9 is running unopposed.

Watch LD 9 video here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVUJdERwUAM&feature=share

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