Jesse Hernandez and Mark Thompson, two of the three Republican candidates for the legislature in LD17, have teamed up to air a campaign spot bashing State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill and State Representatives Ed Ableser and David Schapira.
"Bashing" is all that it is, too. It seems to be all that the Republicans have this year.
And this being an election year and all, that wouldn't normally rate a blog post. Attack ads aren't exactly unheard-of during even numbered years.
However, this spot is so cheesy and sloppily insulting that it is less campaign rhetoric and more schoolyard taunts.
The spot begins by showing three crudely drawn mouse figures with the faces of Burton-Cahill, Ableser and Schapira pasted on them while something resembling the song "Three Blind Mice" plays in the background.
The spot first captured my attention when I heard it playing on a cable news channel.
They absolutely massacred the pronounciation of Ed Ableser's last name, making it sound like it is spelled "Ablazzarrr."
I was going to poke a little fun at them for making such a bush-league mistake as not getting their opponent's name right, but after watching the entire ad, I'm not so sure it was a mistake.
Moments later the mouse bearing Senator Burton-Cahill's face is pictured losing her balance, and with her cane flailing, falling over the edge of whatever she is standing on (the artwork for the spot is *really* low-grade).
It seems to be a clear jab at her medical issues involving her ankle. She spent much of last year hobbled by that ankle and needed a cane for support.
Deliberately mispronouncing one opponent's name and making fun of another's medical problems? Are they adults running for public office or for punk kids running for recess bully?
Sheesh...
Anyway, another curious thing that I've noticed beyond this spot is the teaming up of Hernandez and Thompson on signage (as well as this spot) while their fellow Republican candidate Wes Waddle is all but frozen out. I'm not sure what is going on there, but I almost titled this post "Whither Wes Waddle?" if only for the alliterative effect. :)
However, the post isn't really about him, and the actual title, while incredibly boring, describes the content of the post far more accurately.
Later!
Showing posts with label Burton-Cahill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Burton-Cahill. Show all posts
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Friday, October 03, 2008
Endorsements and canvasses
Ahhh....Autumn in an even-numbered year...
...Leaves turning, filling our vision with a palette of colors (OK, in non-AZ parts of the country :) )...
...The Cardinals finding ever-more painful ways to lose football games, filling our living rooms and sports bars with cries of anguish and derision...
...People walking and knocking, filling our hearing with words of this candidate or that ballot question...
...Newspapers and mailers covering our fingers with ink. crowing about endorsements...
Either temps are dropping, or early ballots are hitting mailboxes this week.
Whatever the cause, the lists of both endorsements and scheduled canvasses this week are getting longer by the minute.
The AZ Republic released its endorsements in LDs 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 (aka - the East Valley). That list looks less like they seriously considered the merits of each candidate and more like they wanted only to hedge their bets.
In all of the districts except for LD19, they split their support, selecting one member of one party and two of the other party.
Now, personally, I think that if the Rep actually cared about the interests of the districts and the state, they should have endorsed all Democrats...but I'm a self-admitted partisan hack. :)
In other words, I may not agree with all of their endorsements, but they have the right to endorse any candidate they choose, and for any reason.
However, partisan hack or not, I have to take exception to two of their snubs - Tammie Pursley in LD18 and Ed Ableser in LD17.
Apparently, they preferred Cecil Ash over Pursley because of his moderate (by LD18 standards, anyway), pro-business position on illegal immigration. Apparently, they ignored the fact that is the only issue on which Ash is remotely 'moderate.' He is active with United Families International, a far-right AZ-based organization that works to "support traditional families" by things like opposing radical UN initiatives such as the UN Conventions on Women's Rights and Children's Rights (the conventions oppose hallmarks of the traditional family structure like forced marriage of children and gender-selective infanticide.)
Tammie Pursley may be focused on education, but she has the intelligence and the work ethic to learn, contribute and lead on other issues as AZ moves into into the 21st century.
Ash will just serve as a chain dragging Arizona back to the 19th century.
As for Ed Ableser, the Rep's editors criticized him for being too partisan in supporting efforts to assist Corona del Sol High School with its air quality issues.
Huh??
In a session that saw some of the most underhanded tactics from the Republican caucus in the lege *against* ideas and people they don't like, (such as Sen. Jack Harper's work to kill a texting-while-driving ban and to railroad the anti-same sex marriage constitutional amendment on to November's ballot) they're criticizing a Democrat for fighting *for* his constituents?
Bit of a credibility gap there.
In other endorsement news,
...Congressman Harry Mitchell has endorsed Bob Lord, the candidate whose challenge in CD3 has incumbent Republican John Shadegg running scared (witness his vote in favor of the bailout bill)
...The AZ Rep has endorsed Democrat Tim Nelson for Maricopa County Attorney. Supporters of Andrew Thomas will undoubtedly point out the fact that Thomas didn't seek the Rep's endorsement. They will also undoubtedly ignore the fact that even Thomas knew better than to even bother after his abortive attempt to intimidate critics in the press into silence. The editors of the Rep don't seem to have forgotten the harassment, investigation and arrests of journalists from the Phoenix New Times.
...The endorsements issued by the Maricopa County GOP in the nonpartisan race for the Maricopa Integrated Health System board seems to have upset some of the snubbed candidates, most of whom are long-time Republicans. It seems that most of them didn't even *know* that endorsements were even being considered.
Should make for a fun time at the MCGOP's next organizing meeting after the election (probably sometime in January.)
As for canvasses this weekend...
...Governor Janet Napolitano will be in the East Valley on Saturday, walking and knocking with dozens (hundreds?? hint, hint :)) ) of enthusiastic volunteers.
First, at 8:30 a.m. join the Governor and State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill, State Representative Ed Ableser, and State Representative David Schapira at the Tempe coordinated campaign headquarters at 123 E. Baseline in Tempe. The office phone number is 480-820-2298.
After that at 9:30 a.m., the Governor will be making a stop in LD21 in Chandler to help Phil Hettmansperger. Meet up at Pima Park, 625 N. McQueen Dr. Chandler (East side of McQueen Rd, between Ray Rd. and Chandler Blvd.) Contact Darcy at the Tempe office at 480-820-2298.
...Ed Hermes, candidate for County Supervisor in District 1, will be holding a canvass in LD20 with Tim Nelson, Ted Maish (candidate for State Senate), and Rae Waters (State House) on Sunday, October 5. The walk is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. Contact the campaign at ed[at]edhermes.com or 480-234-1753.
...In LD18, Judah Nativio and Tammie Pursley will be busy this weekend. Contact them at http://www.electnativio.com/homepage.php or http://www.pursleyforchange.com/08/.
...In LD8 and LD7, contact the Scottsdale coordinated campaign office located at 7950 E Acoma Dr. at 480-607-4435. Candidates Stephanie Rimmer (LD8), Jeanne Lunn (LD7), Joel Sinclaire (County Supervisor SD2) and Marilyn Fox (SD3) as well as Congressman Harry Mitchell all need your help.
Later!
...Leaves turning, filling our vision with a palette of colors (OK, in non-AZ parts of the country :) )...
...The Cardinals finding ever-more painful ways to lose football games, filling our living rooms and sports bars with cries of anguish and derision...
...People walking and knocking, filling our hearing with words of this candidate or that ballot question...
...Newspapers and mailers covering our fingers with ink. crowing about endorsements...
Either temps are dropping, or early ballots are hitting mailboxes this week.
Whatever the cause, the lists of both endorsements and scheduled canvasses this week are getting longer by the minute.
The AZ Republic released its endorsements in LDs 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 (aka - the East Valley). That list looks less like they seriously considered the merits of each candidate and more like they wanted only to hedge their bets.
In all of the districts except for LD19, they split their support, selecting one member of one party and two of the other party.
Now, personally, I think that if the Rep actually cared about the interests of the districts and the state, they should have endorsed all Democrats...but I'm a self-admitted partisan hack. :)
In other words, I may not agree with all of their endorsements, but they have the right to endorse any candidate they choose, and for any reason.
However, partisan hack or not, I have to take exception to two of their snubs - Tammie Pursley in LD18 and Ed Ableser in LD17.
Apparently, they preferred Cecil Ash over Pursley because of his moderate (by LD18 standards, anyway), pro-business position on illegal immigration. Apparently, they ignored the fact that is the only issue on which Ash is remotely 'moderate.' He is active with United Families International, a far-right AZ-based organization that works to "support traditional families" by things like opposing radical UN initiatives such as the UN Conventions on Women's Rights and Children's Rights (the conventions oppose hallmarks of the traditional family structure like forced marriage of children and gender-selective infanticide.)
Tammie Pursley may be focused on education, but she has the intelligence and the work ethic to learn, contribute and lead on other issues as AZ moves into into the 21st century.
Ash will just serve as a chain dragging Arizona back to the 19th century.
As for Ed Ableser, the Rep's editors criticized him for being too partisan in supporting efforts to assist Corona del Sol High School with its air quality issues.
Huh??
In a session that saw some of the most underhanded tactics from the Republican caucus in the lege *against* ideas and people they don't like, (such as Sen. Jack Harper's work to kill a texting-while-driving ban and to railroad the anti-same sex marriage constitutional amendment on to November's ballot) they're criticizing a Democrat for fighting *for* his constituents?
Bit of a credibility gap there.
In other endorsement news,
...Congressman Harry Mitchell has endorsed Bob Lord, the candidate whose challenge in CD3 has incumbent Republican John Shadegg running scared (witness his vote in favor of the bailout bill)
...The AZ Rep has endorsed Democrat Tim Nelson for Maricopa County Attorney. Supporters of Andrew Thomas will undoubtedly point out the fact that Thomas didn't seek the Rep's endorsement. They will also undoubtedly ignore the fact that even Thomas knew better than to even bother after his abortive attempt to intimidate critics in the press into silence. The editors of the Rep don't seem to have forgotten the harassment, investigation and arrests of journalists from the Phoenix New Times.
...The endorsements issued by the Maricopa County GOP in the nonpartisan race for the Maricopa Integrated Health System board seems to have upset some of the snubbed candidates, most of whom are long-time Republicans. It seems that most of them didn't even *know* that endorsements were even being considered.
Should make for a fun time at the MCGOP's next organizing meeting after the election (probably sometime in January.)
As for canvasses this weekend...
...Governor Janet Napolitano will be in the East Valley on Saturday, walking and knocking with dozens (hundreds?? hint, hint :)) ) of enthusiastic volunteers.
First, at 8:30 a.m. join the Governor and State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill, State Representative Ed Ableser, and State Representative David Schapira at the Tempe coordinated campaign headquarters at 123 E. Baseline in Tempe. The office phone number is 480-820-2298.
After that at 9:30 a.m., the Governor will be making a stop in LD21 in Chandler to help Phil Hettmansperger. Meet up at Pima Park, 625 N. McQueen Dr. Chandler (East side of McQueen Rd, between Ray Rd. and Chandler Blvd.) Contact Darcy at the Tempe office at 480-820-2298.
...Ed Hermes, candidate for County Supervisor in District 1, will be holding a canvass in LD20 with Tim Nelson, Ted Maish (candidate for State Senate), and Rae Waters (State House) on Sunday, October 5. The walk is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. Contact the campaign at ed[at]edhermes.com or 480-234-1753.
...In LD18, Judah Nativio and Tammie Pursley will be busy this weekend. Contact them at http://www.electnativio.com/homepage.php or http://www.pursleyforchange.com/08/.
...In LD8 and LD7, contact the Scottsdale coordinated campaign office located at 7950 E Acoma Dr. at 480-607-4435. Candidates Stephanie Rimmer (LD8), Jeanne Lunn (LD7), Joel Sinclaire (County Supervisor SD2) and Marilyn Fox (SD3) as well as Congressman Harry Mitchell all need your help.
Later!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
In the news...
...Congrats all the way around to LD17's legislative delegation of Senator Meg Burton Cahill, Representative Ed Ableser, and Representative David Schapira (Democrats, one and all). Each earned a grade of 100% from the Arizona League of Conservation Voters in their Legislative Scorecard for the 2008 session. While there were many high-scoring districts, LD17 was the only district where more than one legislator earned a grade of 100%.
On the opposite end of the scale was LD3, with Sen. Ron Gould and Reps. Trish Groe and Nancy McClain (Rs one and all - of course) earning an average score of 27%.
...While it's been a lot of fun to watch the LD18 Republicans tear themselves apart (LOTS of fun :) ), the media coverage of all of the negative campaigning and polls conducted by Republican firms has all but ignored Tammie Pursley and Judah Nativio, the strong Democratic candidates in the west Mesa district (for House and Senate, respectively). However, the EV Tribune ran a full story on Nativio on Thursday. It was a pretty good piece, one that pointed out that the race for the LD18 senate seat won't end on September 2nd when the contest between immigration attorney (and brother-in-law of Congressman Jeff Flake) Kevin Gibbons reaches its conclusion.
The real race will just be beginning.
...Friday morning at 10, the AZ Democrats will be holding a rally to highlight John McCain's close ties to Big Oil. The rally will take place from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on the southwest corner of 48th St. and Thomas, across from the Mobil station.
...Apparently nobody told McCain and the Republicans that they've been calling themselves the party of private property rights - they're getting sued for misappropriating and misusing someone's private property.
From AP -
Jackson Browne sues McCain, RNC over song in ad
Jackson Browne doesn't want John McCain running on anything fueled by his lyrics.
The singer-songwriter sued McCain and the Ohio and national Republican committees in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday, accusing them of using his song "Running on Empty" without his permission.
Perhaps their "respect" for private property rights just doesn't apply to the property of famous liberals...
...In an example of willful irony (OK, it was shameless hypocrisy, but I'm trying to be tactful here - this isn't supposed to be an unmitigated McCain-bashing post), McCain has criticized the Russian invasion of Georgia (the country, not the state), saying things like "In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations."
Iraq, John. Iraq.
...Darragh Murphy, head of PUMA PAC, an organization that purports to be a group of grassroots Hillary Clinton supporters working to secure her nomination at the Democratic Convention in two weeks, has some credibility problems.
It turns out that in 2000, she supported John McCain in the Republican Presidential primary to the tune of $500.
Can you say "astroturf"?
This stuff and other stuff about PUMA PAC has been going around the internet for a more than a month now, but she was blathering (and getting ripped apart) on Hardball on Thursday. So I figured that it was my turn (I know a couple of Clinton delegates who read this blog).
...And in goofy news of the day, a Chandler resident wants his city to sue the Obama campaign because he feels that the campaign's logo is so similar to the City of Chandler's logo that it constitutes trademark infringement. (AZ Republic)
I think it's BS, but you decide (logos courtesy the AZRep article linked above) -
Later!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Events and other election stuff (and an Ethics Committee hearing into Jack Harper's behavior)...
...Tuesday, August 12 - As chronicled by Zelph at AZNetroots, the hearing by the Senate Ethics Committee, putatively to investigate the actions of Sen. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. At the end of the Senate session in June, Harper abused his power as the chair of the Senate meeting to cut off Democratic Senators Paula Aboud and Ken Cheuvront. He was trying to railroad an anti-same sex marriage constitutional amendment on to the November ballot; they were working to prevent that. When Harper arbitrarily shut off the Dems' microphones, he violated Senate rules.
However justified the hearing may be, it's nothing but a sham as two of the three Republican members of the five-member committee, Sens. Barbara Leff and Robert Blendu, have already announced that they don't think that Harper committed any violations. Still, it could be interesting to watch the hearing; while the outcome is all but determined, some of the nuances and shadings of the proceedings could be fun (like who shows up to watch, how long they make Harper squirm before giving him a free pass, etc.) Video should be available here.
...Tuesday, August 12 - The LD17 Democrats will hold their monthly meeting at the Pyle Center in Tempe (SW corner of Baseline and Rural). The special guest speaker will be Congressman Harry Mitchell. Other highlights include Adralyn Wendel from the coordinated campaign office, campaign updates, and T-SHIRTS!
...Tuesday, August 12 - Rebecca Schneider and Chris Gramazio, Democratic challengers to Congressman Jeff Flake (R-CD6), will hold a debate at the main branch of the Chandler Library, 22 S. Delaware St.
...The Ed Hermes for County Supervisor campaign will be holding phone banks on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and canvassing in LD20 on Sunday, August 17. For more details, contact the campaign at 480-626-8100 or stop by the campaign HQ at 7305 W. Boston St., Chandler.
...Friday, August 15 - There will be an open house at the coordinated campaign office in Tempe (123 E. Baseline - SE corner Mill and Baseline). Stop by from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and meet Congressman Harry Mitchell, LD17 State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill, and LD17 State Representatives Ed Ableser and David Schapira as well at Ted Maish and Rae Waters (LD 20 Candidates), Phil Hettmansperger (LD 21 Candidate), Tammy Pursley and Judah Nativio (LD 18 Candidates), and Ed Hermes (County Board of Supervisors Candidate).
...In "non-event but still pretty informative (and funny) news, the AZ Democratic Party has launched ShadeggforSenate.com, dedicated to the future political aspirations of Congressman John Shadegg (R-Calgon, take me away!). It's a sharp needle aimed toward the balloon of Shadegg's career in D.C., but it has a tough act to follow in the Maricopa County Democratic Party's Joe'sGotToGo.com, aimed at Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Later!
However justified the hearing may be, it's nothing but a sham as two of the three Republican members of the five-member committee, Sens. Barbara Leff and Robert Blendu, have already announced that they don't think that Harper committed any violations. Still, it could be interesting to watch the hearing; while the outcome is all but determined, some of the nuances and shadings of the proceedings could be fun (like who shows up to watch, how long they make Harper squirm before giving him a free pass, etc.) Video should be available here.
...Tuesday, August 12 - The LD17 Democrats will hold their monthly meeting at the Pyle Center in Tempe (SW corner of Baseline and Rural). The special guest speaker will be Congressman Harry Mitchell. Other highlights include Adralyn Wendel from the coordinated campaign office, campaign updates, and T-SHIRTS!
...Tuesday, August 12 - Rebecca Schneider and Chris Gramazio, Democratic challengers to Congressman Jeff Flake (R-CD6), will hold a debate at the main branch of the Chandler Library, 22 S. Delaware St.
...The Ed Hermes for County Supervisor campaign will be holding phone banks on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and canvassing in LD20 on Sunday, August 17. For more details, contact the campaign at 480-626-8100 or stop by the campaign HQ at 7305 W. Boston St., Chandler.
...Friday, August 15 - There will be an open house at the coordinated campaign office in Tempe (123 E. Baseline - SE corner Mill and Baseline). Stop by from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and meet Congressman Harry Mitchell, LD17 State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill, and LD17 State Representatives Ed Ableser and David Schapira as well at Ted Maish and Rae Waters (LD 20 Candidates), Phil Hettmansperger (LD 21 Candidate), Tammy Pursley and Judah Nativio (LD 18 Candidates), and Ed Hermes (County Board of Supervisors Candidate).
...In "non-event but still pretty informative (and funny) news, the AZ Democratic Party has launched ShadeggforSenate.com, dedicated to the future political aspirations of Congressman John Shadegg (R-Calgon, take me away!). It's a sharp needle aimed toward the balloon of Shadegg's career in D.C., but it has a tough act to follow in the Maricopa County Democratic Party's Joe'sGotToGo.com, aimed at Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Later!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Mail Call...
Time for the second of this year's "mail call" posts, and this one is a big one - the primary ballot is here.
While exciting for political geeks, the ballot itself is actually a bit of a disappointment - the Democratic ballot in the LD17 section of Scottsdale contains as many "no candidate races" as it does actual primary contests.
There are four contests - Corporation Commission, Maricopa County Attorney, Mayor of Scottsdale, and Scottsdale City Council (those last two are non-partisan races - they're on all ballots in Scottsdale.)
Uncontested by Democratic candidates are the offices of Maricopa County Recorder, Assessor, School Superintendent, and Treasurer.
Those seats haven't been contested by Democrats since before 2000, the earliest I could find results for on the Maricopa County Recorder's website.
Now, these offices aren't exactly the highest profile offices. I can only name the holder of one of them - Helen Purcell, the County Recorder.
And that's only because, political geek that I am :) , I spend so much time on her office's website.
As for the rest of them, they're notable mostly when they do something that they shouldn't.
Having said that, in spite of the relative anonymity of the jobs, it's still disappointing that no challengers could be found (hey! To anyone who is considering a run for office, you might want to consider this - state legislators earn $24K per year; the four county officer positions mentioned in this post earn over $67K per year. Just something to think about...)
Anyway, I'll mull over the choices on the primary ballot (the County Attorney and Scottsdale City Council races are especially tough) and fill out and return my ballot in the next week or so.
This post does provide a good excuse to list the contact info for the various Democratic candidates on ballots in Scottsdale, Tempe, and west Mesa (all info courtesy the candidates' websites or their AZ Rep questionnaires) -
Congressman Harry Mitchell (CD5)
http://www.harry2008.com/
123 East Baseline Road (SE corner of Mill and Baseline)
Suite D-102
Tempe
480-755-3343
info@harry2008.com
Representative David Schapira (LD17)
480-626-8100
http://www.davidforaz.com/ds/index.htm
info@davidforaz.com
Representative Ed Ableser (LD17)
http://www.edableser.com/
1-877-868-3392
info@edableser.com
Ed Hermes, candidate for SD1 County Supervisor
http://www.edhermes.com/Home.html
7305 W. Boston
Chandler
480-626-8100
Joel Sinclaire, candidate for SD2 County Supervisor
25249 North Ranch Gate Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
(602) 821-3800
Joel@ElectSinclaire.com
ElectSinclaire.com
Stephanie Rimmer, candidate for State Representative (LD8)
http://www.stephanierimmer.com/
stephanie@stephanierimmer.com
602.432.2486
Judah Nativio, candidate for State Senator (LD18)
http://www.electnativio.com/
3440 East Southern Ave. #1109
Mesa AZ 85204 480-861-2160
judah@electnativio.com
Tammie Pursley, candidate for State Representative (LD18)
http://www.pursleyforchange.com/08/
(602) 373-1707
1544 N. 1st Place
Mesa, AZ 85201
Dan Saban, candidate for County Sheriff
602-390-3136
http://www.sabanforsheriff.com/2008
info@sabanforsheriff.com
Gerald Richard, candidate for County Attorney
4003 E. Agave Rd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85044
602-513-2743
http://richardforcountyattorney.com/
info@richardforcountyattorney.com
Tim Nelson, candidate for County Attorney
4340 East Indian School Road
Suite 21-119
Phoenix, AZ 85018
(602) 672-2938
http://www.timnelson2008.com/
info@richardforcountyattorney.com
For more information on candidates for statewide office or in other LDs, visit the AZ Dems' website.
While exciting for political geeks, the ballot itself is actually a bit of a disappointment - the Democratic ballot in the LD17 section of Scottsdale contains as many "no candidate races" as it does actual primary contests.
There are four contests - Corporation Commission, Maricopa County Attorney, Mayor of Scottsdale, and Scottsdale City Council (those last two are non-partisan races - they're on all ballots in Scottsdale.)
Uncontested by Democratic candidates are the offices of Maricopa County Recorder, Assessor, School Superintendent, and Treasurer.
Those seats haven't been contested by Democrats since before 2000, the earliest I could find results for on the Maricopa County Recorder's website.
Now, these offices aren't exactly the highest profile offices. I can only name the holder of one of them - Helen Purcell, the County Recorder.
And that's only because, political geek that I am :) , I spend so much time on her office's website.
As for the rest of them, they're notable mostly when they do something that they shouldn't.
Having said that, in spite of the relative anonymity of the jobs, it's still disappointing that no challengers could be found (hey! To anyone who is considering a run for office, you might want to consider this - state legislators earn $24K per year; the four county officer positions mentioned in this post earn over $67K per year. Just something to think about...)
Anyway, I'll mull over the choices on the primary ballot (the County Attorney and Scottsdale City Council races are especially tough) and fill out and return my ballot in the next week or so.
This post does provide a good excuse to list the contact info for the various Democratic candidates on ballots in Scottsdale, Tempe, and west Mesa (all info courtesy the candidates' websites or their AZ Rep questionnaires) -
Congressman Harry Mitchell (CD5)
http://www.harry2008.com/
123 East Baseline Road (SE corner of Mill and Baseline)
Suite D-102
Tempe
480-755-3343
info@harry2008.com
Representative David Schapira (LD17)
480-626-8100
http://www.davidforaz.com/ds/index.htm
info@davidforaz.com
Representative Ed Ableser (LD17)
http://www.edableser.com/
1-877-868-3392
info@edableser.com
Ed Hermes, candidate for SD1 County Supervisor
http://www.edhermes.com/Home.html
7305 W. Boston
Chandler
480-626-8100
Joel Sinclaire, candidate for SD2 County Supervisor
25249 North Ranch Gate Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
(602) 821-3800
Joel@ElectSinclaire.com
ElectSinclaire.com
Stephanie Rimmer, candidate for State Representative (LD8)
http://www.stephanierimmer.com/
stephanie@stephanierimmer.com
602.432.2486
Judah Nativio, candidate for State Senator (LD18)
http://www.electnativio.com/
3440 East Southern Ave. #1109
Mesa AZ 85204 480-861-2160
judah@electnativio.com
Tammie Pursley, candidate for State Representative (LD18)
http://www.pursleyforchange.com/08/
(602) 373-1707
1544 N. 1st Place
Mesa, AZ 85201
Dan Saban, candidate for County Sheriff
602-390-3136
http://www.sabanforsheriff.com/2008
info@sabanforsheriff.com
Gerald Richard, candidate for County Attorney
4003 E. Agave Rd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85044
602-513-2743
http://richardforcountyattorney.com/
info@richardforcountyattorney.com
Tim Nelson, candidate for County Attorney
4340 East Indian School Road
Suite 21-119
Phoenix, AZ 85018
(602) 672-2938
http://www.timnelson2008.com/
info@richardforcountyattorney.com
For more information on candidates for statewide office or in other LDs, visit the AZ Dems' website.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Mail Call
The first "mail call" post of the 2008 election season will be a brief one.
Official candidate publicity pamplets are starting to reach voters across the state.
...The first to hit mailboxes in Scottsdale was the City of Scottsdale's candidate information pamphlet (.pdf available here). That one showed up late last week, and it's pretty straightforward.
...Reaching town today was the Clean Elections Commission's "2008 Statewide & Legislative Candidate Statements - Primary Election" brochure (.pdf available here).
That one was a little more interesting. Where the Scottsdale candidates used their statements as a platform for a "why you should vote for me" message, Mark Thompson, one of the Republican challengers, spent most of his statement attacking the Democratic incumbents, David Schapira and Ed Ableser. He criticized them for being young (no children or grandchildren), for being teachers (not business owners) and for, of all the crazy things for a Republican to criticize someone over, for being too fiscally responsible.
From his statement -
Of course, Thompson may only be worried about Democratic measures to balance a budget, something that George Bush and his fellow Republicans obviously don't worry about. Thompson gives Republicans a free pass for creating the deficits both state and federal in the first place, with their tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.
Another curious aspect of the statements of Thompson and Wes Waddle, the other Republican running in the district, is that neither one mentions Tempe, Scottsdale, or LD17 in the statement.
You know, the place that they allegedly want to represent.
Both Schapira and Ableser, as well as the incumbent State Senator Meg Burton Cahill (D), did write about their efforts in representing the district down at the state lege.
Her challenger, Republican Jesse Hernandez, didn't make the same omission in his statement.
Of course, that's only because he didn't submit any statement at all.
Later!
Official candidate publicity pamplets are starting to reach voters across the state.
...The first to hit mailboxes in Scottsdale was the City of Scottsdale's candidate information pamphlet (.pdf available here). That one showed up late last week, and it's pretty straightforward.
...Reaching town today was the Clean Elections Commission's "2008 Statewide & Legislative Candidate Statements - Primary Election" brochure (.pdf available here).
That one was a little more interesting. Where the Scottsdale candidates used their statements as a platform for a "why you should vote for me" message, Mark Thompson, one of the Republican challengers, spent most of his statement attacking the Democratic incumbents, David Schapira and Ed Ableser. He criticized them for being young (no children or grandchildren), for being teachers (not business owners) and for, of all the crazy things for a Republican to criticize someone over, for being too fiscally responsible.
From his statement -
"Government should not be allowed to indebt future generations to avoid being responsible and accountable today."
Of course, Thompson may only be worried about Democratic measures to balance a budget, something that George Bush and his fellow Republicans obviously don't worry about. Thompson gives Republicans a free pass for creating the deficits both state and federal in the first place, with their tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.
Another curious aspect of the statements of Thompson and Wes Waddle, the other Republican running in the district, is that neither one mentions Tempe, Scottsdale, or LD17 in the statement.
You know, the place that they allegedly want to represent.
Both Schapira and Ableser, as well as the incumbent State Senator Meg Burton Cahill (D), did write about their efforts in representing the district down at the state lege.
Her challenger, Republican Jesse Hernandez, didn't make the same omission in his statement.
Of course, that's only because he didn't submit any statement at all.
Later!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Short Attention Span Musing
...In this post, Greg at Espresso Pundit brought up a good point about Scottsdale's elections, and the impact of the move to a September/November cycle from a March/May one.
The point that he made was that the Republican primary in CD5 likely will elevate the Republican turnout for September's election.
This wouldn't be significant under the old March/May municipal election schedule, as Scottsdale's municipal elections are non-partisan.
Under the old schedule, it wouldn't matter that Mayor Mary Manross is a registered Democrat or that her challenger Councilman Jim Lane is a Republican.
However, the new schedule and the expected elevated Republican turnout on a primary day where the only significant Democratic race is for County Attorney (not a race that will elevate Democratic primary turnout - most of us are focused on November, not September) could contribute to a Lane upset over the favored incumbent, Manross.
Greg's point is a valid one, but I'm not sure it quite fits in Scottsdale.
In a city like Scottsdale, partisan political concerns take a back seat to financial political concerns, and Manross is seen as whole-heartedly representing the city's moneyed interests (witness the Chamber of Commerce's endorsement of her); Lane is quiet about it, but he supports the more socially extreme wing of his party (witness his active support of JD Hayworth in 2006).
The CD5 primary *will* elevate Republican turnout in Scottsdale for September's election, but the increased turnout won't just bring out the socially conservative Republicans, it'll bring out the money-focused ones, too.
In short, the elevated turnout *should* help Lane somewhat, but it's going to have some benefit for Manross, too. The key factor in the race could be John Washington's write-in candidacy. If he pulls in enough votes to keep both Manross and Lane below 50% in the final tally, it will force a November runoff, and as Laura Pastor learned in last fall's elections in Phoenix (and Hut Hutson learned in Tempe this spring), it doesn't matter who's favored, *anything* can happen in a runoff.
...Want another reason to understand why change is needed in the Sheriff's office?
The East Valley Tribune is running a five-day series on the MCSO. Wednesday's headline -
"Reasonable Doubt: The evolution of MCSO into an immigration agency"
Just a reminder - the "MC" in "MCSO" stands for Maricopa County, not Border Patrol.
Even though Maricopa County is the stolen car capital of the country, Joe Arpaio's obsession with Mexicans has led to him taking dozens, sometimes hundreds, of deputies off of patrol duties to deploy them on anti-brown people, "broken taillight" sweeps.
Vote to return professionalism to the office of the Maricopa County Sheriff - Vote for Dan Saban.
...On July 20th, there will be two Democratic fundraisers that, while scheduled so as to not overlap, should provide an interesting contrast -
- From 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., there will be a Happy Birthday party for Congressman (and Tempe icon) Harry Mitchell at Shalimar Golf Club in Tempe (contact the campaign at 480.755.3343 or via email to herschel[at]harry2008.com for more details.)
- At 7:00 p.m., the Arizona Democratic Party is holding its annual Heritage Dinner, featuring special guest Congressman (and bane of grassroots Democratic activists everywhere) Rahm Emanuel (D-IL). (Contact the ADP at RSVP[at]azdem.org or (602) 234-6814 for more details.)
Can anyone guess which one will have the larger and more enthusiastic crowd? :)
Somebody should tell the ADP's schedulers that there are 365 days per year, and other than (maybe!) Christmas, Thanksgiving, and election days, any of the other 364 would have been a better choice for the Heritage Dinner.
BTW - I'm just teasing a little with this one - I've already been told that Harry will be at the Heritage Dinner. Turnout should be just fine there, too. :))
...The Arizona Sierra Club's report card for the just-completed session of the Arizona lege is out (and thank to Zelph at AZNetroots for the heads-up :) ).
It's interesting to note that the three Republicans who were in the lege but are running for Arizona Corporation Commission (those darn term limits!), Marian McClure, Bob Robson, and Bob Stump (state reps one and all) each earned "Fs" from the Sierra Club for their efforts in the lege.
It's hard to tell from the name, but the Corporation Commission is the political body best positioned to lead the quest for affordable alternative energy options and cleaner air in AZ.
Well, at least it will be when we elect actual public servants to the board, instead of people who are just as much industrial tools as any strip-mining excavator or coal-powered electrical generator.
Remember: Paul Newman, Sandra Kennedy, Kara Kelty, and Sam George for Corporation Commission - three of them will move on after the primary, and any of the four is better than any of the Republicans running. (Sorry, Sam George supporters, still haven't found a website for him :) ).
House report card here; Senate report card here.
BTW - LD17 legislators Sen. Burton Cahill and Representatives Ableser and Schapira all earned grades of "A" or better. Congrats to all three on jobs well done!
Later!
The point that he made was that the Republican primary in CD5 likely will elevate the Republican turnout for September's election.
This wouldn't be significant under the old March/May municipal election schedule, as Scottsdale's municipal elections are non-partisan.
Under the old schedule, it wouldn't matter that Mayor Mary Manross is a registered Democrat or that her challenger Councilman Jim Lane is a Republican.
However, the new schedule and the expected elevated Republican turnout on a primary day where the only significant Democratic race is for County Attorney (not a race that will elevate Democratic primary turnout - most of us are focused on November, not September) could contribute to a Lane upset over the favored incumbent, Manross.
Greg's point is a valid one, but I'm not sure it quite fits in Scottsdale.
In a city like Scottsdale, partisan political concerns take a back seat to financial political concerns, and Manross is seen as whole-heartedly representing the city's moneyed interests (witness the Chamber of Commerce's endorsement of her); Lane is quiet about it, but he supports the more socially extreme wing of his party (witness his active support of JD Hayworth in 2006).
The CD5 primary *will* elevate Republican turnout in Scottsdale for September's election, but the increased turnout won't just bring out the socially conservative Republicans, it'll bring out the money-focused ones, too.
In short, the elevated turnout *should* help Lane somewhat, but it's going to have some benefit for Manross, too. The key factor in the race could be John Washington's write-in candidacy. If he pulls in enough votes to keep both Manross and Lane below 50% in the final tally, it will force a November runoff, and as Laura Pastor learned in last fall's elections in Phoenix (and Hut Hutson learned in Tempe this spring), it doesn't matter who's favored, *anything* can happen in a runoff.
...Want another reason to understand why change is needed in the Sheriff's office?
The East Valley Tribune is running a five-day series on the MCSO. Wednesday's headline -
"Reasonable Doubt: The evolution of MCSO into an immigration agency"
Just a reminder - the "MC" in "MCSO" stands for Maricopa County, not Border Patrol.
Even though Maricopa County is the stolen car capital of the country, Joe Arpaio's obsession with Mexicans has led to him taking dozens, sometimes hundreds, of deputies off of patrol duties to deploy them on anti-brown people, "broken taillight" sweeps.
Vote to return professionalism to the office of the Maricopa County Sheriff - Vote for Dan Saban.
...On July 20th, there will be two Democratic fundraisers that, while scheduled so as to not overlap, should provide an interesting contrast -
- From 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., there will be a Happy Birthday party for Congressman (and Tempe icon) Harry Mitchell at Shalimar Golf Club in Tempe (contact the campaign at 480.755.3343 or via email to herschel[at]harry2008.com for more details.)
- At 7:00 p.m., the Arizona Democratic Party is holding its annual Heritage Dinner, featuring special guest Congressman (and bane of grassroots Democratic activists everywhere) Rahm Emanuel (D-IL). (Contact the ADP at RSVP[at]azdem.org or (602) 234-6814 for more details.)
Can anyone guess which one will have the larger and more enthusiastic crowd? :)
Somebody should tell the ADP's schedulers that there are 365 days per year, and other than (maybe!) Christmas, Thanksgiving, and election days, any of the other 364 would have been a better choice for the Heritage Dinner.
BTW - I'm just teasing a little with this one - I've already been told that Harry will be at the Heritage Dinner. Turnout should be just fine there, too. :))
...The Arizona Sierra Club's report card for the just-completed session of the Arizona lege is out (and thank to Zelph at AZNetroots for the heads-up :) ).
It's interesting to note that the three Republicans who were in the lege but are running for Arizona Corporation Commission (those darn term limits!), Marian McClure, Bob Robson, and Bob Stump (state reps one and all) each earned "Fs" from the Sierra Club for their efforts in the lege.
It's hard to tell from the name, but the Corporation Commission is the political body best positioned to lead the quest for affordable alternative energy options and cleaner air in AZ.
Well, at least it will be when we elect actual public servants to the board, instead of people who are just as much industrial tools as any strip-mining excavator or coal-powered electrical generator.
Remember: Paul Newman, Sandra Kennedy, Kara Kelty, and Sam George for Corporation Commission - three of them will move on after the primary, and any of the four is better than any of the Republicans running. (Sorry, Sam George supporters, still haven't found a website for him :) ).
House report card here; Senate report card here.
BTW - LD17 legislators Sen. Burton Cahill and Representatives Ableser and Schapira all earned grades of "A" or better. Congrats to all three on jobs well done!
Later!
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Campaign Finance Reports - LD8, LD17, LD18
All info courtesy the website of the Arizona Secretary of State...
LD8 State Senate -
Carolyn Allen, Republican (traditional financing) - raised $22000, spent $8000, cash on hand $68000. Interesting names: Her entire list of contributors reads like a "Who's Who" of the Arizona business community (heavy on the healthcare sector), so in the interests of brevity, I won't list any of them, but one of the non-business community folks to contribute to her campaign was David Waid, former ED of the Arizona Democratic Party, who gave $100.
Robert Weber, Libertarian (Clean Elections financing) - Nada. Zip. Bupkes. No activity. At all. When I saw this report, I was going to question why go to the effort of getting on the ballot if he wasn't going to at least *try* to mount a campaign, but upon further reflection, I've decided not to go there.
Not because I'm feeling nice, but because Mr. Weber didn't actually qualify for the ballot.
LD8 State Representative -
Michele Reagan, Republican (Traditional) - Raised $11000, spent $11000, cash on hand of just under $46000. Interesting name: David Waid (again!) gave $200.
Stephanie Rimmer, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised $2000, spent $1600, cash on hand of $400.
John Kavanagh, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $930, spent slightly less than $400, cash on hand slightly more than $500.
LD17 State Senate -
Meg Burton Cahill, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised almost $2900. spent $86, cash on hand of a little more than $2700.
Jesse Hernandez, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $250, spent $0, cash on hand $250.
LD17 State Representative -
David Schapira, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised $16000 ($12921 CCEC funding), spent $2500, cash on hand $14200.
Ed Ableser, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised $14600 ($12921 CCEC funding), spent $2400, cash on hand $12600.
Wes Waddle, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $500, spent $150, cash on hand $350.
Mark Thompson, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $1200, spent $100, cash on hand $1100.
LD18 State Senate -
Judah Nativio, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised $960, spent just under $800, cash on hand of just under $800.
Kevin Gibbons, Republican (Traditional) - Raised $66000, spent $3500, cash on hand of just under $63000. Interesting names: State Rep. Lynne Pancrazi donated $200; Jean McGrath, former legislator and current member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District board, gave $100; Jim Pederson, former Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate gave $390. In addition, he had a large number of agriculture-related contributors, a large group from Yuma, of all places.
Russell Pearce, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $2300, spent $24000 ($23K had to do with closing the books on the Pearce Exploratory Committee), cash on hand $2600. Received $19382 CCEC funding after the reporting period ended.
I thought that Pearce's exploratory committee was a federal one formed for his abortive run at Jeff Flake's CD6 seat, so I'm not sure why anything related to it is showing up on his state report. I'll see what I can find out (aka - I'll call the Secretary of State's office and ask :) ).
LD18 Representative -
Tammie Pursley, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised $1700, spent $350, cash on hand of $1300.
Cecil Ash, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $2950, spent $800, cash on hand of $2150. Received $19382 CCEC funding after the reporting period ended.
Steve Court, Republican (Clean Elections) -Raised almost $14700 ($12921 CCEC), spent $6500, cash on hand $8200. Received supplemental CCEC funding of $6461 ($19382 total) after the reporting period ended.
Kanani Henderson, Republican (Traditional) - Raised $1300, spent $260, cash on hand of nearly $1100.
Ron Middlebrook, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $1245, spent $0, cash on hand $1245. Received $19382 CCEC funding after the reporting period ended.
CCEC's LD18 candidate forum for Republican candidates (House and Senate) will be held on Thursday, July 10 at EVIT, 1601 W. Main St., Mesa, AZ from 6:00 p.m until 8:00 p.m.
I'll do a post on Corporation Commission candidate reports later on Thursday.
Later!
LD8 State Senate -
Carolyn Allen, Republican (traditional financing) - raised $22000, spent $8000, cash on hand $68000. Interesting names: Her entire list of contributors reads like a "Who's Who" of the Arizona business community (heavy on the healthcare sector), so in the interests of brevity, I won't list any of them, but one of the non-business community folks to contribute to her campaign was David Waid, former ED of the Arizona Democratic Party, who gave $100.
Robert Weber, Libertarian (Clean Elections financing) - Nada. Zip. Bupkes. No activity. At all. When I saw this report, I was going to question why go to the effort of getting on the ballot if he wasn't going to at least *try* to mount a campaign, but upon further reflection, I've decided not to go there.
Not because I'm feeling nice, but because Mr. Weber didn't actually qualify for the ballot.
LD8 State Representative -
Michele Reagan, Republican (Traditional) - Raised $11000, spent $11000, cash on hand of just under $46000. Interesting name: David Waid (again!) gave $200.
Stephanie Rimmer, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised $2000, spent $1600, cash on hand of $400.
John Kavanagh, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $930, spent slightly less than $400, cash on hand slightly more than $500.
LD17 State Senate -
Meg Burton Cahill, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised almost $2900. spent $86, cash on hand of a little more than $2700.
Jesse Hernandez, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $250, spent $0, cash on hand $250.
LD17 State Representative -
David Schapira, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised $16000 ($12921 CCEC funding), spent $2500, cash on hand $14200.
Ed Ableser, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised $14600 ($12921 CCEC funding), spent $2400, cash on hand $12600.
Wes Waddle, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $500, spent $150, cash on hand $350.
Mark Thompson, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $1200, spent $100, cash on hand $1100.
LD18 State Senate -
Judah Nativio, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised $960, spent just under $800, cash on hand of just under $800.
Kevin Gibbons, Republican (Traditional) - Raised $66000, spent $3500, cash on hand of just under $63000. Interesting names: State Rep. Lynne Pancrazi donated $200; Jean McGrath, former legislator and current member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District board, gave $100; Jim Pederson, former Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate gave $390. In addition, he had a large number of agriculture-related contributors, a large group from Yuma, of all places.
Russell Pearce, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $2300, spent $24000 ($23K had to do with closing the books on the Pearce Exploratory Committee), cash on hand $2600. Received $19382 CCEC funding after the reporting period ended.
I thought that Pearce's exploratory committee was a federal one formed for his abortive run at Jeff Flake's CD6 seat, so I'm not sure why anything related to it is showing up on his state report. I'll see what I can find out (aka - I'll call the Secretary of State's office and ask :) ).
LD18 Representative -
Tammie Pursley, Democrat (Clean Elections) - Raised $1700, spent $350, cash on hand of $1300.
Cecil Ash, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $2950, spent $800, cash on hand of $2150. Received $19382 CCEC funding after the reporting period ended.
Steve Court, Republican (Clean Elections) -Raised almost $14700 ($12921 CCEC), spent $6500, cash on hand $8200. Received supplemental CCEC funding of $6461 ($19382 total) after the reporting period ended.
Kanani Henderson, Republican (Traditional) - Raised $1300, spent $260, cash on hand of nearly $1100.
Ron Middlebrook, Republican (Clean Elections) - Raised $1245, spent $0, cash on hand $1245. Received $19382 CCEC funding after the reporting period ended.
CCEC's LD18 candidate forum for Republican candidates (House and Senate) will be held on Thursday, July 10 at EVIT, 1601 W. Main St., Mesa, AZ from 6:00 p.m until 8:00 p.m.
I'll do a post on Corporation Commission candidate reports later on Thursday.
Later!
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
OK, sigs are in, and the races are set...
well, set pending verification of the sigs and any challenges...
Major races (Maricopa County, Mesa/Scottsdale/Tempe and statewide) contested by candidates from both major parties only. Many offices have Libertarian or Green candidates, but until one of those candidates garners enough support to make a difference in an election, I'm not going to waste space -
For County offices -
County Attorney -
Gerald Richard, Democrat. 2338 sigs required, 5186 submitted.
Tim Nelson, Democrat. 2338 sigs required, 5544 submitted.
Andrew Thomas, Republican. 3165 sigs required, 6518 submitted.
County Sheriff -
Dan Saban, Democrat. 2338 sigs required, 9071 submitted.
Joe Arpaio, Republican. 3165 sigs required, 12853 submitted.
Board of Supervisors, District 1 -
Ed Hermes, Democrat. 482 sigs required, 1254 submitted.
Fulton Brock, Republican. 712 sigs required, 1583 submitted.
Board of Supervisors, District 2 -
Joel Sinclaire, Democrat. 389 sigs required, 666 submitted.
Don Stapley, Republican. 794 sigs required, 1733 submitted.
Board of Supervisors, District 3 -
Marilyn Fox, Democrat. 449 sigs required, 975 submitted.
Andrew Kunasek, Republican. 617 sigs required, 2837 submitted.
The incumbents in Supervisor Districts 4 and 5, Max Wilson (R) and Mary Rose Wilcox (D) respectively, will be running without opposition.
For State and Congressional offices -
CD5 -
Harry Mitchell, Democrat. 463 signatures required, 1486 submitted.
Mark Anderson, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1647 submitted.
Susan Bitter Smith, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1349 submitted.
Lee Gentry, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1352 submitted.
Laura Knaperek, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1795 submitted.
Jim Ogsbury, Republican. 683 signatures required, 3390 submitted.
David Schweikert, Republican. 683 signatures required, 2078 submitted.
Note - Perhaps in a surprise to everyone outside the Gentry household, the heretofore semi-mythical Lee Gentry's candidacy is for real. He even gathered more sigs than longtime Scottsdale pol Susan Bitter Smith.
CD6 -
Chris Gramazio, Democrat. 494 signatures required, 695 submitted.
Rebecca Schneider, Democrat. 494 signatures required, 863 submitted.
Scott Bergren, Republican. 922 signatures required, 1029 submitted.
Jeff Flake, Republican. 922 signatures required, 2860 submitted.
Note - Wow! Jeff Flake is facing a primary challenger running at him from the right, and it *isn't* Russell Pearce? Who would have guessed that this time last year? Hell, who would have guessed that someone would even *think* of running against the ultraconservative Flake, while trying to portray him as 'not conservative enough'?
LD8 State Senate -
Carolyn Allen, Republican. 527 signatures required, 812 submitted.
Note - Senator Allen is apparently running unopposed in both the primary and general elections.
LD17 State Senate -
Meg Burton Cahill, Democrat. 253 signatures required, 754 submitted.
Jesse Hernandez, Republican. 245 signatures required, 425 submitted.
LD18 State Senate -
Judah Nativio, Democrat. 149 signatures required, 258 submitted.
Kevin Gibbons, Republican. 245 signatures required, 362 submitted.
Russell Pearce, Republican. 245 signatures required, 733 submitted.
Note - At 733 signatures, Russell Pearce submitted the maximum number.
LD8 State Representative -
Stephanie Rimmer, Democrat. 256 signatures required, 599 submitted.
John Kavanagh, Republican. 527 signatures required, 920 submitted.
Michelle Reagan, Republican. 527 signatures required, 1327 submitted.
LD17 State Representative -
Ed Ableser, Democrat. 253 signatures required, 715 submitted.
David Schapira, Democrat. 253 signatures required, 757 submitted.
Mark Thompson, Republican. 245 signatures required, 370 submitted.
Wes Waddle, Republican. 245 signatures required, 451 submitted.
Note - at 757 signatures, David Schapira subitted the maximum allowed.
LD18 State Representative -
Tammie Pursley, Democrat. 149 signatures required, 290 submitted.
Cecil Ash, Republican. 245 signatures required, 733 submitted.
Steve Court, Republican. 245 signatures required, 536 submitted.
Kanani Henderson, Republican. 245 signatures required, 392 submitted.
Ron Middlebrook, Republican. 245 signatures required, 320 submitted.
Note - at 733 signatures, Cecil Ash submitted the maximum number allowed.
Corporation Commission -
Sam George, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 13915 submitted.
Kara Kelty, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 7172 submitted.
Sandra Kennedy, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 8343 submitted.
Paul Newman, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 9314 submitted.
John Allen, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 6757 submitted.
Rick Fowlkes, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 7741 submitted.
Joseph Hobbs, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 7539 submitted.
Marian McClure, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 6697 submitted.
Bob Robson, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 9700 submitted.
Bob Stump, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 9154 submitted.
Keith Swapp, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 6811 submitted.
Barry Wong, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 7700 submitted.
Note - According to a note on his campaign website, George Arredondo suspended his campaign because he couldn't get enough sigs.
And finally, for Scottsdale municipal offices, courtesy an email from City Clerk Carolyn Jagger, forwarded to me by Sonnie of COGS, [note added by me] -
You know, for what is essentially a 'cut and paste' post, this post took a lot of work. Back to quick and snarky after this... :))
Major races (Maricopa County, Mesa/Scottsdale/Tempe and statewide) contested by candidates from both major parties only. Many offices have Libertarian or Green candidates, but until one of those candidates garners enough support to make a difference in an election, I'm not going to waste space -
For County offices -
County Attorney -
Gerald Richard, Democrat. 2338 sigs required, 5186 submitted.
Tim Nelson, Democrat. 2338 sigs required, 5544 submitted.
Andrew Thomas, Republican. 3165 sigs required, 6518 submitted.
County Sheriff -
Dan Saban, Democrat. 2338 sigs required, 9071 submitted.
Joe Arpaio, Republican. 3165 sigs required, 12853 submitted.
Board of Supervisors, District 1 -
Ed Hermes, Democrat. 482 sigs required, 1254 submitted.
Fulton Brock, Republican. 712 sigs required, 1583 submitted.
Board of Supervisors, District 2 -
Joel Sinclaire, Democrat. 389 sigs required, 666 submitted.
Don Stapley, Republican. 794 sigs required, 1733 submitted.
Board of Supervisors, District 3 -
Marilyn Fox, Democrat. 449 sigs required, 975 submitted.
Andrew Kunasek, Republican. 617 sigs required, 2837 submitted.
The incumbents in Supervisor Districts 4 and 5, Max Wilson (R) and Mary Rose Wilcox (D) respectively, will be running without opposition.
For State and Congressional offices -
CD5 -
Harry Mitchell, Democrat. 463 signatures required, 1486 submitted.
Mark Anderson, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1647 submitted.
Susan Bitter Smith, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1349 submitted.
Lee Gentry, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1352 submitted.
Laura Knaperek, Republican. 683 signatures required, 1795 submitted.
Jim Ogsbury, Republican. 683 signatures required, 3390 submitted.
David Schweikert, Republican. 683 signatures required, 2078 submitted.
Note - Perhaps in a surprise to everyone outside the Gentry household, the heretofore semi-mythical Lee Gentry's candidacy is for real. He even gathered more sigs than longtime Scottsdale pol Susan Bitter Smith.
CD6 -
Chris Gramazio, Democrat. 494 signatures required, 695 submitted.
Rebecca Schneider, Democrat. 494 signatures required, 863 submitted.
Scott Bergren, Republican. 922 signatures required, 1029 submitted.
Jeff Flake, Republican. 922 signatures required, 2860 submitted.
Note - Wow! Jeff Flake is facing a primary challenger running at him from the right, and it *isn't* Russell Pearce? Who would have guessed that this time last year? Hell, who would have guessed that someone would even *think* of running against the ultraconservative Flake, while trying to portray him as 'not conservative enough'?
LD8 State Senate -
Carolyn Allen, Republican. 527 signatures required, 812 submitted.
Note - Senator Allen is apparently running unopposed in both the primary and general elections.
LD17 State Senate -
Meg Burton Cahill, Democrat. 253 signatures required, 754 submitted.
Jesse Hernandez, Republican. 245 signatures required, 425 submitted.
LD18 State Senate -
Judah Nativio, Democrat. 149 signatures required, 258 submitted.
Kevin Gibbons, Republican. 245 signatures required, 362 submitted.
Russell Pearce, Republican. 245 signatures required, 733 submitted.
Note - At 733 signatures, Russell Pearce submitted the maximum number.
LD8 State Representative -
Stephanie Rimmer, Democrat. 256 signatures required, 599 submitted.
John Kavanagh, Republican. 527 signatures required, 920 submitted.
Michelle Reagan, Republican. 527 signatures required, 1327 submitted.
LD17 State Representative -
Ed Ableser, Democrat. 253 signatures required, 715 submitted.
David Schapira, Democrat. 253 signatures required, 757 submitted.
Mark Thompson, Republican. 245 signatures required, 370 submitted.
Wes Waddle, Republican. 245 signatures required, 451 submitted.
Note - at 757 signatures, David Schapira subitted the maximum allowed.
LD18 State Representative -
Tammie Pursley, Democrat. 149 signatures required, 290 submitted.
Cecil Ash, Republican. 245 signatures required, 733 submitted.
Steve Court, Republican. 245 signatures required, 536 submitted.
Kanani Henderson, Republican. 245 signatures required, 392 submitted.
Ron Middlebrook, Republican. 245 signatures required, 320 submitted.
Note - at 733 signatures, Cecil Ash submitted the maximum number allowed.
Corporation Commission -
Sam George, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 13915 submitted.
Kara Kelty, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 7172 submitted.
Sandra Kennedy, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 8343 submitted.
Paul Newman, Democrat. 4580 signatures required, 9314 submitted.
John Allen, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 6757 submitted.
Rick Fowlkes, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 7741 submitted.
Joseph Hobbs, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 7539 submitted.
Marian McClure, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 6697 submitted.
Bob Robson, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 9700 submitted.
Bob Stump, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 9154 submitted.
Keith Swapp, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 6811 submitted.
Barry Wong, Republican. 5184 signatures required, 7700 submitted.
Note - According to a note on his campaign website, George Arredondo suspended his campaign because he couldn't get enough sigs.
And finally, for Scottsdale municipal offices, courtesy an email from City Clerk Carolyn Jagger, forwarded to me by Sonnie of COGS, [note added by me] -
The following candidates for City Council filed nomination papers and petitions [1652 signatures required for all offices] :
Lisa Borowsky (3,323 signatures)
Joel Bramoweth (2,208 signatures)
Oren Davis (2,445 signatures)
Betty Drake (2,691 signatures)
Tom Giller (2,268 signatures)
Suzanne Klapp (2,672 signatures)
Ron McCullagh (2,481 signatures)
Nan Nesvig (2,599 signatures)
The following candidates for Mayor filed nomination papers and petitions:
W.J. "Jim" Lane (2,484 signatures)
Mary Manross (3,291 signatures)
Write-In Candidates: John Washington filed papers to run for as a write-in candidate for Mayor.
You know, for what is essentially a 'cut and paste' post, this post took a lot of work. Back to quick and snarky after this... :))
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Games Senators Play
Perhaps they were intoxicated by the nearness of King...errr...President George "No Steenkin' Rules Apply To Me" Bush, but the Republican leadership of the Arizona State Senate spent Wednesday feeling their "debate suppression" oats.
The following details of the Senate floor activity are courtesy Rep. Steve Farley (D-LD28). He sends out weekly "Farley Reports From Phoenix". Most readers, however, refer to them as "Farley-grams" and we look forward to each issue's arrival in our inboxes. I strongly recommend signing up for it here.
The background info about the bills mentioned in today's post is available on the lege's website.
Note: 'COW' refers to "Committee of the Whole", a session of the Senate where amendments are allowed and actual debate can take place. During a regular session, no amendments are allowed and debate consists of members "rising to explain" their votes.
Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled post... :)
Turns out that the Senate was supposed to consider an amendment to HB2049 that would ban texting while driving (TWD).
The amendment was authored by Rep. Farley, a Democrat, and was brought forward in the Senate by Sen. Charlene Pesquiera of Oro Valley, another Democrat. However, while this amendment (and HB2396, Farley's original attempt to ban texting while driving) has overwhelming support among the state's voters and rare bipartisan support in the lege, the leadership of the Senate, including Senate President Tim Bee, is loathe to give it an open and fair hearing.
The original bill was killed early in the legislative session when Rep. Andy Biggs (R - LD22), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, refused to allow it to be heard in his committee. It was sponsored by a Democrat, after all.
On Tuesday, the Senate leadership used every trick in the book, and a few that aren't in any book that the Senate's members, staffers, or lawyers know about, to block Farley's amendment from passage.
First up was Sen. Ron Gould and his attempt to block the amendment from being heard, by moving to have the bill "retained on the calendar". When that failed, he began offering substitute amendments to the amendment.
After those all failed, Senate Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor (R-Gilbert) moved again to have the bill retained on the calendar, a move that was against the rules of the Senate, as debate on the bill had already started. The chair of the COW session, and my favorite senator, Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) ruled that Verschoor's motion was in order. The senate voted to overturn his ruling.
After more failed attempts to amend the amendment, Sen. Pam Gorman moved to have the COW session rise, postponing further debate until later in the day. After some confusion (and the disregarding of a vote that didn't fit the desires of the Senate leadership), the Senate did rise from its COW session.
At that point, most of the Senate's Republican caucus bugged out to go attend the McCain fundraiser/public appearance with Bush at a defense contractor in Mesa.
More than five hours later, the Senate reconvened, but before any action could be taken, Thayer Verschoor moved to have the Senate adjourn. While Tim Bee tried to call the voice vote on that motion as "ayes have it" but there were only 3 Republicans in the chamber. A headcount was taken, and the motion failed 3 - 10.
At that point, things really started getting out of hand.
Next up, Bee said that with 13 votes cast on the adjournment motion, a quorum wasn't present (the Senate cannot conduct business unless a quorum, or a majority of members, is present - 16 is that magic number).
Bee tried to conduct an electronic roll call (senators push a button on their desks indicating their presence), but ran into problems with that when Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill (D-Tempe) refused to press her button unless Bee allowed her to speak. Bee then switched to a manual roll call where each Senator's name was called out and they had to respond to indicate their presence.
After that, Senate Minority Leader Jorge Luis Garcia of Tucson tried to move for a "Call to the Senate" which would have had DPS officers out tracking down the wayward (and mostly Republican) legislators.
Bee looked directly at him and then gaveled the session to adjournment at 7:40 p.m.
And so ended a breathtaking day marked by Tim Bee's shameless abuse of his power as Senate President to prevent passage of a bill that he doesn't like.
The actual status of the bill, amendment, and the COW session is unclear, as the Senate actually had to re-enter it's COW session for the motion to adjourn to be a legal one, and they never actually re-entered COW.
Rep. Farley promises that this isn't the end of the effort to ban texting while driving, so stay tuned.
Two comments -
1. If they put as much effort into passing a budget as they did into killing the TWD amendment, a balanced budget would have passed weeks ago, the lege would already be adjourned for the year, and this amendment never would have come up for consideration. All of today's arm- and rule-twisting would have been unnecessary.
2. Does anyone else think that Bee really, REALLY screwed up when he decided that he shouldn't have resigned from the State Senate to run for Gabrielle Giffords' seat in Congress? Instead of being home in Tucson meeting constituents and raising money (and 'tsk-tsking' at the antics of the lege), he's now stuck in a partisan quagmire of his own making.
And partisan quagmires aren't the best place to find support from Independent voters, support he will need to unseat the popular Giffords.
AZCentral.com coverage here.
Eventually, the video of the COW session will be available on the lege's website here; however, when that will be is anyone's guess.
Later...
The following details of the Senate floor activity are courtesy Rep. Steve Farley (D-LD28). He sends out weekly "Farley Reports From Phoenix". Most readers, however, refer to them as "Farley-grams" and we look forward to each issue's arrival in our inboxes. I strongly recommend signing up for it here.
The background info about the bills mentioned in today's post is available on the lege's website.
Note: 'COW' refers to "Committee of the Whole", a session of the Senate where amendments are allowed and actual debate can take place. During a regular session, no amendments are allowed and debate consists of members "rising to explain" their votes.
Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled post... :)
Turns out that the Senate was supposed to consider an amendment to HB2049 that would ban texting while driving (TWD).
The amendment was authored by Rep. Farley, a Democrat, and was brought forward in the Senate by Sen. Charlene Pesquiera of Oro Valley, another Democrat. However, while this amendment (and HB2396, Farley's original attempt to ban texting while driving) has overwhelming support among the state's voters and rare bipartisan support in the lege, the leadership of the Senate, including Senate President Tim Bee, is loathe to give it an open and fair hearing.
The original bill was killed early in the legislative session when Rep. Andy Biggs (R - LD22), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, refused to allow it to be heard in his committee. It was sponsored by a Democrat, after all.
On Tuesday, the Senate leadership used every trick in the book, and a few that aren't in any book that the Senate's members, staffers, or lawyers know about, to block Farley's amendment from passage.
First up was Sen. Ron Gould and his attempt to block the amendment from being heard, by moving to have the bill "retained on the calendar". When that failed, he began offering substitute amendments to the amendment.
After those all failed, Senate Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor (R-Gilbert) moved again to have the bill retained on the calendar, a move that was against the rules of the Senate, as debate on the bill had already started. The chair of the COW session, and my favorite senator, Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) ruled that Verschoor's motion was in order. The senate voted to overturn his ruling.
After more failed attempts to amend the amendment, Sen. Pam Gorman moved to have the COW session rise, postponing further debate until later in the day. After some confusion (and the disregarding of a vote that didn't fit the desires of the Senate leadership), the Senate did rise from its COW session.
At that point, most of the Senate's Republican caucus bugged out to go attend the McCain fundraiser/public appearance with Bush at a defense contractor in Mesa.
More than five hours later, the Senate reconvened, but before any action could be taken, Thayer Verschoor moved to have the Senate adjourn. While Tim Bee tried to call the voice vote on that motion as "ayes have it" but there were only 3 Republicans in the chamber. A headcount was taken, and the motion failed 3 - 10.
At that point, things really started getting out of hand.
Next up, Bee said that with 13 votes cast on the adjournment motion, a quorum wasn't present (the Senate cannot conduct business unless a quorum, or a majority of members, is present - 16 is that magic number).
Bee tried to conduct an electronic roll call (senators push a button on their desks indicating their presence), but ran into problems with that when Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill (D-Tempe) refused to press her button unless Bee allowed her to speak. Bee then switched to a manual roll call where each Senator's name was called out and they had to respond to indicate their presence.
After that, Senate Minority Leader Jorge Luis Garcia of Tucson tried to move for a "Call to the Senate" which would have had DPS officers out tracking down the wayward (and mostly Republican) legislators.
Bee looked directly at him and then gaveled the session to adjournment at 7:40 p.m.
And so ended a breathtaking day marked by Tim Bee's shameless abuse of his power as Senate President to prevent passage of a bill that he doesn't like.
The actual status of the bill, amendment, and the COW session is unclear, as the Senate actually had to re-enter it's COW session for the motion to adjourn to be a legal one, and they never actually re-entered COW.
Rep. Farley promises that this isn't the end of the effort to ban texting while driving, so stay tuned.
Two comments -
1. If they put as much effort into passing a budget as they did into killing the TWD amendment, a balanced budget would have passed weeks ago, the lege would already be adjourned for the year, and this amendment never would have come up for consideration. All of today's arm- and rule-twisting would have been unnecessary.
2. Does anyone else think that Bee really, REALLY screwed up when he decided that he shouldn't have resigned from the State Senate to run for Gabrielle Giffords' seat in Congress? Instead of being home in Tucson meeting constituents and raising money (and 'tsk-tsking' at the antics of the lege), he's now stuck in a partisan quagmire of his own making.
And partisan quagmires aren't the best place to find support from Independent voters, support he will need to unseat the popular Giffords.
AZCentral.com coverage here.
Eventually, the video of the COW session will be available on the lege's website here; however, when that will be is anyone's guess.
Later...
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Quick Elections Update - New Candidates
Edit to add info on LD18 candidate Joe Brown below...
Scottsdale update (info courtesy the Scottsdale City Clerk's elections webpage) -
In news that should surprise no one who follows the goings-on in Scottsdale, Tom Giller, the driving force behind Height and Density, the anti-Hanover Project political committee, has filed candidate committee paperwork with the Scottsdale City Clerk's office.
I think he is seeking a seat on the City Council; while his paperwork doesn't specify, this EV Trib article written by Brian Powell states that he is.
His campaign committee's contact number is 480.947.3654.
Also filing paperwork for a Council run is Oren Davis, a pro-development Scottsdale businessman.
From the same Trib article -
That quote is the sum total of my knowledge of Mr. Davis. :))
His campaign's contact number is 602.295.3783.
LD17 Update (note: all LD candidate info courtesy the AZ Secretary of State's campaign finance report webpage) -
State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill has a Republican challenger in Jesse Hernandez of Tempe, who filed his paperwork on April 15, 2008. He is running as a Clean Elections candidate. He's a business owner and long-time Republican. (brief bio here)
LD18 Update -
Another candidate has jumped into the LD18 State Rep fray. Joe Brown, running as an Independent, turned in organizational paperwork on April 18, 2008. He running as a Clean Elections candidate. With that name, I'm not even bothering with a Google search and I don't have any familiarity with the Mesa political scene (other than knowing that Democrats Tammie Pursley and Judah Nativio are running for LD18 House and Senate, respectively.)
Edit on 4/30 to update, with info courtesy Judah Nativio, Democratic candidate for the Senate seat in LD18 -
I'd wish him good luck with that, but there's a reason that Sen. Allen has become an "electoral buzzsaw" - she has earned the respect of people from all over the political spectrum because of her dedication and skill as a public servant (even if she *is* an Arizona Republican. Apparently, she doesn't drink the Kool-Aid. :) ).
Unless a Democrat steps up, this one's already over...
Later!
Scottsdale update (info courtesy the Scottsdale City Clerk's elections webpage) -
In news that should surprise no one who follows the goings-on in Scottsdale, Tom Giller, the driving force behind Height and Density, the anti-Hanover Project political committee, has filed candidate committee paperwork with the Scottsdale City Clerk's office.
I think he is seeking a seat on the City Council; while his paperwork doesn't specify, this EV Trib article written by Brian Powell states that he is.
His campaign committee's contact number is 480.947.3654.
Also filing paperwork for a Council run is Oren Davis, a pro-development Scottsdale businessman.
From the same Trib article -
Davis, 54, said he was encouraged by Councilman Jim Lane - who is challenging Mayor Mary Manross in September for the city's top post - and Paul Messinger to run for council.
"I am pro-growth but would also like to maintain the character of Scottsdale," Davis said.
Davis also said he'd like to see more transparency in government and more communication between developers and residents with hopes of avoiding another issue like Hanover.
That quote is the sum total of my knowledge of Mr. Davis. :))
His campaign's contact number is 602.295.3783.
LD17 Update (note: all LD candidate info courtesy the AZ Secretary of State's campaign finance report webpage) -
State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill has a Republican challenger in Jesse Hernandez of Tempe, who filed his paperwork on April 15, 2008. He is running as a Clean Elections candidate. He's a business owner and long-time Republican. (brief bio here)
LD18 Update -
Another candidate has jumped into the LD18 State Rep fray. Joe Brown, running as an Independent, turned in organizational paperwork on April 18, 2008. He running as a Clean Elections candidate. With that name, I'm not even bothering with a Google search and I don't have any familiarity with the Mesa political scene (other than knowing that Democrats Tammie Pursley and Judah Nativio are running for LD18 House and Senate, respectively.)
Edit on 4/30 to update, with info courtesy Judah Nativio, Democratic candidate for the Senate seat in LD18 -
Mr. Brown is a conservative Republican who ran against Karen Johnson for the LD18 Senate seat in 2006; he lost in the primary, garnering slightly more than 25% of the votes cast. Apparently, he changed his registration sometime after that.
End edit.
No changes in LD8, except that a Libertarian, Robert Weber, has formed a committee to take on the electoral buzzsaw known as State Senator Carolyn Allen.I'd wish him good luck with that, but there's a reason that Sen. Allen has become an "electoral buzzsaw" - she has earned the respect of people from all over the political spectrum because of her dedication and skill as a public servant (even if she *is* an Arizona Republican. Apparently, she doesn't drink the Kool-Aid. :) ).
Unless a Democrat steps up, this one's already over...
Later!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Media coverage for State Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill
Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill's work on behalf of the students and parents of Corona del Sol High School in Tempe has earned some MSM coverage.
From the AZ Republic -
It seems as it the situation between the school and the parents that are concerned about the health risks facing their children has deteriorated to the point where they *need* someone with the stature of a state senator to intercede.
From another story from the Republic -
More on the Corona del Sol situation here, here, and here.
The website of the Corona del Sol PTO is here.
Later...
From the AZ Republic -
On behalf of the state Legislature, an Arizona senator apologized to teachers, parents, students and Tempe Union High School District governing board members at Wednesday's board meeting.
"I'm sorry. I think we at the Legislature have let you all down," said Sen. Meg Burton Cahill, D-Tempe.
Burton Cahill's presence at the meeting drew applause from the crowd of about 100 people, mostly Corona del Sol High School parents, students and teachers there to ask board members to allow an independent environmental consultant to do new and more expansive air-quality testing at the school.
It seems as it the situation between the school and the parents that are concerned about the health risks facing their children has deteriorated to the point where they *need* someone with the stature of a state senator to intercede.
From another story from the Republic -
Parents barred from Corona air-quality meeting
Parents were barred from a meeting with contractors this week at Corona del Sol High School to address upgrading the school's failing ventilation system and improving air quality, according to Corona PTO representatives.
District officials acknowledged that parents were invited to a previous meeting between district officials and contractors. But because the contractors were not comfortable with parents' questions the district decided to honor the company's wishes and not allow parents into the meeting on Tuesday. It was not "open to the public," spokeswoman Linda Littell said.
More on the Corona del Sol situation here, here, and here.
The website of the Corona del Sol PTO is here.
Later...
Monday, March 03, 2008
Legislative candidate update
After reading this post at SeeingRedAZ about how Congressman Jeff Flake's brother-in-law has filed to challenge Russell Pearce in the LD18 Senate primary, I realized that it's high time to check for active candidate committees. All info courtesy the Arizona Secretary of State's website. I cross-checked the names at the Clean Elections website, but there were no names on the CCEC list of candidates that weren't also on the AZSOS's site.
(* = incumbent)
LD17 Senator (Tempe, South Scottsdale) -
Democrats - Meg Burton-Cahill*
Republicans - None yet
LD17 Representative -
Democrats - David Schapira*, Ed Ableser*
Republicans - Wesley Waddle, Mark Thompson (exploratory)
...This district is almost certain to have the hardest-fought general election. While the voter reg trends in the district favor Democrats (whoooo hoooo!), it's still almost evenly split in this district. I have heard of a couple of other possible Rep contenders, but they haven't announced yet, and since I'm not a Rep, I don't exactly have stellar sources among them in order to confirm/refute the rumors. :)
LD18 Representative (West Mesa) -
Democrats - Tammie Pursley
Republicans - Cecil Ash, Joe Dobbins, Steve Court, Kanani Henderson, Ron Middlebrook
LD18 Senator -
Democrats - Judah Nativio
Republicans - Russell Pearce, Kevin Gibbons
...Hmmmm....Both of LD18's Republican primaries look to be dogfights - 5 candidates running for two spots in the race for state rep, and Jeff Flake's brother-in-law running against Russell Pearce in an apparent bit of payback for Pearce's abortive primary challenge of Flake for the CD6 seat. There are no incumbents running in LD18 because Russell Pearce is term-limited out of the House, Karen Johnson has stepped aside to allow Pearce to run for the Senate seat that she currently holds, and current state representative Mark Anderson is running for the Republican nomination to challenge Harry Mitchell in CD5.
LD8 Senate (North Scottsdale, Fountain Hills) -
Republicans - Carolyn Allen*
Democrats - None yet
LD8 Representative -
Republicans - Michelle Reagan*, John Kavanagh*
Democrats - None yet
...Expect Democratic candidates to step forward in LD8; I know of a couple of folks who are mulling over a run, but have yet to announce. Anybody who is interested in running should contact the LD8 Dems at (480) 596-8350.
Later!
(* = incumbent)
LD17 Senator (Tempe, South Scottsdale) -
Democrats - Meg Burton-Cahill*
Republicans - None yet
LD17 Representative -
Democrats - David Schapira*, Ed Ableser*
Republicans - Wesley Waddle, Mark Thompson (exploratory)
...This district is almost certain to have the hardest-fought general election. While the voter reg trends in the district favor Democrats (whoooo hoooo!), it's still almost evenly split in this district. I have heard of a couple of other possible Rep contenders, but they haven't announced yet, and since I'm not a Rep, I don't exactly have stellar sources among them in order to confirm/refute the rumors. :)
LD18 Representative (West Mesa) -
Democrats - Tammie Pursley
Republicans - Cecil Ash, Joe Dobbins, Steve Court, Kanani Henderson, Ron Middlebrook
LD18 Senator -
Democrats - Judah Nativio
Republicans - Russell Pearce, Kevin Gibbons
...Hmmmm....Both of LD18's Republican primaries look to be dogfights - 5 candidates running for two spots in the race for state rep, and Jeff Flake's brother-in-law running against Russell Pearce in an apparent bit of payback for Pearce's abortive primary challenge of Flake for the CD6 seat. There are no incumbents running in LD18 because Russell Pearce is term-limited out of the House, Karen Johnson has stepped aside to allow Pearce to run for the Senate seat that she currently holds, and current state representative Mark Anderson is running for the Republican nomination to challenge Harry Mitchell in CD5.
LD8 Senate (North Scottsdale, Fountain Hills) -
Republicans - Carolyn Allen*
Democrats - None yet
LD8 Representative -
Republicans - Michelle Reagan*, John Kavanagh*
Democrats - None yet
...Expect Democratic candidates to step forward in LD8; I know of a couple of folks who are mulling over a run, but have yet to announce. Anybody who is interested in running should contact the LD8 Dems at (480) 596-8350.
Later!
Friday, February 29, 2008
LD17 legislators in the news
State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill -
...Sen. Burton-Cahill attended a forum in Tempe regarding health concerns at Corona del Sol High School. From the AZ Republic -
...Burton-Cahill was mentioned in an ASU Web Devil article about her bill to regulate tattoo parlors, SB1321. No quotes, though.
...She was also mentioned in an AZ Rep article about the lege's consideration of Sen. Jack Harper's bill to block local ordinances restricting the activities of sign walkers, SB1076.
From the article -
State Representative Ed Ableser -
...Ableser has been receiving a lot of coverage of his bill to require hybrid vehicles to make more noise, for the safety of blind pedestrians.
From the AZ Daily Star -
From the article -
Rep. Ed Ableser of Tempe, an ASU public administration and justice studies doctoral student, walked Saturday for the fifth time.
"Keeping [the walk] in Tempe is so much more effective," he said. Ableser said Tempe is one of the most diverse cities in Arizona, adding that more than 80 languages are spoken here.
"Where better to have a walk [focused on] diversity and acceptance and multiculturalism?" he said.
...From a Tucson Citzen article about legislative proposals to assist deployed troops -
...From an ASU Web Devil article about a bill [HB2230] that would require textbook publishers to disclose information about prices, editions, and copyrights -
Note: The Web Devil piece cited the relevant bill as HB2736 in error. That bill references early graduation scholarships.
State Representative David Schapira -
...Schapira was quoted a number of times in this Yuma Sun article regarding HB2713, a bill that purports to protect students' rights to express their religious viewpoints. The wording of the bill actually protects, among other things, a student's ability to answer scientific questions with religious answers.
It's an interesting article; I suggest reading it in its entirety.
...The Wickenburg Sun ran a piece about HB2008, Schapira's bill renewing alternative graduation requirements for students who don't pass the AIMS test, but meet a list of other requirements.
From the article -
Note: the previous alternative standard expired last month.
...Schapira was featured in an AZ Daily Star article about committee passage of HB2557, a bill that would bar local school districts from dropping elective courses such as PE, Art, and Music without permission of the Arizona Department of Education.
From the article -
I won't do this sort of post regularly, but I do expect to do a few more before the end of the legislative session.
Later!
...Sen. Burton-Cahill attended a forum in Tempe regarding health concerns at Corona del Sol High School. From the AZ Republic -
A forum organized to ease the minds of the Corona del Sol High School community turned to outrage as teachers, parents and students stood one after another to describe tumors, cancers, asthma attacks and other diseases plaguing their bodies since coming to the school.
The Tempe Union High School District had hoped to quell fears and rumors about an aging ventilation system partly to blame, according to a 2006 health study, for causing mold, raising carbon dioxide levels and spurring health complaints from staff.
{snip}
"This is not a taxpayer problem. This is a Legislature (problem). Where is . . . District 17 and 20 representatives," [Resident A.J.] Lafaro asked.
District 17 representative Meg Burton Cahill was the only one to announce her presence.
"We don't have the numbers (of votes)," she said. "We need (legislators) who do more than say they support schools. We need (legislators) who say they support funding schools."
...Burton-Cahill was mentioned in an ASU Web Devil article about her bill to regulate tattoo parlors, SB1321. No quotes, though.
...She was also mentioned in an AZ Rep article about the lege's consideration of Sen. Jack Harper's bill to block local ordinances restricting the activities of sign walkers, SB1076.
From the article -
A state senator wants to prevent local governments from stopping someone like Jim Torgeson from twirling a sign to promote a business....She was also in articles about a measure to stop state investment in Sudan because of the Darfur genocide (AZ Capitol Times) and another article about the move to regulate tattoo parlors (Glendale Star). Both of those sites require a premium login to view their content.
Torgeson, owner of Jet Media Promotions, spoke on Monday in favor of a bill that would restrict a city or town's right to regulate so-called "sign-walkers."
Promoters say it's about free speech and earning a living. Those voting against it said municipalities should have local control.
"We make the public policies for the state," said Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, who sponsored Senate Bill 1076.
{snip}
Sen. Meg Burton Cahill, D-Tempe, said Harper's bill interferes with local control.
"I do not think that we should mandate cities and towns at the municipal level about commercial advertising," she said.
Burton Cahill, who voted against the bill, said that Torgeson's primary interest is financial and not based on freedom of speech.
State Representative Ed Ableser -
...Ableser has been receiving a lot of coverage of his bill to require hybrid vehicles to make more noise, for the safety of blind pedestrians.
From the AZ Daily Star -
...[O]ne state lawmaker, alarmed that hybrid cars are getting too quiet, is seeking to actually make them noisier....He was featured in an ASU Web Devil article about Tempe's Fifth Annual Regional Unity Walk.
The concern is centered on the danger quiet hybrids could pose to the blind — with their technology so good at muting sound that they have become unnoticeable to the ear.
"Hybrid cars are amazing, and I think one of the unintended consequences of this new technology is that it is so effective in reducing noise on the streets, the fear is that our blind citizens are in danger crossing the road," says state Rep. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe, who is pushing a bill in the Legislature to require hybrids to make more noise. "If you drive a hybrid, you're not going to want someone who is listening to cars stepping out into the road in front of your hybrid."
From the article -
Rep. Ed Ableser of Tempe, an ASU public administration and justice studies doctoral student, walked Saturday for the fifth time.
"Keeping [the walk] in Tempe is so much more effective," he said. Ableser said Tempe is one of the most diverse cities in Arizona, adding that more than 80 languages are spoken here.
"Where better to have a walk [focused on] diversity and acceptance and multiculturalism?" he said.
...From a Tucson Citzen article about legislative proposals to assist deployed troops -
Rep. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe, introduced HB 2519, which would require health spas and clubs to allow suspension or cancellation of membership for the duration of a service member's deployment. The bill, which Paton also is sponsoring, is moving toward a vote by the full House.
Ableser said he wrote the bill after a former House page serving in Iraq with the Air Force accrued two years of health spa fees while away.
...From an ASU Web Devil article about a bill [HB2230] that would require textbook publishers to disclose information about prices, editions, and copyrights -
Ableser, an ASU instructor, told the committee he voted for the amendment to move the bill forward, but said he remained concerned.The amendment that Ableser expressed concerns with weakened the bill, changing the bill to call on publishers to reveal that info only on written request.
"We would be faulty to assume that [students] have much choice in the bookstore," he said. "They're held hostage in what they have to buy."
Note: The Web Devil piece cited the relevant bill as HB2736 in error. That bill references early graduation scholarships.
State Representative David Schapira -
...Schapira was quoted a number of times in this Yuma Sun article regarding HB2713, a bill that purports to protect students' rights to express their religious viewpoints. The wording of the bill actually protects, among other things, a student's ability to answer scientific questions with religious answers.
It's an interesting article; I suggest reading it in its entirety.
...The Wickenburg Sun ran a piece about HB2008, Schapira's bill renewing alternative graduation requirements for students who don't pass the AIMS test, but meet a list of other requirements.
From the article -
“This is an urgent issue. As a high school teacher, I met countless students who proved themselves proficient in course work, but had difficulty performing on high-stakes tests. Many of these students are college-bound,” Rep. Schapira said. “If the legislature fails to approve this bill, thousands of students will not graduate. By depriving a hard-working student of a high school diploma, we are putting their future and quality of life in jeopardy.”
Note: the previous alternative standard expired last month.
...Schapira was featured in an AZ Daily Star article about committee passage of HB2557, a bill that would bar local school districts from dropping elective courses such as PE, Art, and Music without permission of the Arizona Department of Education.
From the article -
Rep. David Schapira, D-Tempe, said the ability to drop programs with permission of the state Board of Education ensures that no district will be unnecessarily burdened.
I won't do this sort of post regularly, but I do expect to do a few more before the end of the legislative session.
Later!
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Ten and ten
Sunday, the AZ Republic ran a story highlighting 10 of the more interesting bills before the Arizona Legislature. It was a decent enough story, if a little light on real substance or usable information.
The story, while it did have its good points, was also a very shallow one. 10 bills out of over 1100 filed? That's less than 1%, and the brief blurbs that the Rep wrote about the bills didn't even include basic info such as the name of the sponsor or whether or not the bill has been assigned to a committee.
So, with that serving as inspiration, here's my list of ten and ten - ten bad bills to watch, and ten good bills to watch. These aren't the only 10 bad bills, or the only 10 good bills; there's plenty more of both.
Note: in the interests of minimizing repetitiveness, no anti-immigrant or "let's balance the budget by cutting revenue" bills will be included. Those were covered pretty well in the Legislative Loon p0sts.
Ten bad bills -
...HB2096, a bill to create parental educational choice grants. Introduced by Reps. Biggs, Burges, and Murphy, and Sens. Gorman, Harper and Johnson.
After over 200 words rationalizing the need for such grants, and proclaiming that the bill's purposes are secular, the bill goes on to create a program that awards grants in the amounts of $3500 and $4500 per year payable to the "custodians" of pupils enrolled at private schools.
Undermining public education is bad enough to warrant inclusion on this list, but the language in the bill that states that schools "shall not be required to alter its creed, practices or curriculum in order to redeem grants issued pursuant to this article" is a very thinly-veiled way to funnel public funds to religious schools, notwithstanding the "secular" proclamation a the beginning of the bill.
...HB2477, a bill relating to employees of the state treasurer's office. Sponsored by Rep. Adams. Would authorize the state treasurer (currently Dean Martin) to randomly drug test employees and prospective employees, and to periodically snoop into employees' credit reports.
If Mr. Martin and his water-carrier Rep. Adams believe that there is a drug use problem in the treasurer's office, there are provisions in existing state law that would allow for drug testing in departments where there is evidence of a problem. Even if those provisions don't apply to the treasurer's office, why not change the law so that those provisions *do* apply?
Unless, of course, the underlying purpose of the program would be to control and intimidate office employees, some of whom may have spoken up over the crimes committed by previous treasurer David Petersen, who resigned in disgrace.
Something tells me that the ethically-challenged Martin wants to discourage whistle-blowers with this.
...SB1054, a bill relating to the state treasurer and independent legal counsel. Introduced by Sen. Chuck Gray. Would allow the State Treasurer's office to bypass the Attorney General and contract for outside legal counsel. The bill also exempts such contracts from the state's procurement code with its attendent oversights.
Related: SB1097, a bill from Sen. Burns to exempt the State Treasurer's office from the Government Information Technology Agency's (GITA) requirements.
Can you say "building an independent fiefdom"?
...HB2678, a bill related to welfare recipients and applicants, and drug testing. Sponsored or cosponsored by a cast of thousands (actually, a cast of 31, 30 of whom are Republicans.) Would mandate drug testing of all applicants and recipients of public assistance.
...HB2713, a bill relating to students' expression of religion. Sponsored by Reps. Clark and Anderson. Would bar a school from discriminating against a student or group of students on the basis of religion. The bill includes interesting phrasing - "If an assignment requires a student's viewpoint to be expressed in coursework, artwork or other written or oral assignments, A public educational institution shall not penalize or reward a student on the basis of religious content or a religious viewpoint." I'm not sure of this (I'm most definitely not a lawyer), but I think this might really mess up grading in science classes.
This bill may be related to conflicts like this one in the Deer Valley Unified School District, chronicled in the AZ Republic.
...HCR2041, an amendment to the state constitution barring preferential treatment based on "race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting." Sponsored by Reps. Pearce, Barnes, Mason, Murphy, and Nelson and Senators Harper and Johnson. Basically, this is Ward Connerly's scheme to end affirmative action policies.
...SB1064, a bill relating to presidential preference elections. Sponsored by Sens. Harper and Waring. This is the one that opens up presidential primaries for everyone but Democrats. I've written about this one before.
SB1332, a bill relating to DNA testing. Sponsored by Sen. Chuck Gray. The Senator was all people who are arrested to submit to DNA testing. Compliance would be a condition of bail or "own recognizance" release - failure to comply would result in revocation of bail.
Just think - if this was in force when Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas tried to intimidate the New Times into silence, not only would the two journalists they arrested have had to submit DNA samples, it would now be incumbent on them to petition a court to have their DNA info removed from the state's database (as opposed to Arpaio and Thomas having to justify keeping it.)
If the esteemed members of the lege think bills like this one and the 'drug tests for welfare' one from above are such great ideas that would benefit the public, why don't they ever propose bills mandating drug and DNA testing for elected officials?
...SB1400, a bill relating to 'gun-free' zones. Sponsored by Sen. Johnson and Reps. Barnes, Burges, and Pearce. The State or "any agency or political subdivision of this state or any person, organization or entity that establishes a gun-free zone" would be held liable for damages if someone is injured or otherwise hurt as a result of criminal conduct in that 'gun-free' zone and that possession of a gun would have helped the victim defend him/herself.
Brought to you by some of the same crew responsible for the 'guns in schools' bill (and the 'guns in bars' bill before it.)
...SB1493, a bill related to early ballots and voter identification. Sponsored by Sens. Gorman and Blendu and Reps. Clark and Pearce. Would mandate that when returning an early ballot, voters must include "a legible photocopy of identification."
How does a photocopy prove anything? Also, what about the expense incurred by voters, as most folks don't have copy machines at home?
Ten good bills...
...HB2114, a bill relating to unattended children in motor vehicles. Introduced by Rep. McClure. Makes the act of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle (subject to a few criteria, such as age) a Class 3 misdemeanor. Repeat offenses are Class 2 misdemeanors.
...HB2141, a bill relating to the disclosure of water supply status during the sale of residential property. Introduced by Rep. Ableser. The bill requires that licensed real estate brokers to "notice of the water supply status of that property as designated by the director of water resources." Related: HB2142, which provides for similar requirements for general sellers (i.e. - non-licensed types.)
...HB2145, a bill related to health insurance and mental health coverage parity. Sponsored by Rep. Ableser, Chabin, Farley, Desimone, and Chad Campbell. Requires that health insurance providers not place greater limitations on mental health services and coverage than they do on physical health services and coverage.
...HB2217, a bill relating to yearly limitations on tuition and fee increases at the state's public universities. Introduced by Reps. Ableser and Schapira. Mandates that any approved fee and tuition hikes not take effect until the academic year following approval.
...HB2293, a bill relating to the sentence imposed on juveniles convicted of first-degree murder. Introduced by Rep. Sinema. Bars imposition of capital punishment upon juveniles. Capital punishment should be abandoned; this bill would be a good first step.
...HB2396, a bill relating to text messaging while driving. Introduced by Reps. Farley, Pancrazi, and Nelson, and Sens. Aboud and Aguirre. Bans the sending or receiving of text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Related: HB2397, banning the use of cell phones while driving, except with a hands-free device and HB2398, banning the use of cell phones while driving, specific to Class G-licensed drivers (aka - under 18 years old).
...HB2651, a bill relating to independent voters and presidential preference primary elections. Introduced by Reps. DeSimone, Farley, Thrasher and Sen. Rios. Would allow independent voters to cast a ballot in the presidential primary of their choice. This is the bill that Sen. Harper should have written, instead of SB1064.
...SB1046, a bill relating to the enactment date of the state's education budget. Sponsored by Sen. Pesquiera. Would mandate that the lege pass the following fiscal year budget for the Arizona Department of Education by April 15th.
So simple it's brilliant. Now to get them to pass the rest of the budget before it hits 100 in Phoenix...
...SB1247, a bill relating to employer communications regarding religion or politics. Sponsored by Sen. Burton-Cahill. Bars an employer from compelling an employee to participate in an activity or communication that has the "primary purpose of communicating the employer's opinion about religious or political matters." The bill has appropriate exemptions for activities mandated by law and also for religious, political, and educational organizations.
This is how a religious liberty bill *should* be written.
SB1010, a bill relating a cell phone users' bill of rights. Sponsored by Sen. Waring. This one was a good idea when Waring introduced it in November; it's a good idea now.
The story, while it did have its good points, was also a very shallow one. 10 bills out of over 1100 filed? That's less than 1%, and the brief blurbs that the Rep wrote about the bills didn't even include basic info such as the name of the sponsor or whether or not the bill has been assigned to a committee.
So, with that serving as inspiration, here's my list of ten and ten - ten bad bills to watch, and ten good bills to watch. These aren't the only 10 bad bills, or the only 10 good bills; there's plenty more of both.
Note: in the interests of minimizing repetitiveness, no anti-immigrant or "let's balance the budget by cutting revenue" bills will be included. Those were covered pretty well in the Legislative Loon p0sts.
Ten bad bills -
...HB2096, a bill to create parental educational choice grants. Introduced by Reps. Biggs, Burges, and Murphy, and Sens. Gorman, Harper and Johnson.
After over 200 words rationalizing the need for such grants, and proclaiming that the bill's purposes are secular, the bill goes on to create a program that awards grants in the amounts of $3500 and $4500 per year payable to the "custodians" of pupils enrolled at private schools.
Undermining public education is bad enough to warrant inclusion on this list, but the language in the bill that states that schools "shall not be required to alter its creed, practices or curriculum in order to redeem grants issued pursuant to this article" is a very thinly-veiled way to funnel public funds to religious schools, notwithstanding the "secular" proclamation a the beginning of the bill.
...HB2477, a bill relating to employees of the state treasurer's office. Sponsored by Rep. Adams. Would authorize the state treasurer (currently Dean Martin) to randomly drug test employees and prospective employees, and to periodically snoop into employees' credit reports.
If Mr. Martin and his water-carrier Rep. Adams believe that there is a drug use problem in the treasurer's office, there are provisions in existing state law that would allow for drug testing in departments where there is evidence of a problem. Even if those provisions don't apply to the treasurer's office, why not change the law so that those provisions *do* apply?
Unless, of course, the underlying purpose of the program would be to control and intimidate office employees, some of whom may have spoken up over the crimes committed by previous treasurer David Petersen, who resigned in disgrace.
Something tells me that the ethically-challenged Martin wants to discourage whistle-blowers with this.
...SB1054, a bill relating to the state treasurer and independent legal counsel. Introduced by Sen. Chuck Gray. Would allow the State Treasurer's office to bypass the Attorney General and contract for outside legal counsel. The bill also exempts such contracts from the state's procurement code with its attendent oversights.
Related: SB1097, a bill from Sen. Burns to exempt the State Treasurer's office from the Government Information Technology Agency's (GITA) requirements.
Can you say "building an independent fiefdom"?
...HB2678, a bill related to welfare recipients and applicants, and drug testing. Sponsored or cosponsored by a cast of thousands (actually, a cast of 31, 30 of whom are Republicans.) Would mandate drug testing of all applicants and recipients of public assistance.
...HB2713, a bill relating to students' expression of religion. Sponsored by Reps. Clark and Anderson. Would bar a school from discriminating against a student or group of students on the basis of religion. The bill includes interesting phrasing - "If an assignment requires a student's viewpoint to be expressed in coursework, artwork or other written or oral assignments, A public educational institution shall not penalize or reward a student on the basis of religious content or a religious viewpoint." I'm not sure of this (I'm most definitely not a lawyer), but I think this might really mess up grading in science classes.
This bill may be related to conflicts like this one in the Deer Valley Unified School District, chronicled in the AZ Republic.
...HCR2041, an amendment to the state constitution barring preferential treatment based on "race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting." Sponsored by Reps. Pearce, Barnes, Mason, Murphy, and Nelson and Senators Harper and Johnson. Basically, this is Ward Connerly's scheme to end affirmative action policies.
...SB1064, a bill relating to presidential preference elections. Sponsored by Sens. Harper and Waring. This is the one that opens up presidential primaries for everyone but Democrats. I've written about this one before.
SB1332, a bill relating to DNA testing. Sponsored by Sen. Chuck Gray. The Senator was all people who are arrested to submit to DNA testing. Compliance would be a condition of bail or "own recognizance" release - failure to comply would result in revocation of bail.
Just think - if this was in force when Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas tried to intimidate the New Times into silence, not only would the two journalists they arrested have had to submit DNA samples, it would now be incumbent on them to petition a court to have their DNA info removed from the state's database (as opposed to Arpaio and Thomas having to justify keeping it.)
If the esteemed members of the lege think bills like this one and the 'drug tests for welfare' one from above are such great ideas that would benefit the public, why don't they ever propose bills mandating drug and DNA testing for elected officials?
...SB1400, a bill relating to 'gun-free' zones. Sponsored by Sen. Johnson and Reps. Barnes, Burges, and Pearce. The State or "any agency or political subdivision of this state or any person, organization or entity that establishes a gun-free zone" would be held liable for damages if someone is injured or otherwise hurt as a result of criminal conduct in that 'gun-free' zone and that possession of a gun would have helped the victim defend him/herself.
Brought to you by some of the same crew responsible for the 'guns in schools' bill (and the 'guns in bars' bill before it.)
...SB1493, a bill related to early ballots and voter identification. Sponsored by Sens. Gorman and Blendu and Reps. Clark and Pearce. Would mandate that when returning an early ballot, voters must include "a legible photocopy of identification."
How does a photocopy prove anything? Also, what about the expense incurred by voters, as most folks don't have copy machines at home?
Ten good bills...
...HB2114, a bill relating to unattended children in motor vehicles. Introduced by Rep. McClure. Makes the act of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle (subject to a few criteria, such as age) a Class 3 misdemeanor. Repeat offenses are Class 2 misdemeanors.
...HB2141, a bill relating to the disclosure of water supply status during the sale of residential property. Introduced by Rep. Ableser. The bill requires that licensed real estate brokers to "notice of the water supply status of that property as designated by the director of water resources." Related: HB2142, which provides for similar requirements for general sellers (i.e. - non-licensed types.)
...HB2145, a bill related to health insurance and mental health coverage parity. Sponsored by Rep. Ableser, Chabin, Farley, Desimone, and Chad Campbell. Requires that health insurance providers not place greater limitations on mental health services and coverage than they do on physical health services and coverage.
...HB2217, a bill relating to yearly limitations on tuition and fee increases at the state's public universities. Introduced by Reps. Ableser and Schapira. Mandates that any approved fee and tuition hikes not take effect until the academic year following approval.
...HB2293, a bill relating to the sentence imposed on juveniles convicted of first-degree murder. Introduced by Rep. Sinema. Bars imposition of capital punishment upon juveniles. Capital punishment should be abandoned; this bill would be a good first step.
...HB2396, a bill relating to text messaging while driving. Introduced by Reps. Farley, Pancrazi, and Nelson, and Sens. Aboud and Aguirre. Bans the sending or receiving of text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Related: HB2397, banning the use of cell phones while driving, except with a hands-free device and HB2398, banning the use of cell phones while driving, specific to Class G-licensed drivers (aka - under 18 years old).
...HB2651, a bill relating to independent voters and presidential preference primary elections. Introduced by Reps. DeSimone, Farley, Thrasher and Sen. Rios. Would allow independent voters to cast a ballot in the presidential primary of their choice. This is the bill that Sen. Harper should have written, instead of SB1064.
...SB1046, a bill relating to the enactment date of the state's education budget. Sponsored by Sen. Pesquiera. Would mandate that the lege pass the following fiscal year budget for the Arizona Department of Education by April 15th.
So simple it's brilliant. Now to get them to pass the rest of the budget before it hits 100 in Phoenix...
...SB1247, a bill relating to employer communications regarding religion or politics. Sponsored by Sen. Burton-Cahill. Bars an employer from compelling an employee to participate in an activity or communication that has the "primary purpose of communicating the employer's opinion about religious or political matters." The bill has appropriate exemptions for activities mandated by law and also for religious, political, and educational organizations.
This is how a religious liberty bill *should* be written.
SB1010, a bill relating a cell phone users' bill of rights. Sponsored by Sen. Waring. This one was a good idea when Waring introduced it in November; it's a good idea now.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Tempe mourns - Evelyn Cahill passes away at 88
Evelyn Cahill, mother of former Tempe City Councilman Dennis Cahill and mother-in-law to State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill, passed away on January 15th.
In addition to Dennis and Meg, she leaves a sister, three other sons, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and scores of friends from her years of working in the Tempe school system and volunteering with many community organizations.
Her funeral service will be held at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, January 19, at ASU's Newman Center, 230 E. University Drive, Tempe. There will be a wake immediately afterward at her home on Parkway Blvd. Burial services will be private.
Her obituary from AZCentral.com -
Evelyn Cahill, 88, passed away January 15, 2008 at her home. Born in Boyde Wisconsin to Peter and Louise Duce, Evelyn had two brothers and four sisters. Evelyn married Jim Cahill and they had had four sons. The family moved to Tempe in 1953. She was a loyal and vocal ASU football fan. Evelyn worked as a waitress and later in Tempe schools food services. She enjoyed her years working in the schools and around children very much. Evelyn is survived by her sister Florence; sons Dennis (Meg), David (Sonja), Donald (Sue) and Dwight (Rebecca); 14 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. Evelyn was a talented, beautiful, eclectic and strong woman. She was a lifelong Catholic. Evelyn loved to travel, garden and play cards. She enjoyed volunteering, especially enjoying serving meals at the Escalante Center and volunteering at the Tempe Sister Cities' Hackett House. Evelyn's home hosted a young Chinese piano student who attended ASU. Evelyn was passionate about life and her family. She loved being the mother of four sons, and loved that to this day they are referred to as "The Cahill Boys." She was never happier than when surrounded by her family. In her retirement years, Evelyn enjoyed the recreational, craft and social activities available though the various Tempe Community Centers. She was a member of the District 17 Democrats, but always believed in supporting the person she felt best for the position regardless of political party. Evelyn especially enjoyed sharing her opinions about local politics, always having a flock of political signs in her yard and a button or two on her blouse for those she supported. Evelyn was much loved by family and friends and we will miss her humor and charm. The funeral service will be held January 19th, 3:30pm at the Old Mount Carmel Church located at the Newman Center: 230 East University Drive, Tempe. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions may be made in Evelyn's name to Hospice of the Valley 1510 E. Flower Street Phoenix, AZ 85014.
An article from the AZ Rep's Tempe community edition can be found here.
My deepest condolences go out to Dennis, Meg, her family, and her many friends on their loss.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Events Calendar
Edit on 11/28 to add AZ Secretary of State and Citizens Clean Elections campaign finance training schedules and links, at the bottom of the post...
Edit2 on 11/28 to add Mitchell/Packages from Home info...
Come hear what the upcoming session holds down at the State Capitol from our three legislators. The event starts at 10 a.m.
Saturday, December 1 - Join Harry Mitchell and his campaign team for a "Tailgate Party with Harry" before the ASU Sun Devils trounce the UA Wildcats on their way to a Rose Bowl berth. :))
Festivities start at 3:00 p.m. at 502 S. College Ave, Tempe. For more info call 480-755-3343 or email Herschel[at]Harry2006.com.
And for some comic relief on Saturday, December 1 - Out in LD4, Sheriff Joe Arpaio will be 'roasted' by an assortment of Republicans at the Maricopa County Events Center, 19403 RH Johnson Blvd , Sun City West.
It's a fundraiser, not sure for what, and I don't care enough to find out.
One of the scheduled roasters is professional bigot Terry Anderson; I doubt he had a problem with Arpaio saying that it was an "honor" when his critics compared him to the KKK.
Thursday, December 6 - Tempe City Council candidate Rhett Wilson is holding a campaign reception/fundraiser at Pier 54, 5394 S. Lakeshore Dr., Tempe. The event starts at 7:30 p.m. and features such luminaries at former U.S. Senator Dennis Deconcini on former Tempe Mayor Rudy Campbell.
Event contact: Amanda Thorson: (602) 565-6571 amanda[at]themediaguys.com
...And finally, something that isn't an event but is certainly a timely reminder -
From Corey Woods, candidate for Tempe City Council -
And that's good advice for anyone involved in gathering signatures in Tempe. They're due; get them into the respective campaigns.
...Continuing edit...
Clean Elections' entire schedule here; imminent local sessions -
Wednesdays, December 5 and 12 -
Candidate and Treasurer Workshop
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Location /Information: CCEC Conference Room, 1616 W. Adams, Suite 110, Phoenix, AZ
AZ Secretary of State's entire schedule here; imminent local session -
Tuesday, December 11 -
Arizona State Capitol – Executive Tower
AZ Board of Pharmacy – 3rd Floor Rm 312
1700 W. Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85007
Times: 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Note- the above links courtesy the Pima County Democratic Party.
End edit...
Have a good week!
Edit2 on 11/28 to add Mitchell/Packages from Home info...
Edit3 on 11/29 to add cancellation of the Town Hall on December 1...
Thursday, November 29 - Congressman Harry Mitchell will join Packages from Home in preparing holiday care packages at 11:30 a.m., November 29 at 1201 South 7th Avenue, Phoenix. For more information about Packages From Home, the public can call 602-253-0248 or visit http://www.packagesfromhome.org/.
Thursday, November 29 - The Arizona chapter of the National Jewish Democratic Council (AzNJDC) meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Chaparral Suites, corner of Scottsdale and Chaparral Roads in Scottsdale. Jeff Farias of KPHX, 1480 AM, will be the guest speaker.
Friday, November 30 - From 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., join the Young Democrats of Arizona in welcoming Congressman Harry Mitchell to a "Happy Hour with Harry at 'Harry's Place' " at the Mission Palms Hotel in Tempe. More info, including tickets, here.
Saturday, December 1 -The Winter meeting of the Maricopa County Democratic Party (MCDP) will take place on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at the UA Plumbers and Pipefitters 469 Union Hall, 3109 N. 24th St., in Phoenix. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., training and workshops begin at 9.
Note - according to an email from LD17 chair Doug Mings, the Town Hall has been cancelled and should be rescheduled for early in the year.
Come hear what the upcoming session holds down at the State Capitol from our three legislators. The event starts at 10 a.m.
Saturday, December 1 - Join Harry Mitchell and his campaign team for a "Tailgate Party with Harry" before the ASU Sun Devils trounce the UA Wildcats on their way to a Rose Bowl berth. :))
Festivities start at 3:00 p.m. at 502 S. College Ave, Tempe. For more info call 480-755-3343 or email Herschel[at]Harry2006.com.
And for some comic relief on Saturday, December 1 - Out in LD4, Sheriff Joe Arpaio will be 'roasted' by an assortment of Republicans at the Maricopa County Events Center, 19403 RH Johnson Blvd , Sun City West.
It's a fundraiser, not sure for what, and I don't care enough to find out.
One of the scheduled roasters is professional bigot Terry Anderson; I doubt he had a problem with Arpaio saying that it was an "honor" when his critics compared him to the KKK.
Thursday, December 6 - Tempe City Council candidate Rhett Wilson is holding a campaign reception/fundraiser at Pier 54, 5394 S. Lakeshore Dr., Tempe. The event starts at 7:30 p.m. and features such luminaries at former U.S. Senator Dennis Deconcini on former Tempe Mayor Rudy Campbell.
Event contact: Amanda Thorson: (602) 565-6571 amanda[at]themediaguys.com
...And finally, something that isn't an event but is certainly a timely reminder -
From Corey Woods, candidate for Tempe City Council -
"...[P]etition signatures have to be turned in to the Tempe City Clerk’s office on Wednesday, December 12th. If you have a sheet that you would like to turn in, please contact me at your earliest convenience..."
And that's good advice for anyone involved in gathering signatures in Tempe. They're due; get them into the respective campaigns.
...Continuing edit...
Clean Elections' entire schedule here; imminent local sessions -
Wednesdays, December 5 and 12 -
Candidate and Treasurer Workshop
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Location /Information: CCEC Conference Room, 1616 W. Adams, Suite 110, Phoenix, AZ
AZ Secretary of State's entire schedule here; imminent local session -
Tuesday, December 11 -
Arizona State Capitol – Executive Tower
AZ Board of Pharmacy – 3rd Floor Rm 312
1700 W. Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85007
Times: 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Note- the above links courtesy the Pima County Democratic Party.
End edit...
Have a good week!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Quick update - upcoming elections and legislation
There's nearly a year to go until next November's elections and nearly a month and a half before the start of the next session of the Arizona Legislature, but campaign announcements, endorsements, and proposed legislation are already hitting the news and the email inbox every day...
...Republican State Senator Jim Waring is mad as hell at his cell phone provider and isn't taking it anymore. :)
From the Arizona Daily Star -
For the article, Susan Bitter Smith, lobbyist for the cell phone providers and possible 2008 challenger to Congressman Harry Mitchell, said that her industry hasn't taken an official position on the bill as yet; however, she and her organization, the Arizona Competitive Telecommunications Association, have historically opposed any efforts to strengthen consumer protections.
My prediction: since the AZ lege is still controlled by a Republican leadership that believes that 'caveat emptor' is responsible government policy, this bill is either DOA or will be watered down to the point of uselessness.
Note to Sen. Waring - Is something only a problem when a sitting Republican legislator faces that problem? People have been complaining about the cell phone industry for years. Where was the respect for consumers then?
Still, Republican proposal or not, DOA or not, SB1010 is a good start.
...Democratic Reps. David Schapira (LD17) and Jackie Thrasher (LD10) have already submitted HB2001, a bill to ban smoking in cars with minors present.
From the AZ Daily Star -
I'm pretty sure this one won't pass, either, since tobacco giant RJ Reynolds has already expressed opposition.
...While the bill hasn't been submitted yet, LD17 State Representative Schapira and State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill are working on legislation to regulate the tattoo industry.
From an Arizona Republic article -
Stay tuned on this one.
...Democratic State Reps. Kyrsten Sinema, Chad Campbell, and Tom Prezelski have submitted HB2002, a bill that bars employment discrimination based on "gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation."
Nope, this one won't pass, either. I can't see the likes of Russell Pearce or Jack Harper or any of their ideological cronies letting this one get even a committee hearing.
Note: On December 4, 2007, the Scottsdale City Council is tentatively scheduled to consider adding similar language to its employment policy; sometime in the weeks thereafter it will consider adding that language to the non-discrimination ordinances and policies that contractors with City and businesses operating in Scottsdale must adhere to.
...In Scottsdale election news, as expected, Mayor Mary Manross announced her candidacy for reelection.
From her press release -
More substantively, she touted her efforts to "to reduce Scottsdale’s property tax rate. . Over the past decade the rate has dropped from $1.57 to $. 79. Our tax rate, today, is less than half of neighboring Phoenix’s tax rate. That’s being fiscally conservative."
That's an argument that will play well in Scottsdale.
East Valley Tribune coverage here.
As of right now her rumored opponents are current Council member Jim Lane, who can't officially announce his candidacy until January due to AZ's pesky 'resign to run' law, and lawyer Jim Derouin, who has said that he won't run if Lane does (see the Trib article at the link).
I'm not a huge fan of Manross (as anyone who has read this blog already knows), but I'm not convinced that either of the rumored candidates is a better alternative, especially since the major plank of their campaign platforms seems to be "I'm not Mary Manross."
More as the campaign season unfolds.
...The Club For Growth, an anti-government, pro-privatization, right-wing group, has endorsed David Schweikert in the CD5 Republican primary.
From The Politico, via CBS News -
Also from the article -
Umm, regarding the endorsement - *yawwwwn.*
Later!
...Republican State Senator Jim Waring is mad as hell at his cell phone provider and isn't taking it anymore. :)
From the Arizona Daily Star -
PHOENIX — When Jim Waring got what he considered a runaround from his cell phone company, he got mad.He has already submitted SB1010 for the 2nd session of the 48th Arizona legislature.
But when he continued to hear similar stories from others, he did something else: He used his power as a state senator to introduce legislation that, if approved, would create a cell phone users' "bill of rights" for Arizona customers.
For the article, Susan Bitter Smith, lobbyist for the cell phone providers and possible 2008 challenger to Congressman Harry Mitchell, said that her industry hasn't taken an official position on the bill as yet; however, she and her organization, the Arizona Competitive Telecommunications Association, have historically opposed any efforts to strengthen consumer protections.
My prediction: since the AZ lege is still controlled by a Republican leadership that believes that 'caveat emptor' is responsible government policy, this bill is either DOA or will be watered down to the point of uselessness.
Note to Sen. Waring - Is something only a problem when a sitting Republican legislator faces that problem? People have been complaining about the cell phone industry for years. Where was the respect for consumers then?
Still, Republican proposal or not, DOA or not, SB1010 is a good start.
...Democratic Reps. David Schapira (LD17) and Jackie Thrasher (LD10) have already submitted HB2001, a bill to ban smoking in cars with minors present.
From the AZ Daily Star -
"There isn't a single person in this country who doesn't know that smoking causes cancer," said sponsoring Rep. David Schapira, a Tempe Democrat. What that means, he said, is that adults who smoke in front of children, particularly in enclosed places, are knowingly causing them harm.
"That's the definition of child abuse," he said.
I'm pretty sure this one won't pass, either, since tobacco giant RJ Reynolds has already expressed opposition.
...While the bill hasn't been submitted yet, LD17 State Representative Schapira and State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill are working on legislation to regulate the tattoo industry.
From an Arizona Republic article -
Valley tattoo-parlor owners, eager to protect and burnish the reputation of their industry, are calling for state regulation of the tattoo trade.
Shop owners have teamed up to form the Arizona Tattoo and Piercing Association, and one of the organization's first steps was to meet this week with state legislators who say they now intend to introduce legislation to regulate the tattoo industry.
{snip}
State Rep. David Schapira, D-Tempe, said that on Wednesday, he and Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill, D-Tempe, met with Dowdell and Sage O'Connell, owner of Urban Art Tattoo & Piercing in Mesa.
"What we heard from the tattoo industry is that they want to be more respected, and unless there is some sort of regulation, shops can exist which will give a bad name to the whole industry," Schapira said.
He said he intends to introduce legislation to bring regulation to the tattoo industry at the upcoming session of the Legislature.
Burton-Cahill said she considers the matter "an issue of public health."
"When you get your hair cut, you know that person has met a basic standard, and when we have tattoo artists putting holes in people, you want to know you are going to a shop that has met basic health standards," she said.
Stay tuned on this one.
...Democratic State Reps. Kyrsten Sinema, Chad Campbell, and Tom Prezelski have submitted HB2002, a bill that bars employment discrimination based on "gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation."
Nope, this one won't pass, either. I can't see the likes of Russell Pearce or Jack Harper or any of their ideological cronies letting this one get even a committee hearing.
Note: On December 4, 2007, the Scottsdale City Council is tentatively scheduled to consider adding similar language to its employment policy; sometime in the weeks thereafter it will consider adding that language to the non-discrimination ordinances and policies that contractors with City and businesses operating in Scottsdale must adhere to.
...In Scottsdale election news, as expected, Mayor Mary Manross announced her candidacy for reelection.
From her press release -
“We are truly a community where the Old West meets the New West; working to preserve our historic past while building Scottsdale’s sustainable future. A clear vision and an unwavering commitment to building a bridge to the future are paying huge dividends for Scottsdale. The clouds of uncertainty that hung over our city just eight short years ago have been lifted and Scottsdale’s future has never been brighter. Today is a time of tremendous confidence, enthusiasm, and momentum."
More substantively, she touted her efforts to "to reduce Scottsdale’s property tax rate. . Over the past decade the rate has dropped from $1.57 to $. 79. Our tax rate, today, is less than half of neighboring Phoenix’s tax rate. That’s being fiscally conservative."
That's an argument that will play well in Scottsdale.
East Valley Tribune coverage here.
As of right now her rumored opponents are current Council member Jim Lane, who can't officially announce his candidacy until January due to AZ's pesky 'resign to run' law, and lawyer Jim Derouin, who has said that he won't run if Lane does (see the Trib article at the link).
I'm not a huge fan of Manross (as anyone who has read this blog already knows), but I'm not convinced that either of the rumored candidates is a better alternative, especially since the major plank of their campaign platforms seems to be "I'm not Mary Manross."
More as the campaign season unfolds.
...The Club For Growth, an anti-government, pro-privatization, right-wing group, has endorsed David Schweikert in the CD5 Republican primary.
From The Politico, via CBS News -
“It is clear that David Schweikert is a tireless defender of taxpayers who will continue to fight for taxpayers in the U.S. Congress,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey in a statement.It's interesting that CFG is endorsing a candidate before all likely candidates have had the opportunity to enter the race; maybe they're trying to change their recent spate of bad luck.
Also from the article -
The Club for Growth has been off to a slow start this election cycle, with two if its endorsed candidates losing in competitive GOP nomination battles.
In Ohio’s 5th District, Club-backed candidate state Sen. Steve Buehrer lost to state Rep. Bob Latta in this month’s GOP special election primary. And activist Paul Jost, who headed the Virginia chapter of the Club for Growth, narrowly lost the GOP nomination to succeed the late Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.) to state Del. Rob Wittman.
Umm, regarding the endorsement - *yawwwwn.*
Later!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)