Thursday, August 04, 2022

Primary Day: Nationally, A Bit of a Mixed Bag For Cheeto, But In Arizona, He Did Well (For The Most Part)

In fact, I can only think of a couple of instances where R voters didn't pick one of his faves.


One thing was made clear by the results of the R primary - R voters have thoroughly embraced bigotry, hatred, and conspiracy theories.  Their inner MAGA isn't too far from the surface.


Caveat: Totals can and will change, but it appears that only a couple of the races are close enough where late-counted votes might make a difference in the final outcome/winner.


First, the best news of the night, and it's not even Arizona-related:

From AP -

Kansas voters resoundingly protect their access to abortion

Kansas voters on Tuesday sent a resounding message about their 

desire to protect abortion rights, rejecting a ballot measure in a 

conservative state with deep ties to the anti-abortion movement 

that would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature 

to tighten restrictions or ban the procedure outright.


It was the first test of voter sentiment after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 

decision in June that overturned the constitutional 

right to abortion, providing an unexpected result with 

potential implications for the coming midterm elections.


Now the bad news:

Republican Blake Masters won the R primary for U.S. Senate.  Cheeto will take credit for it, but my guess is that Peter Thiel's massive financial support for his vassal may have made more of a difference.















...In CD2, Republican Ron Watkins, the man who (allegedly) put the "Q" in "QAnon" finished 7th in a seven-way primary.





The ultimate winner, who will go on to face Democrat Tom O'Halleran in the general, was Eli Crane.






...In CD9, Arizona's resident bigot in Congress, Republican Paul Gosar, was easily victorious in his primary.













...In the Democratic primary in CD6, Kirsten Engel defeated Daniel Hernandez in her primary.











She will move on to face Republican Juan Ciscomani in the general.

















...In the race for governor Democrat Katie Hobbs handily won her primary.











In the general, she'll go on to face...I don't know.  The race between Trump-endorsed Kari Lake and Ducey- and Pence-endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson is too close to call.
















...Another race that is close is the race for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State.








The winner of the race will go on to face trumpkin Mark Finchem in the general.













Finchem at the January 6 insurrection, pic courtesy the AZ Mirror













...Republicans Abraham Hamedah, Kimberly Yee, and Tom Horne won their respective primaries for Attorney General, Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction against Democrats Kris Mayes, Martin Quezada, and Kathy Hoffman, who were unopposed in their respective primaries.












...Another race that is too close to call is the nomination part of Ken Bennett's quest to return to the state senate, from LD1.  I don't know if he's Trump-endorsed, but he fronted the fraudit.  Guessing he's a Cheeto fave.








...A race that is also close, but not as close as this one, is the State Senate race in LD3.








...Arizona's Republican voters in one district had a choice.  They could have voted for loony or loonier.  They chose loonier.

Trump fave Wendy Rogers is going on to the general in LD7.








...R voters showed their hatred for anyone who tells the truth about Cheeto by voting against House Speaker Rusty Bowers is attempt to move to the Senate.








Note: Farnworth is a former legislator.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything above the line was written on Wednesday; while vote totals may change, unless the victors change I won't update the post.


...Nominal Democrat Catherine Miranda is looking to return to the legislature; maybe she'll make it official this time and caucus with the Republicans.










....Insurrectionist Anthony Kern is returning to the legislature.








...Keep an eye on Alexander Kolodin in LD3.  He finished 2nd in the R primary for state representative there.  However, since two are elected and since no Democrats ran, he's going to the legislature.

He's also heavily involved in the fake electors scheme to overturn Arizona's 2020 election results.  And the plot to overturn the election itself.  And other things related to the insurrection.
















...In Maricopa County races..

- Thomas Galvin won the R primary for the District 2 seat on the county Board of Supervisors.  He won't face a Democrat in the general.  He was appointed to the seat last December.  Interesting note: Former legislator Thayer Verschoor finished last in the primary.

- Rachel Mitchell won the R primary for County Attorney.  She'll face Democrat Julie Gunnigle in the general.








...Senate Democratic leader Rebecca Rios isn't running for re-election to the legislature, but her political career isn't over - she defeated long-time JP Cody Williams in the D primary for the JP slot in the South Mountain justice precinct.  She'll be unopposed in the general.




...And the second-best news of the night is actually Arizona-related.

Joe Arpaio *lost* his race for mayor of Fountain Hills.

Guess the current mayor, Ginny Dickey, has done too good a job there (she has) or is too well-liked personally (she is).




Maricopa County and City results here; Federal, State, and Legislative results here.


Tuesday, August 02, 2022

Being petty towards veterans doesn't bother Senate Rs. Being *seen* as being petty towards veterans, on the other hand...

Last week, Senate Republicans got their hate on for veterans.

Subsequently, they were almost universally vilified for voting against something that they had previously voted for.

So today, they changed their votes again.

From CNN -

Senate passes long-sought bill to help veterans affected by burn pits

The Senate voted Tuesday night to pass a long-sought bipartisan legislation to expand health care benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during their military service, sending the bill to President Joe Biden to sign into law. The final vote was 86-11.

Passage of the bill marks the end of a lengthy fight to get the legislation through Congress, as veterans and their advocates had been demonstrating on Capitol Hill for days. Many veterans were allowed into the Senate gallery to watch the final vote on Tuesday evening
.

The final vote is here.

Monday, August 01, 2022

Maybe she thinks that looking right on one issue will make people forget that she's wrong about nearly everything else

From the AZ Mirror, written by Jennifer Shutt -

Kyrsten Sinema, three other senators unveil bipartisan bill ensuring nationwide abortion rights

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators released legislation Monday that would codify Roe v. Wade, ensuring pregnant patients throughout the country once again have the right to an abortion. 

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said the measure, called the Reproductive Freedom For All Act, would protect access to abortion and contraception.

 

She seems to have reached the "throw spaghetti against the wall and hope some sticks" phase of her political career.


As of this writing, I cannot locate the bill on the Congress.gov website.

Sunday, July 31, 2022

In the dictionary next to "craven," they should just have a pic of Cheeto

Pointed at this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From The Guardian (UK) -

Will Ivana help Donald Trump with tax breaks from beyond the grave?

When Ivana Trump, Donald Trump’s first wife, was buried last month near the first hole of Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, few immediately guessed that her grave’s location might also serve her ex-husband’s long-held tax planning purposes.

Tax code in New Jersey exempts cemetery land from all taxes, rates, and assessments – and her grave, as such, potentially has advantageous tax implications for a Trump family trust that owns the golf business, in a state where property and land taxes are notoriously high.


Nichelle Nichols dead at 89

:( :(

From CNN -

Nichelle Nichols, trailblazing 'Star Trek' actress, dies at 89

Actress and singer Nichelle Nichols, best known for her groundbreaking portrayal of Lt. Nyota Uhura in "Star Trek: The Original Series," has died at age 89, according to a statement from her son, Kyle Johnson.

"Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration," Johnson said in a statement shared to Nichols' official site on Sunday. "Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all."
    Nichols died from natural causes, he said.


    From the same article -












    From People magazine -












    Short Attention Span Musing

    Time to bring this concept back...


    ...Am I the only one who believes that if Barry Goldwater, the man who was too crazy conservative to win the presidential election in 1964. would be proclaimed to be "too liberal" by his own party and would be primaried for even a PC slot?

    ...If...OK,*when*...Cheeto announces his intent to run for POTUS in 2024, he'll get at least one less vote than he did in 2020.

    From ABC -

    'I'll never vote again' for former President Trump: Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers

    Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers may lose his Republican primary for an open state senate seat this week, after he testified to the Jan. 6 committee about the pressure campaign from former President Donald Trump and his associates to undo the presidential election results in the state.

    Bowers has drawn the ire of the Arizona GOP, who censured him earlier this month, and of former President Trump. But he's unapologetic about his congressional testimony and his decision not to overturn the Arizona's results.

    "If we want to base a party and an authority and move people to solve problems, you can't base it on a lie. Ultimately, that falls apart," he told "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl in an exclusive interview at his home in Mesa, Arizona.

    ...Chuck Todd, the moderator of NBC's Meet the Press, is a moron.  Not exactly a new or original opinion,  I know, but today brought it home.  He was on Channel 12's Sunday Square Off with Brahm Resnik and he pronounced that Senator Kysten Sinema wouldn't kill the climate/deficit reduction deal agreed to my Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin.

    I think that not only will she do so, she'll have a twinkle in her eye and a song in her heart when she does so.

    And the song will be playing so loud that others will be able to hear it.


    I hope to be wrong about this, but her track record on things isn't positive.

    Saturday, July 30, 2022

    Jeez, if you're going to run ads, at least get the spelling of your candidate's name right

    Found on the website of AZFamily (though it's probably in other places) -


































    Not only is the candidate's name misspelled, Cheeto's name is bigger.

    Apparently Kyrsten Sinema resents not being the center of attention

    From Axios -

    Sinema indicates she may want to change Schumer-Manchin deal

    Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) had a message for her Democratic colleagues before she flew home to Arizona for the weekend: She's preserving her options.

    Why it matters: Sinema has leverage and she knows it. Any potential modification to the Democrat's climate and deficit reduction package — like knocking out the $14 billion provision on carried interest — could cause the fragile deal to collapse.

    [snip]

    • Schumer and Manchin also inserted the language on taxing carried interest as regular income, which would raise approximately $14 billion, knowing full well that Sinema never agreed to it. That move blindsided Sinema.

    We'll know if she has set up her post-Senate gig as a highly-paid industry lobbyist by how enthusiastically she tanks the bill.

    My guess is that she'll only have to move her office from Capitol Hill to K Street.


    Friday, July 29, 2022

    The primary season in Arizona is *supposed* to be over by next Tuesday

    Maybe the winners won't be "official" for a few days after that, but for other than a few races, we'll all go to bed knowing the winners on Tuesday night.


    Except that the races won't be over if a Trumpkin is one of the also-rans; they'll just be like Cheeto, and claim the results are fraudulent and invalid.


    And they'll fundraise off of the lie.


    From NBC -

    Indicted clerk Tina Peters gets recount in GOP primary for Colorado secretary of state

    Election conspiracy theorist and Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters will get a recount after all, Colorado officials announced Thursday, now that Peters has raised $256,000 to pay for the review of her loss in the Republican primary for secretary of state.

    Peters demanded a recount after losing her race by more than 85,000 votes, baselessly alleging fraud. But she did not pay the $236,000 the Secretary of State’s office initially charged, insisting on a hand recount rather than the machine one they said their rules required. So Peters’ loss was officially certified on Monday.

    But then Peters announced she’d raised the funds and reiterated her request. On Thursday, the Secretary of State’s office announced it would perform a machine recount by Aug. 4 after Peters placed the $256,000 fee in an escrow account.

    Actually, she lost her primary by 88,579 votes.

    From the state of Colorado -





    She didn't even win her own county -






    Wonder what will happen in AZ's race for the R nomination for Secretary of State, where three Trump acolytes are running (at two will lose)..


    Thursday, July 28, 2022

    Senate Republicans find "a new level of low."

    Just when you think that they're reached bottom, they start digging.

    This time, veterans were thrown under the bus by Senate Republicans.


    From NBC (emphasis added by me) -

    Blindsided veterans erupt in fury after Senate Republicans suddenly tank PACT Act

    Blindsided veterans erupted in anger and indignation Thursday after Senate Republicans suddenly tanked a widely supported bipartisan measure that would have expanded medical coverage for millions of combatants exposed to toxic burn pits during their service. 

    Supporters of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act — or PACT Act — overwhelmingly expected the House-passed bill to sail through to the president's desk for signature.

    [snip]

    "They’re manufacturing reasons to vote against legislation that they literally voted for just last month," Butler {Jeremy Butler, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America} added. "And so it’s really a new level of low."

    The vote is here.

    Tuesday, July 26, 2022

    Talk about drumming up your own business

    Time for a non-political post (No politics?  What a shock! :) )


    I bought a new truck last month and am greeted by this when I start it -












    OK, I both drive safely and obey traffic rules and I change radio stations using the control on my steering wheel.


    So imagine my surprise when I saw this -










    An ad for an accident attorney?  Really?  On a screen that drivers have been warned against watching be doing so might lead to accident?


    Note: Both pics taken when my vehicle was at a complete stop.

    Sunday, July 24, 2022

    Ducey wants to use Covid mitigation fund to financially reward private pro-Covid schools. Federal judge says "No."

    And because money is involved, Dougie will appeal.  Of course.


    From AP -

    Judge tosses Arizona suit over limits on virus relief funds

    A judge has dismissed Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s lawsuit challenging 

    the Biden administration’s demands that the state stop sending 

    millions in federal COVID-19 relief money to schools that don’t 

    have mask requirements or that close due to COVID-19 outbreaks.


    The state filed the lawsuit earlier this year after the U.S. Treasury 

    Department demanded that Ducey either restructure the $163 

    million program to eliminate restrictions it says undermine 

    public health recommendations or face a repayment demand.


    The Treasury Department also wanted changes to a $10 million program 

    Ducey created that gives private school tuition money to 

    parents if their children’s schools have mask mandates.


    In a ruling earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Steven Logan 

    concluded it was reasonable for the Biden administration to say 

    that the money couldn’t be spent on efforts that would undermine 

    compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines. The judge 

    said a program that requires noncompliance with guidelines 

    may worsen the pandemic and create more negative effects, 

    which goes against the purpose of the relief fund.

    [snip]

    Ducey’s lawyers have said in court records that the governor is 

    appealing the ruling. Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin said on 

    Saturday that the governor’s office was reviewing the decision.

    Federal court records are behind a paywall (PACER).


    Saturday, July 23, 2022

    Republicans claim to oppose election fraud. Pre-election fraud? They seem to be OK with that.

    From TimesUnion (NY) -

    BOE boots Zeldin off Independence Party line for invalid signatures

    U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for governor, is unlikely to run on the Independence Party line after the state Board of Elections invalidated nearly 13,000 signatures that were included in his petitions. 

    Zeldin's campaign operation had submitted about 52,000 signatures, well above the 45,000 needed to get his name on the third party line, but the disqualified signatures left him well short following the board's ruling. The filing period ended May 31.

     From The Detroit Free Press (MI), dated May 26, 2022 -

    5 Michigan GOP candidates for governor disqualified from ballot after board deadlocks

    A state elections panel on Thursday deadlocked 2-2 on whether five Republican candidates for governor should be barred from the August primary ballot because they each submitted too many fraudulent signatures, and an official said the effect of the vote is to disqualify the candidates.

    The two Republican members — Chairman Norman Shinkle and Tony Daunt — wanted to put the candidates on the ballot. The two Democrats — Vice Chair Mary Ellen Gurewitz and Jeannette Bradshaw — did not.

    The effect of the deadlock is that none of the five candidates will be on the ballot, said State Elections Director Jonathan Brater.


    Well, at least they're consistent - signatures are their bugaboo.

    Circular firing squad: Pence and Trump campaign in AZ for opposing slates

    From CNN -

    The proxy fight between Trump and Pence continues with Arizona rallies

    Former President Donald Trump and former vice president Mike Pence held dueling events Friday in Arizona, turning the state's upcoming Republican primary for governor into a proxy fight between the two former allies as they inch toward what could be a 2024 showdown.

    The Arizona race is the latest test of Republican voters' priorities, as they decide between a candidate who has built her campaign around Trump's election lies and one who more closely reflects Pence's desire to steer the GOP's focus away from relitigating 2020 and toward conservative policies.

    Pence attended two events Friday with Karrin Taylor Robson, the former Arizona Board of Regents member who has become the GOP establishment favorite in the governor's race and is endorsed by term-limited Republican Gov. Doug Ducey.

    [snip]

    Trump, meanwhile, campaigned with a slate of candidates who have parroted his lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election -- led by Kari Lake, a former local television news anchor who Ducey said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" is "misleading voters with no evidence."
    Also part of that Trump ticket are Senate candidate Blake Masters, who is seeking to take on Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in a race that is crucial in the battle for control of the Senate, as well as secretary of state contender Mark Finchem and attorney general hopeful Abe Hamadeh.


    My guess is that neither side really objects to the circular nature of their firing squad...so long as the people who disagree with them are hit first.


    Also, it's probably no accident that neither side invited Congressman Ronny Jackson, a former doctor to Cheeto.  He probably wouldn't hit the other side, as his aim would be a little off.

    From The Daily Beast on July 18, 2022 -

    [snip]




















    Who knew that dog whistles and police whistles offer the same tune?

    From The News & Observer (NC) -

    The Kenly Town Council emerged from a closed-door meeting Friday night, two days after its police chief, his four officers and two town clerks resigned, with little to say except they they will meet again next week. 

    The news of the mass resignations has brought media attention to the small Johnston County town of just over 2,000 people. About 50 residents gathered at Kenly Town Hall, huddled in small groups, talking among themselves as the Town Council members quietly took their seats in the small, brick building.


    What could their problem be with their town manager?  Hmmm....

    From the website of Kenly NC -





























    Hint: The other people who resigned resembled the chief of police more than the town manager.