If it were not for Tucson native and Arizona Democratic Senator Dennis DeConcini, the economic expansion during the Clinton/Gore Administration would likely not have happened. Back in 1993, Republicans started their nearly 30-year trend of obstructing virtually every major Democratic Presidential initiative. They were screaming that Clintonomics would destroy the economy. That’s when Arizona Senator Dennis DeConcini cast a pivotal yes vote that allowed Vice President Al Gore to break a Senate tie and launch the Clinton/Gore economic boom, including budget surpluses in the late 1990s. Dennis DeConcini was born in Tucson on May 8, 1937. His father, Evo, was [...]

Ethel Maynard's most far-reaching legislative achievement is writing the education bill that led to state-supported kindergarten. Ethel Maynard, the first Black woman elected to the Arizona legislature, is a Tucson public servant people should remember for her trailblazing achievements. Born in Connecticut, Maynard became a nurse in Harlem, New York, before moving to Tucson in 1946 and working at the Tucson Medical Center. A Vice President of the Arizona NAACP and member of the board of Planned Parenthood, Maynard, a Democrat, became the first Black woman to serve in the Arizona House of Representatives. She held office from 1967 [...]

"Come with an open mind, don't think you can change the world in one day," says Darsi Aldrich. She is a precinct committeewoman in precinct 210 near Orange Grove Road and First Avenue. "Phone banking makes a big difference." Darsi has made hundreds, if not thousands of phone calls to voters. She makes 75 to 100 calls in a two-hour shift. "Campaigns are a lot like working for Nordstrom. The approach is all grass-roots: you call your customer," she says. "You're part of a team. You are one of hundreds of people calling that weekend making a difference." [...]

  Leo Gruenstein, a senior at the Gregory School in Tucson, successfully registered 100 students in a week, as part of a Mission for Arizona project to get young voters to the polls. The latest episode of LD9's Larry Bodine Live video show interviews Leo about his project, the good response he is getting, and how he first became active in local politics. He is a varsity player on the tennis and basketball teams, the managing editor of the school newspaper, and President of High School Democrats TGS (short for The Gregory School). He is also an intern [...]