May 2021

Tim Steller: Too Many People Believe in Alternate Realities

By Larry Bodine|2021-05-05T15:15:44-07:00May 4th, 2021|Elections|

Tim Steller, a widely-read columnist at the Arizona Daily Star, warned that too many people believe in false alternate realities, which is undermining legitimate journalism. Tim spoke at the May 3, 2021, meeting of Democrats of Greater Tucson. "People of all ages can't distinguish between what's on social media and what is a researched news story," Tim Steller said. "Not everything done in the media is journalism," he warned. "The world is unrecognizable from even 10 years ago because of social media. A YouTuber who builds up to 100,000 followers has a bigger reach than I do." Decades [...]

4 Ways to Fight For Voting Rights and Fair Elections

By Paul Waugaman|2021-05-05T11:15:45-07:00May 4th, 2021|Elections|

The Republican opera bouffe “audit” of Maricopa County ballots is attracting national attention now that Georgia and the major players there have gone silent. The issues raised in Georgia’s legislation are surely going to the courts there. Arizona’s situation is absolutely nuts. In the Legislature, the most damaging legislation that would torque a perfectly good election system into a Republican-run set of Lego blocks has been blocked—not by the Democratic Senate minority—but by a single Republican member who thinks the bill doesn’t go far enough. In the meantime, the “auditors” handpicked by Senate President Karen Fann appear to be wholly [...]

Democrats Can Beat the Party of the Big Lie in the 2022 Mid-Terms

By David Gordon|2021-05-05T11:09:58-07:00May 4th, 2021|Arizona, Elections|

With local, state, congressional, and gubernatorial candidates declaring their intentions to run and raise money for the 2022 midterm elections (even while final district lines have not been drawn yet,) it is not too early to start speculating if the Democratic Party can turn back the historical trend that the incumbent Presidents party mostly loses seats in off-year electoral contests. Historically, the party that occupies the White House generally fares poorly in off-year mid-term elections. It does not matter if the President is popular or liked (Dwight Eisenhower, or Ronald Reagan in both their terms) or unpopular at the time [...]

Videos of Candidates and Speakers at Democrats of Greater Tucson

By Larry Bodine|2021-05-05T11:15:02-07:00May 4th, 2021|Immigration/Refugees, Labor, Law Enforcement, Local Candidates and Electeds|

Democrats of Greater Tucson meets every Monday at Noon via Zoom. Visit the EVENTS page to see our upcoming speaker. Many thanks to Anne Simmons, our Video Production Editor, for editing the videos. If you are a candidate, elected official, and or community leader, you are invited to contact sandeemb@comcast.net about speaking at DGT. For any other questions, contact DGT President Larry Bodine at Larry@TheDGT.org. Tim Steller: Too Many People Believe in Alternate Realities, May 3, 2021 Steve Kozachik, Tucson City Councilman on Reid Park, 5G Towers, and Water Pollution, April 27th, 2021 Rural Dems ‘Outnumbered’ But Undaunted, says LD11 [...]

Steve Kozachik, Tucson City Councilman on Reid Park, 5G Towers and Water Pollution

By Larry Bodine|2021-04-29T12:30:06-07:00April 29th, 2021|Local Candidates and Electeds, Tucson|

Video editing by Anne Simmons. Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik, representing Ward 6, said he favors saving the duck pond and Barnum Hill in Reid Park, in a new proposal to build a natural resource center with more trees, new water features, and ADA accessibility. "I support either B or C. Both got the highest number of votes. Both preserve our 4-year-old contract commitments, and both do not increase the cost beyond our ability to pull it off. Option G has up to a $25M added cost. Think of the parks improvements we could do with that money," he said. [...]

Rep. Hannley Rains Fire on GOP Anti-Abortion Bill

By Pam Hannley|2021-04-28T18:30:07-07:00April 23rd, 2021|Arizona, Healthcare|

By Rep. Pam Powers Hannley, (D-LD9) Republicans have spent weeks and employed multiple levels of parliamentary procedures to ram Senator Nancy Barto’s fetal personhood bill through both houses … twice. SB1457 died in the Senate earlier in April, but the Republicans brought the zombie bill back to life for a do-over. This article first appeared on the Blog for Arizona with the headline, "#AZLeg Vote Protects Fetuses, Criminalizes Doctors & Patients." SB1457 inserts big government into private medical decisions. It criminalizes doctors, nurses, midwives, doulas, and patients. Government has the right and the duty to make and implement [...]

Marcos Ysmael: How to Find Help for Tenants Facing Eviction

By Lynn Shapiro|2021-04-24T15:12:13-07:00April 21st, 2021|Economics, Housing|

Video editing by Anne Simmons. As the June 30 termination looms for the federal eviction moratorium, Marcos Ysmael, the Pima Country Housing Program manager, is acting to rescue Arizonians from eviction. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) might extend the moratorium on COVID-related evictions beyond June 30, he told Democrats of Greater Tucson at their April 19 meeting. Ysmael has 37 years of experience leading community development and housing programs. He is devoted to securing affordable homeownership and affordable rentals for Arizonans. Now, he's facing his biggest test yet: A pandemic-related recession that continues to force millions of [...]

Running for Congress in CD2, Kirsten Engel Seeks a Thriving Economy and Infrastructure Development

By David Gordon|2021-04-20T16:56:53-07:00April 20th, 2021|Arizona Democratic Party, Criminal Justice, Economics, Elections, Uncategorized|

Arizona State Senator Kirsten Engel (D-LD10) has an impressive resume that checks all boxes as a Democratic Congressional Candidate looking to succeed the retiring Ann Kirkpatrick in 2022. Senator Engel has been: A staff attorney for the Environmental Protection Agency. A staff attorney for the Sierra Club. The acting chief of the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Division. Visiting Associate Law Professor at Vanderbilt, University of California, and Harvard. Professor of Law/Environmental Law at the University of Arizona (a position she still holds.) Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Arizona from 2012 to 2015 A member of the Arizona State [...]

Dr. Randy Friese Aims to Succeed Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick in Congress

By David Gordon|2021-04-21T08:06:48-07:00April 20th, 2021|Arizona, Gun Safety, Local Candidates and Electeds|

With Ann Kirkpatrick announcing her retirement from Congress after the 2022 elections, Democratic candidates from the Tucson area and Arizona State Legislature have emerged to succeed her. One of these Democratic Candidates is Dr. Randy Friese. Dr. Randy Friese has been a consistent supporter of gun violence prevention. A member of the Arizona House of Representatives since 2015, Dr. Friese has served Legislative District Nine in Tucson. He is currently a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the House Health Committee. He has also been a member of the House Judiciary, and Government and Higher Education Committees. [...]

Tucson Native and Arizona Senator Dennis DeConcini Helped Launch the 1990s Economic Boom

By David Gordon|2021-04-18T18:42:23-07:00April 17th, 2021|Arizona Democratic Party|

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 [...]

May 2021

April 2021