Greetings
Welcome to another Baja Arizona Kossacks Open Thread. Mail-in primary ballots go out August 2, with voting and results on the 28th. Everybody should have gotten their new Voter Notification cards in the mail as well as their Citizens Clean Elections Candidate Statement Pamphlet. (Did you see where Bill Gates is running for Arizona State Senate ?) So c'mon below the fold and we'll look at some of our state's Democratic Congressional primaries and some, unhh, other stuff also.Too.
We Are Not Amused
OK, so there's this big track meet or something going on over in England. Because of this, I have to see "the Queen's" ugly mug every time I turn around. Now, I don't mean to sound like Johnny Rotten here, but Dammit, we had a Revolution in America so we could be free of Kings and Queens. Since when is it cool for patriotic Americans to go ga-ga over the "Royals" ? I don't care about the damned "Queen" and her dysfunctional "Royal Family." I don't give a crap about spoiled "Princes" playing soldier or some anorexic "Princess." If the English want to grovel at the feet of "the Sovereign" or pay taxes so a bunch of inbred, hereditary 1%-ers can travel the world, fine. Just don't expect me to get all excited about it 'cuz Homey don't play 'dat shit. (I'm talkin' to you PBS.) Rant over, on to the primaries.
AZ-01
This has to be one of the biggest districts in the country, stretching from the Utah border all the way down to Marana. Voters will choose between Ann Kirkpatrick and Wenona Benally Baldenegro. So riddle me this: In a district with a large Native American population, why is Wenona the underdog ? I think we all know why. It's the damned money. Kirkpatrick has a huge fundraising advantage and appears to be the darling of the Arizona Democratic Party. They're both good candidates, but Wenona would be my choice. She's got Raul Grijalva's endorsement and she's a Kossack.
AZ-09
This one has been an interesting one to watch here on the GOS since the candidates, or their surrogates, have been flinging the poo in competing diaries. The candidates are: Kyrsten Sinema, Andrei Cherny and David Schapira. Someone named Field Day has posted an anti-Sinema diary and DINOwatchAZ has posted three. Neither one of these has any other diaries or comments. EyeOnAZ09 has posted five anti-Cherny diaries. He/She has since been BoJo'd for some reason.
Two other DKos members have weighed in on this race. Immigrant rights firebrand and all around good guy Carlos "El Toro" Galindo, (here's his website), is not a Sinema fan. They had a little dust-up that led to some arrests at the State Capitol. (You can watch Carlos' explanation HERE.) I don't know who he's endorsing.
Another new user goes by the name Dose of Tequila. This user is associated with the "Tequila Party," a group of Hispanic Republicans who are fed up with the blatant racism of the Arizona GOP. It was founded by Deedee Garcia Blase who also founded Somos Republicans. Deedee has recently changed her registration from Republican to Independent but I still don't trust her. Dose of Tequila supports Cherny.
My choice, if I lived up there, would be Schapira. El Toro has questions about Sinema and Cherny is a DLC type and a crass opportunist who quit his post as state Party chair to enter a race that already had two decent candidates in it.
AZ-02
This is my district, and probably yours as well, since most Baja Kossacks live here. I'm going with the underdog, Matt Heinz. He's going up against Ron Barber. Out of deference to his former employer, Gabrielle Giffords, everybody else got out of the CD-8 special and Barber won it easily. At first Ron was going to be a "place holder" but then he decided to run for the seat in this election. While he was holding the place, Ron made a couple of questionable votes. Ron Barber is not Gabby Giffords. He has not yet earned our votes. Heinz has no chance, they say, Barber has out-raised him 10-to-1. I don't care. I asked Matt if he would caucus with the Blue Dogs, he gave me a flat no. When I asked him if he would join the Progressive Caucus, he said maybe. That's good enough for me. I'm voting for Matt.
AZ-03
Not much to say about this one. Grijalva has a couple of no-name challengers. I'm confident he'll win his primary. Raul is a progressive hero and a national treasure. After the primary, you'll probably see me phone-banking at Grijalva headquarters. Maybe I'll go plant signs in Three Points again.
October Meet-Up ?
It has been suggested that we have a meet-up in October. I like the idea. October is a beautiful time of year in Baja. We could meet downtown or maybe someplace on the eastside. Just let me know and I'm there. If the sleeping giant that is the Valley of the Sun ever gets organized, I'd drive to Phoenix to meet Kossacks. Same with Sierra Vista. And I'm always looking for an excuse to go to Bisbee. Let's get together, have some fun and maybe make a difference.
That's all I got, talk to me.