Greetings ...
And welcome to the 2014 edition of Baja Arizona Kossacks Primary Open Thread. The Arizona Democratic Party seems to be pursuing a No Primaries policy, for whatever reason, so most of us aren't involved in a hot primary race. The only serious primary is up in AZ-07 between Ruben Gallego and Mary Rose Willcox. Still, we'll want to know which of the Republican Whackjobs will make it through to face our candidates in November. So come on in and we'll shoot the bull while we wait for results to come in.
Did Anybody Vote Today ?
I didn't. I'm on the Permanent Early Voters list. I mailed my ballot in weeks ago. I imagine that most of the people who take politics seriously and who vote in every election, the party faithful in other words, have gotten themselves on the PEVL by now. I'll be interested to see some numbers on PEVL voters vs. traditional polling place voters, for both parties, for both the Primary and General elections. The campaigns want everybody to get on the PEVL because it allows them to target their resources more accurately, phone banking in particular. It's been raining, off and on, all afternoon where I live. There's a Flash Flood Warning. This has been the best monsoon we've had in 4 or 5 years. I don't know how the rain will affect turnout but inclement weather is something PEVL voters don't have to worry about.
I Done Thisaway
That's a great phrase, isn't it ? I got it from a cowboy novel by J.P.S. Brown. Anyway, I wrote in Matt Heinz for Congress in AZ-02. I know he won't win and I don't care. I saw it as a chance, maybe my only chance, to make a statement to my Congressman and to my Party. That statement is what they call an undervote. They keep track of this stuff. If Fred DuVal gets 100 votes, and Felecia Rotellini and David Garcia do too, and Good Ol' Ron only gets 80 somebody might want to know why that happened. That said, I'm pretty sure Ron will win his primary so it's Ron Barber for Congress from here on out.
State Mine Inspector
This office has always interested me. I don't know if any other states have such an elected office or why we need one, but we get to vote for a State Mine Inspector. If you'll remember, I tried to start a write-in campaign: Azazello for State Mine Inspector. I'm not really qualified, the State Constitution requires two years of continuous employment in the mining industry and I've only got one, but I can't believe that there's not one qualified Democrat in the whole damned state who'd run for that office. The job pays $50k fer chrissake. A Republican is going to keep that job because he's running unopposed in the General. That's an outrage. And of course being a Republican he's "business friendly" which means he won't be doing a lot of actual mine inspecting at all. He boasts in his candidate statement that "he has secured resources to close, fence and mark thousands of abandoned mines throughout Arizona." Are you kidding me ? He's getting $50k to run around the state checking out old mine shafts from the 19th century ? How 'bout actually inspecting some mines that are currently operating to make sure that what happened down in Cananea doesn't happen here. Did y'all see that story ? A tailings pond at the Cananea mine ruptured and spewed 10 million gallons of sulfuric acid into the Sonora River. (Links: Star and Think Progress) The Cananea mine is owned by Grupo Mexico which also owns Asarco which operates 3 mines and a smelter in Arizona. The company claims that the monsoon just overwhelmed containment of the tailings but, Jeezus Christ, we get monsoons every year. That's no excuse. Sonora needs a Mine Inspector, one who's not on the take, and we need one who's a Democrat.
OK, there's my intro, let's get to the results.