Devastated by the state Supreme Court’s chicanery in keeping the Arizona Fair Elections Act off the November ballot, we have to shake off the pain and open our eyes to opportunities in Arizona to help keep control of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House -- and win the governor’s race.
We are blessed with a multi-volume graphic novel of cartoon characters brought to the fore by the former president. Blake Masters, a Nazi-quoting gopher for an out-of-state billionaire, is no match for Democrat Mark Kelly in the U.S. Senate race. Masters is molting as he flees, trying to shed the skin he adopted for the primary. He is giving up on the Big Lie, is now thinking abortion might be OK and as donors withdraw millions in support, is very quick to let everyone know he has no fixed principles.
Kari Lake, the GOP candidate for governor, is so deeply embedded in the Trump con that she has no choice but to go down with the ship.
The area where we need to work much harder is to maintain control of the U.S. House. Rep. Tom O’Halleran holds one of five Democratic seats rated by Cook as “likely Republican.” If we can win this seat, then we can win the House. And we will.
Tom is well liked by the Native Americans in the district, and will get at least 85% support from this group. In some villages, he has received as much as 98% of the vote. It’s just a matter of turning out the vote. And we will be working on that.
His opponent is Eli Crane, who made improvements in the design of a Filipino bottle opener. It is essentially a notch cut into the brass of a spent cartridge. It has made the former Navy Seal a celebrity in the world of reality television. I haven’t been able to figure out why the loving couple who now sell this product don’t seem to mention Crane on their website. You can still get the base model bottle opener for $20 – maybe including a plan to fight inflation.
Crane lives in the city of Tucson. It’s an excellent place to live, but unfortunately many miles from Congressional District 2. While Crane has fully bought into the right-wing hysteria about The Border, the district he is running in actually borders Utah rather than Mexico. We have had little trouble from the northern direction.
Crane was actually booed when Trump introduced him at a rally because the ultra-nutty QAnon crowd wanted someone crazier.
There has been some publicity about Crane appearing with Nazis at rallies, and he has the support of white nationalists. I think one of his most problematic pronouncements is a desire to force everyone to vote in person on election day. More than 90% of Arizona votes are cast early, mostly through the mail.
We need to get the word out about Crane, and we could use your help. Please donate at ActBlue
Nate Silver has the race with Crane at 51.5% of the vote and O’Halleran at 48.5%. We can close that gap with good field work. We have two other supposedly Republican-favored seats in Arizona that we could pull out. That would be a very good start toward keeping the House.
The Republicans have terrible candidates in the races for secretary of state and attorney general. Thank you, Donald.
The Republicans have put three things on the ballot that would destroy Direct Democracy, which allows Arizonans to put questions on the ballot. If any of them pass, it would end Direct Democracy in Arizona.
Prop. 128: The constitutional amendment would allow the legislature to amend, divert funds from, or supersede an initiative or referendum measure enacted by the people of Arizona if the measure is found to contain illegal or unconstitutional language by the Arizona or United States supreme courts, which have both been hijacked by right-wing extremists. So we’re clear, that means the marijuana would still be illegal under this measure.
Prop. 129: The constitutional amendment would limit an initiative measure to a single subject. While this might sound good in theory, it’s a trick that gives more power to the legislature and makes it nearly impossible to solve a whole problem because it limits the initiative to addressing only one section of state statutes. For example, with the very popular 2020 legalization of marijuana, “single subject” would have only allowed the flower to be legalized, not the paraphernalia required to smoke it. Also, it couldn’t direct the revenue to community colleges, public health and public safety, or allow for expungement. It would have given the money and the power to the legislature.
- Another example: We’d still have indoor smoking in Arizona if this passed! When Arizona banned indoor smoking in 2006, it would have to be split in an absurd number of separate initiatives because statutes governing public buildings, universities, schools, bars, liquor stores, hospitals, commercial space, retail stores, etc. etc. are all different sections of state statutes.
Prop. 132: The constitutional amendment would require that an initiative or referendum to approve a tax receive sixty percent of the votes cast to become law. This is a gift to wealthy and corporate interests at the expense of the fundamental democratic principle that whoever gets the most votes wins.
We need help fighting these as well. ActBlue If you would prefer to send a check, you can reach me at Arizona Deserves Better. c/o Eric Kramer, 1910 Douglas Fir Dr., Pinetop, AZ 85935
Finally, we don’t yet know what to do with the Arizona Fair Elections Act. It is drafted and ready to go for 2024 if we have the support to get it on the ballot.
Thank you for your help. Good things can still come from this election. We just need to do the work.