Turnout by Native Americans will be crucial in Arizona as races for governor and U.S. House remain close.
In 2020, an unprecedented turnout by Natives gave Biden an 11,000 vote win in the state.
This year, Katie Hobbs, the current secretary of state, shows a 2% lead over Trump-endorsed Kari Lake. The polls remain close despite Lake’s anti-abortion positions with no exceptions and unfailing support for Trump’s Big Lie that he won the 2020 election.
Sen. Mark Kelly is pulling away from the failing candidacy of Blake Masters, a gopher for a California billionaire who quotes Nazis.
But it is the U.S. House race for the 2nd District where Native votes will be most important. Rep. Tom O’Halleran is well-known and well-liked for having delivered essential aid during the pandemic to tribal communities.
He is opposed by Eli Crane, a Republican who lives in Tucson, far from the northern Arizona district. Crane’s claim to fame is having improved the design of a bottle opener made by cutting a notch into the brass of a spent cartridge.
There has been no public polling. The FiveThirtyEight model shows the race at 48.6 to 51.4 with Crane favored. Cook, usually a trailing indicator, shows the race as “likely Republican.” That is odd, because Cook shows the more difficult AZ01 and AZ06 as “lean Republican.”
The Navajo Nation Community Engagement and Celebration parade is Saturday September 10th. Tom will get a chance to speak with thousands of Navajos thronging the three-mile route from Tse Bonito in New Mexico through Window Rock, Arizona to St. Michaels. It’s our best chance to see as many tribal members as possible.
Arizona CD2 is critical. When Democrats have the northern Arizona district, they control the U.S. House. When we lose CD2, we don’t. There is no magic. It has long been one of the most competitive districts in the U.S. Thanks to re-districting, we have to work harder to overcome a Republican edge.
But if we are able to build on the good work our Native organizers have been doing, we’ll get it done and preserve control of the U.S. House.
If you would like to help us, please donate at ActBlue . Or you can mail a check to Arizona Deserves Better, c/o Eric Kramer, 1910 Douglas Fir Dr., Pinetop, AZ 85935
You probably know that the state Supreme Court ruled against our effort to get the Arizona Fair Elections Act on the ballot. We think we were cheated, but we will get a briefing on Monday to try to understand the “formula” the court used to keep the measure off the November ballot.
We are not over that yet, but we are turning to winning the election.
There will be three sneaky referendums on the ballot which essentially try to end Direct Democracy in Arizona. We need to get out the “no” vote on those.
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.
Vote No on Props 128, 129 and 132