News from the Coconino County Democratic Party
August 11, 2020
August 8 Quarterly Meeting and Election
The last quarterly business meeting for our 2019-2020 County Committee happened on August 8 as part of our regular monthly Coconino Democratic Action Meeting. We filled vacancies in elected offices caused by the departure of Shannah Redmon and Phil Dudas, who moved to Missouri to tend to family obligations. Marie Sansone was elected 2d Vice-Chair and Bill Wade as Treasurer. Read a summary of the full meeting here: CC Dems Meet as General Election Deadlines Draw Closer.
Our September and October Monthly meetings will be devoted to Get Out the Vote action for the November 3 General Election. In November, we’ll meet to explain the Reorganization process and celebrate our victories. The first meeting of the Committee, consisting of PCs elected for the 2020-2022 term, will be in December when new officers will be elected in the statutory Reorganization Meeting.
Legislative District 6
Our legislative district is recognized as essential for winning Democratic control of the Arizona Legislature. Primary results create challenges for Republicans’ hold on the legislature — Arizona Republic. Republicans, in knocking Sylvia Allen off the ballot for the State Senate, nominated five-time loser Wendy Rogers whose claim to fame is a desire to kill social security. Navajo County Dems have provided a nice summary of an Arizona Capitol Times’s assessment of Rogers.
Coconino Democrats will play a key role in whether our Democratic Candidates, Felicia French and Coral Evans, are elected. Coconino represents the largest block of voters among the four counties in LD-6 so it’s our job to carry the effort. Overall, Republicans outnumber Democrats in the district, so the key is identifying and persuading and then getting Independents to the polls. Right now, we’re only at step one of that three-step process but it is the most critical and it must be completed soon.
Many of us have been working hard on the phones since May and we’ve completed a first pass of the targeted universe of potential supporters. What we do in the remainder of August and early September is critical. The current work, through September, involves discussing issues with mostly friendly voters who are not yet inundated with phone calls. This work sets up the Get Out the Vote campaign that begins in October — if we don’t do this preliminary piece right NOW, the campaign will be critically weak come October. So, please, if you haven’t already been calling for LD-6, sign up for a training on Thursday afternoon or Saturday morning. Once you’ve been through a training session, you may call any day that fits your schedule. If you have been calling, thank you; please try to increase your effort by an hour a week.
If you have questions for the wonderful LD-6 field staff, they have virtual office hours on Tuesday afternoon, including today.
Primary Results
Tom O’Halleran advanced from his primary contest to the General Election where he’ll face Tiffany Shedd for our seat in Congress. Conversations with Tom and his campaign indicate that he’s eager to get in the fight but, appropriately, preoccupied with what’s going on in Congress and doing what he can to help the district and advance the Democratic agenda there. We’ll be posting his campaign opportunities as soon as we know them.
In the County Board of Supervisors District 4 race, Judy Begay advanced to the general election. Judy is an exceptional woman who has raised three amazing kids, taken care of her elderly mother while also herding sheep and living a traditional Navajo life, served on and as President of the Tuba City School Board, helped secure affordable housing for local Navajos, and earned her M.A. degree in Business Management. She has consistently been involved with her community. Judy has been endorsed by her primary opponent, Bryan Bates. Running on the Republican side of the ticket is Bob Thorpe, who has termed out of his time in the Arizona House where he has consistently opposed local control over such things as vacation home rentals and efforts by the Flagstaff City Council to reduce expenses at the City landfill by banning plastic bags. He’s also stripped revenue from counties to siphon it to the state level to allow reducing state taxes to corporations. If you’d like to contribute to Judy’s campaign, please make your check payable to Judy Begay for Coconino County Supervisor, District #4, and mail it to POB 2091, Tuba City, AZ 86045.
In Supervisor District 5, incumbent Lena Fowler emerged victorious over her challenger. The other Democrats running for the Board of Supervisors did not face primary challenges, but Candidate Patrice Horstman and Supervisor Matt Ryan do face challengers in the General Election. District 2 Supervisor Liz Archuleta is our nominee, and unopposed for the General. All of the Democratic candidates for county offices were unopposed in the primary and will be unopposed in the general — that’s because of the highly professional public service work that they do!
In the Flagstaff Mayoral race, Democrat Paul Deasy will face Republican Charlie Odegaard.
Biden/Kelly Campaigns
The Biden and Kelly campaigns have joined forces under the name Mission for Arizona. Many Coconino Democrats have worked the phone banks for MFA since springtime. If you want to join this effort, local opportunities are listed on our calendar. The MFA had an excellent “dry run” for GOTV planning during the primary.
We’re all eager to learn Biden’s VP choice and to enjoy the virtual Democratic National Convention. Meanwhile, Biden is very active on Twitter and we’re carrying his virtual events as a separate menu item on our website because there are so many of them.
Mission for Arizona invites you to host virtual watch parties from August 17-19th during the Convention to help Mission for Arizona bring Democrats across Arizona together to celebrate this unifying moment for Democrats! We will be using an exciting virtual platform that will provide you with a unique watch party event page to interact with your guests and watch the convention together from the comfort of your own home.
If you want to be a part of the first virtual Democratic National Convention and help launch Joe Biden & Democrats up and down the ballot to victory in the fall, sign up at one of the links below to submit a request to host a watch party. You will then receive the link to your watch party and all the details you’ll need! All parties will take place between 6-8pm PST.
Sign up to Host a Watch Party by day below:
If you have any questions, you can reach Angélica Afanador at 954-825-1276
In Case You Missed This Other News
- A Stronger, Fairer Economy: The Biden-Sanders Unity Platform
- Happy Birthday, CFPB!
- Latinos for Black Lives Matter
- We’re Proud To Be Part of Northeast Arizona Native Democrats
- World-Class Education in Every ZIP Code: The Biden-Sanders Unity Platform
- Will COVID-19 Hospital Data Disappear?
- Should We Open Our Schools?
- Most Urgent Issue in Arizona: Back to School in the Era of COVID-19
- Three Statewide Ballot Initiatives Worthy Of Your Support
For the most current posts, follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well as checking the Latest News on our website.
Candidate Signs Available
We have signs for Corporation Commission Candidate Shea Stanfield. Call the office to make an appointment to pick up one: 928-214-0393.
Some signs are available for LD-6 Senate Candidate Felicia French. Contact: SharonEdgar@msn.com
Two Democratic candidates for County Supervisor have signs available:
- For homes and businesses in District 1, signs for Patrice Horstman are available. Contact Patrice at: pmhorstman@mac.com or Jenn at: jvargm@gmail.com or sign up on the website at www.patriceforsupervisor.com
Training Opportunities Have Gone Virtual!
We encourage all PCs and volunteers to attend one of our orientation sessions. These explain the party structure and give you an opportunity to learn how you can contribute. We are now doing these sessions on Zoom every Tuesday. If necessary, we can schedule an individual session at another time.
If we have no RSVPs, the event will not be held! Call (928) 214-0393 or write info@coconinodemocrats.org.
If you are struggling with the technology required to participate in the 2020 campaign, get in touch and we’ll help you learn what you need. info@coconinodemocrats.org.
Calendar of Democratic Events in Coconino County
Here’s How to Reach Your Ex Com Members
