News from the Coconino County Democratic Party
August 25, 2020
Key Message: COVID/Economy
While polls show that the public blames Trump for the raging pandemic, too many voters still think he’s doing a good job in handling the economy. During the 1992 Campaign, James Carville posted a sign in the Clinton touring bus which famously read “It’s the economy stupid.” Nearly 30 years later, that’s still true. If voters buy Trump’s line that he’s been good for the economy, we could lose this election.
One of the messages of the Democratic Convention was the cause/effect connection between the mishandling of the pandemic and the damage to our nation’s economy. The Biden campaign has a post-convention ad called What Happens Now: We urge you to share that on social media or by email to your networks.
For some of us, the economic damage can be invisible — let’s remember the stock market is not the economy. People are suffering, right here in Coconino County as well as around the country. On September 1, our County Treasurer, Sarah Benatar, and the Chief Economist of JP Morgan will be presenting on the economic impact of COVID in Coconino County. Sarah will show data that Coconino homeowners are suffering seriously. Her guest will talk about what’s ahead for us. Watch the event on the County’s live stream at 1:15 on September 1. Sarah anticipated the economic disaster that COVID would bring and worked with a national data firm to create a system for tracking the rolling impact on homeowners; that system is now spreading to counties across the country. This is another example of Sarah Benatar’s outstanding national leadership in her field. We are lucky to have her as County Treasurer.
Nationally, we need to hang the economic suffering caused by the pandemic around Trump’s and McSally’s necks. For Mitch McConnell to adjourn the Senate with a $3 trillion dollar relief bill passed by the House sitting on his desk was legislative malpractice. McSally’s election would keep McConnell in power. Strangely, Arizona was the first state to get the $300 per month unemployment bonus allowed under Trump’s (probably illegal) executive order. Of course, there was no money in Ducey’s pocket for the $100 match, but, hey, we’re a battleground state so wave a magic wand and that requirement was bent for Arizona. Polling data highlights that people across the country strongly support extending the full $600 emergency benefit boost. Trump’s smoke-and-mirrors executive order stunt is already hurting workers and the economy. Keep talking about it!
How We Win This!
The way we will be able to celebrate victories on the night of November 3, or in the days thereafter, is to work our campaigns. Many of you are phone banking with Mission for Arizona and the Canvass from Your Couch events for LD-6. Please keep that up and we hope more will join NOW, not later. You can signup through our website.
Our County Party has a need for many volunteers between now and November. Thank goodness we have so many of you! Some of you have told us you’re not getting notice of volunteer activities that match your interests. If that’s the case, please do two things: First, put our email address in your address book (info@coconinodemocrats.org) and check your spam and promotions folders regularly to make sure our messages are not getting lost there. Second, complete our Volunteer Preferences form. If you are volunteering for the first time, please use that same form.
If you want to help fold and stuff envelopes and put labels on envelopes and postcards, we’ll have a lot of this work from now through October. Check the box for “office work” on the volunteer preference form and you will get notices of all the opportunities. Because of COVID, we are NOT doing this work in the office. Instead, Kelsey (our fabulous office manager) has created a complex staging system for volunteers to drive by and pick up the materials, take them home, and return them. When the work is ready, an email explaining the system will be sent to you if you are an “office work” volunteer. We’ll need volunteers every week starting next week. Thanks to generous donations, we’ve hired two part-time workers to help Kelsey with the physical effort this enormous undertaking will require.
If you want to get out of the house and do some walking and climbing, sign up to be a “canvassing” volunteer. We are NOT doing traditional door-to-door canvassing because of the pandemic. We will NOT be knocking on anyone’s door. However, we are targeting about 6000 apartment doors for literature drops in September. Our First Vice-Chair Allan Gerston is in charge of orchestrating volunteers for this. Fill out the volunteer preference form, but you can also write Allan at allangerston@icloud.com with questions.
Commit to asking your friends to vote. You may be surprised how many people you know who don’t vote or haven’t updated their voter registration — talk about these things! Use the phone, social media, email, chats over the back fence or while out walking the dog. Friends don’t let friends not vote. If anyone has questions about their voter registration, needs to register, or needs to ask for his ballot by mail, send them to this website: IWillVote.com Soon, we’ll be coming out with mini-flyers with this site for our PCs/Volunteers to distribute.
The Election Begins October 7
This year, because of the pandemic, we are going to be emphasizing EARLY voting. Voting begins October 7; it ends at 7 pm on November 3. Voters should protect themselves and our poll workers by voting early rather than crowding the polling places on Election Day. Early voting locations will be posted by the County Elections office in a few weeks, but here’s what you as insiders should know: The Elections Office at 110 E. Cherry is not open for early voting, but the office at the Mall will be. Also, there will be drive-through voting at a Sunnyside location and early voting at the Tuba City Library. There will also be early voting sites in Page, Grand Canyon Village, Williams, and elsewhere, including at a mobile van which the county has purchased to give greater access for people in remote locations. People who want to vote in person don’t have to risk muddy roads, bad weather, or COVID exposure on November 3 — they can start voting October 7.
Getting your ballot by mail is safe and 80% of Arizonans do that and have for years. There are options for returning your ballot directly to official election locations without using the U.S. mail to return ballots. We’ll be following developments with the U.S. Postal Service and getting advice for the DNC/ADP Election Integrity lawyers as the time gets closer. Stay tuned. The best thing is to vote as soon as you can. Every signature on the outside of your returned ballot is verified by a county staff person trained in handwriting recognition — so get that ballot back before Election Day so the rest of us don’t have to wait days for a result while your signature is being checked!
COUNTDOWN
- Voter Registration Deadline (10/5/20): 42 Days
- Permanent Early Voting List (PEVL) and Vote by Mail Ballots (VBM) Drop (10/7/20): 44 Days
- Deadline to Request PEVL/one-time VBM (10/23/20): 60 Days
- Election Day (11/3/20): 70 Days
For current info on voting, go to CoconinoDemocrats.org/Vote
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. This past weekend (a “Weekend of Action”) thousands of calls were placed in search of new voters in the District — and we found a lot!
What we do in the remainder of August and early September is critical. 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.
Northern Arizona Indigenous Forum with Felicia French and Coral Evans — Wednesday!
Federal 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 and continues daily efforts to sign up voters to get their ballots by mail and vote early.
Watch our Facebook Page and Twitter account (or follow the Twitter feed on our website) for messaging you can share. We also have links for Biden Events and Mission for Arizona events on our website. (Click on the Events dropdown menu.)
Speaking of Facebook — Congressman Tom O’Halleran will be live on our Facebook Page at 4 pm today.
In Case You Missed This Other News
- Bates Urges Supporters to Vote for Judy Begay and Get to Work to Win in November
- CC Dems Meet as General Election Deadlines Draw Closer
- The Draft 2020 Democratic Party Platform
- Will Trump Succeed in Shortchanging the Count?
- Don’t Be Perturbed By Jeff Flake
For the most current posts, follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well as checking the Latest News on our website.
Shoe Strike for Climate Justice
Bring your shoes and protest signs for Climate Justice to the drop-off locations before 8/27/20.
If you would like your shoes returned, please place your name and contact information in each shoe/on each sign. We will get them back to you. (Unwanted shoes will be donated to local thrift shop). Locations of drop-off boxes:
- 3855 S. Jewel Drive, 86005
- 1818 N. Mesa Drive, 86001
- 8610 Arroyo Trail, 86004
The protest will take place from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. Do not stay for the protest – shoes only – for health reasons.
For questions about the ShoeStrike for Climate Justice in Flagstaff or to get involved please contact Dr. Stefan Sommer: Stefan.Sommer@nau.edu or call (928) 607-2028.
The ShoeStrike is sponsored by the Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance and co-sponsored by Fridays for Future, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Elders Climate Action, The Azulita Project, and the NAU Divestment Club.
Saturday, August 29, 2020
10:00 AM 3:00 PM
Flagstaff City Hall
211 West Aspen Avenue
Yard Signs!
We are told the Biden/Harris Campaign will be sending yard signs to us. We don’t know when or how many — and don’t count your yard signs until they are hatched, as the saying goes. IF we get a significant number of signs from them, we will set up a sign pickup Saturday event on the porch at the Ice House.
We have signs for Corporation Commission Candidate Shea Stanfield. Call the office to make an appointment to pick up one: 928-214-0393.
Signs are available for LD-6 Senate Candidate Felicia French. Contact: SharonEdgar@msn.com (You can also buy French gear at https://www.frenchforaz.com/shop)
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
- For homes in District 3, contact Matt Ryan mattryan.info@gmail.com 928-779-1193
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
Coconino County Democratic Party
PO Box 701
Flagstaff, Az 86002
