Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

We are learning that “working class” means “white” for way too many people.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Everybody saw this coming.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Let me file that under fuck it.

Be a wild strawberry.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

You are here: Home / Political Fundraising / Boots on the Ground in Maricopa County!

Boots on the Ground in Maricopa County!

by | 175 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Arizona is one of our highest priorities for 2024.  The state has 11 electoral votes, and we want them!

Our goal is to raise $40,000 for Worker Power that will fund a boots-on-the ground team for three weeks.

Biden-Harris won by roughly 10,000 votes out of 1,672,143 cast (0.3%).  There’s an open Senate seat and a promising Democratic candidate, Ruben Gallego.  Gallego is likely to be challenged by crazy-eyed Kari Lake, whose ethics are as out of focus as her on-camera appearances.  This, of course, is the seat besmirched by Kyrsten Sinema.  We need Arizona in order to hold the Presidency and we need the AZ Senate seat.

To do that, we need to up our ground game.  And we’re starting now.  Our Balloon Juice donations will help with voter registration now, before it gets too hot for people to be going door-to-door, and then we’ll fund a GOTV team in the Fall.

Our goal is to raise $40,000 for Worker Power that will fund a boots-on-the ground team for three weeks.  The voter registration team will be focused on two Legislative Districts in northern Maricopa County, District 2 and District 4.  Why focus on these two districts?  It’s all about strategy!  And bang for the buck!

These two districts will help us flip the U.S. House of Representatives.  Both state legislative districts are within House District 01.  It’s an R+2 district, and the Republican incumbent, David Schweikert, is vulnerable.  He squeaked out a victory in 2022 against Jevin Hodge, a young newcomer Balloon Juice supported.  Hodge is not running again (the primary is in July), but Schweikert is in trouble.  Here’s what the Arizona Republic says:

While the area leans Republican, newcomers to the district are changing its political composition. The district is expected to become bluer in the future and some experts say that change is happening faster than anticipated.

Also, Schweikert is an unprincipled asshole.  He has already racked up $175,000 in campaign finance violations, and was sued for homophobic ads aimed at a primary opponent.  This is a strong potential pickup  – and a very rewarding one, at that!

Remember, as part of our strategy, we’re only focusing on local races if there are national implications.  Flipping at least one of the chambers most certainly would have national implications.

But we’re micro-targeting this effort even more.  The Arizona Legislature is narrowly-divided, with Republicans holding a two-seat lead in both chambers.  Worker Power sees a strong potential to pick up two AZ House seats and one AZ Senate seat in these two districts. 

AZ is trending blue for many reasons – increased immigration, priced-out Californians, an increasingly extreme Republican state party, etc.  Not to mention part-time West Virginians!  And the state Republican party is a shambolic mess.  They can’t win the battle through messaging – they have to do it through voter suppression.

The Republican party in Arizona has been on a tear trying to pass voter suppression laws and chip away at Arizona’s popular “permanent” vote by mail list.  Flipping even one chamber will thwart these efforts to impede Arizona’s trend to blue.

 Topping the list of Bond Villains in Arizona is AZ State Senator Shawnna Bolick in District 2.

  • She’s an election denier.
  • She introduced legislation that would have allowed the state legislature to invalidate Presidential election results.
  • She’s active in the Charter School movement.
  • And wait, there’s more:  Clarence Thomas is her son’s godfather.

The other two Representatives on the villain list, Justin Wilmeth and Matthew Gress, are also vulnerable.

All in all, micro-targeting these districts serves multiple purposes, and  we have to get boots on the ground quickly before it becomes to ungodly hot to canvass.  Canvassing started on March 11, and our $40k will fund one of those teams for an additional 3 weeks.

Open thread.

 

Reader Interactions

175Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    We have a $1,000 Balloon Juice Angel who will will match up to $25 for donations that are listed in the comments.  If you want the match but don’t want to list your donation in the comments, you can send me email.

  2. 2.

    Almost Retired

    Excellent!  I’m going to spread out my contributions throughout this fundraiser to take advantage of the angel matches.  So I’m in for $75 this time to make it an even C-Note.

    Also, just an informational note on the Arizona Legislature – not that anyone asked – but there are 30 “Legislative Districts.”  Each one elects one Senator and two at-large Representatives.  The more you know….

  5. 5.

    Mousebumples

    @Almost Retired: Also, just an informational note on the Arizona Legislature – not that anyone asked – but there are 30 “Legislative Districts.” Each one elects one Senator and two at-large Representatives. The more you know….

    Interesting! I learned recently that Wisconsin has 33 State Senate districts that are further each subdivided into 3 State Assembly seats. The variety of how this all works state by state is so different and fascinating.

  8. 8.

    wmd

    anecdotally Republican vaccine and Covid madness also contribute to Arizona’s changing electoral outcomes. A high school friend that went down the rabbit hole died from this…

  9. 9.

    Almost Retired

    @Mousebumples:  It is interesting to compare the different state legislative structures.  Here in California, we only have 40 state Senators – which means each of them represents about 930,000 people!  No wonder mine doesn’t return my calls….

  10. 10.

    SuzieC

    Is Scottsdale in either of those districts?  I ask because my RW sister and bro-in-law live there and it would be sweet indeed to see it turn blue.  In for $25.

  12. 12.

    geg6

    I’m tapped out on donations for this month, but I put in $25 since there is a match.

    ETA: I figured out that I could put in the extra $25 even though I’ve already blown my donation budget for March.  Found out today that, starting with this month’s paycheck, I got an 11% raise!

  13. 13.

    eponymous

    In for $100

    Former Tucsonan here, I love AZ and am deeply glad it is going blue (or, at least, purple)

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    @geg6: Wow, 11% raIse, that’s awesome!

    Did they read your mind and realize how fed up you are at times?  Or did everyone on campus get a big, catch-up raise?

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: Yes and yes.

    We will be raising funds for a couple of organizations in Wisconsin, one of which will be Four Directions.

    And yes, the new maps will be used in November!

  23. 23.

    geg6

    @EarthWindFire:

    @la caterina:

    Thanks!  I’m absolutely gobsmacked.  The University has been doing this compensation modernization review and it’s taken about 3 years to complete.  I’ve always maintained that I was underpaid compared to people nationwide who do my job (financial aid administrator) and I was very pessimistic about the outcome of this because 1) I never seem to catch a break; 2) the University is in the midst of a giant “we’re poor!!!!!!” kick; and 3) I was already at the top of the scale for my job classification.  However, they have now expanded the classifications to take into account experience, time at the University and some other factors and I am now in a higher classification, which required the big raise.  This will be on top of the small raise we get every year.  So I’m pretty happy about it.

  26. 26.

    H.E.Wolf

    @SuzieC: ​Is Scottsdale in either of those districts? I ask because my RW sister and bro-in-law live there and it would be sweet indeed to see it turn blue.

     Here’s a website that will give you the answer for any address in AZ!
    azleg.gov/findmylegislator/

  37. 37.

    SuzieC

    @H.E.Wolf: Thanks!  My sister lives in District 3, rated as non-competitive and leaning R by 25 points.  Looks like they live in a neighborhood that is well suited for them.

  38. 38.

    Mai Naem mobile

    Kicked in $25. The district 1 primary honestly has too many good Dem choices. Marlene Galan for example moved to the district to run. I don’t know why she didn’t move to another district to run.

  39. 39.

    Geminid

    @Jay: This is an international forum. The  motto for Balloon Juice After Dark is, “It’s after dark somewhere.”

  42. 42.

    Jay

    @WaterGirl:

    It sounds like they are just making it so computers connected to the internet in TX won’t be able to get to their site?

    Yup, and because like many digital companies they harvest data, they have probably figured out a means of blocking the use of a VPN that hides location data.

    So no Porn Hub in Texass, even for the Governor or Cancun Cruz.

  50. 50.

    Jay

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    the have probably figured out a way to block VPN use.

    After all, the Texass law make the Companies liable, not the users, so if a minor uses a VPN to hide that they are in Texass, Porn Hub is still liable.

  57. 57.

    wjca

    @Almost Retired: Here in California, we only have 40 state Senators – which means each of them represents about 930,000 people!  No wonder mine doesn’t return my calls….

    It may be personal (the senator, not you).  My senator is quite responsive.  (Even though he’s term limited at this point.)

  60. 60.

    wjca

    @Jay: So no Porn Hub in Texass, even for the Governor or Cancun Cruz.

    Not a problem, as long as the Johnson family (at least the males) still has access.

  61. 61.

    FastEdD

    If Texas wants to curb teenagers’ libidos all they have to do is show them pictures of Ted Cruz.

  63. 63.

    Glidwrith

    Glad we’re doing this. AZ state Dems just tried to protect access to BIRTH CONTROL and every single thug said no, with one stating that old crap of a woman holding an aspirin between her knees. Thugs outnumbered the Dems so the measure failed.

  67. 67.

    WaterGirl

    News on the NY Trial (delayed 30 days)

  72. 72.

    Jay

    @Geminid:

    PornHub is probably the most popular porn site on the web.

    It’s free, and it’s safe. You arn’t going to get child porn, be blackmailed and their vendors arn’t going to rip you off.

    There are thousands of porn sites on the web that will, and don’t care about the Texass law, because they are safe in Nigeria, ruZZia, Belarus, Serbia, Macedonia, etc.

    So Texass will still be able to get “Free Porn”, but it’s Buyer Beware.

  73. 73.

    Anoniminous

    Good chance to swing a bunch of seats.  The MAGAsshats now control the state party and we’ve got scads of evidence once that happens electoral defeats follow.

  76. 76.

    H.E.Wolf

    @WaterGirl: First pair of boots on the ground funded for Arizona!

     I love this! Tangible outcome of donations!

    ETA: I also loved the subsequent photo of boots showing the effects of door-to-door canvassing. :)

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    @WaterGirl

    Appreciate the one steer at the very end who stops to stare directly into the camera.

    “I’m ready for my close-up.”
    ;)

  78. 78.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Jay: Don’t they know that going after pr0n means basically ticking off almost all men who are their biggest share of voters? Even the loudest most obnoxious Christianist guys watch pr0n. Most of the guys who voted for this bill watch pr0n. Are they trying to turn Texas men blue? <- see what I did there..

  83. 83.

    Captain C

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Am I the only one who thinks that the reason Mike Johnson and his son have a porn “accountability” app on their phones is so that they can inform each other of the good stuff* they come across?

    *Which I’m sure would curdle the brains of most people.

  94. 94.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: They’re not actually going after Porn, though. It’s still going to be incredibly easy to access, but they get to make moralistic noises about it. None of their folk will get mad because they won’t be stopped from viewing it.

    Bonus points: The only porn sites (like PornHub) that they’d go after would be the sex-positive, democratic leaning ones. So they also get to selectively punish their enemies, which is nice.

  95. 95.

    Redshift

    In for $25!

    Also, if you want to get in on the ground floor of the Biden campaign, sign up at joebiden.com/survey (you can also click on volunteering on the main site, but this gets you past the initial donation pages.) The first of a series of messaging trainings is on Saturday at 6pm EDT, if you want to sign up for that directly.

  99. 99.

    Jay

    @MisterForkbeard:

    PornHub was big in Texass, over 19 million users. Top searches were Trans, Gay, Teen (18+), Bondage, Rough.

    Ethical, North American and EU Porn Sites are going to follow PornHub’s lead and block Texass.

    The scammy and “dark web” sites won’t.

    As various Red States are finding out, just the threat of prosecution causes  GP’s and OBGYN’s to flee the State.

  100. 100.

    Old School

    JUST IN: Judge Cannon DENYING Trump’s Motion to Dismiss Counts 1-32 based on unconstitutional vagueness.t.co/kkcxLnwO8E— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 14, 2024

    The denial is without prejudice, meaning that Trump can reup his same arguments at a later date. Doesn’t mean he will; just making it clear that he has the chance to do so as the ruling was without prejudice.— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 14, 2024

    Cannon’s reasoning: the Court believes that the Motion’s arguments are better-suited to be addressed with regard to motions directed to jury instructions “and/or other appropriate motions.”In other words, she punted the decision to later.— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 14, 2024

    Edit: Additional tweets added.

  102. 102.

    Captain C

    @Old School: I suspect she knows that if she does that (ETA: dismisses everything), her decision will be overturned and she’ll be bounced from the case.

  105. 105.

    Jay

    WHAT!? So the NYC Criminal Case v. Trump is delayed b/c the “USAO” – the office run by Merrick Garland – ‘declined to provide’ docs the Manhattan DA asked for ‘more than a year ago’ and, now, right b4 the set trial Garland’s office turns over 31,000 pages necessitating a delay? – Don Lewis

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Cannon still got her delay in.  Since there weren’t even arguments on this, she could have announced that decision at any time.

    Delay.  Delay.  Delay.

    But I agree that this outcome is better than her dismissing all of those charges.

  109. 109.

    Old School

    @WaterGirl:

    Since I’m on Katie Phang’s page:

    BREAKING: Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, now filing this Notice that his office does not oppose a delay of trial of 30 days because of production of thousands of pages of documents from the USAO.t.co/YqqW0QFYwr— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 14, 2024

    Yesterday, the USAO turned over 31,000 pages of documents to the DA's Office.— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 14, 2024

    And this Notice indicates that more documents look to be produced next week to the DA's Office.— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 14, 2024

    Bragg argues that the delay isn't on his office, but is Trump's fault because the defense waited until mid-January 2024 to subpoena additional materials from the USAO.— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) March 14, 2024

  113. 113.

    Jay

    A California mom of three has been accused of masterminding an organized crime ring that stole nearly $8 million worth of makeup from stores like Ulta, T.J. Maxx and Walgreens — and then resold it online to churn a profit.
    Michelle Mack, 53, ran the sprawling enterprise from her $2.75 million, 4,500-square-foot mansion in the San Diego foothills, according to authorities.

    Now ppl like Joe Scarborough and others got on TV and blamed homeless people for all the petty retail theft in the Bay Area the past 2 yrs and lookie, lookie, it’s a 53 yr old suburban white woman behind a booster ring.- Kenyon Farrow

  114. 114.

    Wolvesvalley

    Hooray for our angel matcher! I was going to donate $50 to Worker Power AZ but then spotted Almost Retired’s comment and decided to follow his example with $75.

  119. 119.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Baud: that damn dog ruined her!

    Currently sipping a Bulgarian cab and watching the TPC, which brings back fond memories of my bride getting furious when I showed up at our rehearsal dinner sunburned from having been at Sawgrass all day.  Which was good preparation for our wedding day when I was even more sunburned from playing golf that morning with my college crew. Good times!

  120. 120.

    mvr

    OK, in for $25. I’d give more but my credit card balance is in the scary range. Probably will give more later.

  121. 121.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    I’m a bit late to the party but kicked in $250. Is all the match $ gone already?

    Thanks for doing this, WG. It is really nice to have very strategic donation targets in crucial states.

  124. 124.

    Jay

    @WaterGirl:

    The stories on this are all over the map.

    Some media outakes are that the Prosecution asked for the documents a year ago and they were only just delivered.

    Some are reporting that the Defense asked for them in January.

    As near as I can tell, these have to be new documents, because if the Prosecution already had them last year, they would have to have been disclosed to the Defense then.

    I guess in the coming days, we will find out what is real.

  126. 126.

    WaterGirl

    @Jay:

    As near as I can tell, these have to be new documents, because if the Prosecution already had them last year, they would have to have been disclosed to the Defense then.

    The only thing I’m pretty sure of is that Bragg’s office didn’t have them until now.  The question is why didn’t the US Attorney in NY turn them over to the District Attorney in Manhattan.  I smell a holdover from Trump that is trying to stall until the latest possible moment.

    I guess we’ll find out.  Eventually.

  127. 127.

    Hungry Joe

    I’m in for two and a half double-sawbucks — that’s $50 (which isn’t as much fun to write or say). And I hope to have my very real boots — I mean, sneakers —  on the ground in October: Yuma is an easy drive from San Diego. And kind of a neat-o town.

  134. 134.

    sab

    @WaterGirl: US AG’s domain is huge and Merrick Garland cannot micromanage everything, and Trumps’s AG Barr undoubtedly brought in many stinkers. And NYSD office has stunk for many many years.

    Slightly OT: I am kind of surprised about how clueless Hur sounded. I went to Law School before the Federalist Society, when RW lawyers decided it was okay for a non-lawyer good fund-raiser to vet their side of the profession, ignoring all professional ethics ( those are just norms?)

    So Hur, who seems like a bright guy, was stuck with balancing between professional ethics (clear but not ferociously enforced) and Federalist dictates (ferociously enforced but in legal circles ethically iffy) and he opted for the Federalists.

    Back in the 1950s commies were professionally dead. I wish the same to Federalists going foreward.

  135. 135.

    TBone

    As we learned from My Cousin Vinny,

    Prosecutors must also provide the defendant copies of materials and evidence that the prosecution intends to use at trial. This process is called discovery, and continues from the time the case begins to the time of trial. A prosecutor has a continuing obligation to provide the defendant documents and other information which may reflect upon the case. A failure of the prosecutor to do so can expose the prosecutor to fines/sanctions by the court. Further, the prosecutor is required to provide the defense with evidence that may hurt his case, called exculpatory evidence. This evidence could show the defendant’s innocence. If the prosecution does not provide it to the defense, it may require a new trial.

    justice.gov/usao/justice-101/discovery

    But what happens when a prosecutor doesn’t provide all the evidence to his fellow prosecutor?

    Anyone’s guess at this point…

  138. 138.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @TBone: They are two different legal entities.  You ever watch Law & Order when the US Attorney’s Office steps in and does something Jack McCoy doesn’t like?  This is one of those situations.

  142. 142.

    WaterGirl

    Thanks to all who are donating.  The original Angel Match is still active, and when that completes, we have a $500 Angel Match from frosty that will kick in right away.

    Matching up to $25 per person.

  148. 148.

    BlueGuitarist

    Yay! This is totally awesome.
    Thanks WaterGirl & the angels.
    $25 for the match
    (Tubman of the future + Lincoln)

  151. 151.

    TBone

    @Omnes Omnibus: yes, I am aware that SDNY is a separate entity.  It’s called the Southern District of NY. I worked in the legal field throughout most of my adult life.  What I was pondering is why the prosecutor in SDNY didn’t cooperate to its full capacity to begin with and what consequences might arise from that (i.e., sanctions).  The My Cousin Vinny reference was facetious.

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    @TBone: I believe the motto of SDNY is:

    You’re not the boss of me.

    Their alternate motto is:

    Fuck you, that’s why.

    Though I see that the head of the office was appointed by Joe Biden, so he’s definitely not a holdover from Trump.

  155. 155.

    WaterGirl

    We have met the first angel match!  Thank you, Angel!

    And we have another Balloon Juice Angel – frosty!   He will match up to $25 per person, up to a total of $500.

  157. 157.

    Almost Retired

    Awesome. Let’s spend Frosty’s money.  I’m in for another $75 to get to another $100 with Frosty’s match!!

  160. 160.

    mvr

    @TBone:

    But what happens when a prosecutor doesn’t provide all the evidence to his fellow prosecutor?

    Anyone’s guess at this point…

    Remedies for lack of discovery will generallyl vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  There are state discovery laws and there is the general Brady requirement that the prosecution turn over information that is exculatory – which is a due process right under the federal constitution.

    But the penalties are usually mild (I used to work for a criminal defense lawyer and I was often called to testify about the prosecutors not giving us what we were statutorily entitled to). Generally it was a bit of time to look at the materials.

    But this is a lot of material and they will bend over backwards for this defendant in most courts.

    But, as the question understands, this was not in the hands of the prosecutorial offices that we prosecuting the case.  So the remedies will likely not include anything punative of the local DA as opposed to giving the defense a reasonable amount of time to review the materials.

  161. 161.

    TBone

    @WaterGirl: 1,000% agree.  It’s being discussed on MSNBC right now and I’m so frustrated I had to leave the room.  Heads should roll, but as you say, nothing will happen because (the Sovereign District of NY).

  162. 162.

    TBone

    @mvr: I’m not sure discovery rules even apply if it’s material requested by one prosecutor of another!  Southern Delay of NY 😠

  163. 163.

    TBone

    My original comment here was meant to show the contrast between the rules of discovery and what’s actually happening here for Alvin Bragg.  I forgot the snark tag.

  169. 169.

    lowtechcyclist

    @WaterGirl: ​

    I cannot take credit for finding the angels; the angels find me. :-)

    One day when I was not at home,
    while she was there and all alone,
    the angels came
    ;-)    ​

  175. 175.

    WaterGirl

    @Bee Girls: Just saw your comment just now.

    Now that your first comment has been approved manually, your future comments will show up right away for everyone.

    Thanks for the donation, and welcome to commenting!

Comments are closed.