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The environmental group The Sierra Club has been running a cable ad urging Arizona Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain (both Republicans) to vote for President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy.
The ad, titled "The Brain", claims that Arizonans are sick of Washington gridlock, and appeals to the Senators' occasional moves towards bipartisanship. The National Sierra Club indicates that it is targeting the Phoenix and Cincinnati (Ohio) markets with the ad, which will continue running through the 15th.
A key obstacle to a vote on her nomination fell away yesterday when Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) announced that he would oppose filibustering McCarthy's nomination. A couple of other GOP Senators are still outspoken in their opposition to her.
Text of ad (as provided by Sierra Club):
Let's take a look at what the average Arizonan thinks about Washington: gridlock, partisan bickering and no one working to protect our families from dangerous pollution.
So do Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake agree with our state? Let’s find out.
They have the chance to get Washington moving again by supporting a smart, experienced, bipartisan leader who has what it takes to protect our air and water from dangerous pollution: Gina McCarthy
Call Senators McCain and Flake today: ask them to support Gina McCarthy to head the EPA.
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Arizona's Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain spoke on the Senate floor this afternoon about the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill fire on June 30, and the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution honoring the wildfire firefighters. The text of Senate Resolution 193 is not yet available, but will be posted here once it is.
Text of Flake's remarks:
“I rise today with a heavy heart to remember 19 brave men, 19 grieving families, and 19 empty places in the Prescott community that will never be filled. Arizona, and the whole nation, shares in their sorrow.
The loss of these members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and the loss to the community, was both terrible and swift. We are right to ask why.
Why were they taken from us? And why would these seemingly fearless men, these exemplars of all that is brave and good and decent in men, choose a job that causes them to run into an inferno that everyone else is running away from it?
In answering that, we get at the essence of who they were, these 19 lives of achievement and purpose, courage and discipline.
From all corners of America, they came together in Prescott with a single goal in mind: protecting people and property.
To do this, they trained relentlessly and willingly took on the worst that Mother Nature could throw at them, all to save lives and homes of friends and neighbors. They did so accepting the risks – embracing them, even – in the words of an old hymn “calm in distress, in danger bold.”
They did so in the name of community.
Americans are characterized around the world by our sense of communal spirit, civic duty and service to others. This is what makes us who we are.
And those characteristics describe perfectly the 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. They were not merely given the gratitude and respect of the citizens of Prescott – they earned it. They earned all of our admiration, and respect as well.
Now, in that same communal spirit, we must help their families that carry the weary load.
Grief is a lonely thing. But to those who are grieving for a husband or a son, know that millions of us are thinking of you and praying for your hearts, that they find solace and comfort.
To the children of these men, carry deep inside you the knowledge that they were as proud of you as you are of them.
This band of 19 embodied what is best about our country. I am honored that they were, in the end, Arizonans. We should all be proud to live in a community and a state and a nation built on the kind of guts and selflessness that these men personify.
Today we are all, in the words of A.E. Housman, “townsmen of a stiller town.” May God bless the souls of these 19 brave men.
Senator McCain and I had the privilege yesterday to travel out with the vice president, two cabinet secretaries, and other members of Congress, to a memorial service for these brave 19. It was an incredible experience, to see a community come together as it did. Townspeople, people from across the state, form across the country, and people across the world sending their condolences for these men.
We are so fortunate to live in a country like this. Senator McCain and I are so fortunate to be Arizonans. And we are fortunate to witness what we have witnessed in the past couple of weeks.
I am pleased to help ring this resolution to help honor these men to the floor.”
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All nine members of Arizona's Congressional (House of Representatives) delegation led their colleagues in a moment of silence for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill fire on June 30. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-CD4) spoke for the group, as his district includes Yarnell. The transcript is below the video:
TRANSCRIPT:
Mr. Speaker, we, the Arizona delegation, rise today in the wake of the tragic Yarnell Hill Fire that has left our hearts, the hearts of Arizonans and the hearts of Americans across the country overwhelmed with disbelief and sadness.
This was the largest loss of life of first-responders since 9/11.
The town of Yarnell and the people of Arizona will never forget and will forever honor the 19 heroes of the elite Granite Mountain Hotshot fire crew who lost their lives in an act of self-sacrificing bravery.
Out of my deepest respect for these fallen heroes, their families and the communities of Prescott, Peeple’s Valley, and Yarnell I ask that you continue to keep them in your prayers.
And, I now ask you to join me and my colleagues for a moment of silence to honor the Yarnell 19’s ultimate act of courage and sacrifice.
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Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-CD3) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) led a news conference at the Capitol today on the future of immigration reform in the House of Representatives. Grijalva emphasized that the definition of "border security" should be expanded to include the humanitarian aspects of life along the border and that we should ensure that monies spent include funds for "search and rescue, how to educate and prevent those deaths, targeting human trafficking". (Grijalva noted that 2,700 lives have been lost along the portion of the Arizona-Mexico border that is part of his current Congressional District during the past 10 years.)
"The definition of border security has been hijacked to mean how many, what armaments, what technology. The Border Caucus feels that the definition for the borderlands of security is expansive and includes economics, it includes the humanitarian support."
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Saw Arizona hometown boy Dierks Bentley when he was in town last month, and just wanted to post his announcement that he is going to headline a benefit concert this month for the families of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who were killed June 30.
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You will recall that Democrats won the three very close post-redistricting Congressional races last fall in Arizona - Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick re-taking a seat in CD1, Rep. Ron Barber holding on to his southern Arizona seat in CD2, and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema moving from the state's legislative body to the nation's representing CD9.
The widely-read and respected Rothenberg Political Report rates Barber's seat as one of four "Pure Toss-Ups" in the entire country. Martha McSally is the only announced GOP challenger to date.
Rothenberg lists Kirkpatrick's district - which encompasses much of rural Arizona - as one of five "Toss-Up/Tilts Democrat" seats in the country. State Rep. Adam Kwasman has announced an exploratory committee to challenge her.
Finally, Sinema's central Phoenix/East Valley district is listed as "Democrat Favored". However, she already has four announced GOP opponents.
Arizona's other six Congressional seats are safely in the hands of the incumbents - four Republican and two Democratic. We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Wendy Rogers is flying to the front of the pack of Republican challengers to first-term Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-CD9), posting approximately $225,000 in contributions in the first six months of 2013.
A good portion of that cash on hand, however, cannot be spent for the primary election battle; Rogers has received large ($5,200) donations from many individuals, and only half of that can be spent before the primary election (on August 26, 2014). (Update: approximately $48,000 dedicated to general election)
Rogers will need the money. Not only will the primary be hard fought, but first-term Rep. Sinema has the fundraising power of incumbency. Although she has not yet filed her second quarter report, a media report indicates that she raised $400,000 in the quarter and has $550,000 cash on hand. We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.
As candidates and committees begin filing their quarterly finance reports, it is a good time to take a quick look at who has actually filed his or her Statement of Candidacy for next year's Congressional elections.
First, and most easily, ALL of Arizona's current Congresspeople have filed to run for re-election. They need to in order to raise any money, as Reps. Trent Franks and Matt Salmon found out in May, when the Federal Election Commission ("FEC") sent them letters giving them 35 days to file their Statement of Candidacy, as their committees had already been raising funds.
Even Arizona's two Senators - John McCain and Jeff Flake - have filed their Statements of Candidacy. McCain is not up for re-election until 2016, and Flake is already running for 2018. As Arizona's Politics noted earlier, Flake is already holding fundraisers.
Now, without further ado, the list of Congressional challengers, by District. It features several who were unsuccessful last year, as well as two newcomers. Democratic Representatives Kyrsten Sinema and Raul Grijalva have already attracted a crowd of challengers:
*State lawmaker Adam Kwasman (R) has announced an exploratory committee, but has not filed with the FEC.
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