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Monthly Meetings
Next meeting -- July 14th 6:30 PM - Pyle Center SW corner of Rural and Southern Just West of the Tempe Library |
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Welcome to the website of District 17 Democrats! Our
legislative district covers most of Tempe and South
Scottsdale. We are people-powered politics. We are
students, retirees, educators, the working class, homemakers,
professionals, and more. We are a diverse group of energized
Democrats who are committed to keeping Democrats in office in District
17, Congressional District 5, and statewide. And we are
planning on turning Arizona Blue in the 2008 presidential election!
--> Click here for information on how you can get involved. --> Click here to view our events calendar. --> Click here to view our precinct maps. State Legislative Update Witness to a Train Wreck Read last night's tweets of State Rep. David Schapira from the floor of the House last night (and this morning).
D17 Bocce Ball Champions D17 Dems and Young Democrats (YDs) from across the Valley battled it out on grass bocce ball lanes to raise money for the YD's national convention in Chicago this August. Phil Amorosi and Mike Kuby, winners of the first D17 Bocce Ball tournament, will be defending their championship title on July 17. Think you can beat them? Grab a partner/team (or we'll set one up) and come play a round or two at Allison Shannon's house. Winning team receives a cash prize. Suggested Donation: $15 for YDs, $25 for others. Delicious Italian dinner and drinks will be provided. Money raised will help send D17 YDs to their National Convention! 620 W. 3rd St., Tempe (map). Call Allison for more info: 682-554-0726. Political Events
Keep up to date with LD17 events by adding us to your Google Calendar.
D17 Young Democrats (YDs) Report YDAZ
Change for Change Club Headlines Budget
Hearing
Act today to support our economic recovery! Organizing for America, a group that aims to build upon that grassroots organization sparked by the Obama campaign, has an easy-to-use online tool to look up the phone numbers of your representatives who voted for the economic recovery plan -- take a few minutes today to thank them for doing what's right! Moving Arizona Forward A group of Democratic activists have put forward a plan for an "overall rethinking to the way the state party handles business." Moving Arizona Forward advocates for thoughtful, systematic changes to the state party's structure. D17 Young Democrats (YDs) Report 2009
YDAz New Leadership Reception Headlines LD17
Legislators Featured in AZ Republic D17 votes Blue in Election '08 By Craig McDermott D17 Democrats have worked tirelessly over the last few years to turn our district blue. A Republican registration advantage of 1118 at the beginning of the 2006 election cycle has become a Democratic registration advantage of 3663!! Results from November's elections show how much that work has paid off. In D17:
Great job Democrats! Let's keep the momentum for 2010! D17 YD Report This is what a mandate looks like, Folks! By Stan Williams 365 electoral votes, states that haven't been in play in decades, and of course the continuing trend of young voters support for Democrats. Barack Obama's win is incredible for all the reasons people are talking about at the kitchen table, churches, and in coffee shops. This changes everything millions of people thought they knew about America, and our politics. Our government is on the verge of being flooded with brilliant thinkers, as the Obama transition team gets ready to move us out of the ditch President Bush has dug us into. And none of this would be possible without young voters. Look even at Arizona, lets be honest and blunt, not a good year for Democrats. We cannot overstate the effect Join McCain had as the top of the ticket, and the future with a Governor Brewer seems dim. BUT, look at this picture:
This is how the election would have turned out if young voters decided the election everywhere (just as we were the margin of victory in races across the county.) As you can see, Arizona is a blue state waiting in the wings. The next two years will be amazing for America, but interesting to say the least for Arizona. I still have the hope President-Elect Obama spoke of throughout his campaign for the Presidency. Not only do we have amazing Democrats at every level of Government from Attorney General Terry Goddard on down, but we have our ace in the hole: a still increasing millennial generation. HOWARD DEAN HAWKS OUR T-SHIRTS IN DENVER!  Support D17 Democrats! To order your 2008 T-Shirt: contact Lauren at laurenkuby@gmail.com; 602-790-2156 and she’ll deliver it to your door (Donation of $10, or maybe $20?) Dist. 17 now has more Democrats than Republicans [http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/123158] Arizona Legislative District 17 never was a Republican stronghold, but the party always held an advantage on the voter rolls. Not anymore. 
The residents of north Tempe, including Arizona State University, and south Scottsdale have shifted their allegiances enough to alter the face of East Valley politics. For the first time since redistricting earlier this decade, in the count of registered voters the GOP trails the Democratic Party. According to the Arizona Secretary of State's most recent tally, Democrats hold a lead of nearly 1,700 voters, or 2.3 percentage points. Before the 2002 primary elections, that edge was in the Republicans' favor by 5.2 points. Meanwhile, the percentage of independents, at 28.2, has held steady since 2004. Why did the voter rolls swing left? According to the candidates and a political expert, it was both a change in the electorate and the electorate reacting to changes. "You either get new people, or get old people to change their views," said David Berman, professor emeritus in ASU's political science department. The students arriving on campus are following a nationwide trend, registering with the Democratic Party in greater numbers. And the long-time residents of the district are turning their backs on the GOP, according to Berman. With the struggles the Republican Party is having and the immense anger toward President Bush, people would rather be an independent or a Democrat, said Rep. Ed Ableser, who along with House colleague David Schapira and Sen. Meg Burton Cahill are all Democrats seeking second terms. Challenging the incumbents are three Republicans, Mark Thompson and Wes Waddle for the House and Jesse Hernandez for the Senate. There is no contested primary on Sept. 2 on either side, since each party will advance two House candidate and one Senate nominee to the Nov. 4 general election. But it is a candidate at the federal level credited for the Democrats' rise in District 17. Rep. Harry Mitchell was elected to Congress two years ago, but he will always be known for his deep Tempe ties: 28 years as a high school teacher; 24 years on the City Council, including four terms as mayor. Tempe's elected officials are nonpartisan, but when Mitchell ran for the Arizona Senate in 1998 there was a "D" next to his name. Still, voters liked Mitchell enough that his party was an afterthought. Berman believes Mitchell's election to the Senate was a trigger for the change. "People gave him a shot, and they liked what he did," said Berman, a senior research fellow at ASU's Morrison Institute. That opened the door for more Democrats to step up, to the voters' approval. The party swept the district in 2006, sending Mitchell to Congress, and Burton Cahill, Ableser and Schapira to the Legislature. "Harry gets people to take a good look at the Democratic message without lifting a finger," Schapira said. What came later, Berman explained, were those voters actually changing their party affiliation. Thompson actually held a District 17 House seat, during happier times for the Republicans. He was elected in 2002 and then lost to Burton Cahill two years later. In the interim, the battleground changed to Thompson's disadvantage. Now, he expects the race to be won in the middle. "I believe the candidates on both sides will have to hold on to their bases and court the independents," Thompson said. Thompson is excited for the down-ticket help that GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain can offer to his fellow Arizonans. McCain is Arizona's senior senator, and began his career by running for Congress in Tempe. Then again, the Democrats anticipate their party's nominee for the White House, Sen. Barack Obama, can put a charge into ASU's at-times fickle student body. "He'll excite that base of young, idealistic voters who are wanting to see changes," Ableser said. During appearances in Tempe before the 2006 election, Obama drew huge crowds. And in February's presidential preference election, Mitchell's congressional district was the only one of Arizona's eight to back Obama over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. Schapira said when Obama makes his next local appearance, "people like Ed and I get to stand up on stage and speak to 7,000 without spending a penny." OUR OWN GENIE ZAVALETA AND DOUG MINGS TAKE BIG HONORS! Whoooo hoooo! The AZ Democratic Party 2008 Volunteer Awards Dinner was held on August 2nd in Flagstaff and we extend our hearty congratulations to Genie Zavaleta and Doug Mings for winning highly deserved awards! Long-time activist and mentor Genie Zavaleta received the biggest award of the night, the Lifetime Achievement Award for her long-held passion and advocacy on behalf of Democratic causes and her community. LD17 Chair Doug Mings received the Outstanding District Chair Award for his tremendous leadership of the District 17 Democrats as they turned Tempe and D17 Blue, both in electing a Democratic slate of legislators and changing the registration numbers blue. JUST RELEASED: Agenda for 2008 Republican National Convention
Posted on September 6, 2007 Proof that LD17 is Turning Blue in a Big Way Out of 72 precincts in LD17, In 2006:
In 2004:
In 2004, there were 44 Democratic elected PCs; in 2006, there were 62!! Posted on February 17, 2007 |
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Paid for by D17 Democrats.