Greetings Arizona Democratic Women and friends!

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     I hope you are enjoying what has been, for much of Arizona, an actual fall season! My only complaint is the onset of the fall allergy season, but I digress. It is also election season, and we are just weeks away from midterm election day. Early voting has started in Arizona. 

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We cannot stress enough the importance of getting your ballot early, filling it out completely, sealing it correctly, delivering it to your County Recorder promptly, and then calling the County Recorder’s office after two business days to confirm that your ballot has been received and tabulated. As always, please treat all election-related workers with courtesy and patience. These public servants are American heroes.

 

Yuma Success!

 

Our end-of-summer social in Yuma was a hit! Our lovely hostess, Araceli Rodriguez, opened her home to us, though we had never previously met. As you can see from the photos, her home was spectacular. Old friends reconnected, and new friends were made. The food, from Yuma’s historic Chili Pepper restaurant, was super fresh, delicious, and plentiful. AZDW supporter Linda Goldinger’s raffle basket was highly desired, and the Yuma women were generous. The lovely Mary Barkley won the basket. Some folks say that, if not for Mary, there would be no Yuma Democratic Party! Yuma's own Charlene Fernandez, fearless Arizona Democratic Party Chair, inspired us by speaking from experience about what is possible when we work together and believe we can do big things. I would be remiss not to thank Xanthe Bullard, Yuma County Democratic Party Chair, who gave me a fabulous list of movers and shakers to invite to our local event. These women took my calls, and OWNED the event. They made sure that our end-of-summer gathering was a great success.

 

We are now connected to outstanding Democratic women leaders in Yuma. Many of them joined AZDW, and we may soon see the creation of a Yuma Democratic Women club, which would become a member club of AZDW. All clubs that join AZDW are entitled to have a representative member on AZDW’s Board. 

 

Some of the concerns for Yuma Democratic women include:

•  Frustration with the disappearance of promised aid for housing, food assistance, and health care for folks who applied through the proper channels, sometimes waiting for up to two years *after* their support had been approved, only to have the promised support source disappear completely when the current corrupt administration came into power in 2025.

• The cost of gas and groceries, 

• veterans’ actual needs

• aid for farm workers

•  obvious border issues

• early childhood education availability.

   

Furthermore, Yuma has multiple and overlapping military jurisdictions, such as the Yuma National Defense Area, which have been used as a way to suppress voting, especially profiling Hispanic citizens and residents. The bluer and more Hispanic areas of southern Yuma County near the border include Somerton and San Luis. US citizens there use PO boxes and need an electric bill to prove residency. It requires a person to physically go to the County Recorder to vote. In the redder areas of Yuma, further to the north, these restrictions do not apply.  This is classic voter suppression.

 

The Yuma Military Area changes the enforcement of civil rights, including voting. Marines can be deployed; it serves as a depot for massive amounts of heavy military equipment; and they can charge people living in that area with more serious infractions, as if on a military base. The US Army Yuma Proving Ground, with its Yuma Test Center, is one of the largest military installations IN THE WORLD.

 

Yuma is the lettuce capital of the world. But this summer, with the outbreaks of explosive diarrhea tied to lettuce, the agricultural business was greatly affected, even though the outbreak had nothing to do with Yuma.

 

We had leaders of migrant welfare organizations, the NAACP, a Yuma County Board Supervisor, a Yuma City Council member, numerous prominent businesswomen and several women considering running for City Council. The room was filled with local movers and shakers all working hard to help address a variety of specific needs. Many of them did not know the work of each other’s organizations. They realized one thing for sure: they would all benefit from a closer, consistent connection to address "the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing" kind of experience. AZDW will support the Yuma women in creating and building a club.

 

Women for the Future

 

Save the Date! Our next major event is our Third Annual Women for the Future luncheon which will be held on Saturday, December 19th in downtown Phoenix at a spectacular venue with fantastic food. We will be giving an award to our chosen Woman for the Future. We'll have great raffle prizes, and lots of FUN! Stay tuned for more information coming soon on how to sponsor the event, RSVP, and a list of speakers.

 

Concern for the Safety of Women

 

On an extremely serious note, we are saddened and outraged to learn that Arizona Democratic Congressional candidate in District 8, Bernadette Greene-Placentia, was violently assaulted and raped by two men when she was out repairing her campaign signs in August. The interview with Bernadette, published in the Phoenix New Times on October 7th, makes it clear that the attack had a political motivation. Bernadette is a courageous Arizona Democratic leader who is doing the hard work of running for office in a very red district. She spoke at our Women in Blue event a couple of years ago. Our hearts go out to her as she navigates the traumatic aftermath of this horrific event. Bernadette continues her campaign to unseat the MAGA Republican Abe Hamadeh.

 

While AZDW loves to have fun and build community, unfortunately we also exist because of unconscionable attacks like this. We are here to fight for the rights of women. Every woman must be able to go anywhere, anytime without fear of unwanted touch, let alone violent assault and rape. Let us work to build that world, starting with the midterm election.

 

Be well, be safe, stick together, and fight like hell,

Judy Stahl

AZDW President​​

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