Purple Rain How Donald Trump’S Divisive Campaign Is Repainting the Political Map October 3, 2016 | $5 | Vol
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ELECTIONS High Country ForN people whoews care about the West PURPLE RAIN How Donald Trump’s divisive campaign is repainting the political map October 3, 2016 | $5 | Vol. 48 No. 17 | www.hcn.org 17 48 No. | $5 Vol. 3, 2016 October CONTENTS Editor’s note Trump and the West In the past, elections in the West have been fairly predictable. In urban areas and along the West Coast, folks tended to vote blue, for Democrats. In rural areas and in the Rocky Mountain interior, they leaned heavily red, for Republicans, especially in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. Over the past decade, however, that pattern has started to change. An expanding Latino population in the Southwest and growing urban populations have turned states that were once solidly red to purple, or, as in Colorado, closer to blue. But what about this year’s odd election? Donald Trump’s unlikely run for the presidency, with its bold appeals to anti-immigrant sentiment and to a disenfranchised, mainly white segment of America, has upset the political apple cart. Trump’s ridicule of Republican Party leaders, his calls for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and for a ban on Muslim Carmen Cornejo takes a selfie with Marcos Garcia Acosta and U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick during a “Latinos for immigration, and the vitriol and violence evident at Ann” event, to support her run for the U.S. Senate, at Luna Culture Lab in Phoenix in September. DAVID JOLKOVSKI his rallies raise major questions about our nation FEATURE and our democracy. But how are they playing out in the West? Following Trump’s official nomination 14 In Arizona’s shift toward purple, ‘bigotry’ and vitriol as the Republican Party’s candidate, we set out to learn more. Democrats hope increased Latino turnout hasten the pace In Arizona, our D.C. correspondent, Elizabeth will upset Republican dominance in the state By Elizabeth Shogren Shogren, found Democrats hopeful that a surge in 16 The shadow following Western races Latino voter turnout could upset the Republicans’ 18 Citizens divided long-held dominance of the state, where Latinos usually vote in numbers that are far from CURRENTS representative of their population. But, as Shogren reports in this issue’s cover story, anger over Trump’s 5 The West is a land of big skies — and long ballots Taking initiative candidacy and over the treatment of Latinos by the 6 Trump’s troubles controversial sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio, Undocumented immigrants work to get out the vote a Trump champion, could change that. On the cover Why Utah’s Mormons aren’t thrilled with this year’s GOP candidate Trump’s campaign could also have major Original illustration 6 Claim jumpers ramifications in Nevada, where his anti-immigration by Sidney Davidson. rhetoric is helping get-out-the-vote efforts for many 8 Not politics as usual Denise Juneau hopes to become groups: Not only are more people registering, but the first Native American woman in Congress some are becoming citizens to do so. The Trump 10 Western races to watch run has also created a painful conflict among Democrats hope to nab vulnerable Republican seats many Mormon voters in deeply red Utah. As Chart: U.S. Senate, House and state legislature seats Democrats could claim correspondent Sarah Tory writes, Utah voters are finding themselves caught between their politics DEPARTMENTS and their ethical beliefs. 3 FROM OUR WEBSITE: HCN.ORG This election cycle has been intense, and its intensity threatens to deeply divide our region, our Complete access 4 LETTERS to subscriber-only states, and even our families. We should not let this content 11 THE HCN COMMUNITY Photo contest, Research Fund, Dear Friends happen. We should strive for discourse over division. The presidential race is about more than Donald HCN’s website 22 MARKETPLACE hcn.org Trump and his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton: 24 WRITERS ON THE RANGE Digital edition It is a referendum on where we want to go as a hcne.ws/digi-4817 New approaches are saving the Arctic grayling by Ted Williams nation. I believe that when the dust has settled and 26 BOOKS history is being written, the Trump run will signify a and major shift in the politics of the West and the nation Follow us Heavy by J.J. Anselmi Skin Deep by Karol Griffin Reviewed by Nathan Martin as a whole. I just hope the shift is toward something ethical, inclusive and sane — whether it’s red, blue or 27 ESSAY by Michael Wolcott Vishnu the Sustainer purple. @highcountrynews 28 HEARD AROUND THE WEST By Ben Goldfarb —Brian Calvert, managing editor 2 High Country News October 3, 2016 From our wEbSiTE: HCN.ORG Detention for profit Trending There are signs the federal government may Pipeline be moving away from its reliance on private incarceration: In mid-August, the Justice protest Department announced it would phase out spreads its contracts with private prisons, and the westwide Department of Homeland Security is studying whether to discontinue its use of private prisons Protests over the to hold immigrant detainees. But in the West, Dakota Access much of the private immigration detention Pipeline began in April apparatus could remain intact. The new rules with a few members are likely to apply only to contracts between the of the Standing Rock Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency Sioux Tribe, who are and private prison companies, not the agreements concerned that the with local governments. And there’s incentive 1,200-mile pipeline for counties to keep those contracts intact: slated to cross the In southern New Mexico’s Doña Ana County, Missouri River could which agreed to house detainees on behalf of contaminate their the federal government, 270 of the 846 beds drinking water and in the local jail are designated for immigrants. harm sacred sites. In exchange, the county receives $62 per day, But as the protests or a little over $6 million per year if all the beds have spread, the are used. For the DHS decision to have impact, motivations have activists say, it would also have to be coupled also become more with broader policy changes that reduce the diverse, rallying number of people sent to jail for immigration environmentalists fighting fossil fuels An immigrant detainee holds his daughter during a family visit at the Adelanto Detention Facility, offenses. SOARAH T RY and communities managed by GEO Group, a private company in Adelanto, California. JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES MORE: hcne.ws/private-prison across the West around the causes of tribal sovereignty The Upper Santa Groundwater without borders Arizona New Mexico and fighting Cruz and Upper corporate greed. An unknown number of aquifers dot the border along San Pedro water In September, the the U.S. and Mexico, groundwater both sides use for basins, important Obama administration agriculture, irrigation and cities. Yet neither country to both the U.S. paused construction knows exactly how those aquifers are managed and Mexico. of the pipeline — or how much border communities need them. UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA pending review. A fast For a decade, researchers have attempted to study resolution is unlikely. transboundary aquifers, but the effort stalled from AMY SISK AND LEIGH lack of information and funding. This year, studies PATTERSON/INSIDE are wrapping up on two major water systems: the San ENERGY Pedro and Santa Cruz aquifers along the Arizona-Sonora border. The research affords a more unified picture of the groundwater systems, the first step toward collaborative management of the shared aquifers. You say LYNDSEY GILPIN MORE: hcne.ws border-water SUZANNE WALTHER: “Halted. For now. It is definitely not over for SMAll TOwNS, biG Change good. They need more and continued support from all of us.” Tax bill for one New Ellaree Rockey, BRUCE BERRYHILL: Mexico$576 property when it was classified as 10, steps down “North Dakota didn’t agricultural land from the tractor allow the pipeline 6 she just drove to cross the river Percent of Ameri- across her upstream from the can farmers who Amount that same property$3,000 was taxed once it family’s potato capital because are younger than farm, where an lost its ag designation it might leak and 35. The National innovative use of pollute their drinking Young Farmers Co- In New Mexico, some farmers are struggling cover crops has water. But it’s fine if alition is pushing to hold onto fields that they’ve left idle amid decreased need it pollutes the Gulf of Congress and state a severe drought a decade ago. State tax law for irrigating Mexico.” legislatures, includ- and increased makes idling land an expensive proposition: ing New Mexico’s, the bottom line. Active agricultural lands get a tax subsidy, but MARK A. YORK: to forgive farmers’ LEAH TODD/SOLUTIONS now the state is cracking down on farms that “Water student loans to JOURNALISM NETWORK have sat fallow for many years. The result for is a false cause. This entice more young many landowners has been a sudden spike is a circus and it’s all graduates to work Save Our Soil in taxes, sometimes as much as 143-fold. about the show.” in agriculture, In southern Colorado, a small potato farm is using a blend of 16 different In 2015, a report concluded that offering MORE: hcne.ws/ where a new farm vegetables, legumes and grasses as cover crops to create nutrient-rich soil and tax incentives for preserving open space — DAPLspreads and might only make use about two-thirds less water. The practice lessened the effects of a multi- not just active farms — could lead to more Facebook.com/ $2,000 a year.