Filing deadline for signature petitions was yesterday at 5 p.m. and here’s the list of candidates for Pima County in 2012. The Primary Election is on August 28 and the General Election is on November 6.

Pima County Assessor
Bill Staples (D), incumbent

Pima County Attorney
Claudia Ellquist (G)
Barbara LaWall (D), incumbent

Pima County Sheriff
Dave Croteau (G)
Clarence Dupnik (D), incumbent
Terry Frederick (R)
Vinson Holck (R)
Chester Manning (R)
Mark Napier (R)
Walter Setzer (R)

Pima County Recorder
Bill Beard (R)
F.Ann Rodriguez (D), incumbent

Pima County Treasurer
Beth Ford (R), incumbent
Elaine Richardson (D)

Pima County School Superintendent
Linda Arzoumanian (R), incumbent
Mace Bravin (R)

Pima County Supervisor District 1 (open seat)
Mike Hellon (R)
Ally Miller (R)
Stuart McDaniel (R)
Vic Williams (R)
Nancy Young Wright (D)

Pima County Supervisor District 2
James Kelley (R)
Ramon Valadez (D), incumbent

Pima County Supervisor District 3
Tanner Bell (R)
Sharon Bronson (D), incumbent

Pima County Supervisor District 4
Ray Carroll (R), incumbent
Sean Collins (R)

Pima County Supervisor District 5
Richard Elias (D), incumbent
Fernando Gonzales (R)

So the primaries to watch are for Pima County Sheriff (5 Republicans) and Pima County Supervisor District 1 (4 Republicans).

For other Pima County races (Justices of the Peace, Constables), go to Blog for AZ (click here).

For more information about the candidates go to:
Pima County Democratic Party
Pima County Republican Party

Can Tucson experience a Trayvon Martin tragedy? That is the question to be addressed at Monday night’s forum at the Dunbar Culture Center. Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old Black American teenager who was shot & killed in Florida on Feb 26, 2012. Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman (Hispanic/White 28 year old) has been charged with 2nd degree murder in Trayvon’s shooting.

Correct address for this “Project Hoodie” forum is 325 W. 2nd St. (not what is listed on the poster), just east of Main Avenue, south of Speedway.

Invited speakers:
Tucson Police Department Chief Robert Villasenor
Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall
Pima County Public Defender Isabel Garcia
Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance Pastor Elwood McDowell
Black Women Task Force Annie Sykes
Tucson Urban League Jonathan Peck
Ward 5 City Councilmember Richard Fimbres
NAACP Dr. Patricia Harris Monroe
Attorney Krisian Salter
Mount Calvary Church pastor LaBryant Friend

When people of color/racial minorities are stopped by the police or security officers, they don’t know if it is prompted by their race (black hair, features, skin color) or because of any wrongdoing.

Ask any minority person if they feel they have been racially profiled by the police and you will be surprised by the answer. At a recent UA Law School forum on political discourse & civility I asked that very question of a Black-American male Yale Law School professor (one of the presenters) who lives in Connecticut, and he answered in the affirmative.

This forum is sponsored by the Tucson branch of the NAACP and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA).

If you don’t know much about Republican Rick Grinnell, who qualified for a spot on the General Election Mayoral ballot by getting 7,770 write-in votes in the August 30 Primary election, view this KUAT Channel 6 interview (click here). Christopher Conover and Andrea Kelly, KUAT reporters interviewed Grinnell tonight.

Grinnell only entered the race in July of this year (click here for announcement blog), after the Pima County Republican Party failed to qualify a candidate from the petition nominations which had been due on June 1st. (Both potential Republican candidates Ron Asta and Shaun McClusky were disqualified in Superior court actions due to lack of the requisite # of valid signatures).

Grinnell’s website: http://www.grinnell4mayor.com/. His website lists his career highlights:

–Founder and president of Smart United Business Strategies (SUBS), a for-profit venture that fosters political interaction between State and Local government and the entrepreneurial community.
–Marketing executive (Metro Restaurants), business development consultant in retail, service, transportation, construction and hospitality industries.
–Employment specialist providing vocational training and placement for individuals with disabilities and working with business owners to help injured workers return to work.
–Small business owner

Grinnell attended Salpointe Catholic High School and has a degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. Since last year he has been a Board Member of the new Rio Nuevo Multi Purpose Facilities District. And reports are that his lobbying firm represents Augusta Resource Corporation, the Canadian firm that is proposing the controversial Rosemont Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson.

Grinnell ran twice before for the Ward 2 Council seat in 1995 and 1999 and lost to Democratic Councilmember Janet Marcus and then Marcus’ aide Carol West (a Democrat who later became an Independent). Years ago he also served on the now-defunct Domestic Violence Commission (along with me and lots of other community members like Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall and Dr. Richard Carmona).

Contact info: email: info@grinnell4mayor.com or phone: 520-370-0529.

He faces Democrat Jonathan Rothschild and Green Mary DeCamp for the job of Mayor of Tucson, in the General Election on November 8, 2011.