At today’s Pima County Board of Supervisors’ meeting District 3 Supervisor Sharon Bronson moved to appoint State Senator Jorge Luis Garcia’s widow Maria De La Luz Garcia to fulfill his unexpired term in the Arizona state senate in LD 27. The motion was seconded by District 5 Supervisor Richard Elias, who said that Maria was “well-versed in legislative issues.” The vote was 5-0 for Maria Garcia’s appointment.

Mrs. Garcia said she was “honored to fill her husband’s seat” and that Jorge “loved serving”, and that she would “do her best to represent the constituents” of LD 27.

Senator Garcia died on October 15, 2010 from a heart attack at age 57 (click here for my blog in memory of Jorge). He was running for one of 2 seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission and his name remains on today’s ballot.

Other nominees submitted by the 39 District 27 precinct committeepersons were two House primary candidates- High School math teacher Bob Gilby (husband of Donna Branch-Gilby who challenged Supervisor Sharon Bronson in the September, 2008 primary) and Sami Hamed, an aide to Congressman Raul Grijalva. Both Gilby and Hamed lost their races in the Democratic primary for 2 seats in the LD 27 House on August 24, 2010, to fellow Democrats Sally Ann Gonzales and Dr. Macario Saldate. (Gonzales and Saldate face opposition from a Republican, a Green, and an Independent candidate in today’s General Election.)

LD 27 House Rep. Olivia Cajero Bedford is running for this State Senate seat and will likely be elected in today’s General Election, as she faces only write-in opposition. She will then be sworn in to this office in January, 2011.

Maria Garcia is a manufacturing manager at Raytheon, and was married to Jorge for 37 years. They had three children and four grandchildren.

Maria and Jorge Luis Garcia, courtesy of the Garcia family

Arizona’s Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) has announced the legislative debate schedule for their qualified candidates. Log onto www.azcleanelections.gov for updated info, but here’s the preliminary schedule for contested State House legislative districts in the Tucson area (for the August 24 primary):

C indicates “Clean” candidate, T indicates Traditionally funded candidate (per CCEC website)

July 07, 2010
Candidate Debate
LD 26 Republican Candidates House of Representatives
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Pima Community College Northwest Campus
7600 N Shannon Road
Tucson, AZ
(Wade McLean- C, Terri Lynn Proud – T, Rep. Vic Williams – T)

July 08, 2010
Candidate Debate
LD 27 Democrat Candidates House of Representatives
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Pima Community College District Office
Community Board Room
4905 E Broadway
Tucson, AZ
(John Martin Bernal – C, Eric Bustamante- C, Dustin Cox- T, Bob Gilby – C,
Sally Ann Gonzales – C, Sami Hamed – C, John Kromko – C, Dr. Macario Saldate – C)

July 13, 2010
Candidate Debate
LD 28 Democrat Candidates House of Representatives
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Pima Community College District Office
Community Board Room
4905 E Broadway
Tucson, AZ
(Rep. Steve Farley – T, Ted Prezelski – C, Mohur Sidhwa – C, Tim Sultan – C,
Bruce Wheeler – C)

July 20, 2010
Candidate Debate
LD 30 Republican Candidates House of Representatives
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Pima Community College East Campus
8181 E Irvington Road
Tucson, AZ
(Brian Abbott – C, Rep. David Gowan – C, Kurt Knurr – C, Parralee Schneider – C,
Doug Sposito – T, Rep.Ted Vogt – T).

Not all legislative candidates in these races are running “clean” so refer to their website for further information (link is “2010 Candidate Listings with Funding Amounts”). 133 candidates are participating “clean” out of the total of 267 statewide candidates running.

“Participating candidates are required to attend the event and traditional candidates are encouraged to attend” per CCEC. Two will be elected from each Legislative District for the
Arizona House of Representatives.

For further info, email them at ccec@azcleanelections.gov, or call 602-364-3477, toll free (from 928 and 520 area codes) 1-877-631-8891.

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Seven (yes, SEVEN) Democratic candidates are running for two state house seats in LD 27. Your first chance to meet & greet all of them is coming up on Tuesday May 11, at a League of Women Voters moderated forum at the Joel D. Valdez Main library lower level meeting room, from 6 to 8 p.m. Here’s the list of who’s running (click on their campaign websites in blue to see their photos and positions on issues.)

–John Martin Bernal, Math and Economics teacher at Calli Ollin High school, (nephew of Pima County Public Works director John Bernal, his namesake),www.people4bernal.com

–Eric Carbajal Bustamante – Behavioral Health Associate for the Arizona Children’s Association, former Americorps volunteer, candidate in LD 29 state house in 2008, www.ericcarbajalbustamante.com

–Dustin Cox, former Executive Director of Anytown, Arizona Inc., 2009 Arizona Daily Star’s “Top 40 Under 40″ finalist & awardee, www.dustincox2010.com

–Bob Gilby, Math teacher at Marana High School and PCC, (husband of Donna Branch-Gilby who was a candidate for Ward 3 Pima County Supervisor in 2008), www.bobgilby.com

–Sally Ann Gonzales, President of Guadalupe Community Development Corp., former 2 term District 10 House Rep.(1997 to 2000), former Tribal Council member & Secretary of Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona (1992 – 1996), www.votesallygonzales.com- under construction

–Sami Hamed, district aide to CD7 Congressman Raul Grijalva, Hearing Officer (inactive) in Pima County Consolidated Justice Courts, Small Claims, www.samihamed.com

–Dr. Macario Saldate IV, Director of Guadalajara Summer School, retired UA Educational Foundations & Administration professor, www.votemacariosaldate2010.info

Also running for LD27 house: Republican Robert Compton, a service technician at Hamstra heating/cooling company (www.thatcomptonguy.com – under construction), and Green Party candidate Kent Solberg. Solberg ran before for this seat in 2008, and is the owner of Kent’s Tools (a small business). Chaplain Gene Chewning (www.votechewning.com) also ran for this same seat in 2006 as a Republican, and is now an Independent seeking one of the these two House seats as well.

So that’s a total of TEN candidates for two House seats in LD 27. Quite a crowded race.

Voters will have to choose two of these candidates to represent them in LD 27 House. The current House Reps. Phil Lopes and Olivia Cajero Bedford are termed out, and Ms. Bedford is running for the LD 27 State Senate seat.

Contact: Jim Hannley, LD 27 Chair, at jhannley2@msn.com, (520) 792-1229, or for more information on LD 27, click here for the Pima County Democratic Party website.