All 5 Pima County Supervisors up for re-election in 2012*, for their 3rd, 4th, 5th terms — incumbency matters in these races. See recap of how they got there & their subsequent elections (and re-elections) below. Three Supervisors have been appointed, two elected to their seats.

Supervisors Ramon Valadez and Richard Elias have never had a Republican challenger in Districts 2 and 5 respectively.

Supervisor Ray Carroll has never had a Democratic challenger in District 4, has run unopposed in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

The only upset was when Democrat Sharon Bronson beat then-incumbent District 3 Supervisor Ed Moore in 1996 (he had changed from a Republican to an Independent). And now she is the longest serving member of this Board.

District 1 Supervisor Ann Day (R)
2008 primary – Joe Higgins (R); General – unopposed
2004 primary unopposed; General – Sandra Abbey (L)
2000 primary – Dan Schotiel (R); General- Byron Howard (D)
(elected Nov. 2000, former AZ State Senator)
Ann received her B.A. in Education from ASU and her M.ED. in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Arizona, and at one time taught junior high school.

District 2 Supervisor Ramon Valadez (D)
2008 primary- Robert Robuck (D); general- unopposed
2004 primary & general unopposed
(appointed September 2003, former AZ State Senator and House Rep.)
Ramon graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE), and served at one time as a Special Assistant to former District 2 Supervisor Dan Eckstrom, as well as aide to other Democratic politicians.

District 3 Supervisor Sharon Bronson (D)
2008 primary Donna Branch-Gilby (D); General- Barney Brenner (R)
2004 primary unopposed; General – Bennett Kalafut (L)
2000 primary Richard Pacheco (D); General – Barney Brenner (R)
1996 primary- unopposed; General – Supervisor Ed Moore (I) and Vicki Cox-Golder (R)
(elected Nov. 1996)
Sharon earned a degree in Business Administration/Accounting with Distinction from the University of Arizona, and owned her own consulting & small business firm prior to running for office.

District 4 Supervisor Ray Carroll (R)
2008 primary & general unopposed
2004 primary & general unopposed
2000 primary & general unopposed
1998 primary – Brenda Even (R) and Ken Marcus (R); General – Gay Lynn Goetzke (L)
(appointed May, 1997)
Ray received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy (with honors) from Regis University in Denver, Colorado. He was Foundation Manager for Casa de los Ninos and also served as Chairman on the City of Tucson’s Housing Board.

District 5 Supervisor Richard Elias (D)
2008 primary & general unopposed
2004 primary unopposed; General – William Munsil (L)
2002 primary – Frank Felix (D); General – unopposed
(appointed Feb. 2002)
“Richard entered public office after a lengthy career in the government and non-profit development of affordable housing. He earned a bachelor’s degree in History, with a minor in Mexican-American Studies, from the University of Arizona.”

These five Supervisor Districts are subject to redistricting* due to the 2010 Census figures,and the map to be proposed by the AZ Independent Redistricting Commission. (By the way, this commission is meeting in Tucson next Tuesday May 10, 9 a.m. at UA Student Union, Tucson room — see website agenda (click here). *Note comments below & clarification about the role of the Commission regarding County/City districts.

Pima County Recorder’s Office current voter registrations in each District (in columns below — D, R, L, G, Others,Total )

DISTRICT 1 – 37,070 / 47,370 / 744 / 203 / 33,625 / 119,012
DISTRICT 2 – 34,257 / 16,238 / 698 / 187 / 23,881 / 75,261
DISTRICT 3 – 35,866 / 24,680 / 824 / 302 / 27,921 / 89,593
DISTRICT 4 – 39,618 / 50,347 / 863 / 191 / 37,262 / 128,281
DISTRICT 5 – 39,544 / 12,786 / 807 / 379 / 23,007 / 76,523

Total 186,355/ 151,421 / 3,936/ 1,262/ 145,696 / 488,670

Cllick on the blue hyperlinks of each Supervisor to go to their Pima County webpages, and read their complete biographies.

*UPDATE: District 1 Supervisor Ann Day not seeking re-election in 2012, is retiring at age 73:
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_8754b82c-b980-11e0-909a-001cc4c002e0.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pima Dems to Honor Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik

The Pima County Democratic Party will honor Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik at a dinner on Saturday, April 16 at the Hotel Tucson City Center. Former presidential candidate and Colorado Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder will deliver the keynote address to more than 400 expected attendees. Democratic National Committeeman Fred DuVal will serve as master of ceremonies.

Tickets for the event are in limited supply but may be purchased online through the PCDP’s website, www.PimaDems.org or by calling (520) 326-3716. Tickets are $75 with proceeds will go to the Pima County Democratic Party.

Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik Tribute Dinner

Time: 5:00 pm Registration and No-Host Cocktails
6:30 pm Dinner

Location: Hotel Tucson City Center, 475 N. Granada Ave. (south of E. 6th Street)

Honoree: Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik

Kenote Speaker: Former U.S. Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colorado)

Guest Speakers: Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (CD 7)

Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall

Hon. Terry Goddard (former Arizona Attorney General)

Hon. Dan Eckstrom (former Pima County Supervisor)

Master of Ceremonies: Fred DuVal

Contact: Adam Kinsey
Executive Director, Pima County Democratic Party

Cell – (520) 834-6384
Office – (520) 326-3716
director@pimadems.org

Website for Pima County Sheriff’s Dept. (click here). “A veteran of over 50 years in local law enforcement, Clarence W. Dupnik has served as the Sheriff of Pima County, Arizona, since his appointment in February 1980. County voters endorsed the choice nine months later by electing him to his first four-year term and ratified that decision by re-electing him six additional times.” Dupnik is up for re-election in 2012.

Got a late notice to attend a candidate community forum sponsored by the NAACP – Tucson chapter, Tucson Urban League, and the Tucson-Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce, held tonight at the Dunbar School Auditorium, 325 W. 2nd Street (at Main Ave.) As I walked in Jonathan Peck, President of the Tucson Urban League was announcing that all Republican, Democratic and 3rd party candidates (statewide) and for Southern Arizona had been invited to attend & participate. About 100 people, mostly African Americans, were in the audience.

These were the state legislators that participated tonight (1st panel):
LD 25 House Rep. Pat Fleming (D)
LD 27 House candidates Sally Ann Gonzales and Dr. Macario Saldate (Ds)
LD 28 Senator Paula Aboud (D)
LD 28 Senate candidate Dave Ewoldt (I)
LD 28 House Rep. Steve Farley (D)
LD 28 House candidate Bruce Wheeler (D)
LD 30 House candidate Andrea Dalessandro (D)
LD 30 Senate candidate Dr. Todd Camenish (D), came in late

Also attending to participate in the 2nd panel were U.S. Senate candidate Rodney Glassman,
Attorney General Terry Goddard running for Governor, Sec. of State candidate Chris Deschene, and State Mine Inspector candidate Manuel Cruz, all Democrats.

Questions asked of the panelists were basically about steps they would take to improve education, to bring economic opportunity to minority populations, to strengthen public health for communities of color, to provide quality health care, and to insure equal treatment in the criminal justice system for minority populations. Being as these were all Democrats (and one Independent, formerly a Green Party activist) their answers were quite uniform in advocating and trying to restore funding to all these areas.

Of note: Sally Ann Gonzales mentioned that she is of Yaqui heritage, Chris Deschene is a member of the Navajo Nation, and Manuel Cruz and Dr. Macario Saldate are Hispanic, and provided their ethnic backgrounds and expertise to their responses.

The last question was about what steps could be taken to insure a fair and just dialogue re: immigration reform, and both Rodney Glassman and Terry Goddard said that could be done by “retiring John McCain.” Chris Deschene repeatedly asked the audience to elect Democrats to the state legislature, where he currently serves as House Rep. in LD 2.

Also in attendance tonight were former Pima County Democratic Party Chair Paul Eckerstrom for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and former Democratic Pima County Supervisor Dan Eckstrom. Fellow blogger “3 Sonorans” (David Morales) was there as well, and will be posting a video capturing the panelists’ answers to some of these questions. I’ll link to his blog once he posts it. UPDATE: Unfortunately neither David nor I got a lot of advance notice of this forum, so his cell phone video did not tape well (see his comment below).