View the latest results at 5:55 a.m. (August 25) from Secretary of State Ken Bennett, with Maricopa & Pima Counties not completely reporting:

http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/AZ/19539/32130/en/summary.html

Line up for the General Election (so far):

U. S. Senator John McCain (R) vs. former Tucson Councilmember Dr. Rodney Glassman (D) vs. Jerry Joslyn (G) vs. David Nolan (L)

CD 7 U. S. House Rep. Raul Grijalva (D) vs. Raytheon rocket scientist Ruth McClung (R) vs. George Keane (L) vs. Harley Meyer (I)

CD 8 U. S. House Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) vs. businessman Jesse Kelly (R) vs. Dr. Steven Stoltz (L)

Governor Jan Brewer (R) vs. Attorney General Terry Goddard (D) vs. Larry Gist (G) vs. Barry Hess (L)

Secretary of State Ken Bennett (R) vs. House Rep. Chris Deschene (D)

Attorney General
Tom Horne (R) vs. Felecia Rotellini (D)

Treasurer:
Businessman Doug Ducey (R) vs. Former Assistant AG Andrei Cherny (D)

Superintendent of Public Instruction:
State Senator John Huppenthal (R) vs. Former Arizona Education Association Pres. Penny Kotterman (D)

Corporation Commission (2 seats):
Commissioner Gary Pierce & Brenda Burns (Rs) vs. David Bradley and Jorge Luis Garcia (Ds)

In Southern Arizona Legislative districts:

LD 26:
State Senator Al Melvin (R) vs. businesswoman Cheryl Cage (D)
State House: Rep. Vic Williams and paralegal Terri Proud (Rs) vs. State House Rep. Nancy Young Wright (D)

LD 27:
State Senator Olivia Cajero Bedford (D), vs. write in candidates Duke Schechter (R) and Jaime Vasquez (R);
State House: former legislator Sally Ann Gonzales and Dr. Macario Saldate (Ds) vs. businessman Robert Compton (R), businessman Kent Solberg (G), pastor Gene Chewning (I)

LD 28:
State Senator Paula Aboud (D) vs. Independents Dave Ewoldt and Ted Downing, and Attorney Greg Krino (R)
State House: Rep. Steve Farley and former legislator Bruce Wheeler (Ds) vs. businessman Ken Smalley (R)

LD 29:
State Senator Linda Lopez (D) unopposed
State House: Rep. Matt Heinz and Rep. Daniel Patterson (Ds) vs. businessman Pat Kilburn (R)

LD 30:
State Senator Frank Antenori (R) vs. Dr. Todd Camenisch (D)
State House: Rep. David Gowan and Rep. Ted Vogt (Rs) vs. businesswoman Andrea Dalessandro (D)

UPDATE: Wed. 8/25 at 7:57 p.m. Sec. of State website listing vote total at 801,003, 25.81% of the registered voters cast ballots, with only Maricopa County still partially reporting. Stay tuned for final unofficial results, especially for AG race which is still too close to call for the Republican nomination. Other races likely to remain the same till all votes counted, and the canvass is accepted.

UPDATE: Thurs. 8/26 5:07 p.m. 869,441 votes counted to date, 28.02% voter turnout. Stay tuned for tomorrow night’s tally. Horne ahead of Andrews by wider margin (1073), same with Rotellini over Lujan by a much wider margin (3203), causing Lujan to concede tonight. Same candidates still ahead in LD 26, 27, 28, which are the only close races to watch now.

UPDATE: Friday 8/27 6:36 p.m. 913,578 votes counted to date, 29.44 % turnout. Andrew Thomas thought of conceding today but has apparently changed his mind since he is only 485 votes behind Horne now. Most candidates leading in LD 26, 27 and 28 seem to have won. About 22,000 votes still to be counted, stay tuned for next tally.

UPDATE: Saturday 8/28 8:13 p.m. 931,817 votes counted, 30.03% turnout. Andrew Thomas still behind Tom Horne by 853 votes. Let’s see what Monday’s tally will be.

UPDATE: Monday 8/30, 5:54 p.m. 933,212 votes counted, 30.08% turnout. Tom Horne has declared victory,but Thomas has not conceded. Sec. of State’s office told me they had 3800 votes to count today and into tomorrow. Counties have 5 working days to submit their votes, so tomorrow night is the deadline. Finally!

FINAL UPDATE: Tuesday 8/31, 4:29 p.m. 934,113 votes cast (final unofficial results), turnout 30.10 % of the 3,102,876 registered voters in Arizona. Tom Horne received 899 more votes than Andrew Thomas for the AG Republican nomination, a very close race considering how many votes were cast in that race (555,699).

John McCain is a household name here in his home state of Arizona. After all he has been the Senior U.S. Senator from Arizona since 1987, and served 4 years as an Arizona U.S. Congressman prior to that. He prevailed over Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney to become the Republican nominee for U.S. President just two years ago. And Senator McCain had run for President before in 2000.

U.S. Senator John McCain

Today at his Tucson headquarters (2945 E. Grant Road) Senator McCain said to his supporters, including CD 8 candidate Jonathan Paton and Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll, that he hopes for a “great celebration” tomorrow night when he wins the Arizona primary. He thanked his supporters and volunteers, saying that many had “been with him since the beginning”, and he promised for “a time in action in the U.S. Senate” in 2011, as he had “great faith” in our country. Prior to his speech, McCain praised the work done in the Arizona state legislature and in Iraq of former State Senator Jonathan Paton, who incidentally said he met McCain for the first time in Fallujah.

The Senator appeared confident that he would win the Republican primary tomorrow against his challengers, former CD 5 Congressman J.D. Hayworth and Phoenix businessman Jim Deakin. Some say this is his toughest primary challenge in his career.

U.S. Senators have a lot of stature, since there are only 100 of them in America. Being as I used to work on Capitol Hill for fellow U.S. Senator Dan Inouye as a legislative aide on his personal staff, I know what it feels like to be close to their power & influence. And incumbent Senator McCain at age 73, does indeed wield that power & influence on the national and international scene. Incidentally he will be celebrating his 74th birthday in a week, on August 29.

Stay tuned for election results tomorrow on this race, and to find out which Democrat (John Dougherty, Dr. Cathy Eden, Dr. Rodney Glassman, or Randy Parraz) will be the newest challenger in John McCain’s long political career. And read my earlier blog on the Green and Libertarian challengers in this race (click here).

The Tucson debate between the Democratic contenders for U.S. Senate in Arizona will be held on Thursday, August 5 at KUAT Channel 6 at the U of A campus. The debate will be telecast at 6:00 p.m. or be available on www.azpm.org , and will be hosted by Arizona Illustrated host Bill Buckmaster.

Attending this debate will be:

– John Dougherty, Phoenix freelance investigative reporter, www.johndougherty2010.com
– Dr. Cathy Eden, former Phoenix state house legislator & Director of ASU School of Social work, www.edenforaz.com
– Dr. Rodney Glassman, former Tucson Councilmember/Vice Mayor, www.rodneyglassman.com
– Randy Parraz, Scottsdale attorney doing civil rights/labor organizing work, www.parrazforchange.com

I wrote about these candidates before when they spoke at Democrats of Greater Tucson in Tucson. They have appeared at other state-wide debates on Phoenix TV (July 9 and July 27) and by radio in Yuma (July 21). Check out their websites above for further information on each candidate.

One of these contenders will face off with the Republican winner of the Arizona primary –incumbent U.S. Senator John McCain, or former Congressman J. D. Hayworth, or businessman Jim Deakin. That KUAT debate was held on Saturday July 17 and you can view it below:

Democrats and Independents –Watch this August 5 debate, review the information on the candidates’ websites, and vote wisely on or before August 24! The polls are saying that 46% of the Democrats in Arizona are still undecided about whom to vote for in this primary race.

Early voting started on July 29. Last day to request an early ballot is August 13.

John Dougherty

Dr. Cathy Eden

Dr. Rodney Glassman

Randy Parraz