Bill Buckmaster, radio talk show host of the Buckmaster Show on KVOI 1030 AM interviewed Congressman Raul Grijalva today, and he announced that he will seek re-election in 2012. Sarah Garrecht Gassen of the Arizona Daily Star joined Bill in conducting the interview.

Click here for the interview.

Grijalva is in his 5th term representing CD 7, serving since January 2003. He faced a tough bid last year against political newcomer physicist Ruth McClung, winning by 9550 votes. There was also a Libertarian George Keane and Independent/Nonpartisan Harley Meyer running in that race in November, 2010.

Two Republicans are already listed on the Pima County GOP website as running for this CD 7 seat:
Chris Flowers, and Gabby Saucedo Mercer, whose announcement I attended back in March (click here for previous blog).

Information on Flowers:
chris@voteflowers.com
www.voteflowers.com
623-308-9732

Information on Mercer:
gabriela@saucedomercer.com
www.saucedomercer.com
P.O. Box 87332
Tucson, Arizona
520-344-3847

Congressional District 7 will be subject to redistricting by the Arizona Independent
Redistricting Commission (due to population increase in Arizona from the 2010 Census). The first round of public hearings are being conducted by the Commission throughout Arizona, with the next one scheduled for August 15 in Casa Grande. Two public hearings were held recently in South Tucson/Tucson on August 2 and 6.

Gabriela Saucedo Mercer, a Mexican American Republican who immigrated to the U.S in 1986, is announcing her bid for the CD 7 U.S. House seat held by 4 term Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva. She is also known as “Gabby”, like Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of CD 8. Grijalva is not up for re-election until November, 2012.

Gabriela Saucedo Mercer

Her announcement will be made at 11 a.m. Wednesday March 2nd at the Inn Suites/Tucson Hotel, 475 N. Granada Avenue, Copper room in Tucson, 85701. Doors open at 10:30 a.m.

From her website:

Gabriela Saucedo Mercer lives on Tucson’s west side with her husband of 24 years, Ted Mercer. Gabriela, “Gabby” for short, set aside her work career with a defense electronics firm in order to raise her 3 children and continue her education. As the kids were growing up Gabriela became more and more concerned about the direction that her adopted country had taken in recent years. She legally emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1986 in order to live in a nation full of opportunity and Constitutional protections of individual liberties. She became a proud U.S. citizen in 1991.

I happened to be at the Tucson City Council meeting last Spring when Gabriela stood up & spoke against the Council’s opposition of SB 1070, and Congressman’s Grijalva’s call for a boycott of the State of Arizona. Most of the Mexican Americans in the room spoke against SB 1070.

Campaign info: www.saucedomercer.com, 520-349-5600, gabriela@saucedomercer.com.

Congressman Raul Grijalva has served since January, 2003 and won his last November, 2010 campaign against political newcomers Republican Ruth McClung, Libertarian George Keane, and Independent Harley Meyer. Results of that recent race:

GRIJALVA, RAUL M. (DEM)
50.16% 79,935
MCCLUNG, RUTH (REP)
44.16% 70,385
KEANE, GEORGE (LBT)
2.71% 4,318
MEYER, HARLEY (I-N)
2.83% 4,506
Write-in
0.14% 228
159,372 total votes cast

3/3/11 UPDATE: 2 live videos of this campaign kick off event:

http://tucsoncitizen.com/in-the-aggregate/2011/03/02/gabriela-saucedo-mercer-releases-two-videos-in-race-for-cd-7/

Two CD 7 debates are scheduled for the evening of October 13, and it will seem the candidates are in two places at about the same time, here in Tucson.

The first CD 7 debate between Democratic 4 term Congressman Raul Grijalva and his 3 challengers– Mortgage loan servicer George Keane (L), physicist/rocket scientist Ruth McClung (R), and former math teacher Harley Meyer (I) will be at 5:00 to 6 p.m. at Pima Community College Desert Vista Campus, 5901 S. Calle Santa Cruz, Pueblo Building cafeteria.

This event is co-hosted by the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Arizona Public Media, ASUA, and Pima Community College Desert Vista Campus. FREE and OPEN to the public, so show up to ask your questions of the candidates.

Campaign websites:
Congressman Raul Grijalva (D), www.grijalvaforcongress.com
George Keane (L)
Ruth McClung (R), www.ruth4az.com
Harley Meyer (I), www.harleymeyer.com

Also on Wednesday, October 13, Arizona Illustrated at the UA will televise a forum with Congressman Grijalva, Keane, McClung, and Meyer. They will tape this interview earlier in the day. You can then watch it at 6:30pm on Channel 6 KUAT. Or online at www.ondemand.azpm.org/ usually a few hours prior and thereafter.

CD 7 registered voter totals (from Arizona Sec. of State’s office after the 8/24/10 primary):
Democrats 142,283, Libertarians 2740, Republicans 75,437, Greens 674, Others 103,750 for a total of 324,884. An updated count for the General Election is not available online as yet.
Congressional District 7 encompasses parts of five Arizona counties: La Paz, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and all of Yuma County.

Congressman Grijalva has served this new district since January, 2003 and it was created in time for the November, 2002 election, based on the increase in population in Arizona from the 2000 Census.