In the Tucson Daily Citizen (predecessor of the Tucson Citizen newspaper) a May 20, 1971 article featured a straw ballot to vote for one of the 10 candidates vying for Mayor of Tucson:

1. Joseph I. Brown, D, ran twice before for Mayor & lost
2. James N. Corbett, D, the Mayor (up for re-election)
3. James Dunleavy, D (formerly R), political newcomer
4. Douglas Edgell, R, ran before for City Council & lost
5. Harmon Harrison, R, on the School District 1 Board of Trustees
6. Larry G. Kelly, I, political newcomer
7. Lewis C. Murphy, R, former Tucson City Attorney
8. H. Kelley Rollings, D, political newcomer
9. Robert Royal, R, Ward 6 Councilman
10. Cynthia Schiesel, D, political newcomer (only woman in the race)

Trivia questions for long time Tucsonans:
Q 1: Who won these Republican and Democratic Mayoral primaries (out of the 4 Republicans, 5 Democrats listed above) in 1971?
Q 2: And who eventually won the General Election in 1971? (see answers at bottom of this blog)

40 years later in June, 2011 the City of Tucson had 7 candidates vying for Mayor after the June 1 deadline for nomination petitions:

Ron Asta, R (formerly D), who ran against the same Lewis Murphy (#7 above) in 1983
Dave Croteau, G, ran for Mayor in 1999 (write-in), and again in 2007
Pat Darcy, I (formerly D), ran for Mayor in 1999 Democratic primary
Mary DeCamp, G, ran for Ward 3 Council seat in 2009, only woman in the race
Marshall Home, D (formerly R and I), political newcomer
Shaun McClusky, R, ran for Ward 5 Council seat in 2009
Jonathan Rothschild, D, political newcomer

There were almost 10 candidates this year, but political newcomers Green Jon McLane and Democrat Thomas Lombardi withdrew before the June 1 deadline for filing of nomination petitions. Both had residency problems.

Subsequently 3 of these candidates (Asta, Darcy, and McClusky) were found to not have enough valid petition signatures, and one (Home) withdrew due to a lawsuit over his residency in the County and not in the City of Tucson.

There are three candidates left (Croteau, DeCamp and Rothschld) and currently three new write-ins, Democrats David Karr and Joseph Maher, Jr. and Republican Rick Grinnell. So with the 3 additional write-ins, there have been 10 candidates vying for the Mayor’s job this year as well.

Stay tuned for any additional write-ins prior to the July 21, 2011 filing deadline.

For you history buffs, may I recommend a 1970 booklet, “The Tucson Citizen – A Century of Arizona Journalism” by former reporter Don Schellie. Our Tucsoncitizen.com editor Mark Evans was giving out copies of this booklet at our Tucson Festival of Books booth in March, 2011. (In 1970 after 100 years of publication of the Tucson Citizen newspaper, Schellie reports that the population in Tucson was about 320,000 people. In 1870, the population was only 3200.)

Answer to trivia Q #1: Mayor James Corbett (D) and Lewis Murphy (R)
Answer to trivia Q # 2: In the General election Lew Murphy upset the Mayor by receiving 32,699 votes (52.32%) to Corbett’s 29,797 votes (47.67%), and went on to serve 4 terms as Mayor.
(The official canvass of November 2, 1971 does not list the Independent candidate Larry Kelly.)

And I have no idea what the results of that voter straw poll were. Anyone know? Tucson Daily Citizen readers were supposed to “vote for any one candidate of your choice regardless of his or your party affiliation”, and mail in to:
“STRAW VOTE, Tucson Daily Citizen, Tucson, Ariz.” No further address was provided. And no internet in 1970, so no online-voting.