Senator Russell Pearce

There is much ado about newly elected State Senate President Russell Pearce, even an article in today’s Arizona Daily Star about his “business unfriendly” attitude:

http://azstarnet.com/business/local/article_8f52eada-79ef-57e7-9b46-dfac60272a23.html

Pearce was the former Chief Deputy of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Dept.(23 years) and was also a Justice of the Peace at one time.

Did you know that he was elected by only 17,552 voters in LD 18 in Mesa?

Voter breakdown from November, 2010 general election from Secretary of State’s website:

SHERWOOD, ANDREW (DEM)
34.30% 10,663
PEARCE, RUSSELL (REP)
56.45% 17,552
GARCIA, ANDREA (LBT)
9.03% 2,808
Write-in
0.22% 68
31,091 total votes cast

Contrast this to a larger, more populated district such as LD 30 here in Southern Arizona, with Frank Antenori as State Senator, with 3x as many voters:

CAMENISCH, TODD (DEM)
39.59% 36,911
ANTENORI, FRANK (REP)
60.27% 56,198
WRITE-IN
0.14% 134
93,243

And we hear that LD 1 (north/central Arizona) State Senator Steve Pierce still wants to be Senate President:

DONAHUE, BOB (DEM)
35.13% 28,463
PIERCE, STEVE (REP)
64.74% 52,458
Write-in
0.13% 108
81,029

Map of Arizona legislative districts from Arizona state legislature page link:

http://azredistricting.org/mapping/default2.asp?tname=Interim.2009.Legislative.Map&service=ircmaps&Layer4=on&Layer1=on&action=zoomin&ActiveLayer=16. You have to “zoom in” to find LD 18.

With 30 State Senators in the Arizona legislature, only 9 being Democratic, it goes to show that popularity among your peers counts, even when you represent a small legislative district. (Democratic Senators are only in districts 2 (NE Arizona), 13 through 17 in the Phoenix area, and 27, 28, 29 here in Southern Arizona).

In case you missed them, here’s the AZ Daily Star’s mixed take of endorsements (mostly Democrats, some Republicans, and one Green) for the Southern Arizona Legislative District races (LD 26 through 30). Or as we say back home in Hawaii– true “chop suey style”.

LD 30: Dr. Todd Camenish (D) for Senate;
no endorsements for House (2 seats)
http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/article_83353865-fba0-5be5-8623-e58ff430eb23.html

LD 29: Rep. Matt Heinz (D), Pat Kilburn (R), Rep. Daniel Patterson (D) for House (2 seats)
http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_272ed619-d0d5-5150-9429-64ef25fe166d.html

LD 28: Senator Paula Aboud (D);
Rep.Steve Farley (D), Bruce Wheeler (D) for House (2 seats)
http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_6f210c1c-b162-5f30-a047-a8c5568191df.html

LD 27: Dr. Macario Saldate (D), Kent Solberg (G) for House (2 seats)
http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_c43e72bb-a51e-5b3d-b1b4-6337a88f82fc.html

LD 26: Cheryl Cage (D) for Senate;
Rep. Vic Williams (R), Rep. Nancy Young Wright (D) for House (2 seats)
http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_1546a09c-6763-5823-9979-94f7a72225ba.html

And for the TUSD Governing Bd. race, the Star endorsed current board member Adelita Grijalva and Armand Salese:
http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_8a0c264e-1ff8-59cd-ad68-d55cc28de2db.html

And for other endorsements read my previous blog “Do Tucson newspaper endorsements matter?” (click here.) Still waiting for any Star endorsements in the races for Governor and Secretary of State.

Vote wisely, on or before November 2nd.

Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission (CCEC) debate between LD 29 House candidates is scheduled for Tuesday, September 28 at 6 p.m. at the PCC Community Room, 4905 E. Broadway. This room is north of Broadway Blvd., just east of Arcadia Avenue.

LD 30 Democratic Senate candidate Linda Lopez is running unopposed, but Democratic House Representatives Dr. Matt Heinz and Daniel Patterson have opposition from a Republican candidate, Pat Kilburn.

Lopez is running “clean”, as are Kilburn and Patterson, with Heinz running traditionally. This CCEC debate is only mandatory for the candidates participating in the clean elections program.

–Rep. Matt Heinz, practicing physician at Tucson Medical Center, incumbent legislator since 2009, www.heinzforarizona.com. He ran before for House of Rep. in the LD 28 primary in 2006.

–Pat Kilburn, retired federal agent & small business owner, www.votekilburn.com. Ran before for this same seat in November, 2008.

–Rep. Daniel Patterson, incumbent legislator since 2009, Southwest Director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, www.danielpatterson.net.

Watch this debate live, or later on the CCEC website (click here). These three men will also be appearing on KUAT AZ Illustrated Channel 6 on October 5, at 6:30 p.m.

Registered voter totals in LD 29 from Pima County Recorder’s Office:
31,394 Democrats, 15,155 Republicans, 636 Libertarians, 138 Greens, 21,409 Others, 68,732 Total registered voters.

Rep. Matt Heinz

Pat Kilburn

Rep. Daniel Patterson