On March 24 I reported that Drinking Liberally has moved their weekly meetings to Wednesday evenings (click here for background of this group).

Counclmember Steve Kozachik

This Wednesday April 4, the invited guest speaker will be Ward 6 Republican Councilmember Steve Kozachik, who was elected in Nov. 2009, upsetting incumbent Democratic Councilmember Nina Trasoff. The email notice from Drinking Liberally states:

Steve has been busy butting heads with his own party over the recent spate of state bills aimed squarely at Tucson and Pima County, and over the Rio Nuevo board appointed to ‘fix’ our TIF district.

Drop by The Shanty (NE corner of E. 9th St. and 4th Avenue) after 6 p.m. to hear “The Koz” speak on these City of Tucson issues, and to answer questions.

More info on Councilmember Kozachik (click here).

Other Republicans who have been invited to speak at Drinking Liberally in the past (as far as I remember) have been LD 30 State Senator Frank Antenori, former LD 30 Senator Jonathan Paton and House Rep. Marian McClure, and District 4 Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll.

Back in March, during Women’s “Herstory” month, I blogged about the rise of women politicians in Arizona (click here). Coming up is Women’s Equality Day on August 26, celebrating the suffrage movement allowing women the right to vote.

So now as we head into the Arizona primary on Tuesday August 24, here’s a list of the women candidates and politicians up for re-election in Arizona (and mostly Southern Arizona). D stands for Democratic Party, G for Green Party, R for Republican Party.

–U.S. Senate: Dr. Cathy Eden (D) candidate
–U.S. House: Ruth McClung (R) in CD 7, candidate
–U.S. House: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D) in CD 8, incumbent

–Governor Jan Brewer (R), incumbent
–Sec. of State: Michelle Lochmann (G), write-in candidate
–Attorney General: Felecia Rotellini (D), candidate
–Treasurer: Barbara Leff (R), candidate
–Superintendent of Public Instruction: Margaret Garcia Dugan (R), candidate;
Penny Kotterman (D), candidate;
Dr. Beth Price (R), candidate
–Corporation Commission: Brenda Burns (R), candidate

–State Senate LD 25: Gail Griffin (R), candidate, former legislator
–State Senate LD 26: Cheryl Cage (D), candidate
–State Senate LD 27: Olivia Cajero Bedford (D), candidate, former legislator
–State Senate LD 28: Paula Aboud (D), incumbent
–State Senate LD 29: Linda Lopez (D), incumbent
–State Senate LD 30: Marian McClure (R), candidate, former legislator

–State House LD 25: Patricia Fleming (D), incumbent;
Peggy Judd (R), candidate
–State House LD 26: Terri Proud (R), candidate;
Nancy Young Wright (D), incumbent
–State House LD 27: Sally Ann Gonzales (D), candidate, former legislator
–State House LD 28: Mohur Sidhwa (D), candidate
–State House LD 30: Andrea Dalessandro (D), candidate;
Parralee Schneider (R), candidate

Seems like there’s now a woman candidate for almost every elected office in Arizona (except State Mine Inspector, which doesn’t quite seem like a woman’s job). But I could be wrong on that one. We have come a long way.

Vote wisely on or before August 24.

Does incumbency matter in political campaigns? Do voters just elect the “same old same old” politician during each election cycle?

I used to think that a sitting politician always got re-elected– except if they had faced a scandal (personal or financial) prior to the election.

So I was surprised when one term President George H.W. Bush (father of President George W. Bush) and Vice President Dan Quayle were not re-elected and lost to then-Governor Bill Clinton and his running mate then-U.S. Senator Al Gore in 1992.

President Bush had no scandal prior to the General Election, but the American voters must have thought otherwise of his capabilities, and went for the new Democratic contender.

President George H.W. Bush

Remember Democrat incumbent Congressman Gary Condit of California who lost his re-election bid, due to the alleged scandal over missing person Chandra Levy?

On the local scene, incumbent Ward 6 Democratic Councilmember Nina Trasoff narrowly lost the November, 2009 election to political newcomer Republican Steve Kozachik. People told me it was due to the financial mess of Rio Nuevo downtown development.

So, coming up on August 24 (Arizona primary) we have several incumbents running, with opposition in the primary:

–Republican U.S. Senate John McCain (facing former Congressman J.D. Hayworth & Jim Deakin)
–Republican Governor Jan Brewer (facing Dr. Matt Jette)
–Republican Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce (facing Brenda Burns and Barry Wong, but for 2 seats)

and in the Legislature in Southern Arizona:

–Republican LD 30 State Senator Ted Antenori (facing former House Rep. Marian McClure)

–Republican LD 26 House Rep. Vic Williams (facing Wade McLean and Terri Proud, but for 2 seats)

–Democrat LD 28 House Rep. Steve Farley (facing Ted Prezelski, Mohur Sidhwa, Tim Sultan, and former House Rep. Bruce Wheeler, but for 2 seats)

–Republicans LD 30 House Rep. David Gowan and Rep.Ted Vogt (facing Brian Abbott, Kurt Knurr, Doug Sposito and Parralee Schneider, for 2 seats). These candidates are meeting tonight at the Eastside Republicans meeting (click here).

Of course, it is conceivable (since voters are volatile and incumbency does not guarantee the seat) that the incumbents could lose, and brand new candidates may be selected in their stead. After all, political experience isn’t everything. But name recognition may be.

Stay tuned if any or all of these incumbents earn enough of the people’s votes to win their primaries, to face other contenders in the General Election on November 2nd.

Do you remember other incumbents who have lost their seats, and for what reason (s)?