Community activists Dave Croteau (who has run for Mayor before in 1999 as a write-in & challenged Mayor Walkup in 2007) and Mary DeCamp (former candidate for Ward 3 Council seat in 2009) are both running for this seat, soon to be vacated by 3 term Republican Mayor Bob Walkup. Croteau restores homes/buildings and DeCamp is a former college instructor and “Connector” for Pro Neighborhoods.

To listen to both Green candidates “debate”, tune in to the Bill Buckmaster radio show (KVOI 1030 AM) on Wed. August 3, at high noon for 1/2 hour. You can also listen to it via live stream, at www.buckmastershow.com.

They were also recently interviewed on KUAT Channel 6 on July 22 (click here).

Both Green Mayoral candidates are also available every Monday evening at La Indita restaurant on 4th Avenue for a meet & greet (click here for my previous blog).

There are 849 registered Green voters in the City of Tucson per the Pima County Recorder’s Office. Independents who registered for this Green primary can vote in it as well, on/before August 30. Vote-by-mail ballots will be mailed on August 10.

Vote wisely in the August 30 primary.

Darcy submitted 3,104 signatures to qualify to run as an Independent in the 2011 General Election. The minimum required for a Nomination Other than Primary (NOP)/Independent is 2596 signatures per the Tucson City Clerk’s office. Darcy could collect signatures from registered City voters “as long as they had not already signed a petition for another candidate running for the same office.”

I first reported on Darcy back in March when he was considering this bid as an Independent (click here).

Darcy only registered as an Independent on April 1, 2011, and took out paperwork with the City Clerk on Friday May 13, 2011 to run for Mayor. He has been registered as a Democrat since 1971 per Chris Roads (Deputy Recorder & Registrar of Voters) at the Pima County Recorder’s Office. Darcy is a realtor in Tucson with CB Richard Ellis and is best known as a former pitcher for the Major league Cincinnati Reds baseball team.

The motion for a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit was filed by Plaintiff citizen Sam Almy, reresented by attorney Bill Risner. 908 signatures submitted by Darcy were challenged and 614 were found invalid due to signatures by people not registered to vote (196), people who had signed previous Mayoral petitions (138), people not registered in the City of Tucson limits (277), and people indicating the wrong date of their signature (3). Therefore Darcy had only 2490 valid signatures, less than the 2596 required to be eligible as an Independent in the General Election 2011.

Darcy did take the stand in his defense today and said that the people of Tucson wanted “honest dialogue” which is why he was running as an Independent. He appeared at today’s hearing pro se, without an attorney.

Tomorrow’s court hearing is a similiar challenge regarding invalid signatures against Mayoral candidate Republican Shaun McClusky.

http://www.rumromanismrebellion.net/2011/06/17/asta-la-vista/

Ted cleverly entitles his article “Asta la Vista” instead of Hasta la vista (see you later in
Spanish).

The family of the late Jennifer Reeves, who died (at age 18) in a car/truck accident back on August 8, 1994 involving Ron Asta, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to contest some of the signatures on Asta’s nomination petitions. The plaintiff was citizen Nicolle A. Callahan.
A hearing on this lawsuit was held today in Superior Court, and “Asta did not contest the evidence against the signatures he filed, subsequently the court ruled that he could not be a candidate” (per Ted’s blogsite).

Asta submitted 1205 signatures on his nomination petitions, but hundreds were disqualified by the Pima County Recorder’s Office, leaving him 73 signatures short of the required 1060 for a Republican Mayoral candidate. The maximum # of signatures he could have collected to qualify is 2119.

I first reported back in November when Asta was considering a bid (click here) and also in February when he took out papers to run for Mayor (click here), and announced his bid. Note comments from Jessica Reeves Foster (Jennifer’s sister) under my blogs, regarding that tragic car accident.

Asta’s campaign had also been troubled with allegations of a shoplifting incident of a steak from a store, prior to his campaign (then as a Democrat) for Mayor in 1983 against Republican Mayor Lew Murphy. One of our Tucsoncitzen.com readers known as “Fraser007″ has also maintained online in the comment sections that there was an earlier shoplifting at an EZ Save of a steak by Asta between 1969 and 1971, which Fraser says he personally witnessed.

With this news about Asta, the only Republican now running for Mayor is realtor Shaun McClusky, who is facing a legal challenge on Tuesday about the signatures on his petitions as well. Democratic contender Marshall Home withdrew his campaign for Mayor yesterday in Superior Court (click here), which I reported about earlier today.

Stay tuned for more developments in the race for Mayor of Tucson. Only 5 candidates left– Democrat Jonathan Rothschild, Independent Pat Darcy, Republican Shaun McClusky, Green candidates Dave Croteau and Mary DeCamp.

I reported on Home entering the Mayor’s race back in March (click here), and also when he subsequently changed his party affiliation from Independent to Democrat to enter the Democratic primary, to challenge Mayoral candidate Jonathan Rothschild (click here). I noted back then on March 25 that there were apparent problems with his residency at a Pima County address and not in the City of Tucson (per information received from the Pima County Recorder’s Office).

Candidates running for Mayor (and Council) must have been a resident of the City of Tucson for “not less than 3 years immediately prior to becoming a candidate.” Tucson Charter Chapter XVI Section 5.

On June 2, I wrote a blog about who the 7 candidates who officially filed for Mayor are (click here, with photos).

With Home’s withdrawal there will be no Democratic primary on August 30, as attorney Jonathan Rothschild is now the sole Democrat running for Mayor. Two Republicans (Ron Asta and Shaun McClusky) are campaigning for Mayor (though both face courtroom challenges as well). Two Green candidates Dave Croteau and Mary DeCamp face no challenges to their nomination petitions (and will meet up in the Green Party primary), but Independent Pat Darcy does face a legal challenge on Monday.

So stay tuned for further developments in this Mayor’s race.

Michael Navarro

Growing up on the streets of Barrio Hollywood on Tucson, Arizona’s west side, was not easy for Michael, but he decided he wanted something better than to get swallowed into a life of crime and trouble.

When Michael graduated from the University of Phoenix, he decided to attend Trinity Law School in Santa Ana, California. After graduating from law school, he moved back to his native Tucson, and began work with several different law firms as well as the Attorney General’s office.

He then began working for the Pima County Consolidated Justice Court and also acts as pastor at Westside Baptist Church.

He has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Navarro/163916763669189
and can be reached by mnavarro@q.com. Hope to update tomorrow on Navarro’s voting record once I confirm it with the Pima County Recorder’s Office.

Councilmember Romero is running for re-election for her 2nd term, and is facing a Democratic challenger businessman Joe Flores in the August 30, 2011 primary. The winner of that primary will face off with Navarro, should he get enough signatures to qualify for the General Election on November 8. No Republican is running for this Council seat as yet.

The Mayor of Tucson and Council seats in Wards 1, 2 and 4 are up for election this year.

5/18/11 UPDATE: Navarro has been registered as a Democrat since July 19, 2007, changed to Independent on April 25, 2011, per Chris Roads (Deputy Recorder & Registrar of Voters) at Pima County Recorder’s Office.

As of today (May 17) with nomination petitions due 5 p.m. on June 1st to the Tucson City Clerk, here’s the current slate.

IN (in order of initial filing of paperwork with Tucson City Clerk‘s office):

–Republican Shaun McClusky, former candidate for Ward 5 Council office in 2009, chaired anti-Prop 400 sales tax campaign in 2010; a realtor, www.voteshaun.com

–Democrat Jonathan Rothschild (already submitted 3283 signatures, the maximum for his party), attorney & political newcomer; www.jonathanformayor.com

–Republican Ron Asta, former Democratic District 1 Pima County Supervisor (1972-1976), ran for Mayor in 1983 as a Democrat against Republican then-current Mayor Lew Murphy & got 36.4% of the vote; a land planner, www.ronasta4mayor.com

–Democrat Marshall Home (formerly registered as an Independent & Republican), a self-reported “multi-billionaire”, political newcomer

–Green Dave Croteau, former candidate for Pima County Sheriff (2000) and Mayor (2007– he’s the only one that challenged Mayor Bob Walkup in that race & got 28% of the vote, no Democrat or Libertarian ran); a community activist

–Independent Pat Darcy, former candidate for Mayor in the 4-way Democratic primary of 1999 (Councilmember Molly McKasson won that race over Councilmember Janet Marcus, Betsy Bolding, and Darcy– who got 8.6% of the vote–, but then Molly lost to Republican Bob Walkup, then a political newcomer); a realtor and former major league baseball player (pitcher for Cincinnati Reds)

Darcy had been considering a bid since March (click here for earlier blog) but only registered as an Independent on April 1, 2011, and took out paperwork with the City Clerk on Friday May 13, 2011 to run for Mayor. He has been registered as a Democrat since 1971 per Chris Roads (Deputy Recorder & Registrar of Voters) at the Pima County Recorder’s Office.

OUT:

–Democrat Thomas Lombardi, a hall monitor at Mt. View High School, political newcomer (withdrew)

–Green Jon McLane, a businessman & political newcomer who withdrew last week & endorsed Republican Shaun McClusky

Democratic Mayoral candidates need between 1642 and 3283 signatures, Republicans between 1060 and 2119, and Green Party candidates only 17 to 32 signatures to qualify to run for the office of Mayor.

Independents (Nomination Other Than by Primary-NOP) only qualify for the Mayoral General election ballot (no primary) but need to get 2596 signatures by June 1st. “Any registered voter can sign the petition for an NOP candidate as long as they have not already signed a petition for another candidate running for the same office” according to the 2011 Candidate Information Pamphlet issued by the Tucson City Clerk. The number of valid signatures on the NOP petition must be equal to at least 3% of the total number of registered voters who are not members of a qualified political party (Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Green) — as of 3/1/11.

Stay tuned for any other changes in the next weeks before the filing deadline. I hear other rumors of other potential candidates…and no woman is running as yet.

Dave Croteau

November, 2007 General election results:
Mayor Walkup (R) 45,543 71.20%
Dave Croteau (G) 17,962 28.08%

Croteau lists his residence address in the City of Tucson. He also tried to run for Ward 6 Council seat in 2009 but was apparently unable to due to invalid signatures. He also ran for Pima County Sheriff in 2000 and got 16% of the vote to Sheriff Clarence Dupnik’s 72%. In 1999 Croteau was a write-in candidate for Mayor in the General election, along wth Molly McKasson (D) and Robert Walkup (R).

Croteau is a is a lifelong resident of Tucson, a graduate of Palo Verde High School, and has attended Pima Community College. He is part Native American and a Vietnam Veteran. He can be reached via email at tucsonrestorer@gmail.com. (Website: http://futurefocustucson.blogspot.com/)

Another Green candidate Jon McLane is also seeking this seat, but has problems with his voter registration in the City of Tucson according to Chris Roads of the Pima County Recorder’s office. Roads (Deputy Recorder & Registrar of Voters) stated that McLane first registered to vote in Pima County in May 2007 but has not voted in any election in Pima County. He did not vote in 2008 and 2010 so his voter registration was canceled on December 6, 2010. McLane re-registered in Pima County recently on March 4, 2011 at 1022 N. Palo Verde Blvd. in the City, just prior to filing for Mayor on March 21, 2011. His prior address (before his registration was canceled) was 8001 N. Suwannee (a County address).

Four others are seeking the job of Mayor: Democrat Jonathan Rothschild (who submitted the maximum amount (3283) of Democratic signatures this week), and Marshall Home; and Republicans Shaun McClusky and Ron Asta. Democrat Thomas Lombardi (a political newcomer) withdrew from this race last week. Croteau needs to get only between 17 to 32 Green Party signatures in the City of Tucson to qualify for this race, by the June 1 (5 p.m.) deadline.

More info on the Green Party of Pima County: http://pimagreens.org/. If both Croteau and McLane qualify to run for Mayor, they will face off in the August 30 primary.

5/12/11 UPDATE: Jon McLane withdrew today (click here) but endorsed Republican candidate McClusky over Croteau.

Supervisors Ramon Valadez and Richard Elias have never had a Republican challenger in Districts 2 and 5 respectively.

Supervisor Ray Carroll has never had a Democratic challenger in District 4, has run unopposed in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

The only upset was when Democrat Sharon Bronson beat then-incumbent District 3 Supervisor Ed Moore in 1996 (he had changed from a Republican to an Independent). And now she is the longest serving member of this Board.

District 1 Supervisor Ann Day (R)
2008 primary – Joe Higgins (R); General – unopposed
2004 primary unopposed; General – Sandra Abbey (L)
2000 primary – Dan Schotiel (R); General- Byron Howard (D)
(elected Nov. 2000, former AZ State Senator)
Ann received her B.A. in Education from ASU and her M.ED. in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Arizona, and at one time taught junior high school.

District 2 Supervisor Ramon Valadez (D)
2008 primary- Robert Robuck (D); general- unopposed
2004 primary & general unopposed
(appointed September 2003, former AZ State Senator and House Rep.)
Ramon graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE), and served at one time as a Special Assistant to former District 2 Supervisor Dan Eckstrom, as well as aide to other Democratic politicians.

District 3 Supervisor Sharon Bronson (D)
2008 primary Donna Branch-Gilby (D); General- Barney Brenner (R)
2004 primary unopposed; General – Bennett Kalafut (L)
2000 primary Richard Pacheco (D); General – Barney Brenner (R)
1996 primary- unopposed; General – Supervisor Ed Moore (I) and Vicki Cox-Golder (R)
(elected Nov. 1996)
Sharon earned a degree in Business Administration/Accounting with Distinction from the University of Arizona, and owned her own consulting & small business firm prior to running for office.

District 4 Supervisor Ray Carroll (R)
2008 primary & general unopposed
2004 primary & general unopposed
2000 primary & general unopposed
1998 primary – Brenda Even (R) and Ken Marcus (R); General – Gay Lynn Goetzke (L)
(appointed May, 1997)
Ray received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy (with honors) from Regis University in Denver, Colorado. He was Foundation Manager for Casa de los Ninos and also served as Chairman on the City of Tucson’s Housing Board.

District 5 Supervisor Richard Elias (D)
2008 primary & general unopposed
2004 primary unopposed; General – William Munsil (L)
2002 primary – Frank Felix (D); General – unopposed
(appointed Feb. 2002)
“Richard entered public office after a lengthy career in the government and non-profit development of affordable housing. He earned a bachelor’s degree in History, with a minor in Mexican-American Studies, from the University of Arizona.”

These five Supervisor Districts are subject to redistricting* due to the 2010 Census figures,and the map to be proposed by the AZ Independent Redistricting Commission. (By the way, this commission is meeting in Tucson next Tuesday May 10, 9 a.m. at UA Student Union, Tucson room — see website agenda (click here). *Note comments below & clarification about the role of the Commission regarding County/City districts.

Pima County Recorder’s Office current voter registrations in each District (in columns below — D, R, L, G, Others,Total )

DISTRICT 1 – 37,070 / 47,370 / 744 / 203 / 33,625 / 119,012
DISTRICT 2 – 34,257 / 16,238 / 698 / 187 / 23,881 / 75,261
DISTRICT 3 – 35,866 / 24,680 / 824 / 302 / 27,921 / 89,593
DISTRICT 4 – 39,618 / 50,347 / 863 / 191 / 37,262 / 128,281
DISTRICT 5 – 39,544 / 12,786 / 807 / 379 / 23,007 / 76,523

Total 186,355/ 151,421 / 3,936/ 1,262/ 145,696 / 488,670

Cllick on the blue hyperlinks of each Supervisor to go to their Pima County webpages, and read their complete biographies.

*UPDATE: District 1 Supervisor Ann Day not seeking re-election in 2012, is retiring at age 73:
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_8754b82c-b980-11e0-909a-001cc4c002e0.html

Registered voters in City of Tucson (as of April, 2011)

Democrats 99,877

Republicans 56,232

Independents/others 69,735

Libertarians 2135

Greens 857

Total registered voters right now in City of Tucson are 228,836 (all six wards)
which gives the Democrats almost a 2:1 edge over the Republicans, but there are almost 70,000 Independent voters who could vote either way in the primary.

But according to Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez and UA Asst. Prof. of Communications Kate Kenski, Independents have a low voter turnout, probably because they don’t choose to vote at all or belong to an organized party.

Back in the last City of Tucson election of 2009, with Wards 3, 5 and 6 up for election, 33.5% of the total registered voters (221,316) voted. So 74,168 votes were cast city wide.

Karin Uhlilch (D) received 33,782 votes, Richard Fimbres (D) 37,749 votes and Steve Kozachik (R) 36,451 votes to prevail over their opponents. Uhlich won by only 175 votes over Republican Ben Bueller-Garcia, although the Green Party candidate Mary DeCamp received 4429 votes, which may have taken votes from the Democrat. In 2005 Uhlich had defeated Republican one term Ward 3 incumbent Kathleen Dunbar, in an upset.

Fimbres won by 4573 votes over Shaun McClusky (now running for Mayor) and Kozachik won in an upset by 1756 votes (defeating one term Democratic incumbent Nina Trasoff). Trasoff herself had upset 2 term Ward 6 incumbent Republican Fred Ronstadt in 2005.

How did Steve Kozachik, a Republican win in a predominantly Democratic city?

And with the Democratic voter edge in this city, how did Republican Robert Walkup win 3 terms? He defeated 1) two term Councilwoman Democrat Molly McKasson, then 2) former Democratic Mayor/Councilman Tom Volgy, and lastly 3) Green Party candidate Dave Croteau (no Democrat even ran for Mayor in 2007). See my previous blog “Will Mayor Walkup run again? (click here).

The Mayor’s seat is up for election this year, with Republican Bob Walkup not running for his 4th term. 6 men are currently seeking that position (3 Democrats, 2 Republicans, 1 Green), with nomination petitions/signatures due on June 1st. None of the candidates have served on the City Council, the usual testing ground for qualification to be a Mayor.

Council Wards 1, 2 and 4 are also up for election this year.

Ward 1 Councilwoman Regina Romero (D) has a Democratic opponent (Joe Flores), and almost had a Republican challenger (political newcomer Janet Gallup who filed last week but told me via email that she is withdrawing this week “for several personal reasons that were unforeseen”).
Regina has served for one term and is the incumbent. (In 2007 she defeated Democrat Ken Green in the Primary, then Green Party candidate Beryl Baker in the General.)

Appointed (May, 2010) Ward 2 Councilman Paul Cunningham (D) has a Republican opponent (political newcomer Jennifer Rawson). 4 term Ward 4 Councilwoman Shirley Scott (D) is being challenged by political newcomer Republican Tyler Vogt. Can either Rawson or Vogt upset the incumbent Councilmembers– like Kozachik did in 2009?

It seems that both Republicans and Democrats have served in Wards 3 and 6, with predominantly only Democratic Councilmembers in Ward 1, 2, 4, and 5 (except for one Democrat who turned into an Independent in Ward 2). And Tucson has had long term serving Republican Mayors (Lew Murphy and Bob Walkup).

So maybe it’s personality over partisan party affiliation that determines the winners in the City elections. What do you readers think?

The AZ Court of Appeals ruled recently for the City of Tucson in a challenge to a recent state law that would have mandated Ward only, nonpartisan elections instead of the current partisan, city-wide elections (though the Councilmembers have to live in the Ward they run from). This decision may be appealed to the AZ Supreme Court.

5/13/11 UPDATE: 6 men still running for Mayor (2 Democrats, as 1 dropped out last week, 2 Republicans, 1 Green (one dropped out, replaced by another Green), and an Independent).
Here’s the current list: Jonathan Rothschild (D), Marshall Home (D), Shaun McClusky (R), Ron Asta (R), Dave Croteau (G), Pat Darcy (I). But the list keeps changing…

However, according to Chris Roads (Pima County Deputy Recorder & Registrar of Voters) at Pima County Recorder’s Office, the current address (3650 North Four Winds Drive 85750) that Lombardi lists is in the County, not the City of Tucson. Lombardi has voted at that address in August and November 2010, having changed to that County address in May 2009 from a City address (5326 E. 5th Street).

No bio/photo of Lombardi available despite 2 phone requests since 4/8/11 and a promise by the candidate to send them via email by 4/11/11. I will update this blog when I receive further information.

So far running for Mayor:

Ron Asta, Republican, land planner, radio talk show host (KJLL), former District 1 Pima County Supervisor (then a Democrat)

Marshall Home, Democrat, billionaire “patriot not a politician”

Shaun McClusky, Republican, realtor, former Ward 5 Council candidate

Jon McLane, Green, businessman, radio talk show host (KVOI)

Jonathan Rothschild, Democrat, attorney

For a previous blog “KUAT Interviews: The Men Who Would be Mayor” click here. (You can view the five men listed above– sans Lombardi in TV interviews.)

Jon McLane is facing a problem with his voter registration as well, as he may not have lived in the City of Tucson for 3 years prior to filing for Mayor in March. Stay tuned for determinations on McLane and Lombardi. The deadline for petitions by these candidates is June 1st, and the primary election will be on August 30.

Candidate Qualifications – Tucson Charter Chapter XVI Section 5
A candidate for Mayor or Council Member must have been a qualified elector (registered voter) and resident of the City of Tucson for not less than (3) years immediately prior to becoming a candidate.

UPDATE: Lombardi has withdrawn per City Clerk’s office website of 5/6/11.