John McCain is a household name here in his home state of Arizona. After all he has been the Senior U.S. Senator from Arizona since 1987, and served 4 years as an Arizona U.S. Congressman prior to that. He prevailed over Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney to become the Republican nominee for U.S. President just two years ago. And Senator McCain had run for President before in 2000.

U.S. Senator John McCain

Today at his Tucson headquarters (2945 E. Grant Road) Senator McCain said to his supporters, including CD 8 candidate Jonathan Paton and Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll, that he hopes for a “great celebration” tomorrow night when he wins the Arizona primary. He thanked his supporters and volunteers, saying that many had “been with him since the beginning”, and he promised for “a time in action in the U.S. Senate” in 2011, as he had “great faith” in our country. Prior to his speech, McCain praised the work done in the Arizona state legislature and in Iraq of former State Senator Jonathan Paton, who incidentally said he met McCain for the first time in Fallujah.

The Senator appeared confident that he would win the Republican primary tomorrow against his challengers, former CD 5 Congressman J.D. Hayworth and Phoenix businessman Jim Deakin. Some say this is his toughest primary challenge in his career.

U.S. Senators have a lot of stature, since there are only 100 of them in America. Being as I used to work on Capitol Hill for fellow U.S. Senator Dan Inouye as a legislative aide on his personal staff, I know what it feels like to be close to their power & influence. And incumbent Senator McCain at age 73, does indeed wield that power & influence on the national and international scene. Incidentally he will be celebrating his 74th birthday in a week, on August 29.

Stay tuned for election results tomorrow on this race, and to find out which Democrat (John Dougherty, Dr. Cathy Eden, Dr. Rodney Glassman, or Randy Parraz) will be the newest challenger in John McCain’s long political career. And read my earlier blog on the Green and Libertarian challengers in this race (click here).

The Tucson debate between the Democratic contenders for U.S. Senate in Arizona will be held on Thursday, August 5 at KUAT Channel 6 at the U of A campus. The debate will be telecast at 6:00 p.m. or be available on www.azpm.org , and will be hosted by Arizona Illustrated host Bill Buckmaster.

Attending this debate will be:

– John Dougherty, Phoenix freelance investigative reporter, www.johndougherty2010.com
– Dr. Cathy Eden, former Phoenix state house legislator & Director of ASU School of Social work, www.edenforaz.com
– Dr. Rodney Glassman, former Tucson Councilmember/Vice Mayor, www.rodneyglassman.com
– Randy Parraz, Scottsdale attorney doing civil rights/labor organizing work, www.parrazforchange.com

I wrote about these candidates before when they spoke at Democrats of Greater Tucson in Tucson. They have appeared at other state-wide debates on Phoenix TV (July 9 and July 27) and by radio in Yuma (July 21). Check out their websites above for further information on each candidate.

One of these contenders will face off with the Republican winner of the Arizona primary –incumbent U.S. Senator John McCain, or former Congressman J. D. Hayworth, or businessman Jim Deakin. That KUAT debate was held on Saturday July 17 and you can view it below:

Democrats and Independents –Watch this August 5 debate, review the information on the candidates’ websites, and vote wisely on or before August 24! The polls are saying that 46% of the Democrats in Arizona are still undecided about whom to vote for in this primary race.

Early voting started on July 29. Last day to request an early ballot is August 13.

John Dougherty

Dr. Cathy Eden

Dr. Rodney Glassman

Randy Parraz

At long last a Tucson televised forum between the three Republicans running for U.S. Senate in Arizona:

–Phoenix small businessman Jim Deakin, www.jimdeakin.com
–former Congressman (CD 5) J. D. Hayworth & former talk radio show host in Phoenix, www.jdforsenate.com
–incumbent Senior U.S. Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee for U.S. President, www.johnmccain.com

Click on their websites above for further information about these candidates.

This Republican TV debate will be held on Saturday, July 17 in Tucson at 7 p.m., hosted by Bill Buckmaster of AZ Illustrated. View this Republican forum on Channel 6, or online live at www.azpm.org (“On Demand” link).

This has been a very contentious race over the past months, and will finally be decided on Tuesday, August 24 (the Arizona primary was moved up from September this year).The Republican winner will face off with the victor of those running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate: John Dougherty, Dr. Cathy Eden, Dr. Rodney Glassman, or Randy Parraz.

(Dougherty is a freelance investigative reporter, Dr. Eden is a former state house legislator and Director of the ASU School of Social Work, Dr.Glassman is a former Tucson Councilmember, and Parraz is a labor organizer/attorney.) Their comparable forum on KUAT is scheduled for Thursday, August 5, 6:30 p.m. so stay tuned for that event as well.

Also running in the general election: Green candidate & small businessman Jerry Joslyn, and Founder of the Libertarian Party David Nolan.

Jim Deakin

J. D. Hayworth

U. S. Senator John McCain