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).

“Most polls show Attorney General Terry Goddard lagging behind Gov. Jan Brewer by double digits in the governor’s race. Can Goddard close the gap by Nov. 2?” (dated 9/28/10, 330 votes so far). Vote now or see online results by checking their website & scrolling down on the left of the homepage, http://azcapitoltimes.com/.

Past polls from their archives:

“Which statewide Democratic candidate has the best shot at winning on Nov. 2?”
–Felecia Rotellini, attorney general’s race (44%, 148 Votes of 339 votes)

“Who will be the next Senate president?”
–Sen. Steve Pierce (42%, 171 Votes of 408 votes)
–Sen. Russell Pearce (31%, 127 Votes)

“Who is the most vulnerable Democratic member of AZ’s congressional delegation?”
–Harry Mitchell (34%, 121 Votes of 361 votes)
–Ann Kirkpatrick (29%, 104 Votes)

Which primary race was the biggest surprise?
— CD3 (R) – Quayle beats field of 10 (40%, 188 Votes of 473 votes)

“Which Republican will win the primary race for state treasurer?”
– Doug Ducey (42%, 171 Votes of 403 votes)

Some of these polls were accurate (State Treasurer one, which was surprising as all 3 opponents had state legislative experience and Ducey is a political newcomer). And of course the Ben Qualye win was another surprise by a political newcomer, though son of former U.S. Vice President Dan Qualye.

Wait for November 2nd for some of the results for these other polls, or thereafter for the Arizona State Senate President vote. I’m not much of a believer in political polls, but they do indicate some trends. Readers, do you agree with these poll results?

For other interesting political polls from their archives click here.