Early voting starts today in AZ General election (slated for Nov. 6), so don’t forget to vote for U.S. President and Vice Presidential running mates:

Barack Obama (D), and Joe Biden, incumbents
Gary Johnson (L), and James Gray
Mitt Romney (R), and Paul Ryan
Jill Stein (G), and Cheri Honkala

Here’s the list of who’s running in the State of Arizona, with emphasis on the Southern AZ seats:

U.S. Senate (open seat)
Richard Carmona (D)
Jeff Flake (R)
Marc Victor (L)

CD 1 (open seat)
Kim Allen (L)
Ann Kirkpatrick (D)
Jonathan Paton (R)

CD 2
Ron Barber (D), incumbent CD 8
Martha McSally (R)

CD 3
Raul Grijalva (D), incumbent CD 7
Blanca Guerra (L)
Gabriela Saucedo Mercer (R)

LD 2
State Senate
Linda Lopez (D), incumbent LD 29
Don Woolley (R), write-in

State House – 2 seats
Chris John Ackerley (R)
Andrea Dalessandro (D)
Rosanna Gabaldon (D)

LD 3
State Senate (unopposed)
Olivia Cajero Bedford, incumbent LD 27

State House – 2 seats (unopposed)
Sally Ann Gonzales (D), incumbent LD 27
Macario Saldate (D), incumbent LD 27

LD 9
State Senate
Steve Farley (D)
Tyler Mott (R)

State House – 2 seats
Ethan Orr (R)
Mohur Sarah Sidhwa (D)
Victoria Steele (D)

LD 10
State Senate
Frank Antenori (R), incumbent LD 30
David Bradley (D)

State House – 2 seats
Todd Clodfelter (R)
Stefanie Mach (D)
Ted Vogt (R), incumbent LD 30
Bruce Wheeler (D), incumbent LD 28

LD 11
State Senate
Jo Holt (D)
Al Melvin (R), incumbent LD 26

State House – 2 seats
Dave Joseph (D)
Adam Kwasman (R)
Steve Smith (R)

LD 14
State Senate
Pat Fleming (D)
Gail Griffin (R), incumbent LD 25

State House – 2 seats
David Gowan ( R), incumbent LD 30
Robert Leach (D)
David Stevens (R), incumbent LD 25
Mark Stonebracker (D)

Corporation Commission (3 seats)
Robert Burns (R)
Marcia Busching (D)
Christopher Gohl (L)
Sandra Kennedy (D), incumbent
Thomas Meadows (G)
Paul Newman (D), incumbent
Daniel Pout (G)
Susan Bitter Smith (R)
Bob Stump (R), incumbent

Pima County Assessor (unopposed)
Bill Staples (D), incumbent

Pima County Attorney
Claudia Ellquist (G)
Barbara LaWall (D), incumbent

Pima County Recorder
Bill Beard (R)
F. Ann Rodriguez (D), incumbent

Pima County Sheriff
Dave Croteau (G)
Clarence Dupnik (D), incumbent
Mark Napier (R)

Pima County Superintendent of Schools (unopposed)
Linda Arzoumanian (R), incumbent

Board of Supervisors
District 1 (open seat)
Ally Miller (R)
Nancy Young Wright (D)

District 2
Jim Kelley (R)
Ramon Valadez (D), incumbent

District 3
Tanner Bell (R)
Sharon Bronson (D), incumbent

District 4 (unopposed)
Ray Carroll (R),incumbent

District 5
Richard Elias (D), incumbent
Fernando Gonzales (R)

Pima County Treasurer
Beth Ford (R), incumbent
Elaine Richardson

TUSD Governing Board (nonpartisan race, 3 seats):

Menelik Bakari
Debe Campos-Fleenor
Don Cotton
Miguel Cuevas,incumbent
Ralph Ellinwood
Kristel Foster
John Hunnicutt
Camy Juarez
Robert Medler
Betts Putnam-Hidalgo
Mark Stegeman, incumbent
Alex Sugiyama, incumbent

Pima Community College governing board (non partisan,2 seats):

District 3:
Sylvia Lee
“Vicki” Marshall, incumbent

District 5:
Marty Cortez, incumbent
Richard Fridena
Francis Saitta

Vote wisely today, and on or before November 6th. Early ballots are being mailed today so they should arrive shortly in your mail box. You should return them by Friday November 2nd to be counted in time for the results on General Election night.

2012 Candidates for Arizona, & specifically Southern Arizona

Official filing deadline was yesterday at 5 p.m. Here’s a partial listing of candidates for the primary election on August 28. Go to the website below for offices outside of Southern Arizona. I’ll be posting a separate listing for the Pima County elections.

Per AZ Secretary of State website: http://www.azsos.gov/election/2012/Primary/FullListing.htm

U.S. Senate
Richard Carmona (D)
David Ruben (D) – has withdrawn (see comment below)
Sheila Bilyeu (L)
Wil Cardon (R)
Jeff Flake (R)
Bryan Hackbarth (R)
Clair Van Steenwyk (R)

New Congressional District 1
Wenona Benally Baldenegro (D)
Ann Kirkpatrick (D)
Anthony Prowell (L)
Patrick Gatti (R)
Gaither Martin (R)
Jonathan Paton (R)
Douglas Wade (R)

New Congressional District 2
Ron Barber (D)
Matt Heinz (D)
Jesse Kelly (R)
Mark Koskiniemi (R)
Martha McSally (R)

New Congressional District 3
Amanda Aguirre (D)
Manny Arreguin (D)
Raul Grijalva (D), incumbent CD 7
Blanca Guerra (L)
Gabriela Saucedo Mercer (R)
Jaime Vasquez (R)

New Legislative District 2
State Senate: Linda Lopez – D, incumbent LD 29

State House (2 seats):
Andrea Dalessandro – D
Rosanna Gabaldon – D
John Ackerley – R

New Legislative District 3
State Senate:
Olivia Cajero Bedford – D, incumbent LD 27
Maria Garcia – D

State House (2 seats):
Sally Ann Gonzales –D, incumbent LD 27
Macario Saldate – D, incumbent LD 27

New Legislative District 9
State Senate:
Steve Farley – D
Tyler Mott – R

State House (2 seats):
Dustin Cox – D
Mohur Sarah Sidhwa – D
Victoria Steele – D
Ethan Orr – R

New Legislative District 10
State Senate:
David Bradley (D)
Frank Antenori (R), incumbent LD 30

State House (2 seats):
Stefanie Mach – D
Brandon Patrick – D
Bruce Wheeler – D, incumbent LD 28
Todd Clodfelter – R
Ted Vogt – R, incumbent LD 30

New Legislative District 11
State Senate:
Jo Holt – D
Kim Allen – L
Al Melvin – R, incumbent LD 26

State House (2 seats):
Dave Joseph – D
Adam Kwasman – R
Steve Smith – R

New Legislative District 14
State Senate:
Patricia Fleming – D
Gail Griffin – R, incumbent LD 25

State House:
Robert Leach – D
Mark Stonebracker – D
David Gowan – R, incumbent LD 30
David Stevens – R, incumbent LD 25

Corporation Commission (3 seats)
Marcia Busching -D
Sandra Kennedy –D, incumbent
Paul Newman- D, incumbent
Susan Bitter Smith –R
Robert Burns – R
Bob Stump – R, incumbent

So LD 30 State Senator Frank Antenori decided not to run for CD 2 against fellow Republicans Jesse Kelly and Martha McSally, and Democratic LD 28 House Rep. Matt Heinz decided to stay in the race against Ron Barber for that same seat. Senator Antenori will instead challenge former LD 28 House Rep. David Bradley for State Senate in LD 10.

Stay tuned for results from the CD 8 June 12 special general election which will likely affect this CD 2 race. In that race Democrat Ron Barber, Republican Jesse Kelly and Green Charlie Manolakis are facng off, but Manolakis is not running for the seat in CD 2.

And if you don’t know which new CD or LD you are voting in, here’s the link to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission’s final approved maps (click here).

The late Senator Barry Goldwater, from Tucson Citizen archive

Published in today’s Arizona Republic is an opinion piece with the late Senator Barry Goldwater’s 2/14/62 predictions in the Tucson Daily Citizen (predecessor to our Tucson Citizen newspaper) as to Arizona at age 100.

Here’s the online article
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2012/03/06/20120306goldwaters-crystal-ball.html

but the newsprint article has photos (on pages B12 and B13) of the actual 1962 article itself. Good to see our Tucson Citizen newspaper still being remembered, since its demise on May 16, 2009.

Senator Goldwater had 10 predictions, but the most interesting one for us in Southern Arizona is when he stated in prediction #8 (prediction # 7 online version which is lacking one prediction of the 10 printed in the newspaper):

Our ties with Mexico will be much more firmly established in 2012 because, sometime within the next 50 years, the Mexican border will become as the Canadian border, a free one, with the formalities and red tape of ingress and egress cut to a minimum so that the residents of both countries can travel back and forth across the line as if it were not there.

Under Senator Goldwater’s predictions are comments by legal scholar Jack August Jr. who is also the Executive Director of the Barry Goldwater Center for the Southwest.

But the Senator was mostly correct in prediction # 2 since Phoenix is now the 6th largest U.S. city:

The forests will still be protected, as well as our parks and monuments. But even they will have as neighbors the people who today enjoy hardships to visit them.

But it will be the deserts that will support the majority of the new homes. Phoenix will have a population of about 3 million, and Tucson will grow to about 1.5 million.

Phoenix and Tucson will remain the two largest cities in the state, with Phoenix being either the fourth- or sixth-largest city in the United States.

At least Tucson is not at the 1.5 million mark yet…

More information on Senator Goldwater (click here), who represented Arizona in U.S. Senate from 1953 to 1965, 1969 to 1987, and was the Republican Presidential nominee for U.S. President in 1964. He died at age 89 in 1998.