Republican Mayor Robert Walkup is in his 3rd term as Mayor of a largely Democratic city (five of the six Councilmembers are Democrats) and is up for re-election in November, 2011. Here are the past election results for Mayor:

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

November, 2003 General election:
Mayor Walkup (R) 38,364 49.51%
Tom Volgy (D) 36,990 47.73 % (former Mayor)
Kimberly Swanson (L) 2,071 2.67%

November, 1999 General election:
Robert Walkup (R) 46,258 53.68%
Molly McKasson (D) 33,999 39.45% (former Ward 6 Councilwoman)
Ed Kahn (L) 4,834 5.61%

Will Mayor Walkup run again? He faced token opposition in November 2007 from Green Party candidate Dave Croteau (since no Democrat ran). But Mayor Walkup had a close race in November 2003 with Democratic former Tucson Mayor Tom Volgy, winning by only 1,374 votes, 1.78 percentage point spread. Total votes cast in that race were 77,492. I called & sent an email to the Mayor’s office about whether he will run for re-election, but no reply yet.

Over in Ward 2 I heard from former candidate Republican Lori Oien that she is not thinking of challenging newly appointed Democrat Councilmember Paul Cunningham. He was appointed on May 4, 2010 .

And Republican Mike Jenkins is likely to take on Democrat Councilmember Shirley Scott again in Ward 4, though he lost to her by 24.66 percentage points seven years ago in Nov. 2003. In November 2007 Republican Dan Spahr lost to Shirley by a large margin as well (32.36 percentage points), and he told me recently at Oktoberfest that he won’t run again.

But then Shirley may opt out of a 5th term and run for Mayor instead. I spoke to her recently and she said she is “keeping her options open”, especially since the City of Tucson lawsuit about non-partisan/ward only elections has not been resolved. Incidentally, there has never been a woman Mayor in the City of Tucson.

Other Mayoral hopefuls may be Tucson attorney Jonathan Rothschild and 2 term Ward 3 Councilmember Karin Uhlich, whose aide Miguel Ortega (former Chief of Staff) just lost his bid for TUSD Governing Board. And first term Ward 6 Councilmember Steve Kozachik‘s name is being circulated on the Republican side, especially after his strong leadership role against the proposed Rio Nuevo hotel downtown.

Councilmembers in Ward 1, 2, 4 and the Mayor are up for re-election in 2011.

CITY OF TUCSON WARD 1 20,829/ 5,699/ 370/ 121/ 11,391/ 38,410
CITY OF TUCSON WARD 2 17,311/ 17,000/ 375/ 87/ 13,385/ 48,158
CITY OF TUCSON WARD 3 14,073/ 6,189/ 381/ 218/ 9,976/ 30,837
CITY OF TUCSON WARD 4 15,452/ 15,950/ 337/ 66/ 14,036/ 45,841
CITY OF TUCSON WARD 5 15,563/ 3,948/ 298/ 78/ 9,508/ 29,395
CITY OF TUCSON WARD 6 18,066/ 8,038/ 444/ 296/ 10,934/ 37,778

(Latest Ward registered voter totals, from Pima County Recorder’s Office in columns: Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green, Others, total registered voters in last column.) Note that in Wards 2 and 4 the Democrat and Republican voter #s are about the same now, unlike Ward 1, which is heavily Democrat.

Stay tuned. Applicants for these elected offices can now take out nomination papers as early as November 24, so we’ll know more after that date.

UPDATE 11/16/10: Republican Ron Asta considering a run for Mayor (click here).

Mayor Bob Walkup

2/22/11 UPDATE: Mayor Walkup will not seek re-election to a 4th term:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2011/02/22/mayor-walkup-to-announce-he-will-not-run-for-re-election-in-his-state-of-the-city-address-today/

Ten of the eleven applicants for the Council Ward 2 seat are scheduled to address the Mayor/Council tonight in their attempt to be appointed to this vacancy. 2 women and 9 men are seeking the appointment by the Mayor/Council who will choose the successor to Dr. Rodney Glassman at their May 4 meeting.

If you have anything you wish the Council to know about these applicants send an email to cityclerk@tucsonaz.gov, or call your Councilmember or the Mayor.

Their cover letters and resumes are on the City Clerk’s website (click here), and here are brief summaries:

–Keith Barnes, Deputy with Pima County Sheriff’s Dept., B.S. in Business Administration & Management from U. of Phoenix, U.S. Air Force veteran, Democrat

–Judith Clinco, R.N., Founder/President of Care Giver Training Institute & Owner/President & CEO of Catalina In-Home Services, Inc., B.S. degree in Health Care Administration from St. Francis College (NY), A.A. in Applied Science (Nursing), Orange County Community College
(NY), former President of Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood Assn., Democrat

– Paul Arthur Cunningham, Juvenile Probation Officer for Pima County, U.S. Army National Guard, M.S.W. from ASU, B.A. in History from U of A, President of El Gheko Neighborhood Association, Democrat

–Kestutis J. (Kasey) Eidukonis, Career Technical Education Teacher at Tanque Verde HS, U.S. Army veteran & Reserves officer, B.S. in Russian History from U. of Illinois, No party affiliation

–Michael J. Fox, retired Journalism & Language Arts teacher at Santa Rita HS, M.A. in Social Studies (no college institution listed), Independent, (no relation to the famous actor with same name)

–Richard K. (Rick) Grinnell, Founder/Registered lobbyist for Smart United Business Strategies, Inc. and President/Registered lobbyist for Rick Grinnell Business & Marketing Consulting, B.S. in Business Management from U. of Phoenix, U.S. Navy veteran, candidate for Ward 2 Council seat in 1995 and 1999, Republican

– Dr. Richard Livingood, Process Improvement/Project Mgr. & Information Security Officer for Vantage West Credit Union, adjunct professor/instructor of Computer Information Systems, Ph.D. from Capella University (MN), M.A. in Counseling from Liberty University (VA), B.S. in Business Adm.from Bob Jones University (SC), Republican

–Ken Morgan, Owner/Partner of DLM Associates LLC, a renewable energy consulting firm, Republican

–Lori Oien, Small Business Co-owner of general contracting company J Oien Ventures, Inc. (with her husband), President of Bear Canyon Neighborhood Assn., attended U of A, Interior Design (no degree), candidate for Ward 2 Council seat in 2007, Republican

–Dr.William J. Polson, retired dentist, U.S. Army veteran, D.D.S. from Loyola University, Chicago College of Dental Surgery, B.A. from U of A, Republican

–Kenneth L. Van Zandt, retired Acting Station Captain of Tucson Fire Dept., Arizona Air National Guard, Owner of Arizona Territorial Termite & Pest Control, Democrat

Political party affiliation is listed if provided by the candidate or known to the public. It is not necessarily a factor in choosing the Council replacement for the unexpired term (to December, 2011), but there are four Democrats and one Republican on the Council, and the Mayor is also Republican.

5 minute presentations by each applicant will be given at the Tucson City Council meeting, followed by questions & answers. Judith Clinco had a scheduling conflict and has already given her presentation to the Council.

This is a diverse array of applicants: a professor, a fireman, a deputy sheriff, a probation officer, a dentist, a nurse, a lobbyist, two high school teachers, a businessman & a businesswoman. Three applicants (Judith Clinco, Paul Cunningham, & Lori Oien) are or have been Presidents of their neighborhood associations. (See Ward 2 map here which shows these neighborhood association boundaries). These applicants are indeed a reflection of the community in Tucson’s ward 2.

One should consider what is the job description of a City Councilmember and what job qualifications would make a person an effective public servant. Having reviewed resumes like this & hired people in my past, I think it will be interesting to see these applicants in person to gauge their speaking abilities and demeanor.

Come on down to the City Hall Chambers (255 W. Alameda St.) to hear these 10 applicants tell the Mayor/Council why they want to serve alongside them. The Council meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. but these presentations are item #9. (see link here to the regular agenda).

Note: Azbiz.com (Inside Tucson Business) has been running an online Reader’s poll to vote for your favorite of these applicants: http://www.azbiz.com/. Businessman Rick Grinnell has been receiving the most votes (29% so far).