Hatch-Miller weighs CD5 bid
September 25th, 2007, 6:34 pm · 1 Comment · posted by Le Templar
Tribune political writer Paul Giblin has a short interview today over at his blog, "Checking in," with Jeff Hatch-Miller, a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission and another likely Republican candidate for the congressional seat currently held by Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Tempe. Giblin reports Hatch-Miller moved to Scottsdale in July to be within Mitchell’s district. Previously, Hatch-Miller had lived in a Phoenix house in the district of Rep. John Shadegg, a fellow Republican who is running for re-election.Giblin notes Hatch-Miller’s new abode might limit the ability of election opponents to paint him as a "carpetbagger."But legally, Hatch-Miller could have campaigned in Congressional District 5 from his former Phoenix address. The U.S. Constitution requires that House candidates must live in the state, but not necessarily in the congressional district itself. Arizona can’t impose additional residency restrictions on congressional candidates, like the state does for legislative districts. That
September 25th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
While the writer is technically correct about what the Libertarian Party *could* do in fielding Congressional candidates, a careful review of the stats on the last few sets of Congressional candidates will show that all of them in fact did live in their Congressional district. That many of them hail from the Valley is a factor of the shape of the districts, most of which touch the Valley and/or Tucson, at least a little.