This blog took an unexpected hiatus for a few days as I worked to keep the Tribune’s opinion pages flowing while editorial page editor Bob Satnan took some well-earned time off and dealt with a death in his family. But I’m back, just in time for today’s start of early voting for the 2008 primary.
   Back in July, I gave a two-part rundown of some legislative contests in the East Valley and around the state. Here’s a brief update on some of the races I have been watching.
   The most heated race in the East Valley at this point has to be between Rep. Russell Pearce and Republican challenger Kevin Gibbons for a state senate seat from west Mesa.
   Pearce says he isn’t responsible, but someone has been coordinating Republican party officials from District 18 and Maricopa County to launch daily attacks on Gibbons. The attacks have focused mostly on Gibbons’ support from business groups and political types (including Democrats) who dislike Pearce’s outlook on state immigration enforcement. The coordinated press release campaign is interesting because it supplements Pearce’s message at no charge, as he’s relying on state campaign funding with its strict fundraising limits.
   Gibbons, the brother-in-law of U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., seemed slow to respond to prominent members of his own party coming out against him in the Republican primary. But I’ve some evidence in the past week that he’s now answering various charges with news releases and mailers and statements from Republican supporters.
   I haven’t heard of any polling in this race, so I can’t really gauge if Gibbons is a serious threat to Pearce or if this is a whole lot of noise easily forgotten once Pearce claims the nomination on Sept. 2. Pearce and his supporters seem worried, but the smartest politicians never take an election for granted.
   Another prominent GOP primary race in Gilbert hasn’t been as fascinating as I thought it would be. Sen. Thayer Verschoor and Rep. Eddie Farnsworth have been downright friendly to each other as they compete for the District 22 Senate seat. The most significant difference between them appears to be Verschoor’s successful efforts to create a special taxing district near Eloy to support a music-oriented amusement park. The third candidate in District 22, Joe Bedgood, seems like an annoying fly buzzing around even though he has some dedicated and active supporters.
   Most election contests in District 22 take place through grassroots networks rather than in the public spotlight with the real campaigning focused on door-to-door, one-on-one persuasion. So perhaps there’s more going on below the surface that we will hear about over the next month.
   Finally, the District 20 House race on the Republican side has been every bit as competitive as I expected. Airline pilot Frank Schmuck has been the most visible of the four candidates, taking full advantage of his intriguing last name to write lots of “punny” news releases and to hold funky campaign events. Jeff Dial has tied himself closely to incumbent John McComish, as team campaigning has been quite effective for the two House seats in this district. Andy Swann has been flying lower to the ground, but he’s well-known in the district and appears to be taking the “win-in-the-trenches, not through the media” approach.

Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Election issues |

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