There’s a good chance that the next president of the Arizona Senate will be a Republican from the Mesa-Gilbert area, as Sens. Thayer Verschoor and Chuck Gray are heavyweight contenders for the post.

With current President Tim Bee leaving the Senate after this year, Verschoor started letting his colleagues know months ago he wanted to move up from his present leadership post of majority floor leader. The political party with the most senators picks the president, who runs the chamber by selecting committees and deciding which bills get assigned to them, and by choosing when bills go to the floor for everyone to debate.

When it became clear that Verschoor would face a serious primary challenge from Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert, two other senators showed interest in running for president – Bob Burns of Peoria and Barbara Leff of Paradise Valley. Verschoor won his primary Tuesday and Burns is still in the hunt. But Leff apparently was counting on votes from friendly Republicans such as Sen. Tom O’Halleran of Sedona and Rep. Pete Hershberger, of Tucson. O’Halleran and Hershberger both lost their Senate primaries this week, so fellow senators say Leff told them she’s dropping her bid.

Instead, Chuck Gray has emerged as a serious challenger to Verschoor and Burns. Gray told me today he actually resolved to run on the last day of the regular session, when traditional decorum was shredded under an effort to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and after adoption of a state budget almost at the last minute.

“I’m tired of the vitriol, the back-biting, the in-fighting and an inability to get a budget out much earlier in the year,” Gray told me. “I decided the only way to do that is to step up and step into leadership.”

Both Gray and Verschoor are unopposed in the general election. So they can focus for the next few weeks on lobbying other Republican senators while Burns has to deal with running a campaign (although I haven’t heard he has any serious risk of losing).

Verschoor’s existing leadership post gives him an advantage. But personality plays a big role when you only need a handful of votes (There are currently 17 Republican senators). Gray said he believes he can appeal as an outsider to a crop of newcomers, if they are elected, including Sylvia Allen of Snowflake (appointed this year to replace the deceased Sen. Jake Flake), Steve Pierce of Prescott (who defeated O’Halleran in a Republican district) and Al Melvin of Tucson. One vote that surely will be lobbied hard is Russell Pearce of Mesa.

“It plays right to my conservative values,” Gray said. “These people are coming here because they want to make changes, not stay with the status quo.”

Assuming Senate Republicans hold on to their majority, they will conduct a secret vote for president and other leadership positions a few days after the Nov. 4 election. The last senator from the East Valley to hold the job was in 2001-02, a time when the Senate was equally divided between Republicans and Democrats and Sen. Randall Gnant, R-Scottsdale, struck a deal with the other party to win the post.

A quick note to Sen. John McCain:

Watched your big moment tonight at the Republican National Convention. Guess we couldn’t expect you to suddenly match the speaking chops of that other guy. But not a bad job, really. I admire how you refused to be distracted by those pesky protesters who somehow made it past the Secret Service. Your POW story certainly is a compelling tale, no matter how many times I hear it. And I definitely enjoyed the theater of your repeated cries of “Fight with me” as the crowd cheered wildly at the climax of your acceptance address.

At one point earlier in the speech, you talked about some average people you are fighting for — from Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. I know the first two states are election battlegrounds this year, and New Hampshire holds a special place in your heart for your primary victory there in 2000 and then for reviving your campaign this year.

Just wondering if you know any ordinary people here in Arizona. You know, your home state? Or, at least, the place you’ve represented in Washington for the past 26 years?  In fact, you didn’t mention the Grand Canyon state even once in your entire speech.

That just doesn’t seem right. The East Valley adopted you rather enthusaistically when you were looking for some friendly district to launch you into Congress back in 1982. And the rest of the state has been a mostly steady platform as you developed into a national political figure.

Tonight might turn out to be the biggest event in your entire life where you had the stage all to yourself. Surely, Arizona deserved just the briefest glimmer of attention as you basked in the glory of it all.

Hmpf. Maybe if things go well this fall, you might find a couple of seconds to remember the 48th state after you place your hand on the Bible and take a certain oath on Jan. 20, 2009.

1. I drove less than normal in August because of an out-of-town vacation. So I only filled my gas tank three times. That might seem like an odd rationale. But I’m calculating my hypermiling savings based on how far I drive on a tank of gas, not on how often I don’t drive or how many days I can go before filling my gas tank.

2. Gas prices are substantially lower than in July. I figure my savings based on actual pump prices for each tank of gas, so naturally, spending less on each gallon that I buy automatically leads to lower savings.

3. My gas consumption actually was up a little. In July, I reached almost 45 miles per gallon (compared to 38 mpg under my previous driving style). In August, my average was closer to 42 mpg. I’ve noticed I’m driving a little faster than when I first started hypermiling, and speed really lowers the average. And traffic congestion really picked up on Valley freeways in the last two weeks of August, so I’m encountering more speed-up/slow-down/almost-stop situations. Other hypermilers say constant changes in acceleration also eats into gas mileage.

For September, I’m focusing on keeping my foot off the gas pedal a little more, and I’m experimenting with travel routes and departure times to see if I can deal with congestion better.

Russell Pearce’s big victory in Tuesday’s state primaries was the most prominent example of a clear trend: modern conservatives still dominate the Arizona Republican Party. Other examples of this trend include Yavapai County rancher Steve Pierce upsetting Sen. Tom O’Halleran in legislative District 1 across northern Arizona, Sen. Jack Harper picking up an overwhelming win in the West Valley’s District 4 and  Al Melvin defeating veteran Rep. Pete Hershberger for the open Senate seat in District 26 of north Tucson.

Other hints in this trend include Rep. John McComish’s struggle to keep his seat in District 20 (Ahwatukee Foothills, south Tempe and west Chandler) against Jeff Dial and Frank Schmuck; and David Gowan being the top vote-getter among Republicans in the House race for Tucson’s District 30.

Nearly all of these races had featured aggressive primary races and spending by outside groups against the candidate perceived by some as too conservative, which translates as too harsh on state immigration enforcement or too stingy with state tax dollars or too strident on social issues such gay marriage. Time and again, Republican voters who turned out Tuesday rejected calls for a change in direction of the GOP and embraced candidates who would keep the party platform firmly to the right.

Of course, Democrats are hoping to have some say over whether a number of these candidates actually wind up in power next year. For example, Melvin was the Republican nominee for the Senate in District 26 in 2006, but he was defeated by Charlene Pesquiera, a Democrat who didn’t even expect to be elected and decided to serve only one term.

But for the most part, the Republican candidates mentioned here come from legislative districts that have been reliably in their party’s camp. So it looks like the Arizona Republican Party will continue on its present course. The question is how well voters embrace that path in contested races during the Nov. 4 general election.

With a rapid decline of newspaper revenues and circulation, and broadcast media struggling as well, a lot of people predicting we are nearing the end of professional journalism as we know it today. But don’t tell that to the 1,200 students from Arizona State University who are attending journalism classes at a brand-new $71 million building in downtown Phoenix.

I participated last week in a tour of the new home for the Walter Cronkite Sschool of Journalism and Mass Communication that was sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists. So I saw first-hand many of the issues that Tribune writer Ryan Gabrielson reported in his story today. In particular, I listened to school Dean Chris Callahan’s firm conviction that ASU journalism needed a new structure to prepare students for careers in a brave new world.

Previously, the journalism school had been spread out across a number of buildings on the main Tempe campus, and instruction took a silo approach. Students learned to be print journalists, or they learned to be TV anchors, or they learned to be photographers, or they learned to public relations experts. But rarely did they study a variety of forms and media platforms.

The new school brings everything together to emphasize digital-based curriculum that basically is supposed to prepare students to keep adapting as technology continues to change how information is gathered and is shared among people. Students can expect to be writers and videographers and sound producers and Web designers — all at the same time. Callahan also is forthright about his goal of transforming the Cronkite school into the best journalism program in the country. That means spending money on the space and equipment that will attract top faculty and students.

But I have to wonder about ASU’s timing for this venture, considering that state leaders have been told to expect the university will become a top research hub that will generate new jobs related to technology and bioscience growth sectors of the global economy. That’s supposed to be the justification for borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars for a variety of new buildings when state tax revenues are on a shaky footing. Can the state really afford to divert some of those resources to also compete with well-established institutions in the world of journalism?

Perhaps Callahan and ASU president Michael Crow have a stronger faith in the future role of journalists than I do. Or maybe I just don’t see glass-and-concrete marvels and gee-whiz gadgetry replacing proper instruction in fundamentals of good journalism — Seek the truth as independent observers and do your best to report it accurately.

As I promised a month ago, I skipped early voting to cast my primary ballot in person today. I was the eighth person to feed a completed ballot into the scan machine at my voting precinct. Thanks to a relatively short list of candidates and some prep work beforehand (I’m a registered Republican), I was in and out quickly and got on with my day.

Voting booths are open until 7 p.m. today across Arizona. If you already are registered to vote, you can learn more information about candidates and your voting location at the Secretary of State’s Web site, as well as Maricopa County and Pinal County. Unofficial election results will be available starting at 8 p.m. at www.eastvalleytribune.com.

Sen. Barack Obama scored a touchdown with his nomination acceptance speech last night inside Denver’s Invesco Field. Even most people who disagree with the policies of Obama and the Democratic Party simply marveled at what happened on that football field in that historic moment with the huge crowd and fantastic setting. Expectations were Obama, but he still managed to exceed them with a fiesty and heart-touching deliverance that hit just about every note he will need to actually win the November election.

But I was just as intrigued with what Sen. John McCain did Thursday. First, he released a 30-second television ad that simply praised Obama’s accomplishment. Then, McCain kept a very tight lid on his choice for vice president. McCain couldn’t stop the media from spectulating throughout the day. But his campaign actively avoided becoming a real distraction on the final night of the Democratic National Convention, and managed to keep McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin a secret until this morning.

Naturally, McCain will want the Obama campaign to show similar respect when McCain gives his own acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention next week in St. Paul. But I want to see how the tone and rhetoric might shift in Minnesota as hurricane Gustav sweeps toward New Orleans.

Just as Joe Biden balanced some of Obama’s weaknesses on foreign policy and political experience, Palin will serve a younger political star to match McCain’s age and maturity. She also is a comfortable choice for mainstream conversatives (she’s pro-life, a hunter and pro-oil drilling), while some Republicans are hoping she will attract Hillary Clinton Democrats.

The best moment of Napolitano’s brief appearance was when she didn’t take the bait from Brokaw and predict an Arizona win for Obama over home state Sen. John McCain.

“We’re going to work hard for every vote and give (McCain) a run for his money,” Napolitnao wisely said instead.

Arizona schools superintendent Tom Horne had a startling annoucement today: some school districts adopted the state’s new English immersion program for Spanish-speaking students a year early, and these districts already have made dramatic improvements in bringing those students into the mainstream.

A news release from Horne’s office today says these school districts have at least doubled their pace for removing students from the status of English language learners. That includes the Florence Unified School District, which went from a  “reclassification” rate of 15 percent to 38 percent this fall.

Horne has emerged as the leading champion of immersing ELL students in four hours of language instruction each school day until they can read and write as well as their classmates who learned English as their first language. Horne has clashed publicly with school superintendents around the state, including Mesa’s Debra Duvall, who claim the state has pushed an untested program too fast with too little funding.

Unless the results reported today are a short-term aberration, this is great news for taxpayers as the state spends a signficiant amount of extra money to help ELL students — but the state is still trapped in a federal lawsuit that is seeking even more funding. Horne soon might be able to crow about finally implementing the intent of state voters who approved an English-immersion initiative in 2000 as a better way to address the problem.

Related story:
ELL problems go beyond funding

Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, says Texas shouldn’t get to cast ballots for Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama, because the state deadline to qualify for the ballot passed before either major party officially nominated their candidates.

And in fact, Texas law does say parties must submit names of presidential candidates 70 days before the general election, which this year was Tuesday, Aug. 26. Obama was formally nominated Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. McCain will receive a similar acclamation next week in St. Paul, Minn.

The major parties have been holding their conventions later in the summer in recent years, so I don’t know why Texas hasn’t corrected this legal snafu. But of course, Obama and McCain will appear on the November ballot in one of the country’s biggest states. Texas law also has a provision that essentially allows established state parties to nominate their candidates at times other than the written deadlines.

Barr knows this, but he wants to call attention to the challenges that most states place in the path of third-party candidates to protect the dominance of Democrats and Republicans. The two-party system remains in control, despite the rising tide of independent-registered voters. Barr can only hope voters who talk about wanting change this year are really serious.