Arizona's district level delegates

...Edit to add a candidate that I had forgotten. Thanks to commenter Tim for the reminder...

...Edited on 23 March to correct some mistakes I made in the bio of Dritan Zela, a candidate for delegate. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Zela for the errors. No disrespect was intended; I just took poor notes at the meeting.

End edit...

Thanks are due to everyone who ran for a delegate spot, and congratulations to everyone who won -

CD1
Clinton - Jack Jackson Jr., Greg Kaighn, Dawn Knight, Nikki Basque (Alt)
Obama - Christopher Clark-Dechene, Angela LaFevre

CD 2
Clinton - Bree Boehlke, Debra Boehlke, Robert Boehlke, Matthew Miller (Alt)
Obama - Shirley McAllister, Eddie Smith

CD 3
Clinton - Jim Pederson, Lois Pfau, Howard Bell, Lisa White (alt)
Obama - Mark Manoil, Genevieve Vega

CD 4
Clinton - Dana Kennedy, Jose Rivas
Obama - David Gass, Kate Widland

CD 5
Clinton - Angie Crouse (LD17 Vice-Chair - whoooo hoooo!!!), George Paterakis
Obama - Sean Bowie, Donna Gratehouse, Laren Kuby (LD17 Vice-Chair - whoooo hoooo!!!) , Jim Brodie (alt)

CD 6
Clinton - Beverly Fox-Miller, Roman Ulman, Elizabeth Brown (alt)
Obama - John Chiazza, Kit Filbey

CD 7
Clinton - David Martinez, Gail Beeler
Obama - Paul Eckerstrom, Lisa Fernandez

CD 8
Clinton - Chris Campas, Elly Anderson, JoJene Mills, Bruce Heurlin (alt)
Obama - John C. Adams, Patricia Canady


I attended the CD5 Obama caucus where we had a diverse slate of enthusiastic candidates to choose from. The candidates ranged from an Albanian immigrant/Fulbright Scholar in Mathematics (who gave a moving speech on what America, democracy, and Obama means to someone who was born in and lived under one of the world's most repressive regimes - Dritan Zela) to a lifelong Democratic activist ("I campaigned for FDR as a fetus" - Jerry Gettinger).

When the balloting was complete, the winning candidates were people who were both dedicated volunteers for Senator Obama and long-time Democratic activists who were exhilarated over their selections.

Other notes from the caucus -

...Under caucus rules, candidates did not have to be present to win, which is a great ideal. However, future delegate candidates should learn from the results in CD5 - "no show" meant "no votes."

...A number of candidates for office showed up to work the rooms for supporters.

- Joel Sinclaire, candidate for District 2 Maricopa County Supervisor, was there, speaking passionately about the need for fiscal responsibility and accountability on the part of the County and all of its agencies (yes, he was definitely referring to a certain Honduras-junketing sheriff's office and a certain no-bid-contracts-to-favored-outside-law-firms-issuing county attorney's office.) His campaign website is still under construction, but the email works. Contact him at Joel[at]electsinclaire.com if you want to help out.

- Stephanie Rimmer, candidate for LD8 House, also was there. She's a small business owner and longtime community activist who's making a second run in LD8. She's running as a Clean Elections candidate, so she needs $5s and signatures. Her website is here, and she can be contacted at stephanie[at]stephanierimmer.com.

- Ed Hermes, candidate for District 1 Maricopa County Supervisor was present, bringing his energetic campaign to unseat Fulton Brock. He needs help with contributions, both financial (no Clean Elections at the county level yet) and time. Contact him at ed[at]edhermes.com if you want to help.

- LD17 state representatives (and candidates for reelection!) David Schapira and Ed Ableser were also candidates for district level delgates for Obama, but they graciously withdrew because they have the opportunity to gain delegate slots as party leader/elected official (PLEO) delegates. That selection process is upcoming. They're still collecting Clean Elections 5s and signatures.

Later!