Candidate and Committee update

Most of this has been covered elsewhere this week; this is mostly just a compilation.

Federal level -

No new candidates to report as of this writing, but on Channel 12's Sunday Square Off this morning, the panelists did speculate/rumor-spread (not that I've ever done such things :) ) that AZ House Speaker Andy Tobin will enter a race for a seat in Congress.


State level -

...Christine Jones, a former GoDaddy exec, has entered the contest for the Republican nomination for governor.  She should bring a lot of money into the race, but until she shows otherwise, she's presumed to be a wealthy dilettante looking to buy an elected office.

She joins the following in the race for the R nomination -

Hugh Hallman, former mayor of Tempe

Andrew Thomas, disgraced and disbarred former Maricopa County Attorney

Ken Bennett, currently AZ Secretary of State

Doug Ducey, currently AZ Treasurer

Al Melvin, currently an AZ state senator

Others rumored to be interested, but nothing official yet:  Scott Smith, mayor of Mesa; Steve Pierce/Andy Tobin, senator/representative from LD1 (neither may go for it, and almost certainly both won't go for it, but one of them may go for it); Jan Brewer, the term-limited incumbent, who keeps making noises about challenging AZ's term limits law.

...Speaking of wealthy dilettantes looking to buy an elected office, news broke this week that Wil Cardon, a 2012 Republican candidate for US Senate, is going to enter the Republican primary for AZ Secretary of State.  The linked article states that Cardon filed his paperwork on Tuesday, but nothing is on the AZSOS' website as yet.

In 2012, Cardon spent millions of his family's money to challenge Jeff Flake, the eventual general election winner, coming in second place in the Republican primary.  Sounds good for a political newbie, until you realize that it wasn't exactly a "close" second -

Cardon joins the following in the race for the Republican nomination for SOS -

Steve Montenegro, currently a member of the AZ House

Justin Pierce, currently a member of the AZ House

Michele Reagan, currently a member of the AZ Senate


...Effie Carlson, a Scottsdale businesswoman, has entered the race for one of the House seats from LD23.  Don't know much about her, but since I live in Scottsdale (though not in the LD23 part), I expect to hear more in the coming months.

...Trey Terry, a former campaign operative for the likes of Mitt Romney, Jesse Kelly, and Paul Babeu, has entered the race for an AZ House seat from LD8 (Pinal County).


Maricopa County level -

Nothing new to report as of this writing.  There will be news, eventually.  A number of JP and constable seats are up for election in 2014, as is a two-year term for County Assessor (the previous assessor was appointed to fill a JP vacancy).  In addition, there are occasional rumors that the current County Attorney, Bill Montgomery, may throw his hat in the ring for the R nod for Attorney General.  If he does so, that will put a higher-profile county race on the ballot.


Local level -

...In Tempe, one Matthew Papke has filed for a 2014 run for City Council.  Gun nut/tea party type.

Nothing new to report for Scottsdale or Mesa municipal elections.