East Valley Election Results

Well, East Valley, with some statewide and county races included...

Most results still unofficial, but most are still clear. All results courtesy the websites of the AZ Secretary of State, Maricopa County Recorder, and the Scottsdale City Clerk.


In CD5, incumbent Democratic Congressman Harry Mitchell is returning to D.C. with a comfortable margin of victory. With 245 of 248 precincts reporting, Mitchell leads David Schweikert 118,849 to 97,569.

In CD3, Democratic challenger Bob Lord fell short of defeating incumbent Republican John Shadegg (R-Club for Growth), receiving 92,614 votes to Shadegg's 117,439.

While Lord was able to significantly cut into a daunting Republican registration advantage, much like Mitchell did in CD5. However, unlike Mitchell, he's not, well, Harry Mitchell.

In the race for Corporation Commission, Democrats Sandra Kennedy and Paul Newman and Sam George are leading the race with 2219 of 2239 polls reporting. This one is close enough that one of them, Sam George, could be overtaken by Republican Bob Stump as provisional and early ballots are counted and added to the tallies.

In LD8, Republicans Michele Reagan and John Kavanagh were easily returned to the lege over Democratic challenger Stephanie Rimmer, 43,385 and 39,865 votes to 30,189, respectively. State Senator Carolyn Allen was unopposed for reelection.

In LD17, incumbent Democratic State Senator Meg Burton Cahill easily won reelection over Republican Jesse Hernandez, 28,510 to 18,106 while Democratic State Representatives Ed Ableser and David Schapira defeated Republican challengers Mark Thompson and Wes Waddle, with 24,242, 26,469, 19,081, and 15,030 votes respectively.

In LD18, Republican Russell Pearce (R-Nativist) handily won his race for the State Senate over Democrat Judah Nativio 19,510 to 15,250 (100% of precincts reporting) and Republicans Cecil Ash and Steve Court defeated Democrat Tammie Pursley and Independent Joe Brown.

It seems that the residents of west Mesa have to look forward to another two years of not having people in the lege who are there to represent *them*, not an extremist ideology.

In LD20, in a bit of an upset, Democrat Rae Waters will probably be joining Republican John McComish in the Arizona House of Representatives - she's got a small lead over Republican Jeff Dial. On the Senate side, sign-slashing and elderly-woman pushing incumbent Republican John Huppenthal defeated Democratic challenger Ted Maish.

In LD21, Republicans Warde Nichols and Steve Yarbrough stood off the challenge of Democrat Phil Hettmansperger, 45,757 and 37,403 votes to 36,232. Republican State Senator Jay Tibshraeny was unchallenged for reelection.

In LD22, Republicans Andy Biggs and Lauren Hendrix defeated Democrat Glenn Ray, with 48,157, 46,132, and 35,211 votes, respectively. On the senate side, Republican Thayer Verschoor was unchallenged for reelection.


In Maricopa County races...

In the four contested County Supervisor races, all four Republican incumbents were returned to office easily, with none of the Democratic challengers surpassing 46% of the vote inteir race.

Republican County Attorney Andrew Thomas defeated Democratic challenger Tim Nelson 514,820 votes to 440,197.

Republican Sheriff Joe Arpaio defeated Democrat Dan Saban 588,550 votes to 444,551.

Guess this means another four years of invaded libraries, shackled journalists, and unbridled corruption.

In the race for the Maricopa County Special Healthcare District, 3 out of the 5 candidates that were endorsed by the Maricopa County GOP lost, including District 3's Colette Rosati, who was spanked by Sue Gerard 85,369 votes to 43,909.


In the races for Scottsdale Mayor and City Council...

The race for Mayor is tight, but challenger Jim Lane has a nearly-800 vote lead over incumbent Mary Manross, 41,255 votes to 40,663. As for the City Council, it appears that incumbent Ron McCullagh will be returned to the council with newcomers Lisa Borowsky and Suzanne Klapp joining him. Incumbent Betty Drake is in fourth place, less than 900 votes behind Klapp.

Both the Mayoral and Council races could change slightly as the final mail-in and provisional ballot totals come in, but it appears that the face of Scottsdale's municipal government has changed.

However, there will still be a huge number of issues decided by a 4-3 margin.

(Wayne Ecton, Klapp and McCullagh on one side, with Lane, Tony Nelssen, and Bob Littlefield on the other. Lisa Borowsky will be the wild card. Expectations seem to be that she will mostly side with the Chamber of Commerce crowd, Ecton, Klapp, and McCullagh. We'll find out for sure starting in January.)

As for the ballot propositions, Prop 100 (barring a sales tax on real estate transfers) passed by a more than 3-to-1 margin; Prop 101 (Health Care Choice, aka 'banning all public health insurance plans') looks to be going down to defeat by a margin of approximately 2000 votes; Prop 102 (constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages) passed by nearly 240,000 votes; Prop 105 (Majority Rules, aka "not voting counts as a 'No' vote) was easily defeated by a nearly 2-1 margin; Prop 200 (Payday Loan reform, aka 'permanent legalization of loan sharking'), was defeated by 400,000 votes; Prop 201 (Homeowners' Bill of Rights) went down to defeat by a more than 3-1 margin; Prop 202 (Stop Illegal Hiring, aka 'Protect Big Business' ability to depress wages and hire cheap labor') was defeated soundly (400K+ votes); and Prop 300 (legislative pay raises from the current salary of $24K to $30K) was also soundly defeated.

More later!

Polished bigotry is still bigotry

There is so much to write about - a McCain campaign aide's race-baiting, the irony of both Barack Obama and Sarah Palin pulling off of the campaign trail at the same time - the irony being that Obama went to be with his ailing grandmother while Palin went to be deposed in the investigation of her abuse of office in Alaska - but I don't have enough time for that.

Instead, the focus will be much closer to home.

Specifically, the AZ Republic's endorsement of nativist John Kavanagh over Democrat Stephanie Rimmer in the race for LD8 House.

Of course, they have the right to endorse any candidate they choose, and for any reason that they choose. However, their rationalization for selecting Kavanagh for the endorsement was breathtaking.

From the editorial (emphasis mine) -

Kavanagh's signature issue in his first term has been, as he promised, illegal immigration. He is as zealous on the issue as Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, which makes us uncomfortable. But there is a profound difference between the two men: Kavanagh is more intelligent and more tactful in making his points...

Hey, I've no disagreement with the Rep on the main point - Kavanagh *is* more intelligent, educated, tactful, and just generally more polished than Pearce.

Even combined, however, intelligence, education, tact, and polish do not make nativists any less bigoted.

And have no doubt - Kavanagh *is* an unabashed nativist. He may have been on his best behavior for the Rep's editors, but when he feels like he is comfortably ensconced among fellow travelers on the anti-immigrant trail, he lets his hair down a bit, as documented in this post from June of 2007.

Simply put, Stephanie Rimmer is a much better choice to represent LD8's residents. She's an intelligent and hard-working businesswoman and community activist whose pro-education, pro-conservation, and pro-business views are a far tighter fit with those of the voters of north Scottsdale and Fountain Hills than Kavanagh's anti-public education, anti-brown people, and anti-government views.

Note: it is sort of hypocritical of Kavanagh to constantly rail against government spending when his entire career has been one of taxpayer-funded positions in the military, as a police officer in New York, as an instructor at Scottsdale Community College, and as an elected official.

Don't misunderstand me - based on what I know, he's had a laudable career of public service, but when he attacks the same government spending that has supported he and his family for decades, I have to wonder where his head's at. (Think: "dire need for cranio-rectal dislodgement surgery" :)) )

Anyway, help Stephanie Rimmer and all of LD8 by volunteering with her campaign or at the coordinated campaign office in Scottsdale (480.607.4435) to help put her over the top.

Have a good weekend!