Running for president in AZ: if it got to be any more insider baseball, you would need a scorecard to tell the players apart

Of course, there are so many Republican candidates, you might need one for them anyway...

One of the overlooked parts of running for president is the rather mundane task of candidates making their way onto the ballot in all 50 states.

In Arizona, candidate can make it on to the primary ballot for a recognized party by submitting nomination paperwork and either certificates of ballot status for the candidate in two other primary states or 500 valid nomination petition signatures from voters in their primary's party (Democratic or Republican) or from 500 registered voters (Green or Libertarian).

Independent candidates have a slightly different procedure to follow, and if a candidate chooses to go that route, they will have to submit ~34,000 valid signatures.  But at least they will go directly to the general election ballot.

While independent candidates have until September to submit their required nominating paperwork (the general election is in November), partisan candidate have until December 14 to do so (the primary is in March).

It's far too early for any independent candidates to have already submitted their paperwork, but a few partisan candidates have already done so.

And there is a lot of "insider baseball" going on.


On the Democratic side, so far:

Hillary Clinton - submitted certificates of her ballot status from the states of Michigan and New Hampshire.

Her campaign's local contact: Fred Duval, the 2014 Democratic nominee for governor of Arizona, a staffer in the White House during the presidential administration of Bill Clinton, and a friend of Arizona's current governor, Doug Ducey.

In other words, an insider's insider.


On the Republican side, so far:

Jeb Bush - submitted certificates of ballot status from Vermont and Idaho.

His campaign's local contact: Lisa James, a career PR flack and a bigwig in Arizona Republican circles (an insider).


 Ted Cruz - submitted certificates of ballot status from South Carolina, Alabama, and Arkansas.

His campaign's local contact is Constantin Querard, a Republican campaign consultant (another insider).


Ben Carson - submitted certificates of ballot status from South Carolina, Alabama, and Arkansas.

Local contact: Diane Ortiz-Parsons, a former vice-chair of the Maricopa County Republican Party (another insider).


Marco Rubio - submitted certificates of ballot status from South Carolina, Alabama, and Arkansas.

Local contact: Mark Brnovich, Arizona's Attorney General (yet another insider).


Rand Paul - submitted certificates of ballot status from Arkansas and Michigan.

Local contact: Shawn Dow of Fountain Hills. Politically active in far right Republican circles, but doesn't seem to be an insider.


Chris Christie - submitted certificates of ballot access from New Hampshire and Michigan.

Local contact: Wes Gullet, a Republican consultant and lobbyist, former candidate for mayor of Phoenix, and former aide to Sen. John McCain (yeah, another insider).


Significant candidates who, as of this writing, haven't filed in AZ:

Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Republican Egomaniac Donald Trump of New York, New Jersey, Florida, and any other place where he hasn't yet worn out his welcome