R LD27 Senate primary debate

On 6/22, the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (AZCCEC) held a "debate" between the two Republican candidates for the R nomination for the State Senate seat in LD27, incumbent Kevin Payne and his challenger, Anthony Kern.

All of AZCCEC's debates are here.

From the website of the AZSOS -

Quotes were used around "debate" because Payne declined to participate and turned it into a Q and A session with Kern.

With either outcome, the R nominee will be a lousy human being.

Payne is already known for his dismissive demeanor toward his Democratic colleagues, often not even acknowledging their existence when encountering one.

Kern can best be described as "fact-dismissive."

At the 40:14 mark of the video, Kern claimed the accused killer of Charlie Kirk, Tyler Robinson, was a trans Democrat.

At the 41:02 mark of the video, moderator/interviewer T.J. L'Heureux of the Arizona Agenda advised him that wasn't so.

Kern shrugged off reality.

Earlier, he also called Robinson "deranged."  He may be that, I'm not a psychiatrist or psychologist who is qualified to make such a diagnosis.  Kern may want to think twice about categorizing anyone, though.

From AZMirror, written by Jerod Macdonald-Evoy, dated 5/5/2021 -

Where was Anthony Kern on Jan. 6?

Newly reviewed footage by Arizona Mirror raises new questions about former Republican lawmaker Anthony Kern’s activities around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as the lawmaker continues to participate in a recount of Maricopa County’s ballots from the 2020 general election. 

Kern has continually insisted that he did not breach the Capitol and no footage or other evidence suggested otherwise. Photos show Kern on the front steps. 

However, footage reviewed by the Mirror shows that Kern was present at other parts of the Capitol breached by protesters. 

Kern, who was an election denier in 2021, doubles down on that today - 

At the 17:40 mark, Kern stated "...What we saw in 2020 was absolutely ridiculous...I still believe that election was absolutely stolen and I will never sway from that because there's enough out there so we do need to get our election and President Trump..."

He never bothered to provide any evidence.

At 18:08, he stated "Elections have been stolen for the past 40 years."

Ummmm about that...

From Ballotpedia -

It's been over 34 years since Democrats controlled the State Senate and over 60 years since the Ds controlled the State House (control of the Senate was split in 2001/2002).

Should someone bother to inform Kern that if "elections have been stolen", it hasn't been by Ds?

Or will he just shrug that off, too?

While this isn't my district and none of these folks will be on my ballot, in an interesting way, watching this did help me with my choice in the CD1 Democratic primary.

Early on, at the 9:29 mark, Kern was asked if there was a Democratic member of the legislature he could/had worked with.

He named one, and that person is one of the candidates running in the CD1 Democratic primary.

If Kern likes a person, I won't vote for that person.

 

Moving

No, I'm not moving as in changing addresses, but I am moving as in changing legislative districts thanks to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

I'm currently in LD27, with Rebecca Rios, Reginald Bolding, Marcelino Quinonez, and (formerly) Diego Rodriguez in the state legislature.  Rodriguez is running for Arizona Attorney General.

Because of redistricting, I'm moving to LD5, which has one state senator, Lela Alston, in it, and four state representatives, Kelli Butler, Sarah Liguori, Jennifer Longdon, and Amish Shah in it.

As there are only two representative slots in each district, I expect something to give here, with one or more of the four to choose to do something else, like run for a seat in Congress.

From Jeremy Duda of the Arizona Mirror -

Who won and who lost with the new legislative districts?

Political fortunes for a number of incumbent lawmakers shifted last week when the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission approved its final legislative map, granting a reprieve to some who were facing trouble and giving others new headaches as they head into their re-election campaigns.

Two of the new districts are shaping up to be intraparty free-for-alls, one for each party, with multiple incumbents pitted against each other.

[snip]

In central Phoenix, four incumbent House Democrats face a similar scenario in the new District 5. The new district combined portions of the old District 24, represented by Jennifer Longdon and Amish Shah, and District 28, represented by Kelli Butler and Sarah Liguori. Now, all four face the prospect of slugging it out for the new district’s two House seats.

Longdon, who serves as assistant House minority leader, said the quartet plans to talk it out and find out what everyone’s plans are, though they haven’t had time to do so since the AIRC finalized the new legislative map last week. Sen. Lela Alson plans to seek re-election in the district, blocking off the Senate as a possible avenue for any of the four. 

“It’s not unknown. Every 10 years some incumbents face this,” Longdon said. “What’s most important for me is that we make sure that, should we all end up running for these two seats, … it’s a very positive campaign on everyone’s part. And I trust the voters of LD5 to make the best possible decision.”