Arizona Mine Inspector

Arizona became a purple state in 2018

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Despite all the gloom and doom post-election day reporting here in Arizona about Democrats having squandered their voter enthusiasm and record turnout, as we approach all the votes finally being counted it appears that Democrats had a very good night after all in turning Arizona purple.

Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema has won the U.S. Senate seat for Democrats for the first time in almost 30 years, and becomes the first woman to serve Arizona in the U.S. Senate.

Former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick took back CD 2 for the Democrats, giving Democrats a 5-4 lead in Arizona’s congressional delegation.

Nationally, Democrats have currently picked up 31 seats to take back the Congress, with a number of races still to be counted in which Democrats lead in most of those races. See, FiveThirtyEight, We’re Tracking The Unresolved Midterm Races. Yes, there was a “blue wave” election. Democrats could win 40 House seats, the most since Watergate.

UPDATE: As of  November 14, the Democratic lead in the U.S. House popular vote stood at 7.1%, though it may yet inch higher. For comparison purposes, note that in 2010 — which was widely seen as a GOP “wave” cycle — Republicans won the U.S. House popular vote by 6.6%. (h/t Maddow Blog).

While there remain votes to be counted, it is increasingly apparent that Democratic state senator Katie Hobbs will be elected Secretary of State. She currently leads political neophyte and Trumpster Steve Gaynor by 5,667 votes. Hobbs’s vote total has increased with each day of vote counting since election day, and that trend is likely to continue.

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Preliminary Results Arizona State Candidates 2018

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It appears that GOP tribalism coupled with a statewide GOP voter registration edge of over a 100,000 registrants is still all it takes to win statewide races in Arizona.

Well, that and massive amounts of “dark money” from out of state anonymous sources.

Republicans appear to have won all the statewide offices, but the Superintendent of Public Instruction race remains too close to call.

Democrats appear to have picked up some seats in the Arizona House. Several races remain too close to call, and there are reportedly over 500,000 ballots yet to be be verified and counted.

Democrats may have narrowed the GOP margin in the legislature, which could force the GOP leadership to negotiate and compromise with the Democratic leadership to pass legislation, instead of simply ignoring Democrats and the constituents they represent. This is a good thing.

Current estimated voter turnout is 46.67%. When more than half of registered voters cannot take the time to fill out a ballot — not including the large number of eligible voting age persons not registered to vote — the health of our democracy is in serious jeopardy. You have to do better Arizona!

(These are the overnight numbers).

Governor

Doug Ducey (R)               57.8%
David Garcia (D)             40.2%

Secretary of State

Steve Gaynor (R)             51.3%
Katie Hobbs (D)              48.7%

Attorney General

Mark Brnovich (R)          53.4%
January Contreras (D)   46.6%

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Preliminary Primary Results: State Offices

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 Votes are still being counted, but the primary election is mostly over. Some races are still as yet too close to call.

According to the Secretary of State, voter turnout was a shamefully pathetic 25.82%. You are an embarrassment to democracy, Arizona. You have to start doing better.

Incumbent Secretary of State Michelle Reagan, incumbent Corporation Commissioner Tom Forese, and apparently incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Dianne Douglas, three highly controversial figures, have been defeated in their GOP primary.

Citizens Clean Elections candidate (CCE).

Arizona Legislature

District 1

Jo Craycraft (D) Senate (CCE)
Karen Fann (R) Senate

Ed Gogek (D) House (CCE)
Jan Manolis (D) House (CCE)
Noel Campbell (R) House
David Stringer (R) House

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Arizona Citizens Clean Elections general election debate schedule

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The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission general election debate schedule is currently posted at its website under the calendar tag. This schedule is subject to change, so please remember to check the Commission’s web site to verify the scheduled date before  a debate.

Please be sure to attend in support of your candidates and to submit your questions to the candidates,

Legislative Districts

Tuesday, September 4,6:00 p.m.: LD 19 Clean Elections debate, at the Hilton Garden Inn – Avondale, 11460 W. Hilton Way, Avondale, AZ 85323.

Wednesday, September 5, 6:00 p.m.: LD 28 Clean Elections debate, at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak – Phoenix, 7677 N. 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85020.

Thursday, September 6, 6:00 p.m.: LD 23 Clean Elections debate, at the Hilton Resort – Scottsdale, 6333 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85250.

Friday, September 7, 6:00 p.m.: LD 18 Clean Elections debate, at the Four Points by Sheraton South Mountain – Chandler, 10831 S. 51st Street, Phoenix, AZ 85044.

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(Updated) SWAG List of Arizona State Candidates in 2018

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 The candidate petition challenges are now completed, and write-in candidates who qualified for the primary election have been added by the Secretary of State.

Early voting for the August 28 primary is currently underway. “No Party Preference” voters, so-called “independents,” who tend not to vote in primary elections must request a ballot for the party primary in which you want to vote (you cannot vote across party primaries). Vote!

The primary election is Tuesday, August 28, 20i8.

Arizona Legislature

District 1

Jo Craycraft (D) Senate (CCE)
Karen Fann (R) Senate
Ed Gogek (D) House (CCE)
Jan Manolis (D) House (CCE)
Noel Campbell (R) House
Jodi Rooney (R) House
David Stringer (R) House

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