Arizona Corporation Commission

(Update) SWAG List of Arizona State Candidates in 2018

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The candidates listed below managed to collect enough signatures to file to run with the Arizona Secretary of State as of the filing deadline of May 30, 2018.

There could be legal challenges filed to the petitions of some candidates. There could also be write-in candidates who may qualify for the primary ballot. The list also does not include independent candidates who may qualify for the general election ballot.

The GOP culture of corruption runs so deep in Arizona that several shameless GOP candidates who were disgraced are actually running for office again. Fired Department of Economic Security Director Tim Jeffries has filed to run for the state House. Rep. Don Shooter, who was expelled by his colleagues earlier this year for sexual harassment, is running to get his old Senate seat back. Former House Speaker David Gowan, who traveled the state on the public’s dime while running for Congress in 2016 and raised eyebrows with promotions, construction, and pay hikes while speaker, is running again for the state Senate. And Ken “Birther” Bennett, who as Secretary of State demanded proof of President Obama’s birth certificate for eligibility on the ballot in 2012, is running for governor against Doug Ducey, the ice cream man hired by Koch Industries to run their Southwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Arizona, financing him with a record amount of “dark money” in 2014. These are just the highly publicized instances of corruption. If we start digging, we will find more.

You can make a $5 contribution to a  Citizens Clean Elections (CCE) candidate on the Arizona Secretary of State’s E-Qual page.

The primary election is Tuesday, August 28, 2018.

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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Candidate Kiana Sears Brings a Consumer-Focused Approach to the Arizona Corporation Commission

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Kiana Sears has eight years' experience as a consultant and analyst for the Corporation Commission.
Kiana Sears has eight years’ experience as a consultant and analyst for the Corporation Commission.

The Arizona Corporation Commission is the government entity that sets the rates and regulates the electric, gas, water, and energy industries. As a Democratic candidate for the Commission Kiana Sears states, “Without the element the Corporation Commission controls, one will not have a sustainable life.” Sears is running for the Corporation Commission because she “cares about the present and future of Arizona.

Running on the motto, “To whom much is given, much is required,” Sears, an experienced consultant at the Corporation Commission, is conducting a campaign based on honesty, integrity, and transparency that will put the welfare of people and small businesses first. If elected, her goals as a commissioner are as follows:

  • “Restore integrity so that the public understands what the Commission’s mission is, which is to serve the people and not corporations, monopolies, or special interests in a “clean” political fashion. In doing this, confidence and trust in the commission would be restored.
  • Serve the public by providing clean and safe water, modernizing our water and energy supply infrastructure, supplying abundant energy (with a strategic direction towards renewables like solar and wind), and lowering rates to benefit the people.

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GOP legislators preemptively nullify a ballot measure not even on the ballot yet

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The Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona citizens initiative that is currently circulating in the state would amend the state constitution to require that half of all electricity generated by most utilities to come from renewable sources by 2030. Backers have until July 5 to get at least 225,953 valid signatures on petitions to put the issue to voters in November. The citizens initiative effort is funded by NextGen America, a political advocacy group set up by California billionaire Tom Steyer.

In a state which has a GOP corporation commission that was bought and paid for by “Kochtopus” dark money through its tentacle Pinnacle West, the parent company of Arizona Public Service, this is a threat to their continued dominance over Arizona. Arizona is the playground of far-right billionaires, not for left-wing billionaires, dontcha know.

So the “Kochtopus” got their Tea-Publican lickspittle lackeys in the Arizona legislature to preemptively nullify this ballot measure even before it has qualified for the ballot. This may be a first in Arizona for thwarting the will of the voters in service to their corporate masters. Bill to undermine possible renewable energy vote goes to governor:

Claiming they’re protecting Arizonans from a California billionaire, Republican lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to legislation to allow the state’s utilities to effectively ignore any new voter-mandated requirements for renewable energy.

On paper, HB 2005 does not forbid voters from considering the Clean Energy for Healthy Arizona amendment to the state constitution.

But this legislation, which Arizona Public Service admitted it helped craft, spells out that if the measure is approved, the maximum fine utilities could face for violating the provisions would be $5,000. And it could be as little as $100.

GOP lawmakers made it clear that the intent of HB 2005, which now goes to Gov. Doug Ducey, was to ensure that it would not matter if voters side with the initiative organizers.

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SWAG List of Arizona State Candidates in 2018

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Time once again for the “silly wild ass guess” (SWAG) list of candidates who are running for the legislature and statewide offices in Arizona. This list is subject to revision as candidates enter races or decide to withdraw. The candidates listed below have filed with the Arizona Secretary of State. There may be some errors as to current status, so if you have information about the current status of a candidate, please post the information in the comments.

The candidate petitions filing deadline is May 30, 2018. You can sign a candidate’s petition and/or make a $5 contribution to a  Citizens Clean Elections (CCE) candidate on the Arizona Secretary of State’s E-Qual page.

The primary election is Tuesday, August 28, 2018.

Arizona Legislature

District 1

Jo Craycraft (D) Senate (CCE)
Karen Fann (R) Senate
Ed Gogek (D) House (CCE)
Jan Manolis (D) House
Noel Campbell (R) House
Jodi Rooney (R) House
David Stringer (R) House
Stephanie Snyder (GRN) House
Matthew Daniel (IND) House (CCE)

District 2

Andrea Dalessandro (D) Senate (CCE)
Bobby Wilson (R) Senate (CCE)
Rosanna Gabaldón (D) House (CCE)
Daniel Hernandez, Jr. (D) House
Anthony Sizer (R) House (CCE)

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This Obscure Agency Crushed Solar Power in Arizona

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Attorney Bill Mundell, candidate for Arizona Corporation Commission
“You can’t believe the corruption,” says Attorney Bill Mundell, candidate for Arizona Corporation Commission

Why isn’t Arizona the world capital of solar power? It’s a question that comes up all the time. The answer is that a five-man GOP board killed solar incentives while boosting rate hikes from dirty-technology electric companies.

The deceptively-named Arizona Corporation Commission, which is the state electric utility regulator, has been a cesspool of corruption that has crushed the incentives for homeowners to install rooftop solar panels.

Last year former Commission chairman Gary Pierce was indicted for taking bribes of $31,000 and property from a utility owner for Pierce’s vote in favor of a rate increase.

“It is the tip of the corruption iceberg. The Commission staff were calling me saying ‘you can’t believe the corruption and coziness between the commissioners and the utilities they’re supposed to be regulating,'” said Chandler attorney Bill Mundell, a former commissioner. He and former commissioner Sandra Kennedy are Democrats running for two open seats on the agency.

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