arizona superintendent of public instruction

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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Democrats arrive late, but ‘blue wave’ momentum is building

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Anyone who has ever been active in Democratic Party politics knows that Democrats always arrive late and no event ever starts on time.

After a slow start in early mail-in ballot returns in the first couple of weeks of early voting, for which I chastised you, Democrats finally started showing up late in the final week of early voting. Keep it up through Election Day.

Arizona Democrats have seen a massive surge in early voting over the past week, bolstering predictions for a “blue wave” in Tuesday’s elections. ‘The blue wave is real’: Arizona Democrats see major surge in early voting turnout:

Early ballot returns released Friday [Secretary of State Early Ballot Statistics] show Democrats are on track to narrow the voter-participation gap with Republicans to its lowest level in any midterm election in recent history.

That surge in Democratic participation could help the party flip close races or win contests for the U.S. Senate, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction.

Democrats had significantly lagged Republicans when early ballot returns started coming in three weeks ago, leading some to speculate that the blue wave had crested.

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But that changed over the past week as Democrats shaved the GOP’s early-vote advantage to less than 8 percentage points. Republicans typically have a 12 percentage-point turnout edge in midterm elections.

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The Arizona Republic endorses Kathy Hoffman for Superintendent of Public Instruction

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Four years ago it was widely assumed that David Garcia would be elected Superintendent of Public Instruction. His opponent, Diane Douglas, barely ran a visible campaign for the office. But due to a GOP voter registration edge in Arizona and mindless GOP tribalism in the voter booth, Diane Douglas won in the shocker of the 2014 election.

Douglas has been controversial and a complete disaster during her tenure as Superintendent of Public Instruction. This is why she was defeated for reelection in the GOP primary back in August. Hindsight is always 20-20. These Republican voters should have been more discerning back in 2014 instead of voting out of GOP tribalism. They could have saved everyone a lot of unnecessary trauma from the antics of Diane Douglas. Republicans should keep this lesson in mind this year.

The Arizona Republic endorses Democratic candidate Kathy Hoffman for Superintendent of Public Instruction. What’s the best quality to help Arizona public schools: Experience or energy?

The race for superintendent of public instruction hinges on the answer to one simple question: Is experience or energy needed more?

The superintendent doesn’t have the power to boost teacher pay or raise taxes to bolster education funding, the two issues driving current education debates. That’s up to the Legislature, the state Board of Education and local school boards.

But this race matters because the winner will oversee the Department of Education – which is basically broken [after the disastrous tenure of Diane Douglas].

There has been heavy turnover during outgoing superintendent Diane Douglas’s tenure. Many experts have left, and morale is in the tank for those who remain. Not surprisingly, this office is no longer producing the helpful training, reliable policy direction and robust student-achievement data that Arizona’s public schools need.

It needs a fixer – someone who can break up the status quo and reinvigorate the department.

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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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