Tucson City Council

AZ Daily Star endorses Democratic Councilman Steve Kozachik and Independent Gary Watson for City Council races

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There are 2 contested races for Tucson City Council in Ward 3 and 6 on the General Election (Nov. 7, 2017) ballot.  The Arizona Daily Star endorsed Ward 6 Democratic Councilman Steve Kozachik, seeking his 3rd term.  And for Ward 3 the newspaper editorial board has endorsed political newcomer Gary Watson (I, former Republican) who … Read more

LWVGT City Council candidate forum on October 11

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Hopefully all candidates will attend this League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson (LWVGT) candidate forum. The forum will be moderated by former LWVGT President Shirley Sandelands.  Members of the audience will be able to submit questions in writing.  Index cards will be made available for questions.

Ward 3 (open seat)

Paul Durham (D)

Gary Watson (I)

Ward 5 (unopposed)

Richard Fimbres (D), incumbent – 2 terms

Ward 6

Mike Cease (G)

Steve Kozachik (D), incumbent – 2 terms

Mariano Rodriguez (R)

Also this week on October 11: Both Ward 3 candidates will be hosted on the Bill Buckmaster radio show (1030 AM on the dial) at 12:30 p.m., www.buckmastershow.com.

AZPM Channel 6 Metro Week will be hosting the City Council candidates on Friday the 13th of October, 6:30 p.m., or online  at ww.azpm.org.

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Can an Independent candidate win in Tucson?

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Can an Independent candidate win in a Tucson City Council race?  For the first time in a long time, an Independent (Gary  Watson in Ward 3) is running for political office in Tucson.  Having reported for Tucsoncitizen.com for 4.5 years and here at Blogforarizona.net for 3.5 years, I’m trying to recall when Independents have run or been in political office.

Former Republican Pima County Supervisor Ed Moore ran for re-election in Nov. 1996 as an Independent, and lost to newcomer Democrat Sharon Bronson.  Tucson City Council member Carol West was a long time Democrat and changed to Independent, then did not seek re-election in 2007.   Former Republican Gene Chewning ran for AZ House in LD 27 in 2010 as an Independent and lost, as did former Dem AZ House Representative Ted Downing in LD 28 State Senate race. And didn’t Green Party candidate Dave Ewoldt also run as an Independent for State Senator in LD 28, to get onto the 2010 General Election ballot?  They both lost to the Democrat incumbent Senator.

So, no Independent candidate has run and won  in Tucson (as far as I know). Chewning told me after his 2010 loss, that because he ran as an Independent, he no longer had a party structure to assist in his campaigning. He got a lot more votes as a Republican for the same LD 27 House race in 2006 (11,327 to 4,526).

Firefighter /Captain of a Northwest fire station Gary Watson (I, former Republican) said at a recent AZ Independents forum at Murphy-Wilmot library that he was “not R enough for the Republican Party”, and “not D enough for the Democratic Party”.

Gary Watson

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