The dust has (mostly) settled on the Arizona primaries, and we wrote so many words this week that we don’t have anything more to say today. We’ll, of course, be writing about the election for several more months, though, so no need to worry.
Now, we want to hear from you: What most surprised you about the primary?
For us, it’s Tom Horne’s resurgence and Paola Tulliani Zen’s prosciutto ad, for two very different reasons.
Remember, be the thoughtful and respectful people you are in your daily lives on this comment thread. We believe in you!
Elijah Norton and his fundraisers spent over 4 million to try to defeat an incumbent congressman and failed... like everyone else who has tried. Ridiculous.
It's remarkable that essentially all of the 2020 election deniers won their Republican primary races. With such stark choices between Republicans and Democrats up and down the ballot, Independents will definitely have the last word in November.
What surprised me most wasn't the results but the turnout. I was a first time poll worker this year and the experienced ones around me expected less than 200 people voting in person. At the end of the day we had 857 votes run through the tabulators and I would guess some comparable number of early ballots placed in the drop box, though we did not count those.
Really thought Robson would get the HOP nod for AZ governor. Though it's disturbing to see a Kari Lake rise up, I do think that she eminently beatable in November. Or else God help us.
The State Legislature - two long time power figures gone. Kelly Townsend and Rusty Bowers. I would never have dreamed that their Party would reject them because they were not extreme enough in their beliefs and actions.
The lesson? At least for now, you cannot be too extreme (or safely extreme) given the attitude of the extremist GOP voters.
My Party from 1972 when I first registered until Kelly Townsend was elected State Party President. It was hard for me to finally admit that the Party I first supported no longer existed.
In the 60s and 70s, Democrats courted the racists. Southern Democrats fought to decimate public schools.
50 years later the roles had reversed. I could no longer pretend that Republican extremists had not taken control.of the Party.
The conventional wisdom has been that low primary turnouts result in radical nominees. This was a high turnout primary- yet the extreme candidates cleaned up (at least in the statewide contests).
Goes to show you it's not low primary turnout that leads to far right nominees - rather - the critical mass of the GOP has shifted from the country club / chamber wing to the trailer park wing.
Looks like Vince Leach lost his primary by only 1848 votes to extremist Justine Wadsack in LD17 with a 31% turnout. Let's hope the newcomer - Dem. Mike Nickerson - can wake up some Independents in this LD. (Latest voter stats for LD17: Dems 47,653, Republicans 61,348, Other 48,754)
Tom Horne’s win for sure, a shocker. Don’t voters know anything about this sleazeball? However Kathy Hoffman can beat him easily once voters learn who Horne is!
One thing that always saddens me is seeing no opponents running in some LD races. No one wants to challenge Paul Gosar? Really?
Tom Horne was a surprise. Intelligent, informed people know that critical race theory is not taught until will into college, yet his scare tactics worked.
Not only does Gosar need to be gone, I cannot find one redeeming factor for a single repubican candidate. Speaking of sleazeballs (KathNoble's post), what about David Schweikert! Eleven ethics violations and a $50,00.00 fine and he still gets elected. I guess Arizona loves criminals. It amazes me every time he wins.
There are two dem write-ins trying to qualify for the November ballot against Gosar (and lots of other write-ins elsewhere). We’ll have to wait to see if they got enough write-in votes in the primary to qualify though.
As David Moody noted in these comments, I was surprised that the Lake vs Robson contest was so close; I expected Lake to do better given the apparent dominance of MAGA folk in the Republican Party. Conventional wisdom has been that Kari Lake would be a much easier candidate for the Democratic nominee to beat, and personally I hope this is true. But I and many others on my side of the aisle still have PTSD from 2016, when many of us laughed at the notion of that reality TV guy even thinking about running for President. We hoped he would win the nomination so that Hillary could run away with the election. In other words, be careful what you wish for. It is true that it may be the case that many Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents will be unwilling to vote for Lake; but it also might have been the case that many MAGA Republicans might not have been willing to vote for Robson, particularly if Lake told them the result was due to fraud. So we don't know. But we shall see.
The fact that more than 4000 voters thought that Joe Arpaio would be a better Mayor than Ginny Dickey here in Fountain Hills. Luckily Ginny is still comfortably ahead.
Paola Tulliani Zen's ad was great, and Imma let you finish, but Jerone Davidson made one of the most wild adds of *all time.*
Another ad-related surprise/disappointment were the ads run by Democrats to support Lake getting the nomination. Boosting Lake, even if she seems beatable, was a bad idea.
I was pretty astounded by the lack of ballots in red county of Pinal. That has created completely unnecessary fodder for both parties and a focal point for conspiracy theorists. Not to mention stranglehold lawsuits. I’m thinking the mea culpa from the county will hold little water legally.
It is a good thing that the ideological lines have been so well defined by the primary winners because it really will be a contest about how the state is run in November. There are some very incompetent people in races that are important. Perhaps when the dust settles, we may see actual policies being talked about and how, if implemented, they affect you, me, and us. The real test for voters has been revealed by the primaries.
It was a low key race, but take a look at what happened in Chandler. The three council candidates who unequivocally support a nondiscrimination ordinance got elected. The mayor who is against it won by a huge margin (a weak field) while his running mates lost. And I'm wondering if competitive partisan primaries all around boosted turnout for these nonpartisan races.
So thrilled to see this. Leach was very snarky to me when I testified at the Judiciary Committee earlier this year. Only a 30% turnout in LD17. Now can Nickerson beat Wadsack? Bring it on!
I am very alarmed at the rise of Christian Nationalism. Hearing a sitting US Representative say we should have a mandatory biblical citizens test gives me pause. The relationship between them and Big Lie politicians who want to weaken our elections process through false stories, violence, and hate draws a parallel in my mind between us and Nazi Germany’s early years.
We need to educate voters on the many rules the GOP has in place to make voting difficult. I worked the voter assistance hotline and many folks don’t know that the post office cannot forward your ballot. We had to tell someone whose car broke down that he couldn’t give his ballot to a friend to drop off at the polls. It’s ridiculous but it’s the law.
What surprised me most, even though it shouldn’t have, is the willingness of Republican voters to continue to select Paul Gosar, and Mark Finchem, to run in our General Election. Coupled with the choice of far right candidates, it is abundantly clear that Trump still holds Az. extreme right voters in the palm of his hand.
I was gerrymandered into Gosar's district. Absolutely disgusting. Dems weren't even on some AZ state rep districts. DNC needs to do a better job! Although retired & disabled I'd have run just to offer an option of sanity in support of democracy. AZ doesn't have Republicans anymore. They're all fascists. We Dems need to outnumber them at the polls whatever it takes!
Wonder how David Mehl is feeling this morning. Pretty sure he was not planning for his gerrymandering to result in a slate of election denying MAGA candidates. It is moderates who will pay the price for the partisan redistricting commission’s work.
I was a bit mystified by Kari Lake winning the primary for governor. How could so many people vote for someone with no political experience who's most known for being on TV. Then I realized that is exactly the same profile that Donald Trump had. Mystery solved...
I’m disillusioned by the lack of institutional knowledge lost in our current state government. GOP ran two candidates who have no government experience. Democrats in Arizona do bring that piece. What candidates seem to forget is once elected you can’t stamp your foot and get your way. Yelling “it’s not fair” is childish. We are a nation and state of laws and procedures. Without institutional knowledge we are lost.
I am dismayed at the lack of political experience for some of those who won and spread outright lies. Wake Up Arizona, the crazies are taking over. It’s time to look at the quality of the person rather than the Party.
I'm surprised and frustrated that the AZ Dem Party didn't do a better job of recruiting candidates to run in quite a few legislative districts. The year after redistricting is definitely the time to test the electorate as broadly as possible. I'm infuriated by the timidity of the Dem Party in a year when Independents are sick of MAGA extremists and counter-messaging is critical. You can't win if you don't play, and R's are very aware of that. They throw everything at the wall and win some very unexpected victories.
What surprised me?? Going to my polling place here in San Tan Valley and the poll worker saying they ran out of paper ballots and to come back in two hours. Why two hours?........because the poll workers were told to tell us voters that a fresh, new batch of printed ballots were arriving by then. I wonder if these new ballots were laced with Chinese bamboo??!!!! LOL!!!!!
I'm not sure if Fontes had the lead all along, so his victory was just confirmation or if the final few weeks of "dark money" attacks on Bolding put him over the edge. Either way, I found his victory somewhat surprising. This year's ballot shortage in Pinal Country has drawn a lot of (rightful) scrutiny, but, as Maricopa Country Recorder, Fontes TWICE oversaw Democrat primary elections (2018, 2020) where people waiting in line were ultimately unable to cast a vote due to polls closing. Fontes remaining a viable figure in AZ Democrat politics is more than a little confusing to me.
What surprised me the most was Republican voters falling in line behind Trump. It would be interesting to know what the Republican turnout was compared to other midterm primaries. I read anecdotes of people that just refused to vote.
What surprised (and infuriated) me on the Democrat side was Hobbs' snub of the debate with Marco Lopez. I voted for Lopez because I learned more about him in what turned out to be an interview that impressed me. The excuse that she had multiple events in Tucson? I live in Tucson, on every Dem mailing list available and I never heard a thing about it. I am terrified of how she will perform against Kari Lake. Holding my nose in November.
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Elijah Norton and his fundraisers spent over 4 million to try to defeat an incumbent congressman and failed... like everyone else who has tried. Ridiculous.
Surprised that the split in the Republican Party is almost 50-50. Wonder what the moderates will do?
Why are Repugs so enamored with tRump?
Read Dana Milbank’s Washington Post article today about what happened to the GOP. . It’s not only Trump!
Washington Post article is by Dana Milbank. App woukd not let me edit my reply for some reason!
It's remarkable that essentially all of the 2020 election deniers won their Republican primary races. With such stark choices between Republicans and Democrats up and down the ballot, Independents will definitely have the last word in November.
What surprised me most wasn't the results but the turnout. I was a first time poll worker this year and the experienced ones around me expected less than 200 people voting in person. At the end of the day we had 857 votes run through the tabulators and I would guess some comparable number of early ballots placed in the drop box, though we did not count those.
I was a first-time poll worker too! I didn’t know what to expect exactly but there were way more people voting in person than I expected.
Really thought Robson would get the HOP nod for AZ governor. Though it's disturbing to see a Kari Lake rise up, I do think that she eminently beatable in November. Or else God help us.
I really think the turnout was most surprising. For so much election denialism, I would have thought people might be discouraged from boring.
I didn't think Arizona could move more to the right, boy, was I wrong.
Crazy me - I didn't think it was even possible to become more extreme than Kelly Townsend.
The sweep by Trump endorsed candidates is unprecedented due to the fact they were NOT the safe, predictable candidates that Republicans usually run.
The State Legislature - two long time power figures gone. Kelly Townsend and Rusty Bowers. I would never have dreamed that their Party would reject them because they were not extreme enough in their beliefs and actions.
The lesson? At least for now, you cannot be too extreme (or safely extreme) given the attitude of the extremist GOP voters.
My Party from 1972 when I first registered until Kelly Townsend was elected State Party President. It was hard for me to finally admit that the Party I first supported no longer existed.
In the 60s and 70s, Democrats courted the racists. Southern Democrats fought to decimate public schools.
50 years later the roles had reversed. I could no longer pretend that Republican extremists had not taken control.of the Party.
The conventional wisdom has been that low primary turnouts result in radical nominees. This was a high turnout primary- yet the extreme candidates cleaned up (at least in the statewide contests).
Goes to show you it's not low primary turnout that leads to far right nominees - rather - the critical mass of the GOP has shifted from the country club / chamber wing to the trailer park wing.
Looks like Vince Leach lost his primary by only 1848 votes to extremist Justine Wadsack in LD17 with a 31% turnout. Let's hope the newcomer - Dem. Mike Nickerson - can wake up some Independents in this LD. (Latest voter stats for LD17: Dems 47,653, Republicans 61,348, Other 48,754)
I'm not sure which is worse--country club or trailer park. <Snark>
Tom Horne’s win for sure, a shocker. Don’t voters know anything about this sleazeball? However Kathy Hoffman can beat him easily once voters learn who Horne is!
One thing that always saddens me is seeing no opponents running in some LD races. No one wants to challenge Paul Gosar? Really?
Apparently the Dems couldnt find an opponent— or maybe they didnt look? Anyway, i am with you. That man needs to be GONE.
Tom Horne was a surprise. Intelligent, informed people know that critical race theory is not taught until will into college, yet his scare tactics worked.
Not only does Gosar need to be gone, I cannot find one redeeming factor for a single repubican candidate. Speaking of sleazeballs (KathNoble's post), what about David Schweikert! Eleven ethics violations and a $50,00.00 fine and he still gets elected. I guess Arizona loves criminals. It amazes me every time he wins.
It amazes ME every time any of them win! Who would have thought a state with such natural beauty would be filled with SOOO much corruption?
There are two dem write-ins trying to qualify for the November ballot against Gosar (and lots of other write-ins elsewhere). We’ll have to wait to see if they got enough write-in votes in the primary to qualify though.
Dr. Gosar is teflon no matter what anyone thinks of him. His constituents love him.
My only question is WHY they would love him?
Have you been to that part of the state...? He may have some issues... but he'll never lose.
As David Moody noted in these comments, I was surprised that the Lake vs Robson contest was so close; I expected Lake to do better given the apparent dominance of MAGA folk in the Republican Party. Conventional wisdom has been that Kari Lake would be a much easier candidate for the Democratic nominee to beat, and personally I hope this is true. But I and many others on my side of the aisle still have PTSD from 2016, when many of us laughed at the notion of that reality TV guy even thinking about running for President. We hoped he would win the nomination so that Hillary could run away with the election. In other words, be careful what you wish for. It is true that it may be the case that many Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents will be unwilling to vote for Lake; but it also might have been the case that many MAGA Republicans might not have been willing to vote for Robson, particularly if Lake told them the result was due to fraud. So we don't know. But we shall see.
The fact that more than 4000 voters thought that Joe Arpaio would be a better Mayor than Ginny Dickey here in Fountain Hills. Luckily Ginny is still comfortably ahead.
It got closer though! Few hundred votes now only.
Paola Tulliani Zen's ad was great, and Imma let you finish, but Jerone Davidson made one of the most wild adds of *all time.*
Another ad-related surprise/disappointment were the ads run by Democrats to support Lake getting the nomination. Boosting Lake, even if she seems beatable, was a bad idea.
A strong contender, but I'm just really partial to the squeal sound effects in Paola's ad.
I was pretty astounded by the lack of ballots in red county of Pinal. That has created completely unnecessary fodder for both parties and a focal point for conspiracy theorists. Not to mention stranglehold lawsuits. I’m thinking the mea culpa from the county will hold little water legally.
Yeah, we'll be watching the fallout of that for quite some time!
It is a good thing that the ideological lines have been so well defined by the primary winners because it really will be a contest about how the state is run in November. There are some very incompetent people in races that are important. Perhaps when the dust settles, we may see actual policies being talked about and how, if implemented, they affect you, me, and us. The real test for voters has been revealed by the primaries.
I love the optimism that we'll be able to talk about actual policy. God willing!
Mainly I wanted the damn signs to disappear.
It was a low key race, but take a look at what happened in Chandler. The three council candidates who unequivocally support a nondiscrimination ordinance got elected. The mayor who is against it won by a huge margin (a weak field) while his running mates lost. And I'm wondering if competitive partisan primaries all around boosted turnout for these nonpartisan races.
Shocked that Vince Leach didn't win reelection.
Happy on this end!
So thrilled to see this. Leach was very snarky to me when I testified at the Judiciary Committee earlier this year. Only a 30% turnout in LD17. Now can Nickerson beat Wadsack? Bring it on!
I am very alarmed at the rise of Christian Nationalism. Hearing a sitting US Representative say we should have a mandatory biblical citizens test gives me pause. The relationship between them and Big Lie politicians who want to weaken our elections process through false stories, violence, and hate draws a parallel in my mind between us and Nazi Germany’s early years.
If you want to watch some good webinars about this, click on "resources" on this site: ChristiansAgainstChristianNationalism.org It gives me a little hope. And so does CatholicsForChoice.org for that matter. These are our allies!
We need to educate voters on the many rules the GOP has in place to make voting difficult. I worked the voter assistance hotline and many folks don’t know that the post office cannot forward your ballot. We had to tell someone whose car broke down that he couldn’t give his ballot to a friend to drop off at the polls. It’s ridiculous but it’s the law.
What surprised me most, even though it shouldn’t have, is the willingness of Republican voters to continue to select Paul Gosar, and Mark Finchem, to run in our General Election. Coupled with the choice of far right candidates, it is abundantly clear that Trump still holds Az. extreme right voters in the palm of his hand.
I was gerrymandered into Gosar's district. Absolutely disgusting. Dems weren't even on some AZ state rep districts. DNC needs to do a better job! Although retired & disabled I'd have run just to offer an option of sanity in support of democracy. AZ doesn't have Republicans anymore. They're all fascists. We Dems need to outnumber them at the polls whatever it takes!
I find it sad that so many embrace lies and delusions.
Wonder how David Mehl is feeling this morning. Pretty sure he was not planning for his gerrymandering to result in a slate of election denying MAGA candidates. It is moderates who will pay the price for the partisan redistricting commission’s work.
Vince Leach isn't 'conservative' enough for the AZGOP? Or maybe Trumpy enough? Wild times.
I was a bit mystified by Kari Lake winning the primary for governor. How could so many people vote for someone with no political experience who's most known for being on TV. Then I realized that is exactly the same profile that Donald Trump had. Mystery solved...
I’m disillusioned by the lack of institutional knowledge lost in our current state government. GOP ran two candidates who have no government experience. Democrats in Arizona do bring that piece. What candidates seem to forget is once elected you can’t stamp your foot and get your way. Yelling “it’s not fair” is childish. We are a nation and state of laws and procedures. Without institutional knowledge we are lost.
Water, why did no one talk about the water crisis?
I am dismayed at the lack of political experience for some of those who won and spread outright lies. Wake Up Arizona, the crazies are taking over. It’s time to look at the quality of the person rather than the Party.
I'm surprised and frustrated that the AZ Dem Party didn't do a better job of recruiting candidates to run in quite a few legislative districts. The year after redistricting is definitely the time to test the electorate as broadly as possible. I'm infuriated by the timidity of the Dem Party in a year when Independents are sick of MAGA extremists and counter-messaging is critical. You can't win if you don't play, and R's are very aware of that. They throw everything at the wall and win some very unexpected victories.
What surprised me?? Going to my polling place here in San Tan Valley and the poll worker saying they ran out of paper ballots and to come back in two hours. Why two hours?........because the poll workers were told to tell us voters that a fresh, new batch of printed ballots were arriving by then. I wonder if these new ballots were laced with Chinese bamboo??!!!! LOL!!!!!
I'm not sure if Fontes had the lead all along, so his victory was just confirmation or if the final few weeks of "dark money" attacks on Bolding put him over the edge. Either way, I found his victory somewhat surprising. This year's ballot shortage in Pinal Country has drawn a lot of (rightful) scrutiny, but, as Maricopa Country Recorder, Fontes TWICE oversaw Democrat primary elections (2018, 2020) where people waiting in line were ultimately unable to cast a vote due to polls closing. Fontes remaining a viable figure in AZ Democrat politics is more than a little confusing to me.
What surprised me the most was Republican voters falling in line behind Trump. It would be interesting to know what the Republican turnout was compared to other midterm primaries. I read anecdotes of people that just refused to vote.
What surprised (and infuriated) me on the Democrat side was Hobbs' snub of the debate with Marco Lopez. I voted for Lopez because I learned more about him in what turned out to be an interview that impressed me. The excuse that she had multiple events in Tucson? I live in Tucson, on every Dem mailing list available and I never heard a thing about it. I am terrified of how she will perform against Kari Lake. Holding my nose in November.