Wednesday, November 8, 2006
The mood at the last night's Republican Party bash at the Radisson Hotel, 6555 E. Speedway Blvd., was positive but subdued as voters rejected numerous Arizona GOP candidates—including high-profle Congressional District 8 hopeful Randy Graf.
Julee Dawson, a Republican Party fundraiser, attributed Graf's loss to a bruising primary that robbed him of an opporunity to define himself.
"The thing that I wish I could convey to people is that Randy Graf is a really good man," she said. "The people who say the things that they say about him just don't know Randy. He's really a human being of substance and quality."
Graf shook hands and chatted amiably with supporters, soldiering on with a broad smile even as the negative results rumbled in.
"I really think that Randy would make a better congressman than Gabrielle," said Agnes Hannley, vice president of Tucson Republican Women. "I just feel like Gabrielle is kind of a lightweight."
The man currently holding the CD8 seat, Republican Jim Kolbe, shook hands with Graf and congratulated him on a "tough, issues-oriented campaign." Graf mounted a significant challenge to the congressman in the GOP primary two years prior. Kolbe had refused to endorse Graf in this election cycle.
Judi White, chairwoman of the Pima County Republican Party, said she wished things had gone differently for Graf. Still, she admitted Giffords had run a well-organized and spirited campaign.
"Gabby had a lot of money real quick," White said. "She left the position that she had; she was right there, and she started to run.
"I'll tell ya, though, nobody's worked any harder than Randy Graf."
Project Marriage Arizona spokesperson Cathi Herrod just issued the following statement:
According to the Elections Director at the Secretary of State’s office, 300,000-400,000 early ballots have yet to be reported. We will not be offering any other statement until the outstanding ballots have been counted and a definite trend can be seen.
Seeing as Prop 107 lost the Election Day vote in Maricopa County (which did surprise the hell out of me), I am not sure what the bigots "Protect" Marriage folks are thinking. But the margin is "only" 32,000 votes, so who knows? It seems clear 107 will lose ... but if there are, in fact, that many ballots still outstanding -- something I do not know -- then stranger things have happened.
Below is a final, unofficial list of results of races the Weekly has been following. Some notes:
-- The most extreme of the right-wingers (save Jon Kyl) had their asses handed to them by voters. Witness the stomping of Len Munsil and Randy Graf, the failure of Proposition 107, and the LD 26 wins by Lena Saradnik and (assuming recounts and whatever else don't change the result) Charlene Pesquiera over two extreme righties.
-- With the passage of health-group-funded 201 and the failure of tobacco-funded 206, Arizona voters proved they're more savvy than some people give them credit for. Now, we'll see if all those doomsday scenarios some bar owners posited about business declines come true. I'd be stunned if they do.
-- Yay for the raising of the minimum wage with Prop 202. Again, watch as doomsday scenarios about price increases and business closings fail to come to fruition.
-- Arizona is now the first state, at least that I know of, to ever reject an anti-gay-marriage ballot proposition. This is a wonderful day for fairness and equality. However, there are some sobering things to remember here: Proposition 107 failed because its pushers went beyond gay marriage and tried to hammer on government-offered domestic partnership benefits and recognitions for both same-sex and straight couples. This just goes to show how nasty Arizona's brand of anti-gay folks can be. If 107 had just been about gay marriage, it would have passed overwhelmingly. Congrats to Arizona Together which, despite some moronic early maneuvers, got it together enough to help defeat this thing.
-- The saddest result of the night, as far as I am concerned: the passage of Proposition 207. This passage has the potential of destroying regional planning and environmental projection efforts as we know them. It could be very ugly.
-- Second-saddest result of the night: The overwheming passage of measures that, more than anything, serve to demonize immigrants, both legal and illegal. While Props 100, 102, 103 and 300 were expected to pass, the overwhelming "yes" numbers are sickening.
-- Third-saddest result of the night: The failure of Prop 106. This probably destroys substantive state trust land reform efforts for years.
Governor -- 100 percent reporting
Janet Napolitano (D) 62.9
Len Munsil (R) 35.0
U.S. Senate -- 100 percent reporting
Jon Kyl (R) 52.7
Jim Pederson (D) 44.0
Congressional District 7 -- 100 percent reporting
Ron Drake (R) 35.7
Raul Grijalva (D) 60.6
Congressional District 8 -- 100 percent reporting
Gabrielle Giffords (D) 54.1
Randy Graf (R) 42.2
Attorney General -- 100 percent reporting
Terry Goddard (D) 60.2
Bill Montgomery (R) 39.8
State Superintendent of Public Instruction -- 100 percent reporting
Tom Horne (R) 53.3
Jason Williams (D) 46.7
District 25 House -- 100 percent reporting
Manny Alvarez (D) 27.4
Jennifer Burns (R) 24.1
Pat Fleming (D) 23.5
Gail Griffin (R) 23.3
District 26 House -- 100 percent reporting
Pete Hershberger (R) 38.2
David Jorgenson (R) 28.4
Lena Saradnik (D) 33.4
District 26 Senate -- 100 percent reporting
Al Melvin (R) 49.9 (29,283 votes)
Charlene Pesquiera (D) 50.1 (29,429 votes)
Proposition 100 (No Bail for Illegal Immigrants) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 77.8
No 22.2
Proposition 101 (Property Tax Caps) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 50.4
No 49.6
Proposition 102 (No Punitive Damages for Illegal Immigrants) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 74.4
No 25.6
Proposition 103 (English Official Language) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 74.2
No 25.8
Proposition 104 (Gov't Borrowing Limits) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 58.6
No 41.4
Proposition 105 (State Trust Land -- Legislature) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 28.8
No 71.2
Proposition 106 (State Trust Land -- Coalition/Environmentalists) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 48.4
No 51.6
Proposition 107 (Anti-Partnership/Gay Marriage) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 48.6
No 51.4
Proposition 200 (Voter Reward) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 33.6
No 66.4
Proposition 201 (Smoking -- Health Orgs) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 54.2
No 45.8
Proposition 202 (Minimum Wage) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 65.8
No 34.2
Proposition 203 (Cig Tax for Kids) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 52.6
No 47.4
Proposition 204 (Humane Treatment of Animals) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 61.5
No 38.5
Proposition 205 (Vote By Mail) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 28.8
No 71.2
Proposition 206 (Smoking -- R.J. Reynolds) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 42.7
No 57.3
Proposition 207 (Gov't Property Restrictions) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 65.1
No 34.9
Proposition 300 (Ban on Services for Illegal Immigrants) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 71.6
No 28.4
Proposition 301 (Jail Over Treatment for Meth) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 58.1
No 41.9
Proposition 302 (Lawmakers' Pay Increase) -- 100 percent reporting
Yes 46.9
No 53.1
Proposition 400 (JTED) -- 100 percent reporting (TUSD only)
Yes 70.8
No 29.2
(Also passing overwhelmingly in all other Pima County school districts)
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
The first statewide results are coming in -- out of Pinal County, of all places.
We'll soon post an update of the races the Weekly has been following.
The Associated Press is projecting Janet Napolitano will beat Len Munsil. Not that this is a surprise ...
He's been wiped off the Senate floor! YES!!!!
If nothing else, the day can't be bad for this reason alone!
We at the Weekly are watching the election closely, and we will have staff at both Democratic and Republican gatherings tonight. Stay tuned here for up-to-date election results and news throughout the night. The first results should start to filter in around 8 p.m.
Well, the polls are open. Is everything going smoothly across the country? Um, no.
There's no word of any serious problems here in Pima County yet (But, hey! It's still early!). There was some confusion and minor panic at Precinct 086 this morning. I was slogging through the 1,654 ballot propositions in my little voting cubbie when the precinct's electronic voting machine got jammed. Calls to higher-ups were made, and the problem was easily fixed, but the poor precinct worker who was heading things up was unsure whether one of the ballots jammed had actually been counted. It was quite a scene.
Of course, I spent last night watching HBO's documentary Hacking Democracy. It was stunning. I highly recommend catching it.
Now I am paranoid. I am not sure this is a bad thing.
