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ATA eNewsletter

June 2010

A Word from ATA Lobbyist Barry Aarons

On Wednesday, May 24th, the deadline passed for filing nominating petitions for the August 24th primary elections and we have a bumper crop in what looks like will be a big transitional year. There are an unusually high number of State House members running for the Arizona Senate, some fairly high profile House members who are retiring and that means that both chambers will have a decidedly new look.

There are 10 Gubernatorial candidates from incumbent Jan Brewer and Attorney General Terry Goddard to four Libertarians and a Green candidate. There are five Attorney General Candidates including former Maricopa County Attorney Andy Thomas, School Superintendent Tom Horne, former Banking Department Director Felicia Rotellini and House Minority Leader David Lujan. Quite a group to choose from. Quite a group.

The Senate drew 74 candidates for 30 seats including 15 sitting House members and half a dozen former legislators. The House has 165 candidates for 60 seats with 33 incumbents and several sitting Senate or former House or Senate members.

On the Leadership front, Speaker Kirk Adams and Majority Whip Andy Tobin will likely remain in the House but Majority Whip Steve Pierce is the only current Senate leadership member seeking reelection. House Majority Leader John McComish is seeking a seat in the Senate.

So we have been participating in the Arizona Chamber of Commerce candidate interview sessions and begun individual candidate interviews. Meeting in locations from Globe to Mesa to Avondale we are trying to see as many new non incumbent candidates as we can to determine their support for our industry as well and sensitize them to our issues and brief them on the state of our economic conditions and needs.

There is an underlying sense of anger and frustration among some of the candidates that parallels what has been seen in other parts of the country. It is the type of frustration that has produced the primary defeat of US Senator Arlan Sector and the surprise election of Scott Brown to the Massachusetts Senate Seat vacated by the death of Ted Kennedy just to name a couple.

Anyone wanting to participate in the candidate interviews should contact our office on a regular basis for the schedule and location. WE will make every effort to interview candidates in Tucson during the 2010 Arizona Governor's Conference on Tourism. And while we can't make endorsements we will make our members aware of the results of the interviews before the primary.

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