22 Arizona Legislature candidates run unopposed

by Mary Jo Pitzl - Sept. 4, 2010 11:29 PM
The Arizona Republic .

It might be a tad presumptuous to start measuring for curtains, but two months before the general election, more than one quarter of the seats in the next Legislature are all but decided.

For 22 candidates, the Nov. 2 election is less a contest and more a waiting game. They either have no challengers or face nominal opposition from third-party candidates who don't have the funding or the political-party apparatus to wage a competitive campaign.

Most of these heirs apparent are incumbent lawmakers or former legislators seeking a return. And perhaps most tellingly, they come from districts that heavily favor either the Democratic or Republican parties, which reduces the chance of a strong challenge from an opposition party.

"That's a sign that the lines need to be redrawn to have more competitive districts," said Rep. Robert Meza, D-Phoenix. He is benefiting from this phenomenon: His is the only name on the ballot for a state Senate seat representing his west-central Phoenix district.

He'll get his wish next year, when district lines are redrawn after results of the 2010 U.S. census come out. For this fall, the lines remain the same.

Rep. Steve Yarbrough, R-Gilbert, is among the uncontested as he seeks a Senate seat.

He can't quite pin down the reasons for his go-it-alone bid. During the primary, many legislative districts had races with six or seven candidates. And two years ago, Democrats poured thousands of dollars into his southeast Valley district in an attempt to take one of the two House seats. They failed.

Perhaps, Yarbrough speculated, that's why in 2010, there are no Democrats challenging him as he seeks to move to the Senate.

The lopsided nature of Arizona's legislative districts also contributes, he said.

"The common thread among them is that they are one-party-dominant districts," Yarbrough said, as he contemplated the unchallenged candidates.

It's not unusual to see candidates with no opposition in the general election, given the way district lines are drawn. In each of the past two cycles, 15 candidates had a free pass.

But this year's 22 unchallenged candidates is more than anyone can recall in recent history.

Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, likes to joke that her apparent clear shot to re-election is due to one of three reasons: She's doing a great job; she's such a fierce campaigner no one would dare take her on; or no one wants the job.

"I think it's probably the third reason," she said.

She's only half kidding. Lopez, a veteran of 10 years in the Legislature, said the relatively low pay ($24,000 a year) and the complexity of the state's problems discourage lots of candidates.

"I have people all the time say to me, 'Why do you want to be there?' " said Lopez, who is the minority whip in the Senate.

Party officials say they're strategic when deciding whether to push into territory that normally would be a hard slog for the opposition party. In 2008, a well-funded Democratic operation made a push in numerous districts that have been held by Republicans, hoping to take control of the state House of Representatives. Instead, they lost seats.

This year, the Arizona Republican Party is fielding candidates in districts that have traditionally gone to Democrats, hoping to capitalize on a national mood that is anti-Democrat.

"We're aggressively campaigning in areas where we haven't in the past," said Brett Mecum, the GOP's executive director.

A prime example is Yuma's District 24. Republicans ran Don Shooter as a write-in candidate in the primary, denying Sen. Amanda Aguirre, D-Yuma, what had been shaping up as an uncontested re-election bid.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/ ... -2010.html