I've followed Arizona politics since I first moved there in 1995. Though I haven't lived there full-time in almost a decade, I still read AZ political blogs (like the wonderfully-insidery Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion) regularly and try to keep up with political news there. Below, I've given a rundown of the major Arizona races and added a little analysis, as well as my predictions for November.
Since Crisitunity has covered some of the remaining competitive House primaries on the front page, I thought I'd do a diary on the Arizona primaries, which are September 2. Here are profiles of the Congressional races (I used to live in CD-01 and have continued to follow the state's politics online since I moved):
AZ-01: An open seat (indicted GOP Congressman Rick Renzi is retiring), and the most exciting primary for the Democrats. State Sen. Ann Kirkpatrick, a moderate, has the cash and the establishment support. Her expected chief rival from the left, former television news reporter Mary Kim Titla, has absolutely fizzled and can't seem to raise any money. Who is giving Kirkpatrick quite a scare is outspoken progressive Flagstaff attorney Howard Shanker. Though Shanker hasn't raised as much money as Kirkpatrick (though more than Titla), he's been endorsed by a fairly impressive list of folks: Progressive Democrats of America, CD-07 Congressman Raul Grijalva, and every single chapter council of the Navajo Nation.
You might ask why the Navajos are backing a white dude from Flagstaff over someone born on a reservation (Kirkpatrick) or an ethnic Native American (Titla). It's because Shanker was the attorney who defeated a proposal for snowmaking with reclaimed water on one of the Navajo's sacred mountains, arguing before the Supreme Court that to do so would violate their tribal sovereignty.
