Democrats on the Pima County Board of Supervisors would like to hope theyβve picked a winner this time.
By a 4-1 vote, with the three Democrats on the board unanimous, they chose 27-year-old Matt Kopec to fill the seat in the state House of Representatives, in Legislative District 9, vacated by congressional candidate Victoria Steele.
Among the partisansβ hopes when they make these choices β a surprisingly regular duty, prescribed for them in state law β is that their candidate will win at the next election. From that perspective, theyβve had a mixed record of appointing legislators to open seats.
Their last choice, Demion Clinco, was an unusual pick. It was Democrat Ramon Valadez, joined by Republicans Ray Carroll and Ally Miller, who voted for Clinco, meaning the GOP got to pick a Democratic legislator.
Clinco lost in the November 2014 general election to Rep. Chris Ackerley, a Republican, despite the fact that he was running in Legislative District 2, a Democrat-dominated area. That was a disappointment for Democrats.
Kopec plans on running for his new seat in November.
Heβs a Tucson kid who went to the UA, graduated in 2011 and has been very active in the local Democratic Party, including serving as treasurer. Heβs among a group of younger volunteers and staffers who have done a lot of the heavy lifting for the party and also wielded power when they helped persuade party chairwoman Cheryl Cage to resign last year.
Supervisor Richard ElΓas, who moved to pick Kopec, called him a βfresh face.β The other candidates were Ted Prezelski and Pamela Powers Hannley, who have more time in local Democratic politics. That apparently worked against them rather than for them, though.
Kopec, Valadez said, βhas been very active in party circles and thatβs how we all got to know him.β
I questioned Valadez and ElΓas about how it can be that one of them moves to pick one of three candidates, and the Dems line up unanimously behind him. Isnβt there some previous arrangement?
βWe donβt talk about it ahead of time,β Valadez said. βWe make a motion and see if three votes are there.β
Iβd be more skeptical of that if the decision hadnβt worked out so strangely in Clincoβs case.
Kopec will face some serious challenges if he wants to fulfill Democratsβ hopes of retaining the seat. Powers Hannley is planning to run in the Democratic primary.
If Kopec wins that, heβs likely to face a strong challenge from Republican Ana Henderson.
βThese are competitive seats, so there is some risk of losing,β he said.
NO GOP EGG HUNTS
βYou sure you want to work on Easter weekend?β
That was the essence of an email Pima County Elections Director Brad Nelson sent out Wednesday to the chairs of the local political parties, Democrat Jo Holt and Republican Bill Beard. Because the presidential primary election is scheduled for March 22, the hand-count audit must be held the following weekend, which happens to be Easter.
βI would respectfully ask that you both consider not having your party participate in the hand count audit so that the holiday weekend is not impacted,β Nelson wrote. βItβs your call and whatever you decide, my office will be ready to accommodate that decision.β
Beardβs response was, in essence, βHell no.β Beard, you see, is a longtime critic of Nelson and the Pima County Elections Department, seeing them as either incompetent or corrupt.
So no, nobody is taking the weekend off, Beard told Nelson. Weβll be there, so you should plan to be there.
INCENTIVE TALK
As expected, on Tuesday the Board of Supervisors approved the $15 million incentive deal to keep World View Enterprises in Tucson by building the company a new headquarters and spaceport β an expense the company is supposed to pay back.
And as expected, the vote was 4-1, with an unhappy Supervisor Ally Miller casting the dissenting vote along with some undiplomatic critiques of the project and process. While her rival, Supervisor Ray Carroll, apologized to World Viewβs executives for the negative comments by Miller and some speakers, I had to wonder if there isnβt a better way.
Shouldnβt the county provide adequate information to all the supervisors, including the ones they find annoying, well ahead of a vote like this, so there isnβt such acrimony at the meeting?
And canβt the approving supervisors β the majority β find a skeptical question to ask, rather than acting defensive of the private businesspeople who are asking for a public benefit?
