Voters to narrow choices in primary in newly redrawn AZ House districts

Nearly 30 candidates are running in six newly redrawn Arizona House legislative districts — 16, 17, 18, 19, 21 and 23 — in the Tucson area, and voters will whittle down selections in the Aug. 2 primaries to determine who will be on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

Voters in each party can vote for two candidates, and in races that are not competitive, the nominees will automatically advance to the general election.

Early voting for primaries began July 6. The last day to request a mail-in ballot is July 22. (These districts will be broken up into two stories with LD 19, 21 and 23 running soon in the Arizona Daily Star.)

District 16

Two Republicans and one Democrat will automatically advance in this race to the general election. District 16 covers portions of Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties, sprawling from the northwest and moving southeast following Interstate 10 on down south to the western edge of Tucson.

Teresa Martinez is the Republican incumbent who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Bret Roberts of District 11 after his resignation in September 2021. Martinez, a Casa Grande native, was the director of coalitions and Hispanic outreach for U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar. The other Republican nominee, Rob Hudelson of Tucson, is a Navy veteran and pastor at Legacy Baptist Church.

Democrat Keith Seaman, of Casa Grande, is a lifelong educator and vice president of the Coolidge Unified School District Governing Board.

District 17Five Republican nominees are facing off in this race, and two Democratic candidates will automatically advance to the general election. District 17 includes much of the northwest side, the far eastside and the Rita Ranch area.

The Republican nominees are:

Kirk Fiehler of Tucson is a constitutional conservative who is originally from the Chicago area, and his family moved to Arizona when he was in junior high school. He grew up in Scottsdale and graduated with a bachelor’s in business from Northern Arizona University and worked in corporate business for more than 30 years. Currently, he is district manager for Jackson Hewitt Tax Service in Southern Arizona. According to his candidate website, kirkfiehler.com, among his top priorities is strengthening the economy, securing the border and defending constitutional freedoms.

Rachel Jones of Tucson is a former teacher and business executive. Her candidate website jonesforarizona.com, says, “Our Arizona values have helped our great state thrive … low taxes, the right to bear arms, and small government has made Arizona great. But now our Arizona values are under attack … vaccine mandates … stolen elections … critical race theory … the Socialist Democrats in Phoenix are threatening our rights, families and very way of life.” She says she is part of the “Arizona Freedom Team,” candidates who are conservative fighters in LD17, including fellow nominee Cory McGarr.

Cory McGarr of Marana is district manager of a Tucson pest control business. He moved from New Jersey to Tucson after a job promotion, and became involved with anti-abortion organizations and the local Republican Party, becoming a precinct committeeman. His candidate website mcgarrforarizona.com says he is “running for the state House to fix the broken election system, to eliminate fraud, and to ensure that something like the 2020 election never happens again.” McGarr says “I’m a rock-solid defender of the Second Amendment.”

Anna Orth of Tucson is a fourth-generation Tucsonan. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona and Grand Canyon University with a master’s in organizational psychology. She has a real estate license, and is a longtime business owner, most recently working as an organizational behavior consultant. She advocates strong and effective conservative leadership “to defend our constitutional rights and freedoms” including “clean up the election process, secure the border and repeal unlawful federal overreach.” Her campaign website orth4azrep.com says she wants to do her part to ensure “Arizonans know their vote is safe and represented. There should be a 100% requirement to verify the citizenship of every person that votes and there must be a chain of custody and protection of it for every ballot.”

Sherrylyn Young of Tucson is a retired OB-GYN physician who ran a small medical practice. She received a bachelor’s from University of California-Los Angeles and a medical degree from University of California-San Francisco. She grew up in a poor family and was the first to graduate from high school. High scores on a California test led to a full college scholarship. Young has lived in the district for 38 years. Her candidate website syoungforaz.com says she is “a serious constitutional conservative, with experience in education, health care, and business.” She supports medical freedom and says COVID-19 “has taught us how easily public health agencies promoting fear can hijack our medical freedom.”

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The Democrat nominees are:

Dana Allmond of Marana, who is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and graduate of West Point Academy, and Brian Radford of Tucson, who is a former special education teacher’s assistant and a retired officer with the Department of Corrections. Allmond and Radford advance to the November general election.

District 18

One Republican candidate will automatically advance to the general election, and five Democrats, including an incumbent, are competing for votes in the primary to end up on the November ballot. District 18 covers the Catalina Foothills, Casas Adobes and a swath of Tucson north of Broadway, east of Country Club Road and west of Camino Seco.

Republican Linda Evans of Tucson, a playwright whose musicals have been produced in Manhattan, was born and raised in Van Wert, Ohio, and she has lived in Tucson for 28 years.

The Democratic candidates are:

Nathan Davis, a native of Tucson, is a graduate of Pima Community College, University of Arizona and received a master’s in international affairs from George Washington University. He is a Tucson Unified School District teacher, who left the classroom a year ago and now is filling in as a substitute teacher, so he can run his family’s small interior and design business. His campaign website, nathandavisaz.com, says he will work “to reinvest in public education; support workers’ rights and our small, local businesses; fight for bills that combat climate change; and protect legal abortion care in Arizona.”

Nancy Gutierrez of Tucson has lived in Phoenix and Sierra Vista as a military spouse and in Tucson since 2007. She received a bachelor’s from Northern Arizona University majoring in elementary education with an emphasis in math. She taught in Paradise Valley, Sierra Vista and since 2013 has taught yoga at Tucson High School. In 2017, she served on the board of the Tucson chapter of the National Organization for Women and was elected president in 2018. Her candidate website, nancyforaz.com, says she will work “to ensure that Arizona puts public education, teachers, staff and students as a priority.” She supports reproductive freedom and care for all women, and is a sensible gun candidate who believes guns should never be allowed on any campus and loopholes must be closed for sales at gun shows.

Chris Mathis of Tucson is the incumbent and has lived in District 18 for 21 years. In December, he was appointed to represent District 9 after Rep. Randall Friese resigned. Mathis is a practicing attorney who teaches health care law at the University of Arizona law school. He earned a master’s in public administration from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, a master’s in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health, and law and undergraduate degrees from the University of Illinois. His campaign website, mathisforaz.com, says, “As a legislator, he is fighting back to protect voting rights, women’s reproductive rights, and fully fund public schools and pay educators like the valuable professionals they are.”

Kat Stratford of Tucson has lived in District 18 for seven years and in Tucson since 2002. She works as a political consultant and field organizer. Her candidate website katforaz.com says the state “is facing an unprecedented climate crisis that will render much of our beautiful desert uninhabitable within 50 years. Families are still struggling to gain reasonable access to basics like health care, education and food assistance. Voting rights and reproductive rights are at stake in 2022. We need representation that will show up every day to fight for progress, to protect our civil liberties, and for a more equitable Arizona.”

Charles “Charlie” Verdin of Tucson is the owner of Fangamer, a local video game merchandising company. He has lived in District 18 for 10 years and in 2017 he ran for the Democratic nomination in Congressional District 2. Verdin was born and raised in southern Louisiana and graduated from Nicholls State University with a bachelor’s in mass communication. His campaign website, charlieverdin.com, says, “Currently, Arizona ranks among the lowest in the country for teacher pay. Many of our best educators seek employment elsewhere while those who remain struggle to provide basic school supplies for their classrooms.” He says investing in education builds a strong workforce, and “well-educated students become the workers, innovators and entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”

The top two Democrats in the primary will advance to the general election.

Further information on all candidates, including their nomination papers and financial disclosure statements, is available online at azsos.gov/elections.