The Navajo County Board of Supervisors named Sylvia Allen to the state Senate, to fill out the remainder of late Sen. Jake Flake (R-Snowflake)'s term.

“I will fight for our County,” said Allen in a statement from Navajo County. “I will fight for our rural issues. I will move forward to work as well as I can. I will do everything in my power to ensure you do not lose faith in me.”

Allen was chosen over Snowflake councilman Charlie Hendrickson and former Show Low mayor Gerry Whipple by the Board. The three were selected Thursday by a citizens panel comprised of prominent members of Najavo County.

Allen was the favorite to win the appointment. She is already on the ballot for a state House seat in LD5, and has been a fixture of Republican politics in the district, at one time serving as chairman of the Navajo County Republican Party for 5 years.

"In my mind, I would like to see Sylvia get that appointment,” said County Supervisor Jerry Brownlow before the Board decided.

"No one could ever replace [Sen. Flake], but I believe that Sylvia Allen is the most qualified to carry on his legacy,” said Supervisor David Tenney.

The Board spoke with Whipple and Hendrickson, but came away still convinced that Allen was best suited to take over Flake's seat.

One odd sideline in the process came over a report in the Arizona Republic that a member of the Flake family might have an interest in filling the vacancy.

"Some had speculated that one of Flake's brothers or three sons who live in Snowflake might be tapped to take over the vacant Senate seat," ran the article in the Republic. According to the Board, the "some" mentioned is state Rep. Bill Konopnicki (R-Safford).

David Tenney related:  

“County Manager Jimmy Jayne and I visited with the Flake family last Tuesday and asked them about the newspaper reports indicating that they wanted a family member appointed to serve his term.  Most of those reports have been attributed to Mr. Konopnicki.  They assured us that they did not have any interest in having a relative appointed to serve the remainder of his term.”

Konopnicki and Allen, both of whom are on the ballot as state House candidates, are also pursuing the goal of getting on the Republican primary ballot in Flake's stead. Flake was running unopposed for the Sept. 2 primary.