Barry Wong

Half of all votes have been counted, and so far none of the six candidates for Arizona Corporation Commissioner are significantly outpacing or under-performing against any other.

As it stands, Democrat Sandra Kennedy leads the pack with 17.8 percent, while state Rep. Marian McClure (R-Tucson) trails at 15.8 percent.

That means there is no greater than a 2 percent difference between any of the candidates in the race.

In the race for the three empty seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission, the Democratic team's hopes appear to be buoyed by new internal poll numbers, while Republicans remain cautiously optimistic of their chances, according to two of the candidates.

Democratic candidate Paul Newman said he didn't know how the vote was going to end up, but that two rallies at which he appeared over the course of Monday "should translate positively" for the Democratic candidates. 

Newman was the second-highest vote getter in the four-way Democratic primary where Kara Kelty was eliminated. He and fellow Democratic nominees Sam George and Sandra Kennedy have dubbed themselves the "Solar Team," and are focusing on issues of renewable energy, solar at the forefront.  

"Arizona needs strong advocates for solar," said Newman. "We absolutely should be the solar leader of the world."

Republican Arizona Corporation Commission candidate John Allen confirmed to PolitickerAZ.com that he put in a congratulatory call to Barry Wong, but has not yet conceded the race.

By the unofficial preliminary count, Wong appears to have won the third GOP spot on the ACC general election ballot. However, Pima County has not finished its count of ballots cast in Tuesday's primary, and Maricopa County has reported it has 43,000 ballots, primarily mailed or walked in, that remain to be tallied.

Therefore, said Allen, he has not ceded the race to Wong yet.

"I said let's let the system work its way through," said Allen, recounting his coversation with Wong. "Though it would be very difficult to win from the position I'm in, I'm certainly giving him the understanding that I'm not conceding anything yet."

A day after the Arizona primaries, Two Republican candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission are still waiting to see which of them will be on the general election ballot.

Barry Wong currently leads John Allen by 1,000 votes, out of more than 720,000 votes cast. Only 13 precincts, or .6 percent of total precincts, have yet to report, but those votes could make the difference.

There are three seats on the ACC to fill, meaning three slots open on the general election ballot for both the Republicans and Democrats.

Arizona state Reps. Bob Stump (R-Peoria) and Marian McClure (R-Tucson) have already earned their places on the November ballot in the Republican column, grabbing 21.5 percent and 14.7 percent of the vote respectively. After a close race for third on the Democratic side, the slate is set as Sam George, Laura Kennedy and Paul Newman.

Corporations Commissioner Kristin Mayes announced yesterday she has formed an exploratory committee to see the 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by retiring Republican Rick Renzi.  When Mayes decides to make the move official she will need to resign her seat.  Mayes was elected in 2006 and is currently serving a term on the Commission that will expire in 2010.  Because she is not serving in her final year she will be forced to resign her seat per the Arizona “Resign to Run Law.”