LD11

Legislative preview, House districts 11-15
LD11This is the most likely pickup for the Republicans this year. Democrat Mark DeSimone resigned his seat this summer after his wife accused him of physically abusing her. The district has historically been a Republican district and Republicans will be making a hard push to assure both seats are returned to the caucus.

Gov. Jane NapolitanoGov. Janet Napolitano will be hitting the streets in the Phoenix area on Saturday to knock doors and promote Democratic candidates in state legislative races.

The Arizona Democratic Party announced the series of events Wednesday as part of their effort to retake control of one or both houses of the state Legislature for the first time in over 40 years.

"Arizonans are independent thinkers, and they want elected officials who will put their shoulder to the wheel, work together and address our problems," Napolitano said in the announcement. "It's about time that we have a state Legislature that will focus on solving problems instead of partisan games."

The Arizona chapter of the AFL-CIO, the country's largest federation of unions, released its list of endorsements in congressional and state races late Thursday night. It is a list that heavily favors Democratic candidates.

While some Democrats were left out - such as state House candidates Lamont Lovejoy in Legislative District 10 and Eve Nuñez in LD12 - only one Republican made it onto the list: Jon Altmann, running for state representative in LD11.

All eight Democratic congressional candidates in the state, plus the three Democrats running for Arizona Corporation Commission, were endorsed by the Arizona AFL-CIO as well.

Democratic candidates Dr. Eric Meyer of Phoenix and Bill Jeffers of Holbrook have become the first write-in candidates in the 9-year history of Clean Elections to qualify for public funds.  Meyer submitted 379 qualifying contributions of $5 and Jeffers submitted 360 of the contributions. If both men receive enough write-in votes on the Sept. 2 primary, they will qualify for the general election ballot when they will receive their funding. Meyer will need 301 write-in votes and Jeffers will need 385 votes.

Meyer, a Scottsdale School Board member and emergency medical doctor, is running for a House seat in Legislative District 11 in Phoenix. Jeffers, a life-long resident of Holbrook, is a third generation Arizonan, as well as a rancher and small businessman.

David Funkhouser, a Phoenix attorney and Democratic activist, was unanimously approved by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Wednesday to fill the Legislative District 11 state House seat vacated by Mark DeSimone.

DeSimone resigned at the end of July after being charged with assaulting his wife in a domestic dispute in June. Eric Meyer, who is running for DeSimone's seat as a write-in primary candidate, and Ann Wallack, who is challenging state Sen. Barbara Leff (R-Paradise Valley) for her seat, were also nominated by LD11 precinct committeemen. However, all five supervisors' votes went for Funkhouser.