LD7

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."

Arizona Sen. Jim Waring (R-Phoenix) and Democratic LD12 candidate Eve Nunez, who have both turned in the maximum number of signatures allowable to Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer. Waring raked in 1,316, maxing out for a Republican in LD7, and Nunez's 1,132 signatures are the most allowed to be recorded for a Democrat in LD12.

Though filing only opened at the beginning of the month, a steady stream of filings have been presented to Brewer's office, and already some races are starting to take shape, in particular the House races for LDs 18 and 30.

As the great Jimi Hendrix once sang:

"If six turned out to be nine/I don't mind"

In this case it's 7, as in LD7, where a Democrat is gearing up to take on Republicans Nancy Barto and Ray Barnes. That is the race to which House Minority Leader Phil Lopes (D-Tucson) was referring when he told PolitickerAZ that a "very qualified candidate" was considering a run in the Phoenix district.

However, don't count out LD9 for the Dems just yet. It appears there may still be a late entry into that race as well.