Monday, November 20th, 2006...7:05 am
More Looking Ahead
The State Democratic Party is going to be electing a chair in January, and there is already some speculation about possible candidates.
Of course, this speculation is premised on current chair David Waid not running. I don’t know if he has made a decision either way as of yet. There are a few activists who were uncomfortable with Waid being a staffer who was elevated to the chairmanship, but they failed to mount any sort of challenge against him when he ran all those months ago.
There have been a couple of candidates mentioned. One is recent US Senate candidate Jim Pederson. I know, Jim Pederson as chair, who would think of such a thing? It would be recalling those thrilling days of, um, last year. Despite his loss, Pederson’s chairmanship rejuvenated the Democratic party so it could do things like mount a serious challenge to Jon Kyl. Even so, look to Republican wags to post about this “loser” getting a consolation prize. I even expect the state Republican party to send out a press release to this effect, which will be funny because it will no doubt quote Matt Salmon.
Former State Senator Sandra Kennedy has mentioned running for chairman if Pederson doesn’t. Kennedy ran for chair way back in 1991 against then-Pima County Chair Bill Minette. I remember at the time not knowing a lot about her motivation for running, and I don’t know a lot about what her plan would be if she ran this time.
One name that has been mentioned is Jeff Latas. When I first heard Latas’s name, I thought it was a dream on the part of Latas supporters who wanted to keep their guy prominent. But now, a few people in Phoenix are talking about him running. He’s got a couple of barriers to his candidacy. One is that he’s from Pima County. We used to have a fairly decent amount of chairs from Pima County: Minette, Lars Pederson and Sam Goddard first became Chair as a Pima County resident. Heck, we’ve even had a chair in the 1920’s that was a Ronstadt, and Cochise County even had a turn with John Pintek as chair a few decades ago. The political center of gravity has shifted, however. I’m not sure that many activists in Maricopa County (who will form the lion’s share of the vote) would vote for anyone from Pima County without an awful lot of massaging on the candidate’s part.
It must also be remembered that the chief job of the party chair is fundraising. It remains to be seen whether Latas or Kennedy have the fundraising chops necessary for the job.
4 Comments
November 21st, 2006 at 9:40 am
Then there is also former chair Harry Mitchell– oh, wait– he already got a promotion courtesy of the stronger Democratic party that has been built up over the past few years.
November 21st, 2006 at 12:18 pm
Hey Teddie you could use a job couldn’t you?
November 21st, 2006 at 12:24 pm
Not that one. It would require too much time in Phoenix.
November 21st, 2006 at 5:01 pm
The name I have heard is Randy Camacho, but I wonder who the governor wants to do the job? It seems to me that’s how it works these days.
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