Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

The Yellow Sheet ran an article on the possible replacements for Raúl Grijalva should he be appointed Secretary of the Interior. In the spirit of jumping the gun here (this whole thing is speculative, ennit?), I’ll leap to the end of their list:

Another Dem source says [Tom] Prezelski and Grijalva’s daughter, Adelita, are possible candidates.

Adelita just had a baby and that leaves her a wee bit busy. As for that other name: that guy? Who was the “Dem source” for this article, his mom?

The other names mentioned in the article are Ramón Valadez, Richard Elías and (to break the accent mark streak) Jennifer Eckstrom. Linda Lopez is also mentioned as a possibility.

Eckstrom, daughter of former County Supervisor and South Side Możny Dan Eckstrom, would not run against Valadez. Not least because of the long standing connections between the Eckstrom clan and Valadez, but also because Valadez is Eckstrom’s boss in her “civilian” life.

Interestingly, they mention no names from outside of the Tucson area (and the one that isn’t from Tucson is mayor of a city completely surrounded by Tucson). The district includes Yuma, Nogales, Tolleson and Avondale. As time goes on, I’d fully expect to see names like Nogales Mayor Octavio García or Avondale Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers floated. These names might not be well known in most of the district, but if they can play the “local done well” card, and can pull some serious numbers in their home area. Back in 2002, Lisa Otondo, a novice candidate with few connections outside of her hometown of Yuma, managed to carry Yuma County. In a race where several big names carve up Pima County, a strong hometown showing in a community like Tolleson or Nogales could be enough to get a candidate nominated. Also remember that this is a special election where turnout will be a heck of a lot lower than usual.

I had indications this weekend that Yuma resident and Vice Chair of the State Democratic Party Charlene Fernandez is not interested in running if Elías runs. Another name I had heard mentioned is Steve Farley, who is quoted in the YS article praising Elías, so that probably means he is less than interested. Elías was also chair of Farley’s initial campaign for legislature, and they live about two blocks from each other.

It’s always funny when there are openings and potential openings like this. All sorts of names get mentioned of people that have no interest or inclination to run. Back in 1991 when Mo Udall had to resign, one possible candidate who was mentioned was Valadez, then a staffer for Dennis DeConcini. Valadez was not yet old enough to serve in congress.

So, along those lines is the most implausible story that has been making the rounds: that Kyrsten Sinema would move back to Tucson (and, I’m assuming, resign her seat along the way) and make a run for the seat. An R-Cubed correspondent asked Sinema about this story and she laughed.

The article only mentioned one Republican, Joe Sweeney. Sweeney has made a run for congress every year since 1982 as a member of four different parties, which has to be some sort of record (even though one time was as a write-in and member of the now defunct New Alliance Party). Republican aspirants can convince themselves that lower turnout special elections make their election possible. I don’t know that this is a possibility in the current climate, but who knows?

Jim Buster, who ran for congress as a Yuma area legislator back in 1996 is now a member of the Avondale city council. He could do it again, I suppose. I only mention him because he had the most irritating radio ads in his previous congressional run. They included a husband telling his wife that he’s going to quit his job so they can go on welfare, because this is what everyone does right? He also had a Ghostbusters inspired jingle: “Who You Gonna Vote For: Jim Buster!” I am not making this up.

When coming up with your own rumor lists (I’m sure you’ll post them here) here is something that makes this parlor game even more fun: a candidate doesn’t actually have to live in the district. I’ll do a bit more on possibilities later, I’ve written way too much tonight.