Politics

With the current recorder, Laura Dean-Lytle, planning to retire from her seat at the end of the election cycle, the Pinal County position will go to either Republican Virginia Ross or Democrat Barbara Kelly after the No­vember vote. The county recorder’s office is tasked with making and preserving copies of valuable records. These records primarily consist of those having to do with property such as deeds and insurance records.

  Are you registered to vote in the upcoming general election? If not, you have until Tuesday, October 9 to register and voice your opinion in the upcoming 2012 general election.  It’s as easy as going to http://servicearizona.com and clicking the link for voter registration.

The role of the Pinal County Treasurer’s Office is to collect county taxes, primarily property taxes, and hold the funds until they are budgeted. Now, the race is down to incumbent Democrat Dolores Doolittle and challenger Republican Steven Boyd. The office handles the money for most of the organizations within Pinal County’s government including: the school districts, state and federal grants, county-run fire dis­tricts, flood control and irrigation districts, Mrs. Doolittle said.

Scott and Cara Prior, residents of Apache Junction, are both running for the Arizona State Legislature. Democrat Scott Prior has been in the LD16 Senate Race since January of 2012, and Cara Prior, also a Democrat, is now a Write In Candidate for the LD16 House of Representatives. Mrs. Prior decided to run as a write in candidate, as there are two Representative seats available and only one Democratic candidate, Matthew Cerra.  

Orlenda Roberts and Jill Broussard will be facing off for the job of county su­perintendent in the general election this November. The job of county superintendent is to work with individual school districts when they form a budget and process the payroll for most public school employees.

Independent Newspapers The Aug. 28 Pinal County primary elec­tion has determined that assessor candi­dates Randy Robbins and Douglas Wolf will be two of the candidates in the general election this November. The job of assessor is to determine the value of property in Pinal County.

  Legislative District 8 candidate Emily Verdugo was named as one of the top 20 Latino Democrats to watch in the next 20 years on Labor Day, September 3rd, by the Houston Chronicle.

Join the discussion and help map Arizona’s future on Thursday, Sept. 27, 6-9 p.m. at one of three Central Arizona College locations in Pinal County. CAC and the Arizona Humanities Council invite the community to be part of a state-wide civil discourse on the upcoming Arizona ballot initiatives.

Pinal County to Conduct Logic & Accuracy Test Wednesday at 2 PM For those who wonder if their vote really counts, wonder no more.  The Congressional District 4 Democrat race was so close on a district-wide level that an automatic re-count was triggered.  According to unofficial results on the Secretary of State’s website, Johnnie Robinson garnered 10,185 votes in the democrat race for Congressional District 4 and Mikel Weisser garnered 10,166 votes – a difference of only 19 votes. 

The unofficial results from the Aug. 28 Pinal County primaries have deter­mined who will likely be on the ballot in November. The three supervisory districts in Pinal County grew to five due to a state law, requir­ing additional seats as the county’s popula­tion grows, according to election officials.

Potential violations of Arizona campaign finance laws may have occurred with the Paul Babeu for Sheriff Committee and involve the campaigns of Lando Voyles and Cheryl Chase.  A complaint asking for investigation was filed this morning with the Pinal County Attorney’s office, in accordance with Arizona law.

  Ronald LeDuc of Gold Canyon is the current appointed Constable for the Apache Junction Justice Court (JP #7). LeDuc is seeking the position that was left vacant by Sheriff’s candidate Jack McClaren’s resignation from the Office in late May 2012.

At $147,000 each, sheriff spends over $50,000 (54%) more per deputy than Arizona average For fiscal year 2010-2011, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu spent 54 percent more than the state average on individual officers in his department, according to a report obtained by the McClaren for Sheriff Committee.

Arizona voters get their first chance to start making choices during the 2012 election season by casting their ballots in the Tuesday, Aug. 28, Primary Election which will narrow the field of candidates for the Nov. 6 General Election.

You have the rest of this week to vote in the primaries! Any registered voter can vote early until August 24.  Contact your County Recorder’s Office (520-866-6830) to find an early voting location in your community. You just have to be in line by 5:00 on Friday.