By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services/Casa Grande Dispatch
Badly trounced two years ago, former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson is crafting a new initiative to scrap partisan elections in Arizona.
Like the plan rejected in 2012, the proposal being prepared for the 2016 ballot would have all candidates of all political stripes run in a wide-open primary. Then the top-two vote-getters in each race would face off in the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
That would affect virtually all elections, including county, legislative and statewide offices, as well as members of Congress. It also would overrule the current system in Tucson, the lone city in Arizona that has kept partisan local races.
Related: Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission
