(Find full election results at the secretary of state’s website.)
Information from Arizona Capitol Times
Former Corporation Commissioner Sandra Kennedy has easily claimed one of two Democratic nominations for two open Arizona Corporation Commission seats.
But while she surges ahead in the early voting returns, her fellow former commissioner, Bill Mundell, is struggling to secure his comeback nomination. He’s neck-and-neck with Kiana Maria Sears, with less than 1 percentage point separating them. Sears has been accused of being an Arizona Public Service plant in the Democratic primary. That accusation threatened to be particularly harmful to her campaign at a time of heightened public scrutiny around the commissioners’ relationship with the state’s largest public utility.
But Mundell has baggage of his own, having previously served on the commission as a Republican. He has said he switched after recognizing the influence APS had over the other Republican commissioners. Now, he and Kennedy have run as a team pledging to change the status quo.
In the Nov. 6 General Election, the Democrats will likely face off against at least one incumbent. Justin Olson has pulled ahead in the Republican primary, while Tom Forese falls behind the pack. Rodney Glassman currently has the early voting returns behind him to claim the second Republican nomination.
Arizona Corporation Commission By The Numbers
Early votes
Democrat
Sandra Kennedy 45.2 percent
Bill Mundell 27.3 percent
Kiana Maria Sears 27.5 percent
Republican
Tom Forese 16 percent
Justin Olson 25 percent
Rodney Glassman 23 percent
Jim O’Connor 21.5 percent
Eric Sloan 15.5 percent
