By Melissa Estrada | Arizona Republic
Arizonans will choose two seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission in the 2022 election.
Two seats are up for election on the Arizona Corporation Commission this year.
The Corporation Commission is tasked with approving rates charged by utilities like Arizona Public Service Co. and Southwest Gas, ensuring the safety of railroads and pipelines, investigating the securities marketplace and receiving organizing documents for corporations in Arizona.
Commissioners serve four-year terms and can serve two consecutive terms. The commission has five members elected statewide by voters.
Democrats have two candidates running in the primary, including incumbent Commissioner Sandra Kennedy. Both should move on to the general election. On the Republican side, three newcomers are vying for the two slots in the November election. In addition to those on the ballot, write-in candidates are possible as well.
Arizona is one of seven states with a constitutionally created commission and is one of 13 states with elected commissioners. The body is known as the public utility commission in many other states. Of the five total commissioners, three are elected during presidential election years and the other two are chosen during gubernatorial election years.
These are the candidates running for the Arizona Corporation Commission:
Democratic Candidates:
Sandra Kennedy
Arizona Corporation Commissioner Sandra Kennedy questions Don Brandt, CEO of Arizona Public Service and its parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corp., at the Arizona Corporation Commission in Phoenix on Sept. 4, 2019.
Sandra Kennedy is running for re-election to the Arizona Corporation Commission. Prior to winning a seat in 2018, Kennedy was elected to one term on the commission in 2008, becoming the first African American candidate in Arizona to win a statewide office.
Kennedy’s re-election campaign website states that there is more work to do in office to “protect the public, fight corruption, increase transparency and protect Arizona’s most vulnerable residents.”
Kennedy has run for office as a “fierce consumer advocate” and an advocate for clean and renewable energy. She is outspoken on the usage of solar energy in Arizona and used it as a platform base for her 2008 and 2018 campaigns.
Kennedy was first elected to public office as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives in 1986. She served six years before running and winning a seat in the Arizona State Senate in 1992.
Kennedy is running for re-election as a clean elections candidate.
