By Dillon Rosenblatt | Arizona Capitol Times
Just two years ago, the commission was made up of five Republicans before Sandra Kennedy, a Democrat, received the most votes in the 2018 election cutting the deficit to 4-1 in favor of Republicans.
Now, with Chairman Bob Burns reaching term limits and two additional seats open Democrats may have a good shot at picking up one or two seats, the latter scenario giving them a majority in the state’s fourth branch of government.
Six Republicans and three Democrats filed more than the minimum amount of signatures before the early-April deadline, but two Republicans are no longer in the running and three others are sitting in limbo dealing with legal challenges to their signatures pending at the Arizona Supreme Court.
Sen. David Farnsworth, R-Mesa, was the first to fall as he opted to withdraw his candidacy instead of going through with his signature challenge hearing.
