It's Official!

Harry Mitchell will run for Congress against J.D. Hayworth. According to the Arizona Republic, Mitchell will make a formal announcement in April.

This changes the dynamics of this race tremendously. Mitchell will be able to carry a huge percentage of Tempe and his name recognition extends into Scottsdale, Chandler, and Mesa. He'll be able to draw more donations and it looks like the DCCC is ready to jump on board.

I got a call from Larry King this morning. He is staying in the race. I think that this is good. This primary won't be bitter or negative. It might just define many of the issues in the race. It'll definitely take away a lot of Hayworth's steam concerning immigration. Larry released a press report this morning and it was posted on Kos.

I'm going on vacation and I'll be back Friday, so enjoy your Spring Break if you have one or have a great rest of the week!

Mitchell to Announce Decision Sometime This Weekend

According to the Phoenix Business Journal and AZCentral.com (the same article was also in ASU's State Press today), State Sen. Harry Mitchell will announce his decision to run against J.D. Hayworth or not sometime today or this weekend.

There is a lot of support in the state party and around the district for Harry Mitchell. A Draft Harry website has even popped up in recent weeks. The Young Democrats at ASU have been very vocal in their efforts to get Sen. Mitchell to run.

Also, use this as your Start-of-Spring-Break/Weekend Open Thread. Go!

Update: In the comments, homegrown democrat has a source that says Harry Mitchell filled today. AZCongressWatch is also reporting that Mitchell will announce his candidacy tomorrow.

Time to Stand Up and Declare

Larry King posted an excellent diary over at DailyKos. I'm glad we have a candidate against Hayworth that is dedicated to growing our Party into a strong, effective progressive movement. I think Larry believes strongly in the idea of "thinking globally and acting locally."

Arizona's Democratic Party is, unfortunately, not as effective or organized as it should be. Growing and building the state party can only be done by taking over from the ground up. Donate to progressive candidates and causes in the party. Get involved with local campaigns. This is our party, let's take it back from the Bush apologists, the Republicans in Democrat's clothes, and the corrupt D.C. establishment.

King Will Drop Out if Mitchell Runs

The Arizona Republic has a piece on the efforts of the state party to recruit a more widely known candidate to run against Hayworth. Harry Mitchell, State Senator and state party chairman, is currently the target of an effort to draft him to run. And as for Larry King should Mitchell enter the race? According to the Republican article, King has said he will drop out.

I like both Larry King and Harry Mitchell. They are both great candidates and can both give Hayworth quite a race. Harry, though, is the more experienced politician and has more name recognition in the district, especially in Scottsdale and Tempe. Mitchell, along with Chuck Blanchard, both polled better than Hayworth in the DCCC's internal poll.

In other news, J.D. Hayworth has told President Bush to take a hike and is sponsoring a bill to ban foreign governments from owning or carrying out operations at our seaports. Hayworth must be paying attention to the climate at home. The port deal is incredibly unpopular on both sides of the political spectrum. This issue is being closely followed by the American public and I bet that this district would overwhelmingly reject the deal if asked in a poll.

Also, Hayworth is beefing up his record on his favorite pet issue- immigration. He recently introduced a bill to criminalize the construction of tunnels that cross our international borders and penalize those who use them. It's a good idea that has been offered up by Senators Feinstein and Kyl. Of course, any Republican bill on immigration must be taken with a grain of salt, especially coming from xenophobic Hayworth.

Hayworth's book Whatever It Takes was released a few months back and I think I'll pick it up next week. Hayworth will use immigration as much as he can in this election. It's probably the only issue that he'll attract voters with since he's embroiled in the Abramoff scandal and can't shake his cozy ties with King George.