All the votes are in...
Every provisional and absentee ballot in Maricopa County has been counted. Definite props to the election workers. According to AZCentral, they were working 12 hour shifts.
So, with the end of vote tallying comes the end results.
Mitchell- 101,838 (50.4%)
Hayworth- 93,815 (46.4%)
Severin- 6,357 (3.1%)
Harry has won by over 8,000 votes. This is a larger spread than a lot of other key races around the country. Not only that, but this is supposed to be a solidly Republican district. Conservatives within the Arizona blogosphere have been adamant that Harry Mitchell is doomed to be a one-term Congressman. They like throwing Sam Coppersmith's name around when talking about this. It's not going to happen like that, though. Granted, Harry will have a race on his hands come 2008. It's bound to happen with the registration advantage the GOP has in this district.
But Harry is going to impress. There is a reason so many Republicans crossed over to vote for him. Independents in this district are the key and Harry won them overwhelmingly. They'll be here in 2008 and they'll vote for Harry again. Tempe is now a Democratic stronghold.
The next two years are going to be interesting on the GOP side of things. Will they nominate a moderate Scottsdale Republican? Or will they go with the Rosati/Huppenthal type crowd? Either way, Harry will be ready and waiting.
posted by TimWilsonAZ @ 9:11 PM
2 Comments:
Hey.... don't put Huppenthal with Rosati. Rosati and Mitchell were neither able to pass a single piece of legislation.
Unlike Mitchell, Senator Huppenthal successfully introduced and passed over 200 pieces of legislation. He eliminated over 40 mandates, returning control to local school districts, he sucessfully initiated performance pay for teachers in Arizona, he expanded the duties of Physician assistants along with their training to make up for our physician shortage, he passed protections from identity theft and he helped create the second most cost effective work force in the nation.
Also, like Mitchell, he was on a city council - Chandler's. Unlike Mitchell, he produced results for the taxpayer. When he started, 13% of Chandler's citizens rated city government excellent. When he left in 1993, 32% rated city government excellent. He left in place a culture of improvement and today, 47% rate Chandler city governemnt excellent.
When Mitchell left Tempe, he left one of the most expensive city governments in the state with only 19% of its citizens rating it excellent. Not only that, it was one of the most selfish governments. He instructed firefighters to watch while one of their neighbors homes burnt to the ground because the neighbor wouldn't annex into the city.
Senator Huppenthal better reflects democrat values of service and equality than Mitchell ever could. Senator Huppenthal was awarded numerous legislator of the year awards for his service and legislation for the blind, the autistic and disabled amongst many.
By comparison, Mitchell is a really really nice guy, but lacking as a policymaker.
If you're still around, I'd like to see some of those sources. I don't think the city of Tempe would have erected a thirty foot statue in his honor if Harry implemented a selfish city government that wasn't a friend to the taxpayer.
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