Thoughts on Election Night 2010: Arizona

What a night it was some twenty-four hours ago! What a night it was for Arizona! What a night it was for conservatives across the nation! What a night it was for the United States of America!

Arizona's elections left few Democrats in its wake. Members of a divided party (back in 2009 over the proposed tax increase) campaigned together and supported each other. The fruits of these actions produced  a straight-ticket GOP voting scheme across much of the state.

As it stands right now, Republicans gained two Congressional seats in Arizona last night, knocking off Ann Kirkpatrick and Harry Mitchell in Congressional Districts One and Five, respectively. There's still two seats in question: Ruth McClung in Congressional District Seven, and Jesse Kelly in Congressional District Eight. Jesse Kelly probably has the best chance at coming back to grab the lead after all the outstanding ballots have been accounted for.

Congressman Trent Franks and Congressman Jeff Flake again showed the Democrats that they should never bother to throw a competitive General election at them, each winning in their districts with over 65% of the vote. Ben Quayle won his General election handily (by over ten percentage points) in a race where most people with interest in it speculated just how close it could be in the end.

Governor Brewer easily won her re-election. Tom Horne comfortably defeated his Democratic opponent in the Attorney General's race. John Huppenthal became next in line for Superintendent of Schools.

Some thoughts, though, in thinking about the last night's results and about Election 2012 in Arizona:

• Glen Beck pointed out on Monday's show that Ruth McClung had turned down financial aid from the Republican establishment, in part, because she did not want to become beholden to them for anything. I understand Ruth's sentiments; however, in today's political system, money wins votes. Candidates need to get their message across to as many of the voters in their district as possible. If Ruth McClung does, in fact, lose this race, it won't be from a lack of effort; rather it will be because she just couldn't match the slew of funds that came pouring in to save Congressman Raul Grijalva from a humiliating defeat. That's unfortunate.
•  Ben Quayle wasn't supposed to win his Primary election in Congressional District Three in August, yet there he was, at the top, after all the ballots had been counted. His General election was regarded to be "closer than it should be" - this due to his Democrat opponent's tireless attacks on Ben's past history in his personal life; yet Quayle blew Jon Hulburd away by almost twelve percentage points, capturing more than fifty percent of the district's vote in the process. Though I have concerns about his stance on telling the truth when it matters, I have little doubt (unlike some other individuals) that he will be a staunch conservative vote in the United States House of Representatives. For everything he endured (and don't let anyone tell you that anyone but himself brought momentary troubles upon his campaign), he showed resiliency; he showed that he could, in time, reach John McCain status - a longtime politician who is the face of Arizona politics.
• Speaking of rising stars in Arizona (and Quayle jumped to the front of that list last night), there were some other state legislators who could soon be due for promotions. Speaker of the House Kirk Adams comes first to my mind. Speaker Adams will be termed out of the House in 2012, and he will need another seat to jump to. The easiest solution would be to work out a swap with the district's State Senator, Rich Crandall, but let's think outside of the box: would Kirk Adams ever challenge Congressman Jeff Flake for the party's U.S. House nomination? If anything, it's going to be interesting to see what Speaker Adams does with the next step of his career. Representative Steve Montenegro is the other rising Arizona star who comes to my mind. Steve is a close friend of mine. His character and passion for serving his Creator and country is second to none. When he addresses a crowd, people walk away inspired, blown away by his enthusiasm. Steve pulled in more votes yesterday than his district running mate, Jerry Weiers, who has years more name recognition in the area. He's ready for a step up in 2012, I think. Will he run for State Senator? We'll see how everything shakes out.
• What will Senator Jon Kyl do in 2012 when re-election time comes upon him? If he runs, he will win handily, and this conversation is moot. However, there are so many scenarios if he decides to call it a career, giving his successor the best possible chance at success in what will more than likely be a GOP year.
• Congressman Jeff Flake could run for the Senate seat. Flake has amassed a huge war chest over the years, and could definitely raise more if he took this step. IF Congressman Flake runs for U.S. Senate, that would open up the door for Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams to run for Congress in a safer than safe GOP district.
• Ben Quayle would definitely take a long look at this opportunity. With his name ID, popularity amongst the young people, and ability to raise loads of cash, he would definitely be one of the favorites in the Primary in no time. IF Quayle ran for this Senate seat, Dean Martin, Jim Waring, and Vernon Parker would probably look to keep Quayle's Congressional seat in GOP control.
• IF Quayle does not run, look for Dean Martin to run for U.S. Senate. Dean, from all accounts, is a well-liked individual, and a candidate who was in line to defeat Governor Brewer and Terry Goddard in a world without S.B. 1070. He's not done with his political career in the least bit.
• I would think that J.D. Hayworth would make one last attempt at public service. Maybe he bites at this opportunity.
• I've also heard that Congressman John Shadegg might consider running to succeed Senator Kyl. Look for Secretary of State Ken Bennett's name to be mentioned as well.