Other articles by Daniel Scarpinato:

Redo budget, Brewer tells lawmakers Senate sends bill for Pima baseball-tax vote to Brewer Legislators OK change to Tucson elections Gov. Brewer follows through on veto threat, orders lawmakers to return GOP legislative leaders try to save budget deal Political notebook : Sanford letter had unfortunate timing Tax proposals stall action until Monday Two Minutes with a Lawmaker : Republican senator discusses liberty, gov't, air conditioning Political Notebook: Sanford letter 'bummer' for Ariz. think tankGOP leaders, Brewer have budget deal

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With all the speculation about John McCain's bid for the White House, there's been little discussion about what would happen to his U.S. Senate seat if McCain actually won the presidency.

The talk among Democrats is that Gov. Janet Napolitano might be interested in the job. Turns out if McCain vacated the seat it would be up to Napolitano to appoint a replacement to finish out the term, which ends in 2010. He or she must be Republican.

In a recent article, Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, speculated that Napolitano would pick one of her GOP supporters "to serve as a caretaker, ensuring that the seat is open in 2010."

Asked about the situation, Napolitano shrugged off the whole thing as a "what if" question. "Let's let the process work," she said.

As a popular governor who is term-limited, Napolitano could be the first Democrat from Arizona to win a U.S. Senate seat since Dennis DeConcini.

A new poll lists Napolitano as the most popular public official in Arizona, dislodging McCain from that long-held spot.

If Napolitano ends up not running in 2010, Roll Call speculates Gabrielle Giffords and Raúl Grijalva would be possible Democratic candidates.

But then there's this possibility: McCain doesn't win — or doesn't even run — ruining everyone's hopes to be his heir.

Meanwhile, a recent poll by the Behavior Research Center finds that McCain would be the clear winner of Arizona's electoral votes in a race against either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

In his bid to earn the Demo-cratic nomination for the right to replace outgoing Ward 2 Councilwoman Carol West, Rodney Glassman seems to have staked out the inside track.

His campaign co-chairs are Democratic heavy-hitters George and Roslyn Miller — the former two-term Democratic mayor and his wife — and Janet Marcus, the longtime councilwoman who represented Ward 2 from 1987 to 1999.

Glassman has also already filed for public matching funds from the city, collecting the necessary $10 contributions to qualify under election laws. City Clerk Kathy Detrick said Glassman's money application is the earliest she's ever seen.

The other Democrat mulling a run is Clarence Boykins, executive director of the Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce.

Boykins — who has pulled papers and said this week he's deciding whether to get into the race — is probably best know for his failed run in November for the District 30 seat in the state House of Representatives.

In that race, Boykins said his opponent Jonathan Paton should have given up his seat before going to serve in Iraq. "You cannot serve two masters," Boykins said at the time.

For the Republicans, Lori Oien, a former Mothers Against Drunk Driving volunteer, is attempting to be the first Republican to hold the seat since at least 1979.

Winning his first real stripes since being sworn into Congress in 2003, Rep. Grijalva was selected as the chairman of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee of the Natural Resources Committee this week.

On his first day, Grijalva introduced a bill to expand the boundaries of the Tucson area's Saguaro National Park.