Hourly Update

Democrats vie for vacant seat in state senate

At least eight Democrats want to be named to the Arizona Senate seat given up by Gabrielle Giffords, a party official said. Giffords resigned her District 28 seat Dec. 1 to run for Congress. She’s aiming for the seat of U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, an Arizona Republican who is to retire next year. The district precinct committee is to meet tonight to choose three nominees for the state Senate seat. The three names will go to the Pima County Board of Supervisors, which will choose one name to forward to the Senate. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union Hall, 2475 E. Water St. Check-in starts at 5 p.m. District 28 Chairman Ward Wallingford said the eight who contacted him seeking the nomination include the district’s two state representatives, David Bradley and Ted Downing, both Democrats. If one gets the appointment, the selection process would begin again to fill a House seat, probably in January. Also seeking the nomination are Leslie Nixon, a former chief aide to Supervisor Sharon Bronson; Steve Farley, the mass-transit advocate who lost to Nina Trasoff in September’s City Council election; Ted Prezelski, the brother of Rep. Tom Prezelski of Tucson; real estate businessman Paul Lindsey; and loan officer Charlie Morriss. Tim Sultan, a former aide to Gov. Janet Napolitano who had been expected to run for Kolbe’s seat in 2006, reconsidered and asked to be named to the state Senate. The main reason for the switch “is we’ve got good candidates already in the Congressional race,” said Sultan, who lost the primary in Kolbe’s District 8 to Eva Bacal. Others could be nominated at tonight’s meeting at which 96 precinct committee members are eligible to vote. Many people have voiced support for seating a woman in Gifford’s old post, said Pima County Democratic Chairman Paul Eckerstrom. Giffords, who did not endorse a nominee when she quit, said she hoped at least one woman would represent the district in the House or Senate.