2010 Arizona elections


The 2010 Arizona state elections were held on November 2, 2010, with primaries on August 24, 2010. These include state-level offices and both chambers of Congress. A special election was also on May 18 for Proposition 100.

U.S. Senate

John McCain announced his plans to run again for Senate on November 25, 2008, just 21 days after losing the 2008 presidential race. McCain faced a primary challenge from former representative J.D. Hayworth, and Jim Deakin. The Democratic candidates were Rodney Glassman, Rudy Garcia, and John Dougherty.
In the general election, the candidates were incumbent John McCain, Rodney Glassman, Jerry Joslyn, and David Nolan.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections were held for all Arizona's congressional districts, with elections in the 1st, 3rd congressional district|3rd], 5th congressional district|5th], and 8th congressional districts being among the more heavily contended.
Republican John Shadegg, the incumbent in the 3rd district, announced that he would not seek re-election on January 14, 2010. On the Republican side, Ben Quayle, son of former vice-president Dan Quayle, announced his on February 12, 2010, despite never voting in a local election. Other notable Republicans in the race include former state representative Sam Crump, former state senators Pamela Gorman and Jim Waring, and former Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker. The only Democrat in that race is Jon Hulburd.
Both the 5th and 8th districts' Democratic incumbents, Harry Mitchell and Gabby Giffords, respectively, are seeking reelection. Mitchell faces a Republican challenge from former Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert, Jeffrey W. Smith, Jim Ward while Giffords' biggest Republican challengers include former State Senator Jonathan Paton and construction manager Jesse Kelly.

Governor

On January 20, 2009, Janet Napolitano was confirmed as United States Secretary of Homeland Security by Barack Obama and resigned as governor the next day. Since Arizona does not have a Lieutenant [governor (United States)|lieutenant governor], Secretary of State Jan Brewer took over office. Brewer announced her intentions to run for full term in November 2009. The other Republican candidates were state treasurer Dean Martin, Owen "Buz" Mills, former Arizona Board of Regents president John Munger, Matthew Jette, and Tom Gordon. At one point, Sheriff Joe Arpaio was considering a run for governor, but eventually declined. On June 2, 2010, John Munger dropped out of the race.
The only Democratic challenger was Attorney General Terry Goddard. The Libertarian Party had Ronald Cavanaugh, Bruce Olsen, Alvin Ray Yount, and Barry Hess facing off while Larry Gist was on the ballot for the Green Party.
Jan Brewer won the Republican primary with approximately 80% of the vote while Democrat Terry Goddard moved on with no opposition. Barry Hess won the Libertarian primary and Larry Gist won the Green primary. Incumbent Jan Brewer won the election with 54.3% of the vote.

Secretary of State

When Jan Brewer succeeded Janet Napolitano as governor, she appointed Republican Ken Bennett to replace her as Secretary of State. Bennett later went on to seek a full term.

Republican primary

Candidates

Democratic primary

Candidates

Third party candidates

  • Michelle Lochmann ''''

Attorney General

Incumbent Democrat Terry Goddard ran for governor. The three Democrats who ran to fill the vacancy were Arizona's House minority leader David Lujan as well as Felecia Rotellini and Vince Rabago both former assistant attorney general. The Republican race was between superintendent of public instruction Tom Horne and former Maricopa County attorney Andrew Thomas.
In the Republican primary, Tom Horne declared victory on August 28, with an 853-vote lead. However, his opponent, Andrew Thomas, did not concede the race until August 31.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Republican primary

Candidates

Treasurer

As incumbent Republican Treasurer Dean Martin decided to unsuccessfully run for Governor of Arizona, the position was an open seat. CEO of Cold Stone Creamery and former investor Doug Ducey successfully ran for the Republican nomination. Andrei Cherny, an advisor to Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry, won the Democratic nomination.

Republican primary

Candidates

Democratic primary

Candidates

Third party candidates

  • Thane Eichenauer
  • Thomas Meadows

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Incumbent Republican Tom Horne was term-limited and successfully ran for Attorney General. State senator John Huppenthal and educator Penny Kotterman won the Republican and Democratic primaries respectively.

Republican primary

Candidates

Democratic primary

Candidates

  • Penny Kotterman, educator and former Arizona Education Association president.
  • Jason Williams, educator and Democratic nominee in 2006.

Mine Inspector

Incumbent Republican Joe Hart ran for a second term and was challenged by Democrat Manuel Cruz. Arizona is the only state that fills this position through direct election.

Republican primary

Candidates

Democratic primary

Candidates

  • Manuel Cruz, blasting engineer.

Corporation Commission

Two seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission were up for election. Incumbent commissioner Gary Pierce ran for re-election while Kris Mayes was term limited. Brenda Burns became the second Republican to secure nomination. They were challenged by Democrats David Bradley and Jorge Luis Garcia. Garcia died on October 15 but his name remained on the ballot.

Republican primary

Candidates

Democratic primary

Candidates

Third party candidates

  • Rick Fowlkes
  • Theodore Gomez
  • Benjamin Pearcy ''''

State Legislature

All 30 members of the Arizona Senate and all 60 members of the Arizona House of Representatives were up for election. Republicans flipped multiple seats in both chambers.

Supreme Court

One justice on the Arizona Supreme Court was up for retention in 2010. Justice Rebecca White Berch was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Jane Dee Hull in 2002 and became Chief Justice in 2009.

Ballot propositions

Arizona had eleven statewide propositions on the ballot in 2010 - one special election in May and ten in the November general ballot.

May special election

On May 18, 2010, a special election was held for an amendment seeking a temporary sales tax increase. It was passed by an almost two-thirds margin.