A lot of the Republicans in Tucson are moderate (Tucson is unique in Arizona that way). Indeed, Republicans Pete Hershberger, Ann Day, and Toni Hellon are all pro-choice and for gay rights. The trick here is to hope that Graf wins the primary and faces Cunningham or Giffords. If that happens, the seat's ours. If Toni Hellon should win the primary (she's the most capable of the lot), she'd be favored to win the general. Incidentally, Hershberger and Hellon are friends, so I would expect one to defer to the other.
I know Giffords personally and she's top-notch. However, I would expect the popular Gov. Napolitano to work behind-the-scenes for Cunningham. Btw, I am also a friend of Pete Hershberger and he's a very nice, principled man who isn't afraid to stand up to the conservatives in his party. He's very progressive and it would not be a horrible thing if he were to win. He represents the area in the AZ State House and he's more progressive that at least half of the Democrats.
http://www.jefflatas.com/ Jeff Latas arrived in Arizona in 1978 to attend first Pima College and then the University of Arizona, where he graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.
After a career as a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force, and after earning a Master's degree in Public Administration, Jeff chose to settle in his beloved southern Arizona for good.
A lifelong environmentalist, patriot, and Democrat, Jeff is ready to serve southeastern Arizonans as their representative in Congress
http://www.francineshacterforcongress.com/ was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Got married, moved to San Francisco, had four children. Husband transferred to Montgomery County Maryland in 1954. Raised children, worked in politics, organized my precinct for Adlai Stevenson - anyone remember him? - joined with other progressive Democrats to elect progressive Democrats in an otherwise very Republican County. In Montgomery County, I was precinct chairman for a number of years.
Woke up one day to discover I was a single mom with four kids to raise and had to go to get a real job. Worked on "the hill" for almost five years and then went to the Bureau of the Census. Census was great - in 1970, managed the San Francisco office for the decennial census, reconciled demands from the many minority groups. Result: one of the only major cities in the country that did not demand a recount.
Back to Census in D.C. to manage a program in industrial statistics - first woman responsible for the program that covered data on manufacture of all the capital formation machinery in the U.S. From there, on to the Consumer Product Safety Commission to manage program about chronic hazards in consumer products and wrote the first carcinogen policy adopted by a Federal agency.
Important to my contributions in federal government has been my ability to achieve consensus among varying viewpoints without compromising principle.
After more than 30 years of government service, I retired to Arizona where I have become active in the community, volunteering with the schools and the local Democratic party.
