Play the video above to see these stories on AZ Illustrated Politics for Friday, March 7:
Host Jim Nintzel sat down with Arizona Education Network President Ann-Eve Pedersen, former state lawmaker Jonathan Paton and Arizona Daily Star columnist Tim Steller. Topics included:
GOVERNOR’S RACE: A new Public Policy Polling survey released this week showed no clear front-runner in this year’s race for governor. Paton said the top tier of candidates in the Republican primary included Arizona Treasurer Doug Ducey, Secretary of State Ken Bennett, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith and attorney Christine Jones. Pedersen, who clashed with Ducey during an unsuccessful 2012 campaign to persuade voters to increase the sales tax to pay for schools and roads, said that Ducey’s push against that proposition could hurt him with voters who want to see more investment in education.
ATTORNEY GENERAL’S RACE: The PPP survey also showed Democrat Felecia Rotellini leading incumbent Attorney General Tom Horne by 6 percentage points. Steller said Horne’s low numbers stem from his own troubles with the law over charges that he improperly coordinated with an independent campaign committee. Paton said that Horne was facing a lot of trouble in his primary race against Republican Mark Bvrnovich, while Pedersen said that Rotellini represented the Democrats’ best chance of winning a statewide office in November.
McCAIN’S APPROVAL NUMBERS: The PPP showed that McCain was the least popular senator in America, with just 30 percent of voters approving of the job he has done and 54 percent disapproving. Paton said that McCain’s numbers showed that he had upset too many Republicans, while Pedersen said his bellicose opposition to President Barack Obama had hurt him among Democrats.
AZ Illustrated Politics is produced by Jim Nintzel. Contact him at jnintzel@azpm.org.
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