Miranda upset that Gallardo will be unopposed in Senate race

Rather than face a potential challenge to her nominating petitions, Rep. Martha Garcia, a Phoenix Democrat, withdrew from her Senate race after finding discrepancies in her signatures.

Her departure left Steve Gallardo, a former House member, as the lone candidate in District 13, almost certainly assuring him a seat in the 30-member chamber next year.

One respected lawmaker in the heavily Democratic district said he is frustrated that Gallardo won’t be challenged, citing Gallardo’s decision two years ago to abruptly resign after being re-elected.

“I’m disappointed that there is not going to be a choice,” said Sen. Richard Miranda, who faces term limits this year and is running for the House. “Yeah, I’m not really pleased with the way that Steve Gallardo got this position, and it’s by default.”

In November 2008, Gallardo was elected to his fourth House term. He announced the next month that he would not be returning to the Legislature, and instead would pursue professional opportunities.

This time around, Gallardo said he was responding to numerous calls from people in the district asking him to run for the Senate.

“I’m answering their call,” Gallardo said, adding that he firmed up his decision to get in the race after talking to key members in the community.

He said their message to him was: “It’s an open seat and we need a fighter.”

As for Miranda’s comments, Gallardo said this was the first time anyone from the district brought up the issue of his resignation.

“This is only an issue for Richard. It’s not an issue for the voters,” he said.

Miranda, who was out of the country when Garcia made her decision, said he was shocked to learn that she had withdrawn from the Senate race. The senator said he thought Garcia had a pretty good chance of beating Gallardo.

Gallardo said he has spent the last two years helping people who are facing foreclosure stay in their homes. The housing slump hit his district hard, he said.

Once back in the Capitol, he said, he would focus on jobs and the economy, and fight to either repeal or make drastic changes to S1070, Arizona’s new strict illegal immigration law.

“I think (Rep.) Kyrsten Sinema needs help in terms of exercising that voice,” he said of Sinema’s vocal opposition to the law.

Gallardo joins a handful of candidates who will face neither a primary nor a general election challenge. Many of them – like Sen. Linda Lopez, a Democrat from Tucson, and Rep. John McComish, a Republican from Phoenix – have established names and would have been formidable foes to any challengers.

Meanwhile, Garcia said she relied on volunteers to collect signatures because of health reasons and that she dropped out after discovering problems with the signatures.