Legislative District 15 Voting History

CURRENT LEGISLATORS

Senate
Ken Cheuvront (D)
Phoenix;
general contractor, owner of Cheuvront Wine and Cheese Café.
Termed out in 2010.

House
David Lujan (D)
Phoenix;
attorney, former Senate Judiciary Committee analyst.
Termed out in 2012.

Kyrsten Sinema (D)
Phoenix;
attorney, faculty associate at ASU School of Social Work.
Termed out in 2012.

VOTING HISTORY

When the Independent Redistricting Commission drew boundaries of LD-15 in 2002, the historical partisan voting pattern in the district was 57 percent Democrat and 43 percent Republican. Since then, the district has become more Democratic, delivering a 60 percent to 40 percent majority for Kerry over Bush in the 2004 presidential election. In 2008, Obama performed even better, outpolling McCain 62 percent to 36 percent. In the 2006 gubernatorial election, the district also delivered the sixth-largest margin of support for Napolitano over Munsil.

The margin of support for the 2006 constitutional amendment prohibiting illegal immigrants from suing for punitive damages was among the smallest in the state. The district also delivered a winning margin for the 2006 union-sponsored minimum wage initiative that was in the top third of all districts. The Democrats were favored in all three congressional districts of which this district is a part.

Both the 2006 and the 2008 versions of the marriage amendment were defeated in this district, one of only seven districts that voted it down both times.

FINAL ANALYSIS

This is a decidedly blue-collar district whose per-capita income is in the lower half of all districts and whose percentage of residents below the poverty line is sixth-highest in the state.
In terms of education, the percentage of residents with college degrees and the percentage of persons without high school diplomas stands in the middle third of all districts.

David Lujan is expected to run for attorney general in 2010, and Kyrsten Sinema has opened an exploratory committee for a run for the open Senate seat vacated by the term-limited Ken Cheuvront. Republican Bob Thomas has also filed for the Senate.

The two vacant House seats have prompted five hopefuls to file nomination papers: Caroline Condit, Katie Hobbs, Luis Garcia, former lawmakers Lela Alston (who served nine terms in the Senate beginning in 1977) and Ken Clark (who served one term beginning in 2002).