Legislative District 27 Voting History

CURRENT LEGISLATORS

Senate
Jorge Luis Garcia (D)
Tucson;
social worker.
Termed out in 2010.

House
Olivia Cajero Bedford (D)
Tucson;
former sales and marketing director in hospitality industry.
Termed out in 2010.

Phil Lopes (D)
Tucson;
public health worker, owns consulting firm.
Termed out in 2010.

VOTING HISTORY
When the Independent Redistricting Commission drew boundaries of LD-27 in 2002, the historical partisan voting pattern in the district was 68 percent Democrat and 32 percent Republican. In the 2004 presidential election, Kerry underperformed slightly, getting 63 percent to Bush’s 36 percent. In the 2008 presidential election, Obama defeated McCain in the district by a similar margin (64 percent to 35 percent).

In the 2006 gubernatorial election, Napolitano outpolled Munsil 77 percent to 21 percent – a margin of 56 percentage points. The statewide margin was 27 points.

The marriage amendment lost in the district both times, though the margin was only 4 percentage points in 2008, whereas it was more than 22 percentage points in 2006.

The union-sponsored minimum wage initiative was overwhelmingly approved in the district: 77.6 percent to 22.4 percent.

Most of LD-27 lies in the 7th Congressional District, and Democrat Grijalva defeated Republican Sweeney by almost 50 percentage points. A smaller part of this district lies in the 8th Congressional District, where Democrat Giffords defeated Republican Bee by a much smaller margin: 56.2 percent to 41.5 percent.

Though the amendment prohibiting illegal immigrants from suing for punitive damage awards in state court was successful in this district, the 20 percentage point margin of victory was among the smallest in the state.

FINAL ANALYSIS

Republicans are a decided minority in this district, comprising barely one in five voters, and Democrats represent a majority of all registered voters. Before 2006, Republicans did not even field candidates for the Legislature in this district. Since 2002, voters here have sent only Democrats to the Legislature.

In 2002, there were no incumbents in the district under the new lines drawn for that year’s elections. For the House, a six-way primary ensued among Democrats. One of the candidates was Sally Gonzales, who had served in the House from 1997 to 2000 and whose husband was in the Senate from 1979 to 1986. Another candidate, Olivia Cajero Bedford, was also trying to re-establish a family tie to the Legislature: her father Bernardo “Nayo” Cajero had served from 1969 to 1973. When he died in office, his wife, Carmen, was named to succeed him. She was elected and re-elected a total of 12 times, serving until her retirement in 1996.

Cajero Bedford and political newcomer Phil Lopes were elected.

The Senate race in 2002 featured two veterans. Jorge Luis Garcia had served in the House from 1993 to 1996 and John Kromko, who had served two stints in the House, the latest was a 10-year period from 1983 to 1992. Garcia bested Kromko by more than 1,000 votes. Kromko tried for another comeback in 2008, but he was unsuccessful in his attempt to defeat one of the two incumbents running that year for the House.

All three lawmakers elected in 2002 have been re-elected three times, and all are termed out in 2010. Cajero Bedford has filed for the Senate, as has Republican
J.D. Schecter.

Meanwhile, seven people have filed for the House: five Democrats (John Bernal, Bob Gilby, Sally Ann Gonzales, Sami Hamed, and Dustin Cox), one Republican (Robert Compton) and one independent (Gene Chewning, who ran as a Republican in 2006).