Dick and Peg Powell, retired teachers from Tucson, came to see U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords debate the issues with Republican challenger Jesse Kelly. What they saw, instead, was a debate sprinkled with a lot of sniping from the two candidates, and even more booing and heckling from the audience.

In seeking a seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission over Democratic rivals, Scottsdale Republican Brenda Burns is touting her private-sector experience, going back 30 years when she and her former husband ran an optometry business.

Jorge Luis Garcia says he’s bit worried that he is a Tucson state senator who has little name recognition in the Phoenix area, where most of the state’s votes are found.

Several well-known Republicans from southern Arizona have thrown their political weight behind U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat who is facing a challenge from Republican newcomer Jesse Kelly in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District.

The majority of spending that can be directly attributed to the landmark legal ruling that allows corporations, unions and other groups to spend freely on candidate campaigns largely affected Republicans in the Arizona primary election.

I know there will be plenty to debate regarding immigration, but I assume much time will also be given to the fiscal health of Arizona and to sensible state laws. Along that line, here are three questions people should ask political candidates as we get closer to the election:

When lawmakers voted in March to put the referendum on the ballot — a measure that would sweep and dismantle the Early Childhood Development and Health Board Fund — they expected it to put about $325 million into the state’s cash-starved coffers. But as of Sept. 1, the agency had about $100 million more than that on hand.

With few policy positions separating the frontrunners in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, the candidates are relying on their qualifications, credibility and their ability to defeat incumbent Democratic Rep. Harry Mitchell in November as they seek the Republican nomination.

State Treasurer Dean Martin's campaign for the Republican nomination for governor was short on cash before qualifying for $707,000 in public funding in late June, but he then paid more than $130,000 to his campaign manger and other consultants in the 11 days before he suspended his campaign.

Sen. John McCain has squared off in a sometimes testy debate with a former Arizona congressman hoping to take his job. J.D. Hayworth portrayed McCain Saturday night as a flip-flopper on illegal immigration, while McCain painted his rival as a faux conservative who is lax with tax dollars.