When the smoke cleared after the Sept. 12 primary election, the House races provided only one true surprise — a defeat that caught even the candidate off guard.
Rep. John Allen, a Republican from District 11 seeking re-election for his third term, was upset by challengers Don Hesselbrock and Adam Driggs. Many political observers felt the pair, along with third challenger Devin Slayton, were battling for the seat vacated by retiring Rep. Steve Tully.
Mr. Allen said he was unsure why his campaign faltered, but he didn’t mince words about whose fault it was.
“The blame falls on my shoulders,” he said. “Obviously, I misjudged the electorate.
“There’s no real reason why an incumbent like myself, a two-termer with close ties to the district, should have lost.”
Mr. Allen was planning to run for majority whip in the House Republican caucus for the next term. His defeat leaves Rep. John McComish, R-20, as the only candidate for whip.
Mr. Hesselbrock and Mr. Driggs did not return phone messages.
District 1
Republican incumbent Lucy Mason was easily re-elected, garnering about 5,000 more votes than her nearest challenger. Of more importance, though, to political onlookers was who would capture the seat left open by Tom O’Halleran, who defeated Will Stoll in the Republican primary for the district’s Senate seat.
At press time, it appeared Andy Tobin, a moderate, would defeat conservative Bryan Detwiler, though on Sept. 13, there were still about 2,300 provisional ballots yet to be counted and Mr. Tobin held a scant 114-vote lead.
Mr. Tobin called the race “too close for anyone to call” in a Sept. 13 interview, estimating it may be a week before all of the votes are tabulated.
Noel Campbell finished in fourth.
If the current numbers stand, Ms. Mason and Mr. Tobin will face Democrat Wes Edmonds in the November general election.
District 7
Voters returned Republican Nancy Barto to the House by an overwhelming margin, voting for her nearly 2,000 more times than the district’s other sitting representative, Ray Barnes. She said she was confident she would get the nomination, but did not expect the strong support she received.
“You don’t want to take anything for granted, so we worked hard right up to the end,” she said.
Ms. Barto also said she gave voters a different option than Mr. Barnes and challengers David Burnell Smith and Howard Sprague, who all have similar politics.
“I think people appreciate having another choice. I really do,” she said.
Mr. Barnes edged out Mr. Smith for the district’s second nomination, winning by 249 votes. After having a heart attack in June, Mr. Barnes was unable to campaign for much of the summer or raise much money.
Mr. Smith was elected to represent the district two years ago, but was thrown out of office in February for violating campaign spending laws. In the 2004 election, he ran as a Clean Elections candidate and agreed to abide by special spending laws in order to receive public money to fund his campaign. The Citizens Clean Elections Commission determined in 2005 he overspent by more than 10 percent of the total amount of money he was given and ruled he be removed from office.
After several court appeals, the Supreme Court in February refused to vacate a lower court’s ruling that Mr. Smith be removed from office. He was the first lawmaker in the nation to be forced from office for campaign spending violations.
Ms. Barto was selected to replace him and served out the remainder of his term.
Mr. Barnes and Ms. Barto will face Democrats Marilyn Fox and Jeanne Lunn in the general election.
District 8
Incumbent Republican Michele Reagan and John Kavanagh, a crusader for tougher immigration policies, will both move on to the November election, as they easily distanced themselves from the three other challengers in the primary.
Mr. Kavanagh credited his firm stance on immigration issues and his prior political service as a town councilman for Fountain Hills.
“I think my strong position on anti-illegal-immigration [helped] and I think I had much more extensive political experience than [my opponents] did,” he said. “Voters like people that are proven in the field.”
Ms. Reagan, who led all candidates in the voting, said she had looked forward to serving with any of the three Republican men who ran for the seat vacated by Colette Rosati, a conservative Republican who lost to moderate Sen. Carolyn Allen in the district’s Senate race.
“To me, it was anybody but that other gal,” Ms. Reagan said of Carolyn Schoenrock, who was recruited to run by Ms. Rosati.
Jim Burke finished in third, followed by Ms. Schoenrock and Travis Junion. The two nominees will face Democrats Stephanie Rimmer and William Sandberg in the general election.
District 17
As the state’s only truly competitive district — registration shows that 35.6 percent of voters are Republican, 34.2 percent are Democrat and 30.2 percent are other — District 17 was the only district with a primary race for both Democrats and Republicans.
On the Democrat side, youth dominated, the nominees being 26-year-old David Schapira and 27-year-old Sen. Ed Ableser, who was appointed in March to replace Sen. Harry Mitchell, who resigned to run for Congress.
Mr. Ableser led the four-way field, which also featured Angie Crouse and Rhett Wilson.
Mr. Schapira said he believes his message resonated with voters.
“I focused on education first,” Mr. Schapira said. “I think that a lot of people agree with me on that.”
In the Republican primary, incumbent Laura Knaperek and Dale Despain will go on to the general election in November. Ms. Knaperek, who led all candidates with more than 40 percent of the vote, said her experience made the difference with voters.
“When you’ve been around for 10, 12 years and you’ve done some good, people will remember you,” she said.
Chris DeRose finished third, followed by Dan Gransigner.
Ms. Knaperek said voters in November will have a choice to make: youth, if they choose the Democrats, or experience, if they choose the Republicans.
“I think the voters in my district are going to have to make a decision: do they want new, young representatives in the Legislature that won’t have much of a voice, or do they want people with experience≠” she said.
However, Mr. Schapira said voters need to make a change in the district because the experience Ms. Knaperek touts hasn’t served voters well.
“Experience has failed us. Laura Knaperek has not done her job at the Legislature and she’s not fighting for education…and she’s caved in to special interest groups,” he said. “People are beginning to understand that and I’m going to bring it to their attention.”