After a bitter defeat at the ballot last November, Arizona Democrats said they wanted change and ousted the state party chairman. But on March 7, a second vote by party leaders returned Don Bivens to the helm.

Bivens was elected chairman of the state Democratic Party by an overwhelming margin, easily defeating two other candidates. Bivens sought re-election as chairman at the party's organizational meeting five weeks ago, but was defeated by Paul Eckerstrom.

Bivens captured 482 of the 585 votes cast. Ted Downing, a Tucson Democrat and former state legislator, announced his candidacy during the meeting; he received 96 votes. The third candidate, Michael Mandeville, received only seven votes.

"Now we take that 82 percent (victory) and turn it into a unified Democratic Party," Bivens said after the election.

In January, Eckerstrom was propelled to victory by the frustration among Arizona Democrats over the party's poor showing in last November's elections. Although the party significantly out-raised the Republican Party and was expected to continue the momentum from the 2000 elections, when Democrats captured six legislative seats, its candidates fared poorly.

Bivens took the blame for Democrats losing a pair of seats in the state House of Representatives and another seat in the Senate.

But only weeks after he was elected party chairman, Eckerstrom quit, citing family reasons. That led to the special meeting today.

In recent weeks, Bivens traveled across the state to speak with grassroots workers and curry support for his campaign to become chairman. He said the main topic of conversation was discussing what volunteers want from the party.

"The tenor of the meetings was, OK, I just got a graduate course in humility. Let's talk about what you'd like to see us doing," he said.

In his speech before the vote, Bivens told his fellow Democrats he was committed to increasing the party's inclusion, communication, transparency and accountability.

But he faced a challenge from Downing, a research professor at the University of Arizona. Downing called for the party to focus its resources on helping volunteers, not hiring high-priced political consultants. Doing so would result in Democrats becoming the dominant party in Arizona, he said.

"Imagine President Obama standing in front of Jon Kyl and John McCain and saying, ‘Boys, I think you've got trouble at home,'" he said.