Sandra Kennedy, Kiana Sears win Corp Comm Democratic primary

Former Corporation Commissioner Sandra Kennedy has easily claimed one of two Democratic nominations for two open Arizona Corporation Commission seats.

But while she surged ahead in the Aug. 28 primary, her fellow former commissioner, Bill Mundell, struggled to secure his comeback nomination.

Mundell was neck-and-neck with Kiana Maria Sears throughout the race, with less than 1 percentage point separating them. Unofficial results show that he failed to secure the second spot in the Democratic primary by just 6,011 votes.

Sears has been accused of being an Arizona Public Service plant in the Democratic primary. That accusation threatened to be particularly harmful to her campaign at a time of heightened public scrutiny around the commissioners’ relationship with the state’s largest public utility.

But Mundell has baggage of his own, having previously served on the commission as a Republican. He has said he switched after recognizing the influence APS had over the other Republican commissioners. He and Kennedy ran as a team pledging to change the status quo.

The Democrats will face Justin Olson and Rodney Glassman in the Nov. 6 general election. Olson and Glassman defeated incumbent Tom Forese in the Republican primary.

Arizona Corporation Commission By The Numbers

667,307 votes cast

Democrat

Sandra Kennedy 45 percent

Bill Mundell 27 percent

Kiana Maria Sears 28 percent

Republican

814,3176 votes cast

Tom Forese 16 percent

Justin Olson 25 percent

Rodney Glassman 23 percent

Jim O’Connor 22 percent

Eric Sloan 15 percent