Early voting in the 2014 primary begins in nine months, and candidates are already firing up their campaigns.

While the mood at the state Capitol this past year might be best described as riotous, 2012 — the Chinese Year of the Dragon — was marked with fewer gaffes, catfights and over-the-top name calling among Arizona’s political elite.

First it was featured in a controversial summer movie, and now it could come to a school near you. A liberal school-choice group from California is trying to build a coalition of local education groups to pass an Arizona law allowing parents to take over failing schools.

After hours of heated discussion, the Maricopa County Republican Committee passed a resolution Thursday night opposing the continued leadership of the current Arizona Senate President and House Speaker.

The campaign to defeat a 1-cent sales tax initiative collected $550,000 from three sources with ties to Republican causes and candidates.

In what may have been Arizona’s most bizarre primary race, House Speaker Andy Tobin has defeated an opponent backed by out-of-state money and friends who include Herman Cain, Joe the Plumber and the creator of the notorious Willie Horton attack ads.

House Speaker Andy Tobin easily outraised his party-mates in the three-way House primary in Northern Arizona, the latest finance reports filed with the Secretary of State showed.

The well-funded political spending arm of the state’s leading business coalition bashed Sen. Lori Klein in a campaign ad today, calling her a “gun-toting, red-scaring, conspiracy-touting politician.”

Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain and two wealthy contributors to conservative causes are funding an independent expenditure campaign aimed at ousting House Speaker Andy Tobin and replacing him with a first-term Republican lawmaker who made waves in 2011 for pointing a loaded gun at a reporter during an interview.

According to a campaign finance report filed Monday, Arizonans for an Honest Government raised $40,000 through the middle of August. Cain gave the committee $5,000 on Aug. 2.

Redistricting has forced some big names in Arizona legislative politics into contested races in the Aug. 28 primary election.