Incumbents And Their Challengers Off And Running For County Seats

All five seats are up for election on the Navajo County Board of Supervisors. Incumbent Jonathan M. Nez (D), of Shonto, is being challenged by Lee Jack Sr. (D), of Indian Wells, for the District I seat. District III incumbent J.R. DeSpain (D), of Joseph City, is being challenged by Sylvia Allen (R) and Tom Poscharsky (R), both ofSnowflake. District V incumbent Jerry Brownlow (D), of Pinetop, is being challenged by Dawnafe Whitesinger (D) of Pinetop. District II incumbent Jesse Thompson (D) and District IV incumbent David Tenney are both unopposed.

The Division II Superior Court Judge seat is being sought by Robert J. Higgins (R), of Pinetop, who was appointed to the position last year, as well as F. Morgan Brown (D), of Show Low, and D. Shawn Taylor (R), of Snowflake. Division III Superior Court Judge John Lamb (D) of Holbrook is being challenged by Eduardo Coronado (D) of Lakeside.

Incumbent County Recorder Laurette Justman (D), of Holbrook, is being challenged by Alberto L. Peshlakai (D) of Indian Wells and Michele Baker (R) of Holbrook.

Incumbent County Treasurer Manny Hernandez (D), of Winslow, is facing Eugene “Dusty” Parsons (D) of Linden.

County School Superintendent incumbent Linda Morrow (D), of Lakeside, will be facing Lennard Eltsosie (D) of Jeddito.

Incumbents seeking re-election for other county seats that are unopposed include County Attorney Brad Carlyon (D), of Show Low, County Assessor Cammy Darris (D) of Holbrook and Division IV Superior Court Judge Michala Ruechel (D) of Holbrook.

On the state level, more than 115 candidates filed enough signatures to stand for office. There were seven US Senator candidates, 49 Congressional candidates and 59 State Senate candidates.

Candidates vying for the position of US Senator include Democrats Richard Carmona of Tucson, and David A. Ruben of Tucson; Republicans Wil Cardon of Mesa, Jeff Flake of Tempe, Bryan Hackbarth of Peoria and Clair Van Steenwyk of Buckeye. Sheila Bilyeu of Flagstaff is running as a Libertarian.

District 1 has a large number of candidates including Democrats Wenona Benally Baldenegro of Flagstaff and Ann Kirkpatrick of Flagstaff. The Republican field includes Patrick Gatti of Show Low, Gaither Martin of Eagar, Jonathan Paton of Oro Valley and Douglas Wade of Sedona. There is one Libertarian candidate, Anthony Prowell of Tucson.

District 6 State Senate candidates include Tom Chabin of Flagstaff, Democrat and Chester Crandell of Heber, Republican. Senator Jack C. Jackson Jr., District 2, is a Democrat running unopposed for the newly redistricted District 7 position.

According to Arizona statutes, any voter can file in court to challenge the nomination of a candidate no later than 5 p.m., 10 business days after the last day to file nomination papers and petitions, which will be June 12.

The deadline for Arizona citizens to file initiative petitions to qualify a measure for the Nov. 6 General Election is July 5. To view a list of all of the state candidates, go online to www.azsos.gov.