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Election year races<br>begin to take shape

TUSAYAN — The advertisements will begin to appear. The stories on candidates will be published. And opinions from Republicans and Democrats and everyone in between will be heard.

Election day is still three months away, but campaigning for various issues and candidates is already beginning.

Take the fund-raiser coming up next week for board of supervisor candidates Jim Hoffman and Tim Feavel. The two candidates will be the guests of honor at a $25-per-plate dinner at the Grand Hotel’s Canyon Star Restaurant on Aug. 16 in Tusayan.

The Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce was attempting to put together a “Meet the Candidates” forum for all board of supervisors candidates, also on Aug. 16. Word on whether or not the event will materialize was not determined before the Grand Canyon News deadline.

Paul Babbitt, the District 1 supervisor, is running unopposed in the Nov. 7 election. But there are races in all of the other districts.

Babbitt (D-Flagstaff) has served on the board of supervisors for 14 years. Babbitt was originally appointed to the board in 1986 and was then elected to the post in 1988.

Babbitt, a former mayor of Flagstaff, was re-elected to the board in 1992 and 1996 and will be seeking his fourth four-year term in November.

In recent months, Babbitt served as chairman of the Grand Canyon Airport Authority’s board of directors.

In District 2, Elizabeth Archuleta, (D-Flagstaff) the board’s chairperson, is being opposed by Feavel (R-Flagstaff).

An interesting race should be in District 3 with incumbent Matt Ryan (D-Flagstaff) going up against Hoffman (R-Williams).

Tom Chabin (D-Tuba City) is running against Deb Hill (D-Flagstaff) and Chester Claw (D-Tonalea) in District 4.

In District 5, incumbent Louis Yellowman (D-Tuba City) is being opposed by Eunice Jean Begay (D-Tuba City) and Allen Tsinigine (D-Page).

The Canyon Forest Village issue will be on the ballot as Proposition 400. In fact, it will be interesting to see if there is any correlation between the CFV vote and the board of supervisors vote.

Earlier this year, the board of supervisors approved the development unanimously. There are board of supervisors candidates who are opposed to CFV, including the two appearing at the Grand Hotel next week.

In other races involving county positions:

• County assessor — Chris Mason (D-Flagstaff) is running unopposed.

• County attorney — Incumbent candidate Terence Hance (D-Flagstaff) is running unopposed.

• County recorder — Incumbent Candace Owens (D-Flagstaff) is running unopposed.

• County sheriff — Incumbent Joe Richards (D-Flagstaff) is being opposed by Rex Stermer (R-Flagstaff).

• Superintendent of schools — Candidates include Chris Giannola (D-Flagstaff), Cecilia Owen (D-Flagstaff) and Sara Hartzler Casciani (R-Flagstaff).

• County treasurer — Barbara Dodd (R-Flagstaff) is running unopposed.

• Superior Court judge — District 1 candidates include Brian Kolb (D-Flagstaff), Robert Rinck (D-Flagstaff) and Don Slayton (R-Flagstaff). Incumbent H. Jeffrey Coker (R-Flagstaff) is a candidate in District 3.

Of course, there will be many other issues and races on the ballot, including those from the state and national level.

Up until Nov. 7, expect an increase in campaigning at all levels of government.


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