Voters will have a chance on Thursday night to hear arguments for and against a ballot measure that would dramatically change Arizona’s election system.
Proposition 140 would establish a nonpartisan primary. If voters approve the initiative, it would amend the Arizona Constitution to create a single primary election in which all candidates face off against each other, rather than the current system of political party primaries in which Democrats run against Democrats and Republicans run against Republicans to determine the party nominees who advance to the general election.
The number of candidates who advance from the primary to the general election would be left up to the Arizona Legislature, but lawmakers would be required to adopt ranked-choice voting if more than two candidates were allowed to run in the general election.
Legislative Republicans have put a competing proposition on the ballot, Prop. 133, that would amend the Arizona Constitution to maintain the current primary system and ban ranked-choice voting, which essentially allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. It would also require the city of Tucson to move its elections from the current odd-year cycle to coincide with the presidential and midterm elections.
Prop. 133 would also mandate partisan elections for local races such as city and town councils. Many local communities, such as Marana and Oro Valley, now have non-partisan races for their governing bodies.
If both propositions pass, the one with the most votes would become part of the Arizona Constitution.
During the debate, former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson will argue in favor of Prop. 140, while attorney Andrew Gould, who resigned from the Arizona Supreme Court in 2022 to unsuccessfully run for Arizona attorney general, will argue against it.
The debate, sponsored by Clean Elections and the Arizona Media Association, will air at 6 p.m. on PBS 6 and NPR 89.1 FM and will stream on a number of local news websites, including here on TucsonSentinel.com.
Earlier on Thursday, at 4 p.m. Clean Elections and the Arizona Media Association will present a debate over Prop. 137, which would remove the ability of voters to decide whether to kick judges off the bench. Under current law, judges in Pima, Maricopa, Pinal and Yuma counties are appointed by the governor, as are judges who serve in the courts of appeal and the Arizona Supreme Court. (Judges in smaller counties are elected to four-year terms of office.) Appointed judges face a retention vote every four years, meaning that voters have the opportunity to remove them if they are unhappy with their performance.
Voters rarely send a judge packing, but this year, abortion rights supporters have launched a campaign to remove two Supreme Court justices, Clint Bolick and Kathryn King, after they were among the justices who voted to uphold Arizona’s 1964 abortion law in a 4-2 decision in April. The ban was later repealed by the Arizona Legislature when two Republicans in both the House and Senate crossed party lines to vote with Democrats to strike it from statute.
The Judicial Accountability Act of 2024, placed on the ballot by Republican lawmakers, would apply retroactively, so if voters did support a campaign to kick Bolick and King off the Supreme Court, their wishes would be nullified if Prop. 137 passes.
Arguing in favor of Prop 137 is Kory Langhofer, the managing partner at Statecraft Law Firm. Retired attorney Andy Gordon will argue against the proposition.
The debate will stream on various local news sites, including TucsonSentinel.com.
Also on Thursday, Sept 26: Candidates for Catalina Foothills Unified School Board are scheduled to meet in a forum. Four candidates — Jacquelyn Davoli, Tom Logue, Bart Pemberton Jennifer Repscher — are running for two opens seats with four-year terms, while two candidates — appointed incumbent Eileen Jackson and challenger Brooke Arispe — are running in a special election for a single seat with a two-year term, Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson. 5:30 p.m. at Junior League of Tucson, 2099 E. River Rd.
Other upcoming debates and important dates
Saturday, Sept. 28: Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat seeking her second full term, is scheduled to meet her independent challenger, Tucson Unified School Board member Val Romero. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson. The debate is at 1:30 p.m. at the Quincie-Douglas Library, 1585 E. 36th St.
Monday, Oct. 7: Last day to register to vote for general election
Tuesday, Oct. 8: U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani and his Democratic challenger, former state lawmaker Kirsten Engel, are scheduled to meet for a one-hour debate. This is a rematch of the 2022 race for the CD6 seat, when Engel lost by fewer than 2 percentage points in this GOP-leaning district. The Clean Elections/Arizona Media Association forum will be aired at 6 p.m. on select televised and radio stations and streamed live on various news websites, including TucsonSentinel.com. (This debate was previously scheduled for Oct. 7.)
Wednesday, Oct. 9: Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Ruben Gallego, who are facing each other in one of the most-watched Senate races in the nation, are scheduled to meet in a televised debate. The matchup, hosted by the Arizona Clean Elections Commission and the Arizona Media Association, is set for 6 p.m. and will air on select TV and radio stations as well as online news platforms, including TucsonSentinel.com.
Wednesday, Oct. 9: Pima County mails early ballots to voters
Friday, Oct. 25: Deadline to request an early ballot from the Pima County Recorder’s Office
Tuesday, Nov. 5: Election Day