It ain't over til it's over

LD17 races still going strong ... One candidate faces challenges on two fronts ... Revamp coming to Randolph golf course.

The races in Legislative District 17 have been the ones to watch all year.

The stakes are high, the characters are colorful, and Democrats think they have a shot.

That’s in large part thanks to outgoing Republican Sen. Justine Wadsack.

Wadsack lost her reelection bid in the primary, dashing Democrats’ hopes of challenging her “weird” brand of MAGA conservativism in this Tucson-area district.

But she’s still campaigning against the Republican victor, former Sen. Vince Leach.

Just not as a candidate.

These days, Wadsack is working for Turning Point Action and hammering Leach as “wrong for Arizona,” which progressives hope will suppress GOP turnout for Leach and help propel Democrat John McLean into office in November.

Turning Point Action used to cater to conservative students on college campuses. Now the group is pumping millions of dollars into swing state races, attempting to elect America First conservatives.

The group is headlined by one of the most prominent figures in conservative politics, Charlie Kirk, and holds rallies where former President Donald Trump speaks.

Wadsack is calling out Leach for saying “balancing security with humanitarian concerns is essential, as countries must also consider the rights and well-being of migrants and refugees seeking asylum,” in the state’s Voter Education Guide.

Instead, Wadsack says “How about the Rights, Well-Being & SAFETY of Americans being invaded by illegal aliens made up of criminals!”

Wadsack has repeatedly said online that there’s no difference between Leach, a longtime conservative, and McLean.

One practical difference between the two is how much money Leach and McLean have raised so far in their campaigns. McLean has been a fundraising juggernaut. He had $147,000 in cash on hand, according to the most recent campaign finance reports in July, while Leach had about $39,000.¹

Voters could’ve gotten a better view of the policy differences between Leach and McLean last week, but Leach declined to participate in a Clean Elections debate, as did the Republican candidates for the two House seats in LD17.

McLean and Kevin Volk, the Democratic candidate for one of the House seats, were the only ones who showed up.

At the debate, which was really a Q and A, McLean advocated for reproductive rights, public education, and a business climate that attracts quality jobs.

On housing, he pointed to the need to reform zoning and permitting to quickly build the housing supply back up, along with support for first-time homebuyers.

He doesn’t generally support state preemption of local rules, as the Legislature did this year on zoning, but he does think it’s appropriate when two adjacent municipalities have vastly different zoning rules.

He supports school vouchers for certain students, such as those with special needs, but says legislators went too far when they made the voucher program universal. He pointed to ballooning costs for the voucher program and inappropriate use of voucher funds.

Although Leach declined to participate in the debate last week, he did show up for a Clean Elections debate in May when he was running against Wadsack in the primary.

Leach pointed to his experience as a legislator from 2015-2023, where he helped pay down the debt on the state’s pension system, pass balanced budgets, and shrink the government’s workforce.

He considers himself pro-life and supports a 15-week abortion ban. He supported bills so “girls play girls sports and boys play boys sports.”

He says borders are necessary for a country to exist. He supported the state spending money on a border barrier and the Border Strike Force under former Gov. Doug Ducey.

We’ll be back next week with an update on the House races in LD17, where the Republican candidates, first-term Reps. Rachel Jones and Cory McGarr, represent the same Freedom Caucus wing of the party as Wadsack. They’re facing a challenge from Volk, who is hoping to boost his chances of taking one of them out by running as the lone Democrat.

Not in our neighborhood: Residents of a neighborhood on Tucson’s west side aren't happy about a new housing development, the Arizona Daily Star's Charles Borla reports. Homeowners in the Santiago Hills neighborhood on West St. Mary’s Road say KB Home’s plan to build 129 homes in a 19-acre subdivision is too dense for the character of the area. The company says they’re going to use a tool known as flexible lot development to satisfy city zoning requirements.

Deadly heat: Mobile home residents are some of the most vulnerable to indoor, heat-related deaths, the Arizona Luminaria’s Yana Kunichoff and John Washington report. So far this year, Pima County officials reported 31 such deaths, including one man in the Hummingbird Harvest mobile home park who died when electricity went out for 11 days in July.

Different points of view: Immigration politics depends on where you're standing along the border, the Associated Press’s Morgan Lee reports. Lee dives into what the border means this election season and the different political realities Rep. Juan Ciscomani deals with in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District compared to candidates in New Mexico and Texas.

Play ball: The Mexican Baseball Fiesta is coming back to Tucson for its 13th year, the Tucson Sentinel’s Gene Moreland reports. Tucsonans will get their chance to watch teams from the Mexican Pacific League, and the University of Arizona baseball team, starting Oct. 3 at the Kino Sports Complex.

Call to the public: Tucson officials are planning a revamp of Randolph Park and the Randolph Golf Complex. The Parks and Recreation Department is holding a public question-and-answer session this evening at 5:30 p.m. at the Therapeutic Recreation Center, 1000 S. Randolph Way. Officials want to get feedback on their plans to enhance green spaces around the golf course and improve the walking experience along 22nd Street. More details about the meeting here.

Taking time off: The Tucson Unified School District is poised to give most of its employees 12 weeks of parental leave, Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock writes. Over at the Vail school district, the board is making a little supplemental income by charging other school districts a fee to use Vail schools’ curriculum.

167,000: The number of active voters in Legislative District 17. That includes about 63,000 Republicans, 48,000 Democrats, and 56,000 other voters.

1. A campaign consultant for Leach told us on Tuesday that Leach has north of $120,000 on hand right now.