The Sunday Agenda: Just a few more days
And what's Sunday morning without a good crossword?
The election is almost here! Voters have just a few days to get their ballots to elections officials.
Just think, by this time next week we’ll know who will be the next Pima County Attorney, the sheriff candidate pool will have thinned from five to two, and we’ll have a full picture of what the races will look like for the general election.
In the meantime, here’s our weekly rundown to help you get caught up on the stories you might have missed last week.
And as a special treat, we also have a crossword puzzle for you to brush up on the candidates on your ballot.
Monday: “Taking care of business.” The Tucson Metro Chamber has been publishing a candidate evaluation for decades, scoring candidates on their answers to business-related questions and posting recordings of their interviews. Their scores are averaged out to a single number, providing voters with a helpful tool to gauge which candidates will best support Southern Arizona’s business interests. And with a heated battle for county attorney nearing the finish line, the chamber’s interview videos of Laura Conover and Mike Jette have been the most frequently viewed.
Tuesday: “School board roundup.” More than 50 candidates are seeking positions on Pima County’s school boards, and there’s some stiff competition in a handful of races. Our contributor Refugio took a deep dive into the people running for office, looking into their experience and other parts of their life related to the position. Candidates will submit election questionnaires over the next few months, and we’ll be back with a more detailed look at their positions on the issues.
Readers said “County attorney candidates correct the record” was their favorite story from the previous week, followed by “Fact-checking border soundbites.” Both of those stories required extra reporting, and extra time. To keep up these types of stories, we need money to pay reporters. Upgrade to a paid subscription so we can hire more of them!
Wednesday: “Dangerous drivers sadden Happy Acres residents.” Life isn’t so happy for residents of the unincorporated area Happy Acres, which is being used as a shortcut by speeding drivers to get from a nearby neighborhood to Avra Valley, our contributor Samantha reports. Samantha talked to Marana Mayor Ed Honea and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department about the Happy Acres situation and possible solutions, nd the greater challenges when it comes to governing in and around unincorporated areas.
Thursday: “The big donors in the big races.” Everybody’s talking about the Pima County Attorney race, and the more than $500,000 that flowed into Laura Conover and Mike Jette’s campaign coffers. We checked the campaign finance reports to break down the top 10 donors to each campaign and see how the candidates spent their money. Spoiler alert: There are a lot of familiar names on the donor lists and a ton of money went towards advertising.
Friday: “It’s a dog eat dog world.” A local nonprofit dog rescue that brought in nearly $1.7 million over a three year period is closing its doors due to a lack of funds, according to people with knowledge of the situation. But how can a rescue bring in more than $800,000 in a single year and still not be successful? We took a look at Lucy’s Hope Sanctuary and Rescue’s tax returns and talked with former staffers to get the scoop.
With primary season coming to a close, we wanted to reflect on our election coverage from the past few months.
We made election coverage a priority and published 43 stories, including interviews with candidates, inside looks at campaign finance reports, analysis of candidate endorsements, candidate forum and debate coverage and more. We also created an election wiki to provide a central location for our coverage and other tools to help you make informed decisions at the polls.
We laid out our plan for election coverage in March and we stuck pretty close to it. We’ll do the same for the general election soon, but we’re open to making changes to make sure readers and voters have access to all the information they need.
To help us figure out the best way to cover the general election, we asked readers last Sunday to fill out a survey. Two-dozen of you already responded, which is great! We already have a lot of helpful feedback, but we could always use more.
Please take a minute to answer five questions and let us know what you think about our primary election coverage and what you’d like to see us do over the next few months.
Enjoy your Sunday morning with a crossword puzzle about the names you see on your ballot. Click on the image below to play!
If you’re like Caitlin, it’s an election season tradition to forget to mail in your ballot on time, resulting in a last-minute trip to the polls.
Luckily, the county plans to staff 126 vote centers on Election Day, which will be open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can drop off your already-filled out ballot, or if you’ve lost it, ballots will also be printed on demand, meaning voters from any precinct can cast a ballot at any vote center. Find a voting center near you here.
What I learned from the crossword is that I don’t pay enough attention to the challengers, and all those signs didn’t help!