By Joanna Dodder, The Daily Courier
Monday, October 29, 2007
The Daily Courier
The chances to see a Yavapai County candidate in next year's Congressional District One race are getting slimmer.Two Republican Prescott-area natives who were seriously considering joining the race, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes and rancher Steve Pierce, said Monday that they will not jump into the fray.
Former Arizona Senate President Ken Bennett, another Republican who grew up in Prescott, already announced he will not seek the position.
That leaves Arizona Sen. Tom O'Halleran, R-Sedona, as the only Yavapai County resident who has publicly stated he is considering a run.
O'Halleran said he plans to make a decision sometime this week.
Pierce said he probably will seek O'Halleran's job whether O'Halleran runs again for the state Legislature or not, saying he is more conservative than O'Halleran and has differing views about issues such as water and private property rights."I think I can do a lot more in this state than going to Congress and being in the minority," Pierce added.
Mayes said she feels an obligation to finish out her four-year Corporation Commission term that voters just elected her to serve last November
."I want to be there to fight those battles for Arizonans,"Mayes said. For example, she wants to help the state find water conservation solutions in the midst of the drought.
So far, the only announced Republican candidate is Sydney Hay, who lost against Renzi in the 2002 primary. She lives outside the district in Scottsdale, although her family has a vacation home in Munds Park. A former conservative radio show host, she owns a public relations firm and is president of the Arizona Mining Association.
Arizona Rep. Bill Konopnicki, a Republican from Safford, announced early this month that he is forming an exploratory committee for the race.
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