Wade announces bid for county supervisor

Henry Wade, organizer of the Copa City Democrats, will run for Pinal County supervisor in the newly created District 4.

“I’ve put my hat in the ring, although I haven’t made a formal announcement,” he said Monday.

Wade, a U.S. Air Force veteran, serves as vice chairman of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

He informally announced his candidacy last week at Pizza Hut while watching President Barack Obama’s state of the union speech with a gathering of Democratic Party members.

Wade’s campaign manager is city Councilwoman Marquisha Griffin, who is not running for re-election. Griffin said Tuesday Wade plans to make a public announcement of his candidacy in the next few weeks, but a date has not been set.

“He is going to make a great leader,” Griffin said.

Though the Republican Party has gained a stronghold in historically all-Democrat Pinal County — with voters in recent elections choosing a Republican sheriff, county supervisor and state senator — Griffin said the Democratic Party is still a force in the county.

“This is our year,” she said. “This is our opportunity in this county to swing back.”

Griffin said the presidential election in the fall will bring more voters to polls, and Democrats will do better than Republicans with independent voters.

“They are going to be a big player in local and national elections,” she said.

In opinion pieces published in the InMaricopa newspaper and on InMaricopa.com, Wade has said money would be better spent in Arizona improving education rather than building a border fence.

His belief has not changed.

“I think education is of great importance to us,” he said. “As mentioned in the candidate forum Saturday, supporting education will encourage industries to create jobs and stimulate an economic recovery. I’m not sure how a border fence is going to do that.”

Wade said he is concerned about border security, but no single person has the answer and it will take a “multifaceted approach.”

Wade is one of three candidates to announce his run in the newly formed district. Mayor Anthony Smith and Fred Mackenzie, who lives near Oracle in a community called SaddleBrooke, have announced they will run as Republicans.

Wade said he and Smith both share a love for Maricopa and want to see it progress.

“I have a strong, positive leadership style,” he said.

Because of the county’s explosive population growth from census years 2000 to 2010, two new county supervisor districts will be added. Maricopa currently is in District 3 and represented by Supervisor David Snider, a Democrat from Casa Grande.

But that will change with the November election.