Passionate crowd ‘hoots and hollers’ for their candidates

An overflowing crowd packed the Global Water Center – inside the meeting room and out – Tuesday for a forum that brought to Maricopa candidates for Pinal County supervisor, Pinal County sheriff and the state Legislature.

Corruption at the county level was a popular topic for Dennis Dugan and Tom Hollenbach, challengers to incumbent David Snider for his District 3 seat on the Pinal County Board of Supervisors.

The issues of deputy training and the use of technology in the Sheriff’s Office were discussed by Sheriff Chris Vasquez and his challengers, Paul Babeu and Jayme Valenzuela.

A half dozen candidates hoping to represent District 23 in the House of Representatives and two more vying for Senate seats spoke on topics ranging from transportation to the state’s budget. Emily Verdugo-Aldrich, a write-in candidate for representative, joined Ernest Bustamante, John Fillmore, incumbent Barbara McGuire, Krista Pacion and Frank Pratt. Andre Campos and incumbent Rebecca Rios are battling for a spot in the Arizona Senate.

“The turnout was awesome,” Snider said. “The passion is clear; we have people interested in serving Pinal County and the state of Arizona.”

Moderator Hal DeKeyser said he was surprised at the passion of the Sheriff’s race. “Not so much the candidates,” he said, “but all the people wearing T-shirts and hootin’ and hollerin’ for their candidate.”

Mayor Anthony Smith was among the lucky ones who got a seat and was not relegated to standing or watching the telecast from the lobby where a TV was set up. Smith said several of the candidates told him they were impressed by the crowd, noting that other cities did not have enough interest to even hold such a forum.

“We had a live TV audience and still the room is packed,” Smith exclaimed afterward. He called the attendees “engaged, interested and intelligent.”

“I’m proud of Maricopa,” the mayor added.

The forum, sponsored by inmaricopa.com, Global Water and Maricopa Chamber of Commerce, was broadcast live on Maricopa 20. The television broadcast will be replayed today at 6 p.m., Friday at 8 a.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.

Click arrows below above picture for more pictures from the event.

Photos by Jake Johnson