Next week, Democratic and Republican voters in Coconino County will be weighing in on which candidates will be advancing to the general election in November.
In the 7th District, four candidates are vying for the position of state senator, currently held by Republican and Air Force veteran Wendy Rogers. A sprawling legislative聽district that bisects portions of Flagstaff, the 7th District stretches from Williams to Globe, and includes portions of Coconino, Navajo, Gila and Pinal counties.
The district is largely seen as favorable to Republicans, with an estimated 45% of voters registered with that party. Just about 22% of voters are registered Democrats, while 32% are registered independent or with third parties.
Rogers, who has held the position of senator since 2020, is being challenged by Republican Arizona rancher聽Rep. David Cook, who has served in the Arizona House since 2016. He has hit his term limit for the House of Representatives.
Two Democrats are also vying for the chance to represent the 7th District. Haley Creighton, a recent graduate of Northern Arizona University and organizer with the Arizona Students' Association, is up against Roberto Reveles for the nomination.
Reveles has had a long history of political involvement and public service, including working for former state Reps. Stewart Udall, Morris Udall and George Senner, Jr.,聽 and acting as president of the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona.
The Arizona Daily Sun spoke with nearly all of those running for the 7th District's Senate seat, with Rogers being the only candidate not responding to a request for an interview.
Cook, Rogers in the spotlight
Rogers has been a controversial figure. A member of the far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers, Rogers has put much of her focus on culture war issues that have dominated right-wing media outlets. She was censured by her colleagues in 2022 for "conduct unbecoming of a senator."
She currently chairs the Senate Elections Committee and serves as the vice chair for the Senate鈥檚 Government Committee.
Rogers has also been dogged over questions of whether she lives within the district she represents. Last year, the Arizona Capitol Times reported that Rogers and her husband had purchased a home in Chandler. They also listed an address in Tempe as their current residence on some documents.
Rogers has long maintained that she and her husband primarily reside in Flagstaff.
Questions regarding where Rogers actually resides were renewed earlier this month when she listed a Tempe address on campaign finance documents.
And it was for reasons like that why Cook told the Arizona Daily Sun that he believes he could better represent Flagstaff and the district. Cook holds that, regardless of what Rogers states, he does not believe she lives in the district that she represents.
鈥淚 could not have someone, I'm sorry, like Wendy Rogers, who lives in Chandler [represent this district]. I still say she lives in Chandler. I'll say it all day long. [She can't] represent the people of my rural communities and their values and their needs,鈥� Cook said.
Cook also touted his ability to be an effective and pragmatic legislator, getting things done and proposing and passing bills regardless of the party that holds the governor's mansion.
鈥淭he voters are going to decide. They have an option of someone that has a proven track record," Cook said. "Just looking at these past two years with the Democrat governor. I got over 20 bills to the governor's desk and signed into law -- over 20. And that means we are making lives better. We're making an impact.鈥�
Cook said he believes it is increasingly important to have effective and hard-working legislators from outside Maricopa County, especially as the Phoenix metro area continues to grow rapidly.
In the last census and redistricting, areas outside Maricopa County lost representatives at the state House and Senate as the urban core of Arizona grew.
Cook said he believes that puts a premium on those who can truly work for rural and northern Arizona voters.
鈥淣o one fights for rural Arizona as much as I do, and I can give you some examples for that. So when I think about us losing more power at the state capitol to Maricopa County -- with Wendy Rogers living in Maricopa County -- and those values, look at her bills,鈥� he said.
Cook had not always represented a district that included Flagstaff; redistricting in 2020 changed that. Even so, Cook pointed out that he has fought for Flagstaff and northern Arizona communities even before he officially represented them.
In 2021, in the wake of several high-profile wildfires -- including the Telegraph Fire that directly impacted Cook鈥檚 ranch -- Cook held a series of hearings around the state focused on examining federal and state management strategies for wildfire. The hearings followed visits Cook made to Flagstaff during post-fire flooding off of the Museum Fire burn scar.
鈥淚 went to Speaker Bowers, and I humbly requested, and almost demanded, that I wanted an ad hoc committee to work on fires in the state. I picked Flagstaff and the [Museum Fire], I picked the Telegraph Fire, and I picked the Woodbury Fire, and we had hearings. I had hearings all over the state,鈥� Cook said. 鈥淚t wasn't a coincidence, but (Sen.) Kyrsten Sinema scheduled the chief of the Forest Service and her to fly out to Flagstaff.鈥�
Democrats seek to flip district
Reveles said he had been searching for candidates to run in the district, but after several decided against running, he decided to throw his own hat into the ring.
鈥淚've been involved in the public life of Arizona my entire adult life,鈥� Reveles said.
Within that career, Reveles was president of the Board of Directors for ACLU of Arizona while that organization was involved with several high-profile lawsuits against discrimination by Arizona public officials.
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the ACLU and other groups sued Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for racial profiling. In addition to his work with the ACLU at that time, Reveles said he also helped organize action and protest against the controversial SB1070 law.
That law made it a state misdemeanor to be in the country without the required documents, and many critics inside and out of Arizona worried that the law would lead to racial profiling by state and local law enforcement.
Reveles said he sees similarities between those efforts and work being done to send the Secure the Border Act to Arizona voters this November.
鈥溾�楬oy marchamos, ma帽ana votamos鈥� became a slogan and a cry [at that time]: 鈥�365bet体育在线世界杯 we march, tomorrow we vote.鈥� Well, this is the tomorrow. Especially with the Secure the Border Act that we鈥檙e seeing today, which is in many ways worse than SB1070,鈥� Revelis said.
Meanwhile, Creighton said she is running in the hopes of providing new blood and a fresh, younger perspective to the state Legislature.
鈥淢y top issues and issues that are big for a lot of people right now are reproductive care, public education and then the environment. And the environment is obviously split up into things like fire, sustainability practices, as well as our water conservation right,鈥� Creighton said. 鈥淎ll of those are very important. People in Arizona are scared about their reproductive health and are scared about accessing basic care. I've worked really hard with organizations like Arizona List and Planned Parenthood, both of whom I've been endorsed by, to talk about these issues in the state and to do things like collecting signatures for the Arizona Abortion Access Act. So I know that鈥檚 a really big one, especially for young folks at NAU.鈥�
Creighton added that as the child of two public school educators, and as a proud product of Arizona鈥檚 public school system, she wants to work to protect and support public schools and the funding that makes them possible.
But in such a Republican-leaning district, how do the two Democrats compete?
Both outlined their theory for how they may be able to flip the district.
Reveles said his history of public service and humanitarianism stands as an example of how disparate people can come together in the name of basic human values, something he said is in clear contrast to Rogers.
鈥淚 am fairly confident that responsible, principled people of the Republican Party and independents share those basic human values, and I don't think that they have had, previously, an opportunity to have a contrast of candidates who appear to be at polar opposites,"聽Reveles said.聽"My whole life has been aimed at bringing together people.鈥澛�
Meanwhile, Creighton said she believes there is an untapped pool of voters who have long been ignored by those running to represent the district: students at Northern Arizona University and young people.
鈥淚 absolutely see that it鈥檚 favorable to Republicans,鈥� Creighton said. 鈥淏ut I also know there is an untapped voter group in this district. We have the students at NAU who tend to be either not voting because they don't see the point, there's not anyone who looks like them or thinks like them on the ballot, or they're not registered to vote here in Flagstaff because they think they need to stay registered at home. But getting them tapped into this local set of politics and local government has been a really important thing that I鈥檝e done in my day job, but also through this campaign.鈥�
District 7 House race
For the state House, the aforementioned Rep. Cook of Globe and Republican Rep. David Marshall of Snowflake hold the seats representing the 7th District.
But there is a handful of candidates and political hopefuls seeking to replace Cook and challenge Marshall as he seeks reelection.
For the Republicans, former Reps. Walter Blackman and John Fillmore are both seeking seats, as are Andrew Costanzo, Barby Ingle and Steven Slaton.
On the Democratic side, Kevin Chiquete and Nancy Hartl are vying for the nomination.
The 6th District
If LD7 is sprawling, LD6 still puts it to shame.
The 6th District covers nearly all of the northern-most parts of the state, as well as much of eastern Arizona. In addition to containing parts of Flagstaff, it also holds several tribal nations including the Navajo Nation, Hopi, San Carlos Apache, and White Mountain Apache tribes.
In the state Senate, the district is represented by Democratic Sen. Theresa Hatathlie -- who is unchallenged by any other Democrats or Republicans.
In the state house, Democratic Reps. Mae Peshlakai and Myron Tsosie hold the seats, and are both seeking reelection. Angela Maloney is also seeking the Democratic nomination in the district.
Lloyd Johnson and Richard King are聽hoping to flip both seats for the Republicans.