Annie Loyd

This week's Arizona Winners & Losers are now posted.

After quitting the CD3 race today, independent Annie Loyd is not planning to throw her support behind either Democrat Bob Lord or Republican U.S. Rep. John Shadegg. Rather, she said, she will devote herself fully to combating what she sees as wrongheaded immigration enforcement practices in the Greater Phoenix area.

The former candidate explained to PolitickerAZ.com why she got out of the race and how she plans to participate in the remaining months of the contest.

Annie LoydAnnie Loyd, independent for Congress in CD3, is running no longer.

Loyd had been incredibly visible for a candidate without party affiliation, and leaves the race with numerous questions, such as whether she will throw her support behind either Democrat Bob Lord or, less likely, Rep. John Shadegg.

She said she sees a need to address the immigration question immediately, and feels running for office to be contrary to her more community-based goals, but left unsaid whether any specific catalyst prompted her to leave the race.

Ed Hermes may have only had his bachelor's degree for two years, but he's been an up-and-comer on the political scene since before he graduated ASU. Already he's jumping into his first electoral bid, targeting Fulton Brock, Chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Brock, who owns an asset management firm, is a former representative in the Arizona House and has sat on the Board for 12 years, will doubtless prove a formidable opponent. Still, Hermes is set on making sure he goes.

Independent congressional candidate Annie Loyd: Politicker PhotoAnnie Loyd, independent candidate for Congress in CD3, appeared today at a meeting of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to decry Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's sweeps aimed at rounding up illegal immigrants. After making the case that county monies shouldn't go toward enforcing immigration policy, Loyd appeared at the head of a group of community activists and civil libertarians to demand accountability for what they claimed were tactics that "divided the community" and could possibly "lead to violence."