Sandra Livingstone

Arizona Mining Association President Sydney Hay looks likely to clinch the Republican nomination to the 1st Congressional District House seat.

As of latest count, Hay leads fellow competitor Sandra Livingstone 38.6 percent to 34.6 percent, with nearly 96 percent of precincts reporting. Livingstone would need to garner the vast majority of remaining votes to in order to upset Hay, whose more than 1,500 vote lead should be enough to win her the nomination.   

It may come down to the wire in the 1st and 5th Congressional District Republican primaries.

In the 1st district, lobbyist Sydney Hay and former State Department official Sandra Livingstone are close, with Hay currently taking 38 percent of the vote to Livingstone's 34. Twenty-seven percent of precincts have yet to report.

In the 5th district, the race is even tighter. Former Maricopa County treasurer David Schweikert holds a three-point advantage over lobbyist Susan Bitter Smith, leading the six-person field at 31 percent of the vote. Susan Bitter Smith has so far attracted 28 percent.

All other competitors are running well behind the front runners in the 1st and 5th districts, and will likely not be a factor.   

While Republican candidate Sandra Livingstone anxiously awaits the results of the 1st Congressional District GOP primary, her top adviser, John Echols, will be 1,500 miles away hobnobbing with the party elite in St. Paul, Minn. at the Republican National Convention.

Echols, a delegate to the RNC from the 1st district, has been running the campaign of former State Department official Sandra Livingstone, who is facing off against Sydney Hay for the Republican slot on the congressional ballot. The conflict means that he's been out of town for the last few days, while the campaign enters its final hours.

When asked if that was a sign that Echols knew which way the race was going to go, he emphatically said it was not.

Five things to watch this week

1)      Will there be Clean Elections matching funds for the general?

2)      Did Thayer Verschoor spend his money to early or did Eddie Farnsworth overestimate his name value

3)      Will Tony Bouie’s endorsements place him in the top 2 or are the negative attacks to much to overcome

4)      AZ-5, Schweikert?  Bitter Smith? Or will Ogsbury walk his way into an upset?

5)      AZ-1 Sandra Livingstone came on strong with what seemed like an endorsement a day over the final few weeks, but was it to late to overtake Sydney Hay who was campaigning for months before anyone ever heard of Livingstone.

Pioneer Newspaper, the most widely read paper in northeastern Arizona, has endorsed 1st Congressional District candidate Dr. Sandra Livingstone (R).

LeAnn Arganbright, the paper's publisher, heaped praise upon Livingstone.

The Maricopa County Republican Committee and Tony Bouie have been fighting.  This week they have something in common as they both end up on the same side of this week's Winners & Losers.

Arizona Corporation Commissioner and one-time prospective congressional candidate Kris Mayes has thrown her support behind Sandra Livingstone in the 1st Congressional District Republican primary.

"Dr. Sandra Livingstone understands the critical energy and water issues facing Arizona," said Mayes, "and has the training and knowledge to put practical solutions to work for Arizona. She's the candidate who's best suited to go to Washington on our behalf and help America achieve energy independence. I enthusiastically endorse Dr. Sandra Livingstone's candidacy and look forward to working on her behalf to help her win in September and November."

Mayes, who formed an exploratory committee in February when she was herself considering a run in the 1st district, becomes the second person the Republican Party attempted to recruit in the race who is now backing Livingstone over rival Sydney Hay. Former state Senate President Ken Bennett, who was also unsuccessfully recruited by the GOP to challenge Hay in the primary, endorsed Livingstone Aug. 1. 

Both Republican Sydney Hay and Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick face primary challenges on Sept. 2, but it's hard to tell from the ads the two have been putting out. Rather than focus on bumping off the intra-party competition (Mary Kim Titla and Howard Shanker on the Democratic side, Sandra Livingstone on the Republican), the would-be rivals for the 1st Congressional District seat have been taking swipes at each other in two new ads.

Hay's attack lambastes Kirkpatrick's "opposition to drilling for American oil," and accuses Kirkpatrick of "voting for every tax increase" and casting "multiple votes against gun rights" during her time in the Arizona House of Representatives. The ad also cites the Goldwater Institute's "F" rating of Kirkpatrick's voting record to label her "one of Arizona's 'most liberal' legislators."

The Kirkpatrick campaign was quick to respond. Wednesday it unveiled a new television ad to "set the record straight."

Both Republican Party-backed primary candidate Sydney Hay and her rival, Sandra Livingstone, added key endorsements Monday in their battle to secure the 1st Congressional District nomination.

Hay, who was practically a shoo-in for the nod until the last-minute entry of former U.S. State Department official Livingstone, has been in a race with Livingstone to rack up as many endorsements as possible. Hay's latest is the the political action committee of Arizona Right to Life, the anti-abortion group that enjoys significant clout among the Republican base in the state.

Livingstone meanwhile added Prescott Valley Mayor Harvey Skoog to her list of supporters. Skoog administers one of the largest population centers in the district, which also borders Livingstone's home turf, Prescott.

Dr. Sandra Livingstone entered the race for AZ-1 congressional campaign very late, and she came in as a complete unknown.  Livingstone is wasting no time picking up some key endorsements within the district though.  Earlier this week Livingstone picked up a key business endorsement when the Prescott Chamber of Commerce endorsed her campaign.  Now former state Senate President, and often rumored candidate for the seat, Ken Bennett has come out and endorsed Livingstone.  Livingstone faces Sydney Hay in the September Primary.  Hay has been endorsed by Congressman Jeff Flake, Trent Franks and John Shadegg.