Tom Hansen

CAMP VERDE -- The Congressional Candidate Forum on the Future of Arizona's Natural Resources brought out most of the AZ-1 field, where the candidates who showed up navigated their way through a proving ground of environmental questions. The whole panel was in agreement on the need for renewable energy investment, even if not all saw a consensus on the fact of global climate change. The biggest question of the afternoon wasn't asked by the moderator, however - it was "where is Sydney Hay?"

The seven participants included Democrats Jeffrey Brown, Ann Kirkpatrick, Howard Shanker and Mary Kim Titla, Republicans Tom Hansen and Preston Korn, and independent Brent Maupin. Two other Republicans who filed, Sandra Livingstone and Barry Hall, declined to participate.

However, Sydney Hay, who has been embraced by the Republican establishment, including the state party and numerous Republican state legislators and members of Congress, did not show up. Audience members and press instead received a letter from Hay that apologized for her absence but gave no explanation.

It is rare for U.S. representatives to travel far from the bosom of Washington, D.C. to the desert of southern Arizona. It must be counted a victory for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-8), then, when yesterday she presided over a field hearing of the House Science and Technology Committee's Subcomittee on Energy and Environment in her Tucson district with four colleagues.  read more »