THATCHER — The election may be more than a year away, but the election season in Graham and Greenlee counties is underway.
During an appearance on the Voice of the Valley talk show on KATO AM 1230 Friday, Democrat Nick Nordgran-Tellez announced his candidacy for state Legislature for Dist. 19.
“I will be running traditional, which means I won’t be collecting the $5 donations or collecting money for Clean Elections,” Nordgran-Tellez said. “That doesn’t mean I’m not running with integrity; it simply means I’m running traditional because I believe that I need to raise more money than what Clean Elections affords its candidates to be a winning candidate in this district.”
District 19 includes Greenlee County; Graham County, except for the San Carlos Apache Reservation; Cochise County, except for Bisbee; Southeastern Pima County, including Green Valley and Vail; and northeastern Santa Cruz County, including Sonoita.
Nordgran-Tellez said public education is one of the top issues in the district this election.
“Some of these small towns, that’s the center of the town; the school,” he said. “If we don’t get a hold of this situation, get a hold of the ESA debacle and the siphoning of money from public schools, we’re going to lose some of these smaller schools in these rural areas.”
He also listed water resources, and jobs and the economy as the other issues of significant impact to the district.
He will be running against incumbent Republicans Lupe Diaz, of Benson, and Gail Griffin, of Hereford, both of whom have filed with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office statements of interest in running.
For state Senate, incumbent Republican David Gowan and Democrat challenger Mike Norman have filed statements of interest in running.
And in the race for Congress in District 6, which represents Graham, Greenlee and Cochise counties, six have submitted statements of interest in running in 2024, including incumbent Republican Juan Ciscomani; Libertarian Vance Cast; and Democrats Kirsten Engel — who lost to Ciscomani in 2022 — Austin Unruh, Vieri Tenuta and Jack O’Donnell.
