Posted on 07/19/2005 4:58:43 PM PDT by hsmomx3
Valley shopping mall developer Jim Pederson resigned Tuesday as chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, setting the stage for a U.S. Senate run against Republican incumbent Jon Kyl.
Pederson has served as state Democratic chairman since 2001 and is a top financial contributor to party causes, both nationally and in Arizona.
Pederson is expected to challenge Kyl for the Republican's Senate seat next year.
Democrats will pick a new state chairman at their next quarterly meeting in Flagstaff next month.
Earlier this year, Pederson announced he was stepping down as president of his real estate development company and will serve only as the Pederson Group's chairman.
Pederson was recently in Nantucket, Mass., for top-level Democratic meetings with incumbent senators and other possible challengers. The resignation announcement comes the same day as Kyl introduced a get-tough immigration and border security bill in Washington.
Political insiders and business lobbyists view Kyl as the favorite in a race against Pederson, which is expected to be an extremely expensive contest.
Republicans hold a five-percentage-point voter registration edge in the state and Kyl is a close ally of President Bush and fellow GOP Sen. John McCain.
Bush carried the state over Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, by 11 percentage points.
However, Pederson's financial resources are credited with helping Democrat Janet Napolitano with her victory in the 2002 governor's race, as well as bolstering Democratic infrastructure and staffing in Arizona.
The Democratic Party's announcement of Pederson's resignation made no mention of a Senate bid and party officials did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
For more: www.azdem.org.
He won't win and he knows it. This is to show people he can run and that he would be a possible candidate for another office.
What a joke .. Kyle is a great Senator for/from Arizona... and I pray someone good decides to challenge Nappy for Governor; she's a disaster. Problem is all potentials were on hold thinking JD was going to challenge her (and probably would win handily) and when he decided to stay in congress left the AZ Republican Party in a state of limbo with no clear challenger...
It's a mistake for conservatives to assume that Jon Kyl has it in the bag. Arizona has become less conservative over the years, and John Pederson has the money and political experience to make a race of it. I'm not saying he'll win, but we should not take it for granted.
That's an EAST attack to exploit in any rural or exurban area.
That's an EASY attack to exploit in any rural or exurban area.
Well, maybe I'm making a mistake, but I think that Kyl has it in the bag. He will win with at least 60% even if Pederson wastes all his money on his quixotic run.
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