Olson, Kennedy take early leads
5 Republicans, 3 Dems battle for 2 positions on state regulators panel
Republican Justin Olson and Democrat Sandra Kennedy were leading their respective races in early election results for the Arizona Corporation Commission on Tuesday. Commission Chairman Tom Forese was trailing in the GOP primary.
Five Republicans and three Democrats are on the ballot in the primary election for two seats on the commission.
The outcomes across the state.
The two eventual winners from both parties will face off in the general election. The second-place spot in both races was close in early results Tuesday night.
Five elected Corporation Commission members set rates and other policies for electric, water and gas utilities in Arizona.
They also oversee other matters such will affect people as securities regulation, railroad crossings and power-plant and power-line locations.
They are elected to four-year terms and are paid $80,000 annually.
The challengers include three Republicans and three Democrats, who are seeking to take the seats of incumbent Republicans Forese and Olson, who also are on the ballot.
The Republican challengers include Rodney Glassman, Jim O’Connor and Eric Sloan.
Democrats running this year are former commissioners Bill Mundell and Kennedy and newcomer Kiana Maria Sears. Mundell and Kennedy are campaigning together.
Kennedy was one of two Democrats — the other Paul Newman — on the commission who lost their seats in the 2012 election. They were the last Democrats in Arizona to be elected to statewide office.
The Corporation Commission has faced issues in the past few years that have eroded public trust in the regulators.
Not only did a former chairwoman resign amid a conflict-of-interest dispute, but former Chairman Gary Pierce recently avoided prison time on charges of bribery and conspiracy when a jury declared a mistrial in his case.
The state’s biggest utility, Arizona Public Service Co., has fueled the controversy at the commission by having its parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corp., contribute to the political campaigns of candidates running for the office.
Pinnacle West and APS previously opted not to get involved in Corporation Commission races because company officials viewed it as improper to contribute to the candidates who would eventually set rates for the electric company.
The company no longer maintains that policy.
After a rate hike last year, APS customers petitioned for a rehearing, and the commissioners are expected to decide on that case before the general election.
The regulators have other high-profile utility matters before them, including the matter of Johnson Utilities, a troubled water company serving parts of Pinal County, and EPCOR USA, a water company that wants to consolidate, which would raise rates on some customers while lowering them for others.
The commissioners also are considering a boost to the state’s renewable energy standard, which currently requires electric utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources such as solar and wind by 2025.
Forese is the current chairman of the commission. He was elected in 2014 after serving in the state House of Representatives.
Olson was appointed to the commission by Gov. Doug Ducey to fill a seat vacated by Doug Little, who took a job with the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a tax analyst who served in the Legislature from 2011 to 2017.
Glassman is an attorney at Beus Gilbert in Phoenix and a former Tucson City Council member.
O’Connor is retired after working 42 years in the securities industry and selling his firm, Nexus Financial Services.
Sloan works at Sloan Lyons public relations firm with his wife and previously held jobs at Arizona State University.
On the Democratic side, Mundell was appointed to the commission as a Republican and served two full terms, ending in 2009. Before that, he served in the state Legislature and was a Municipal Court judge.