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Mary Jo West is a Valley institution. For those of you too young to remember, West was the first female anchor in Phoenix television. She later became general manager of the City of Phoenix's Channel 11. West also served as spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. And she is well known for her work with the poor and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. All of us should strive for such "irrelevance."

The Dems have quite a few good candidates this time around. However I'm surprised Charlton endorsed Richard. Nelson has the endorsements of most major law enforcement agencies, as well as having by far the most legitimate chance to knock Andy Thomas out of office.

Tim Nelson's list of endorsements is really quite amazing. See for yourself! 15 law enforcement agencies have endorsed Tim Nelson! And since this job is about law enforcement, I'll hang my hat with Nelson!

Good point SammyB! Here's Tim Nelson list of endorsements so far!

Law Enforcement Organizations

Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs
Arizona Capitol Police Officer's Association
Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association
ADOT Peace Officers Association
Arizona Probation Officers Association
Attorney General Special Agents Association
Avondale Police Officers Association
Buckeye Police Officers Association
Chandler Lieutenants and Sergeants Association
Chandler Unified Police Department Association
El Mirage Police Employee's Association
Maricopa Community College Police Officer's Association
Maricopa County Deputies Association
Maricopa Juvenile Corrections Association
Police Officers of Scottsdale Association


Community Leaders and Organizations

SEIU
United Food and Commercial Workers

Elected Officials

Governor Janet Napolitano

Sen. Ken Cheuvront
Sen. Debbie McCune Davis
Sen. Martha Garcia
Rep. Ed Ableser
Rep. Chad Campbell
Rep. Steve Gallardo
Rep. Phil Lopes
Rep. Linda Lopez
Rep. Robert Meza
Rep. Dave Schapira
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema
Rep. Jackie Thrasher

Mary Rose Wilcox, MC Bd. Of Supervisors

Greg Stanton, Phoenix City Council

Hey Sammy B! If the County Attorney's job is really about law enforcement, how about supporting someone who actually has some law enforcement experience. Gerald Richard has been Director of the Phoenix Police Department for the past 15 years, managing four times the number of employees as the County Attorney.
Tim Nelson has no criminal law enforcement background at all. (And unlike Gerald Richard, he's never prosecuted a criminal case, either.)

Well barb850, I respect your right to vote for whoever you like. Gerald Richard is a great guy! But if 15 law enforcement agencies think Tim Nelson is better at law enforcement, that's really saying something! That's why he gets my vote!

I'm glad to see the wide range of community support for both candidates competing to take on Andy Thomas in November. But I'm supporting Tim Nelson because he has the experience and support to take on the right-wing machine that Thomas will employ.

Criminal Law is such a small discipline in the complete practice of law, that no law school devotes anything more than about 12 semester hours to the subject in their core curriculum. In other words, criminal law is among the easiest to learn and understand when compared to the complete practice of law. The chief quality in choosing a trial lawyer is experience at trial. Tim Nelson has spent most of his career in the trial arena. Mr. Richard has been, for about 20 years, a bureaucrat in the Phoenix police department. Mr. Richard has almost no experience in trials and is closer to Thomas in that category than he ever shall be to Tim Nelson. Keep in mind, also, that the County Attorney has many responsibilities in the civil arena. Fire Andrew Thomas. Vote for Tim Nelson.

Paul Charlton is a very respected and if he supports Gerald Richard, that is a huge statement. He knows something about truly goes on in this town behind the scenes. As citizens we need to remain vigilant.

We'll vote for Gerald Richard for County Attorney and Dan Saban for Sheriff -- a professional team who can work to clean up the mess created over the last four years with incompetence and corruption.

Wake up Arizona -- We don't need a Governor's puppet controlling the Maricopa County Attorney's office.

The endorsement of the Scottsdale Police is not an asset but clearly sends a message we'd just get more of the same -- it's time for a change from business as usual. GERALD RICHARD HAS OUR VOTE -- Maricopa needs an experienced street smart County Attorney who understands who the real criminals are, not hunting down the most vulnerable in the communities. Sitting in the law office ivory towers where most of the offices are above the 20th floor does not give one the experience of what is happening down on the streets of Phoenix. Tim Nelson lacks experience in the critical areas of community building and managing diverse groups that a city the size of Phoenix demands.

GERALD RICHARD HAS OUR VOTE

That's a NO Brainer....
Mickey Mouse would do a better job than Candy Ass Thomas.

>>Paul Charlton endorses Gerald Richard over Andrew Thomas for Maricopa County Attorney

All those Nelson endorsers are Party Loyalist.

I agree with barb850.

Having Mary Jo West, former newscaster, on your side is brings a measure of comfort to many. We who remember her do so with great fondness. As a newscaster she came across as trustworthy. As a community activist she came across as committed to the Valley and to mainstream family values.

It won't effect my vote per se, but it helps shape my opinion, just a bit, of the candidate.

I agree with barb850.

Having Mary Jo West, former newscaster, on your side is brings a measure of comfort to many. We who remember her do so with great fondness. As a newscaster she came across as trustworthy. As a community activist she came across as committed to the Valley and to mainstream family values.

It won't effect my vote per se, but it helps shape my opinion, just a bit, of the candidate.

I'm with Concerned Citizen and others on this one. I'm voting for G-Richards.
Richards has the expertise that neither Nelson nor Lil` Joe Thomas can match up.

But I am however, disappointed that lovely Kristen Sinema D-Phoenix is voting for Nelson. It can't be. That's gotta be a mistake.. The beautiful lady is the most lovely lady I had ever seen representing the D-Phoenix!!
How sweet of Kristen Sinema!!!
Not only is she beautiful but she is smart too. There is no other politician like the lovely Kristen Sinema.....she's the only one that gets my attention!!

Andrew Thomas has never tried a felony case in his entire career. Nelson has an extensive litigation background, and Richard tried many high profile cases. Both of them are excellent managers.

The true difference? Charisma. Gerald Richard is a leader. He is not an establishment politico who plans to use the County Attorney's Office as a stepping stone to higher office.

Andrew Thomas has never tried a felony case in his entire career. Nelson has an extensive litigation background, and Richard tried many high profile cases. Both of them are excellent managers.

The true difference? Charisma. Gerald Richard is a leader. He is not an establishment politico who plans to use the County Attorney's Office as a stepping stone to higher office.

Thomas and Arpaio simply *ooze* corruption. Yet another indication today: a story in the Arizona Republic regarding a lawsuit to have a voter initiative removed due to deceptive practices by those recruiting signatures. The chairman of the initiative? Andrew Thomas.

Says the Republic:

Among the allegations: Signature gatherers engaged "in racially targeted fraud by deceiving Black, Latino, and sympathetic White voters into signing what they were told was a petition to ban discrimination when, in fact, it was a petition whose sole purpose was to ban affirmative action."

The article quotes the executive director of the group behind the lawsuit (which has been monitoring the signature drive since May 28) as saying "Having been on the ground here, we've never seen something so thoroughly corrupt."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0701affirmativeaction0701.html

Whatever one thinks of the group behind the lawsuit, misrepresentation by those gathering signatures for voter initiatives is a practice which undermines democracy, and should not be tolerated. Thomas' shoulder-shrugging, dismissive response once again proves that, as far as he is concerned, the end justifies the means.

Emil, you hit the nail on the head!

Either candidate will do a better job than Thomas could ever dream of doing.

However, my vote goes to Gerald Richard since he's not the Governors puppet.

Our lives are worse under Andrew Thomas than 4 years ago. Made a mistake last time voting for Thomas. We are disappointed in his lack of experience and racist and bigoted single point of view. America has always been about diversity -- didn't he learn that at Harvard?

We'll vote for Gerald Richard for County Attorney. Tim Nelson is the Governor's puppet and we do not need more of the same --- ineffective leadership. Tim may be a great lawyer but he lacks experience in dealing with the "real" issues of a divided and diverse community. White collar crime is what former Gov. Spritzer hang his hat on -- and we can all see where that went!!

We'll vote for Gerald Richard for County Attorney.

Land of the Incarcerated! 1 in 100 Adults in prisons and jails in the land of the free. Pew Prison Report 1 in 100. Something to think about today. America is the #1 jailer in the world. The statue of Liberty is shedding tears today. The politicians wins, the people and taxpayers lose.

correction:

Land of the Incarcerated! 1 in 100 Adults in prisons and jails in the land of the free. Pew Prison Report 1 in 100. Something to think about today. America is the #1 jailer in the world. The statue of Liberty is shedding tears today. The politicians win -- the people and taxpayers lose. I don't know how they sleep at night!

We pray for leadership where principle comes before party politics.

We'll vote for Gerald Richard for County Attorney. Tim Nelson is the Governor's puppet and we do not need more of the same --- ineffective leadership. Tim may be a great lawyer but he lacks experience in dealing with the "real" issues of a divided and diverse community. White collar crime is what former New York Gov. Spitzer hung his hat on -- and we can all see where that went!!

County Attorneys need to hit the real criminals and get off the easy and vulnerable prey for your convictions. We can all see through it. "Mug shots", "Billboard mugshots", "Special reports" sent to East Valley Tribune-- more mug shots, "crime prevention brochures", 24/7 channel 11 Andrew Thomas at the podium, with weird messages -- ala Orwell and Hitler.... Enough is enough. Time to get rid of Andrew Thomas and his and Arpaio's reign of terror.

We will vote for Gerald Richard for County Attorney.