http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0328political-insider0328.html

Supervisors to name successor to Sen. Mitchell

Jahna Berry The Arizona Republic Mar. 28, 2006 12:00 AM

Talk about a tough political call. On Wednesday, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is expected to announce who will serve out the rest of Sen. Harry Mitchell's term in the state Legislature.

Mitchell, a longtime Tempe mayor, resigned from his District 17 (Tempe and south Scottsdale) seat to run for Congress against Rep. J.D. Hayworth.

On Saturday, the Democrats nominated two ambitious political candidates and one newcomer who has pledged not to seek re-election to fill the remainder of Mitchell's term. The nominees are state Rep. Meg Burton Cahill, D-Tempe; District 17 House candidate Ed Ableser; and Cahill's campaign treasurer, Sharon Doyle, said Seth Scott, press secretary for the Arizona Democratic Party.

Mitchell's district is highly desired by Republicans and Democrats, so the fall House and Senate races are expected to be hotly contested. The mostly Republican Board of Supervisors may be reluctant to bestow Mitchell's seat to a Democratic contender who would come back to haunt the GOP in a later election.

But the county supervisors have only a list of Democrats to choose from.

Cahill was planning to run for the Senate in the fall because Mitchell would have left office because of term limits anyway. If she were appointed, she would go into the Senate race as an incumbent.

If the supervisors pick Ableser, he would go into the House race as a state senator and possibly a stronger candidate.

Doyle is a retired high school speech pathologist who says if she gets the seat, she won't run for the Senate after she finishes Mitchell's term. Doyle is, however, considering running for Tempe City Council or the state House in the future, she said Monday.

Like we said, a tough call for the supervisors.