Chandler mayor says he won’t run for Legislature

Chandler Mayor Boyd Dunn said he won’t run for the Legislature next year, leaving the traditionally Republican district vulnerable to Democrats in an increasingly competitive region.

Dunn, a Republican, said he’d make a decision later this year on whether to seek a fourth and final term as mayor, but a state House seat was out of the question.

“While I appreciate all attention I’ve received, I’m not going to run for the state legislature,” Dunn told the Tribune last week.

There had been an effort by some Republicans to draft him into the race, Dunn said. But in the end he said he wanted to focus on local politics.

Many politicians had speculated that Dunn would run for the District 20 seat in 2008, which becomes open next year because Rep. Bob Robson, R-Chandler, is term limited out.

Dunn is a well-known name with a strong political resume, and many believed he would be the best bet to stop further GOP losses at the statehouse.

Republicans lost seven seats in the House and one in the Senate last year, following a nationwide trend as Democrats ended Republicans’ 12-year control of Congress.

State Republican Party officials said they still have a number of potential high-profile candidates to run in the Chandler district. However, none would bring the political cache of the mayor.

Some Republican lawmakers said they were concerned the district has started to grow away from its GOP roots. But a Republican spokesman said the party has bigger concerns than District 20.

“I don’t see this as a high profile race for us. We have eight or nine other races ranked above this one,” said Brett Mecum, a spokesman for the Arizona Republican Party.

Most of the competitive Districts are in the Southern part of the state. The one exception, Mecum said, would be the East Valley’s District 17 which covers Tempe as well as south Scottsdale and parts of Phoenix.

A Democratic victory in District 20, which covers Chandler and parts of Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe, would be considered a political upset by most standards. Republicans have a strong advantage in registered voters. There are about 39,000 registered Republicans compared to about 25,000 Democrats, according to the July figures from the Arizona Secretary of State’s office.

But the key statistic, according to political insiders, is the growing number of Independent voters. Like the rest of the state, District 20 has experienced a trend of voters who are not registering with the major political parties.

According to the Arizona Secretary of State, there are 26,000 voters registered as “other.” In November 2000, that number was about 7,600.

Registration numbers and the results of last year’s election have Democrats optimistic that they can carry the district. In 2006, incumbent Republican Sen. John Huppenthal narrowly defeated political newcomer Donna Gratehouse, a Democrat, by about 3,000 votes.

Emily Bittner, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party, said District 20 was one of the races the party will focus on next year. She would not say, however, which candidate they were pushing for.

Phil Westbrooks, former vice mayor of Chandler, said he was considering a run for the seat and said he has been talking with state Democratic party officials.

Westbrooks was first elected to the Chandler City Council in 1998. He lost a bid last year to unseat Dunn as the city’s mayor. He attributed the loss, in part, to the inherent difficulties in beating an incumbent mayor.

However, if he does run, he would bring many of the same political attributes to the Democratic ticket that Dunn would have brought to the Republicans — a long political resume, years of community involvement and name recognition.

“I’m not ready to say what my plans are yet, but I do want to get back into public service at some point in the future,” Westbrooks said.