Rookie Season Five Newcomers Take A Stab At Winning The Two House Seats In District 11. By J.E. Relly AS INCUMBENT HOUSE members Elaine Richardson and Jorge Luis Garcia duke it out to replace retiring Sen. Peter Goudinoff in District 11 (see "Senate Stretch," page 7), five candidates are on the campaign trail for the two open House seats. The 31,000 Democrats in the district will choose between Carmine Cardamone, Douglas Martin, Debora Norris, Carlos "Charlie" Salaz and Mike Price. None of the candidates has served in state office before and competition for the two seats is quite genteel, with a few of the unfossilized candidates actually saying their opponents are just as qualified as they are. In a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 3 to 1, the candidates have the tall order of appealing to a swatch of voters as diverse as it gets: urban Tucson, the Tohono O'odham nation, Nogales, Picture Rocks, Arivaca, Sells, Ajo and chunks of rural Arizona in between. Carmine Cardamone surpasses the other candidates in political élan. The 46-year-old activist cut his teeth on politics working for former Senators Walter Mondale and George McGovern, along with Ralph Nader's Public Interest Research Group. He's worked on numerous campaigns for local politicos, including District 11's Goudinoff, Elaine Richardson and John Kromko. He worked for 10 years as a volunteer legislative aide assisting in the drafting of a bill which passed the Legislature, allowing those receiving state income tax refunds to offer a few bucks for endangered and threatened species, food banks and the homeless. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Cardamone moved to his district 27 years ago to attend the University of Arizona political science program. He dropped out to work on political and environmental campaigns. He currently works weekends with the developmentally disabled for Catholic Social Services. Four years ago, Cardamone withdrew his name from the statehouse race and has worked as a volunteer aide for Rep. Elaine Richardson ever since. In Richardson's office he's contributed to drafting legislation for funds for Nogales cancer and lupus victims. He's currently assisting with a bill drafted to promote funding for a mobile health clinic in the district. Cardamone, a member of the American Civil Liberties Union and Common Cause, also has worked on several campaigns supporting Native Americans in environmental lawsuits, animal rights and has lobbied the Legislature for the Grey Panthers to protect senior citizens from Telemarketing scams and frauds. His first legislative priority is the environment, yet his positions and interests are strictly defensive. He would strongly oppose a re-introduction of a bill that died last session which granted immunity to polluters. He'd also attack any attempts to tap and divert the Heritage Fund, used to enhance state parks, protect endangered species and promote environmental education. The pro-choice candidate has received endorsements from the Arizona Human Rights Fund, National Organization of Women, Rep. Richardson, Pima County Supervisor Raul Grijalva, former Tucson Mayor Tom Volgy, and a string of former pols. Contender Douglas Martin, who has a solid background in multicultural education from Stanford and as a consultant to universities, tribes, and school districts, has insider knowledge of educational needs in District 11. In his work, Martin, 46, addresses ways to offer equal education to every student. He deals with limited resources issues, such as classrooms filled with 20 different language groups, while problem-solving with teachers, administrators and superintendents. Originally from New Haven, Connecticut, Martin has lived in the district eight years. He's paying out-of-pocket for his campaign and takes the high ground on issues of the day. He is a member of Common Cause and considers the Green Party platform "more along my line," but the party didn't grab enough Signatures to be on the ballot in Arizona. Both groups press for campaign finance reform. He says the bottom line shouldn't always be the answer and supports state-mandated recycling and increased gas taxes if they would promote conservation. "I'm not talking about politically correct," he says. "It's the environment we live in." Still boycotting Exxon even though he realizes it won't hurt the corporation, Martin says the state has to use behavior modification with industry so it's not financially feasible to screw up. On poverty and homelessness, he says, "As a developed, modern society we can set certain standards of inalienable human rights: shelter, food, medical care." He believes the public need should be considered before concerns about increased taxes. Martin calls current state school funding "abysmal" and is not in favor of distributing a pool of money on a per-pupil basis. He uses the example of students in the middle of Indian Oasis School District, saying the cost of bringing a specialized teacher out there to teach a student English will cost more than educating the student in the city. The only woman seeking the District 11 House seat grew up on the Tohono O'odham reservation, where women run the tribal council. A Navajo, Debora Norris graduated from Stanford with a degree in American history. She also spent an educational stint at Oxford. Her parents are both teachers; her father serves as superintendent in the Sells school district. A two-year owner of a Native American arts and crafts shop in Sells, The Turquoise Turtle, Norris has taught for the reservation G.E.D. program and has done educational volunteer work for the school board. She is on the precinct committee for the Democratic Party. Norris exudes an unspoken pragmatic idealism. She talks with disdain of endorsement questionnaires floating into her mail from special interest groups. "I received a letter with a strip miner and real estate agent on the logo," she says, which asked her, " 'Do you need money?' I'd be ashamed to take advantage of that money. These aren't the kind of people I want to represent. The people I want to represent don't have money." The last campaign finance report indicated no activity in Norris' account. She's hasn't done much walking because of the heat; but, as the only woman running against four men, she has a good shot at winning the race just by capturing the female vote. Endorsed by the Women's Political Caucus, Norris doesn't have any priority bills she wants to push if elected to the Legislature. She admits to expecting to learn on the job during the first session, but she sees equalized funding in education and civil rights as her main issues. The candidate is in favor of affirmative action, reproductive rights, and equal rights on the basis of sexual orientation. The Labor movement is represented strongly by Carlos "Charlie" Salaz, who has worked for Magma Copper Co. for 27 years. Last filing period, his campaign finance report indicated no funds, but the 52-year-old candidate received a slew of endorsements beginning with the AFL-CIO, Southern Arizona Central Labor Council and United Steel Workers of America. County Supervisors Raul Grijalva, Dan Eckstrom and Tucson Vice Mayor Steve Leal are among Salaz's supporters. A lifelong native in Districts 10 and 11, Salaz describes his neighborhood near Kennedy Park as a jungle, where helicopters loom over houses every night and 30 to 40 cops monitor his neighborhood for crime. Salaz, who isn't profligate with words, feels strongly about state-instituted juvenile crime coalitions. In his coalition, meetings and ideas for solutions start at the grassroots level. He proposes incorporating the city, county, and state for a united effort. Although Salaz says if elected, property and sales taxes would be the last ones he'd vote to increase, he's a strong advocate of a statewide, non-income dependent health care program, and would personally be willing to pay more property tax for funding. Like the other candidates, Salaz complains about the unconstitutional nature of the current allocation of school funds. For that program, he says, "If we need money, we should increase taxes." Salaz does not support reproductive freedom for women and believes abortions should be legal only when the pregnancy results from rape, incest, or if the woman's life is endangered. He's also in favor of parental consent. Then there's Mike Price, a former Republican who has registered as a Democrat for this race. Although Price says he only registered Republican in order to vote in primaries on Tucson's east side, where he used to live, that doesn't explain why he's run on the GOP ticket in previous District 11 contests. Price's response to the question of "choice" for women is decidedly veiled. In his response to The Weekly, Price poses the question, "When does life begin?...Each must decide; however, this is a no-brainer for me. The egg and sperm cells are live (sic) and they merge to become another live organism which has its own unique set of chromosomes. This is a continuation of life, not a creation and it's worthy of respect." Price has an enigmatic, folksy style that's dizzyingly confusing. His five-page bio on "Classic Linen" paper begins with his birth date, time, and location. He's a "descendent of Celtic Royalty and Native American Ancestry." As the egocentric pages unfold, Price establishes a virtual timeline of his life, taking the reader past his residence on the U.S. Navy yacht "La Escondida," through his unfortunate treatment for leukemia, on to homelessness, morphine addiction, temporary housing and 17 other residences. In there, his educational background lists a two-year stop at the University of Austin, Harvard for two semesters in the School of "Business Management" concurrently with a certificate of completion (whatever that means) from the Aeronautics and Aerospace, program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. None of the schools has a record of Mike Vader Price attending. Price would like to create a clearinghouse of ideas for the homeless, where each county offers information and support for those living on the street. He says, "Cities should have guarantees to lenders for down payments and set-up fees for inexpensive mobile homes to be put on city property." He suggests converting closed motels into temporary housing. If elected, Price's priority is to propose legislation making emissions testing mandatory in all counties. "Either all counties are tested or none," he writes. "It is merely a Constitutional issue." Other than the principle of the thing, he doesn't explain any benefits of expanding an expensive testing program to rural counties where emissions don't represent the same problem as they do in Pima and Maricopa counties. In short, Price's election could be a nightmare, although an amusing one. The two winners of the race will face Republicans Ora Harn and Steve Benefield on the November ballot.

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