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August 23, 2020
Campaign 2020 kicks into high gear In Chandler BY PAUL MARYNIAK Arizonan Executive Editor
T
wo new candidates for State House have entered the Legislative District 18 General Election campaign as the races for two House seats and the Senate seat heat up. Official results from the Aug. 4 primary showed that Donald Hawker of Tempe secured 1,026 votes – 4.59 percent of all votes cast two weeks ago and more than twice the 499 he needed to get his name on the November ballot.
He will join Ahwatukee resident Bob Robson on the GOP ticket for the LD18 House race against incumbent Democratic Reps. Mitzi Epstein and Jennifer Jermaine in a district that covers northern Chandler as well as Ahwatukee and parts of Tempe and Mesa. Meanwhile, Tempe resident Chris Wilson, a 16-year Arizonan and ex-Marine who works in sales and management for a company that manufactures prosthetic feet and knees for amputees, has declared himself in the running for a LD18 House
Seat on the Constitution Party, setting up a five-way race for the two seats. He has made Gov. Doug Ducey’s “unconstitutional” shutdowns of businesses a major focus of his campaign, calling it “tyranny” and lambasting the incumbents and their colleagues for not stopping the governor’s actions. The LD 18 Senate campaign is an all-Ahwatukee affair as Republican Realtor Suzanne Sharer tries to deny Democrat Sean
see ELECTIONS page 21
$21M budget hole may Gratitude for Aprende confront Chandler schools BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer
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handler Unified School District has about 1,600 fewer students than it expected, prompting administrators to grapple with a possible funding shortfall of nearly $21 million. CUSD, one of Arizona’s largest school districts, had projected 47,000 students at its 42 campuses for the 2020-2021 school year. But recent estimates taken from the first week of school this month indicate CUSD missed its projection by 1,656 kids. “That really impacts our school district,” said CUSD Chief Financial Officer Lana Berry. The enrollment numbers are not final since some students may not have been able to log on to their virtual classes yet, she added, so it’s not clear yet how many students have completely withdrawn from CUSD.
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see SCHOOL page 6
Marissa King and her 12-year-old daughter Joelle can't thank enough the parents and staff in the Aprende Middle School community who rallied around Joelle during a horrendous bout with COVID 19. Story on page 16. (Special to the Arizonan)
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