Shadegg in trouble in CD3

I just received a report from a national pollster not aligned with either CD 3 campaign indicating that incumbent Republican John Shadegg is extremely vulnerable with less than 40 percent of voters supporting him for re-election.. Typically, an incumbent with a re-elect number of under 50 is considered to be in trouble. Here are some highlights:

1. 39% say they would re-elect Shadegg, 38% say they would support someone else

2. Shadegg has a 25% Favorable rating and a 22% Unfavorable rating. Again, terrible for any candidate, let alone a 7-term incumbent.

To see the 3-page pollling memo, go to:

http://politickeraz.com/files/politickeraz/AZ03Poll_0.pdf

And last week Mayor Phil Gordon endorsed Bob Lord for the District 3 seat:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0321phxpolitics0322.html

I'd say Bob Lord is having a good week.

Phoenix is doing right by the arts

Sunday's Republic notes the growing success of the the downtown Phoenix art scene along East Roosevelt and Grand Avenue. The Mayor and City Council can actually claim some credit for this. First, they killed the football stadium in 2002 which would have wiped out the East Roosevelt galleries, along with most of the Garfield neighborhood. Then some city officals wanted to buy up the area for the biomedical campus; Gordon said no. Further west, last fall a developer wanted mid-rise zoning at 13th Avenue and Grand and was turned down by the Council. The City seems to actually have its act together for a change.

The Art Detour coming up this weekend is definitely worth a visit if you want to see for yourself. There are still to many vacant lots, so in that respect going at night is probably preferable.