By
Shana Heiser
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Downing one of two Democratic candidates vying for
University of Arizona Professor Ted Downing won one of two spots on November's Democratic ticket last night for state legislative District 13.
The final numbers put him second only to Gabrielle Giffords, with Downing coming in at 50 percent and Giffords receiving 55 percent of the votes with 93 percent of precincts reporting last night.
"I'm feeling good," Downing said as the results came in. "Gabbi and I are leading by a substantial margin. I am now an official Democrat candidate, and the first campaign finance reform candidate in this district."
Growth initiative and campaign finance reform are the two main issues Downing has campaigned on, which he said has helped him win the nomination.
This is only the second time in the history of the United States that candidates have run under campaign finance reform, signing a contract stating they will accept no money from corporations or special interest groups, Downing said.
"This is the first time in the history of Arizona there's been an election with a campaign finance reform candidate," he said. "Voters are coming that way."
Instead, the funds for his campaign have come from a fee on lobbyists and a portion of the fines from criminal and civil offenses. Downing said he gets $10,000 in the primary from these sources alone.
"The lobbyists are paying me to be independent," he said. "The people that break the law pay for the campaign of the people who make the law."
Other funds have come from private parties, but each individual can give Downing no more than $5 under his contract with the state, he said.
"Maybe for the first time in anyone's living memory, we have an opportunity for a participatory democracy where $5 gives access to the candidate," said Jerry Moles, a Downing supporter who attended the gathering at Downing's home.
The challenge he faces now is trying to win a seat in the legislature as the only campaign finance reform candidate. Giffords and other Republican nominees are not running under campaign finance reform.
"I have to keep going," Downing said. "I'm facing my Republican candidates on what would be a very difficult race. We have equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats. My bet is greater than half of these people believe in campaign finance reform.
"There will be immense pressure to avoid having a new legislature that is not tied to special interest."
As the numbers came in on Downing's laptop computer, supporter Bob Miranda said Downing is a "neighborhood type of guy that understands neighborhood issues."
Once it became clear that Downing would move on to the general election in November, Downing's mother, Beatrice Snelson, said she was "very proud" of her son.
"We come from a long line of Democrats," Snelson said. "My grandfather had the first chair as an Oklahoma state representative because he was born on Jan. 1."
Downing said he thinks some of his major issues pertain to UA students, such as his opposition to last year's proposed bill allowing random dorm searches.
"There is a tendency for legislatures to micro-manage student and faculty life at the university," Downing said. "The bill just woke me up, that they would allow random searches of dorms and a condition of your contract is one search a month. Imagine what a student could do that didn't like you. That's outrageous. Academic freedom, that's what it's all about and the government stays out."
The growth initiative, if passed, could have a serious effect on current UA freshmen and sophomores, Downing said.
"There will be a lot of activity if it passes for the next three to four years in defining growth and how we're going to grow," he said. "This is a real issue defining our communities where we're at. I think it's going to be the most exciting time to be a student. I wish I could go back and be an undergraduate. I call it growth and reflection."
