Candidates line up with seat open in Legislative District 10

By Tom Blodgett
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An open seat in Arizona’s Legislative District 10 has drawn plenty of interest on both sides of the aisle. 

One-term legislator Ralph Heap, a Republican, has decided to run for the Arizona Corporation Commission, leaving no incumbent for a House seat in LD10, which covers northeast Mesa and a portion of Apache Junction. 

As a result, two newcomers are in the Republican primary alongside incumbent Justin Olson: Ciara Anderson, a stay-at-home mom and political activist who formerly worked in business operations, and attorney James Rogers. 

The Democrats have two in the primary who should advance to the general election: Brian Calaway, who runs after-school enrichment programs, and Helen Hunter, a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal church. 

David Scott also is running from the Arizona Independent Party. He has worked in business operations and management. 

The Senate race is cleaner as incumbent David Farnsworth is running unopposed for the Republican nomination. 

Likewise, former attorney Blair Moses is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination. 

The primary election is set for July 21 with the general election scheduled for Nov. 3.

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert

tblodgett@iniusa.org

Meet Tom
Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.

Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.

Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism. 

Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.  

Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).