Oct. 24, 2004
Tribune Election 2004 Special Section
Three experienced Democrats, including a fatherdaughter team, are vying to sweep the legislative races in District 23, but are being challenged for the two House seats.
Rep. Cheryl Chase, DKearney, and Sen. Pete Rios, D-Hayden, are being challenged for the House seats by Republican Franklin Pratt of Casa Grande and Libertarian Stephen Flynn of Apache Junction.
Rebecca Rios, a former House member from Apache Junction, is unopposed in the race to fill the Senate seat her father is vacating.
Chase, a nurse, is finishing her second term in the House. She is participating in public financing of her campaign.
Pete Rios is a former president of the state Senate, where he has served for a total of 16 years. A juvenile counselor for the last 12 years, he is switching to the House because of term limits. He is running on privately raised funds.
Pratt is a scuba instructor and owner of a pool store and diving shop in Casa Grande. He also is taking public funds through the Citizens Clean Election Commission.
Flynn, who is also running on private funds, is a public school teacher in Phoenix and is running on the pledge to combat high taxes, excessive regulation and unconstitutional laws.
