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PHOENIX -- Democrat Fred DuVal on Thursday filed more than twice the number of signatures needed to qualify for the Arizona governor's race.

DuVal prepares a campaign he hopes will return a Democrat to the state's top elected office for the first time in six years.

The former member of the Arizona Board of Regents filed more than 10,000 qualifying signatures he said were collected from voters by volunteers in all 15 counties.

DuVal faces no serious competition for the Democratic nomination in the August primary, so he'll likely face the winner of what is shaping up as a seven-way primary fight among Republican candidates. Republican Gov. Jan Brewer is term-limited and said in March she would not fight a constitutional battle to seek another term.

The 59-year-old said he plans to campaign on his belief that the state needs to change direction. He said he'll push to restore cuts to education he contends have been devastating and expand job opportunities for working families.

"I'm about solutions, I'm about change, I'm about a vision for Arizona that expands opportunity, increases the quality of our jobs and increases our educational quality," DuVal told reporters. "And that is a message which talks to Republican, Democrats and independents alike."

The Republican primary is shaping up as a slug-fest between candidates that have been scrambling to scratch out a leading position in a crowded field. Only two Republicans have filed signatures so far to qualify for the ballot, Secretary of State Ken Bennett and former GoDaddy executive Christine Jones.

Candidates have until May 28 to file more than 5,600 signatures needed to get on the Republican primary ballot.

The other GOP candidates include state Treasurer Doug Ducey, former Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, state Sen. Al Melvin, former Congressman Frank Riggs and former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

DuVal served as a top aide and adviser to Bruce Babbitt both during Babbitt's terms as Arizona governor in the late 1970s and the 1980s and his unsuccessful campaign for the 1988 Democratic nomination for president. He served in President Bill Clinton's administration and was appointed by then-Gov. Janet Napolitano to the Board of Regents. The Tucson native also worked in private business.

Excerpt from:
Democrat Fred DuVal files for Arizona governor's race

May 6 Senate Democrat Leadership Press Conference
Majority Leader Harry Reid discussed the vote on the Shaheen-Portman energy bill, Benghazi and the 2014 midterm elections at the weekly Democratic news conference on May 6. Website: http://www.rol...

By: Roll Call

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May 6 Senate Democrat Leadership Press Conference - Video

Democrat Rep. Ducks Questions On Keystone
Democrat Rep. Ducks Questions On Keystone (May 7, 2014)

By: GOPICYMI

Link:
Democrat Rep. Ducks Questions On Keystone - Video

Democrat Charlie Crist is offering up a new and inflammatory reason he left the GOP: Too many Republicans oppose President Barack Obama because he's black.

Crist made the remarks Tuesday in an interview with Fusion's Jorge Ramos that instantly drew rebukes from Republicans who said the party-switching former governor was playing the race card.

But Crist said the bigotry against Obama was a "big reason" for his decision to leave the party.

"I couldn't be consistent with myself and my core beliefs, and stay with a party that was so unfriendly toward the African-American president, I'll just go there," Crist said. "I was a Republican and I saw the activists and what they were doing, it was intolerable to me."

Ramos said Crist left the GOP to run as an independent because he was losing the 2010 Senate Republican primary to Marco Rubio. But Crist denied it.

Crist has made race an on-again and off-again theme as he campaigns for his old job back as a Democrat, his third party affiliation. When he left the GOP four years ago, he didn't mention race.

"Being a flip-flopper is bad enough, but playing the race card to win over voters is pitiful," said Izzy Santa, Republican National Committee spokeswoman.

Crist, saying he was "liberated as a Democrat," also bashed the GOP for being too inflexible and for appearing to be "anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-minority, (and) anti-gay."

Black voters are particularly important to Crist. They comprise 28 percent of the 4.1 million active registered Democrats in Florida, and he still has to beat former state Sen. Nan Rich in a party primary before facing Gov. Rick Scott.

In a general election, black voters are key for Democrats. Along with Hispanics, African-American voters have disproportionately stayed home during midterm elections, allowing more Republican-leaning white voters to dominate and elect GOP office holders. Black and Hispanic voters each account for about 14 percent of all active registered voters.

More here:
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says bigots a 'big reason' why he left GOP

May 07--Democrat Charlie Crist is offering up a new and inflammatory reason he left the GOP: Too many Republicans oppose President Obama because he's black.

Crist made the remarks Tuesday in an interview with Fusion's Jorge Ramos that instantly drew rebukes from Republicans who said the party-switching former governor was playing the race card.

But Crist said the bigotry against Obama was a "big reason" for his decision to leave the party.

"I couldn't be consistent with myself and my core beliefs, and stay with a party that was so unfriendly toward the African-American president, I'll just go there," Crist said. "I was a Republican and I saw the activists and what they were doing, it was intolerable to me."

Ramos said Crist left the GOP to run as an independent because he was losing the 2010 Senate Republican primary to Marco Rubio. But Crist denied it.

Crist has made race an on-again and off-again theme as he campaigns for his old job back as a Democrat, his third party affiliation. When he left the GOP four years ago, he didn't mention race.

"Being a flip-flopper is bad enough, but playing the race card to win over voters is pitiful," said Izzy Santa, Republican National Committee spokeswoman.

Crist, saying he was "liberated as a Democrat," also bashed the GOP for being too inflexible and for appearing to be "anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-minority, [and] anti-gay."

Black voters are particularly important to Crist. They comprise 28 percent of the 4.1 million active registered Democrats in Florida, and he still has to beat former state Sen. Nan Rich in a party primary before facing Gov. Rick Scott.

In a general election, black voters are key for Democrats. Along with Hispanics, African-American voters have disproportionately stayed home during midterm elections, allowing more Republican-leaning white voters to dominate and elect GOP office holders. Black and Hispanic voters each account for about 14 percent of all active registered voters.

Read more here:
Charlie Crist Slams Racists, Sexists, Homophobes in GOP