Al Melvin for Arizona Senate update

He's challenging Democrat incumbent Charlene Pesquiera in District 26.

ANOTHER MONTH CLOSER TO VICTORY!

Hard to believe it has been a year since we celebrated our victory in the 2006 primary. We got a late start on that campaign, but thanks to many of you we surprised a lot of folks by winning by more than 2,600 votes.

So you can understand why we're so excited this year. We're off to an earlier start and we have a lot more volunteers than we did last time. We've learned so much in the meantime that we will be running an even better campaign than before.

We have begun to knock on doors as the evenings have gotten cooler and our pace will certainly pick up over the next month or so as the summer heat fades. If you would like to walk with me through your own neighborhood, let me know and we'll get it on the schedule. I've done that with a few folks already and the response is really encouraging.

In spite of what you read in the newspapers or see on television, the voters of our district have not given up on the Republican brand. What they have given up on is Republicans who talk the talk at election time but then fail to walk the walk. When these voters hear from us directly, they get fired up and urge us on. In the last month of walking we have had more than 30 homeowners tell us that they will put up yard signs for us next year. That might not sound like much to you, but over the next year that would project to nearly 400 homes with Melvin for Senate yard signs!

Our focus remains on collecting signatures and building our campaign organization. We know that our eventual Democrat opponent will present a real challenge, but we're in great shape to run that race. We still are not sure if we will have a primary or not. One Republican has been ''exploring'' the race since June, trying to decide if he is going to run or not. More than ten weeks have passed and he still has not reached a decision and the people we hear from are not sure what his intentions are.

As always, if you would like to sign a petition or carry a petition with you to collect signatures, please call (520) 429-8083 and I will be happy to send one to you. My email address is almelvin@wbhsi.net.

Please check out my website at www.votealmelvin.com and please call me at (520) 429-8083 or (520) 825-2894 if you have any thoughts or concerns to share with me.