Democrats Lauren Kuby and Sandra Kennedy are running in tandem for Arizona Corporation Commission, against the Republican team of Nick Myers and Kevin Thompson. Early results on Tuesday night showed the Democrats with a slim lead.
The commission regulates the state’s utilities and is made up of five commissioners who serve four-year terms.
Although the candidates run as individuals, Democrats Kuby and the incumbent Kennedy opted to campaign as a team, as did Republicans Myers and Thompson.
One of the biggest issues throughout the campaign has been renewable energy.
Kuby and Kennedy say the commission should set hard but achievable goals for the state’s utilities, and have underscored Arizona’s unique potential to utilize solar energy.
Myers and Thompson have pushed for a more flexible approach, arguing that renewable energy may be cheap to generate, but when storage is calculated in, it’s still cost-prohibitive.
