Last week, State Senator Steve Farley announced that he is running for Governor of Arizona in the 2018 election, setting up what is likely to be a heated Democratic primary campaign with former Superintendent of Public Instruction nominee David Garcia.


Farley announced his campaign in Tucson, but followed that with a Phoenix launch event the following week with supporters at the DeSoto Central Market in downtown, as well as former Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, who endorsed Farley.


Farley has been a State Senator since 2013, and has been a vocal proponent of investment in education and healthcare, criticizing the incumbent Governor Doug Ducey on numerous occasions.


Political analysts view Ducey as a fairly safe incumbent, but Arizona has gone Democratic at the Governor's office as recently as 2006 with the reelection of Janet Napolitano. Currently, however, all the statewide offices are held by Republicans, as well as a majority of the U.S. House seats and both U.S. Senate seats.


You can find photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm2AhfC9