Richard Kimball is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who is the founder and president emeritus of the nonprofit voter education organization

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

Early life

Kimball was born in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, in 1946. Kimball attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

where he studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He was a staff assistant to Congressman Morris Udall and worked as a press secretary for Senators

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...

and Daniel Moynihan.

Political career

In 1978, Kimball was elected to represent an area of

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

in the Arizona Senate. In the 1982 general election, Kimball was elected to a six year term on the

Arizona Corporation Commission The Arizona Corporation Commission is the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Arizona, established by Article 15 of the Arizona Constitution. Arizona is one of only fourteen states with elected commissioners. The Arizona Constitution expli ...

for a six year term. In January 1984, his fellow commission members elected him the chairman of the board. In September 1985, Kimball resigned from his position as a member of the commission. Governor

Bruce Babbitt The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has be ...

appointed Sharon Megdal, a member of the University of Arizona's economics faculty, to the seat.

1986 U.S. Senate election

After the expected Democratic candidate, Governor Bruce Babbitt, declined to run in favor of a presidential campaign, Kimball was nominated as the Democratic candidate against then-Congressman John McCain for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

seat being vacated by Barry Goldwater. His campaign was subject to negative press from ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'' and ''

Phoenix Gazette The ''Phoenix Gazette'' was a newspaper published in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It was founded in 1881, and was known in its early years as the ''Phoenix Evening Gazette''. In 1889, it was purchased by Samuel F. Webb, who at the time was ...

''. One ''Gazette'' columnist described him as displaying "terminal weirdness." McCain ultimately won the election by a margin of over 20 percent. Kimball later said: "I joke that John McCain entered the Senate over my dead political body. I think that's pretty accurate." Twenty years later, Kimball commented on the campaign to a reporter from the '' Arizona Daily Star'': "I was enormously depressed — not because I lost. It was because I spent all my time collecting money." He said that he spent the following months after the election traveling through Mexico, and then left politics to start Project Vote Smart.

Vote Smart

He is currently the president emeritus of the organization

, formerly known as Project Vote Smart.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Richard Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives Living people Candidates in the 1986 United States elections 1946 births