***DISCLAIMER***
I do not have any published sources, but all the Arizona Political blogs and the political community is a buzz that Renzi is resigning Friday.
Rum Romanism &Rebellion - Arizona's PREMIRE political blog
Breaking: Renzi Gone By Friday?
Rick RenziThe zeitgeist both in Phoenix and Washington is that Rick Renzi will be submitting his resignation from the House of Representatives by Friday.
Cool...I got that one out there before Josh Marshall.
A further bit of chisme has it that Ann Kirkpatrick will resign her seat in the legislature early next week and announce her campaign to replace Renzi.
The new face of AZ-01 ?
This is what her business websitesays she focuses on:
Business/Corporate
Criminal Defense
Health Care
Litigation
Trusts, Estates, & Personal Planning
This is her Bio:
Arizona Legislative Page
Ann Kirkpatrick was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2004 from Legislative District 2, which includes Flagstaff and the Hualapai, Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo and San Juan Southern Piute Nations.
She is ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, which deals with taxation and revenue issues. In addition she serves on the Education K-12 Committee and Natural Resources Committee.
Rep. Kirkpatrick is an attorney who became Coconino County’s first Woman Deputy County Attorney in 1980. In 1991 she helped to establish the Flagstaff law firm of Kirkpatrick & Harris. She is a former City Attorney for Sedona, served as a Probate Commissioner Pro Tem and was a member of the Flagstaff Water Commission. In 2004 she began teaching Business Law and Ethics at Coconino Community College.
She is an active member of the Flagstaff community, serving as former president of United Way of Northern Arizona and the Flagstaff Symphony Association. She also served on the Board of Directors of Big Sisters, the Flagstaff Library Foundation, and Lowell Observatory.
Rep Kirkpatrick was born in McNary. She is a graduate of Blue Ridge High School, the University of Arizona, and the UA College of Law. She is the mother of two daughters, both of whom are college students. She is an advocate for fiscal responsibility, long-term economic growth in rural Arizona, and investment in the education of our children.
UPDATE #1
There is also another candidate: Mary Kim Titla.
Titla has an interesting story: she first came to prominence when she helped narrate the television coverage of Pope John Paul II’s speech to Native Americans when he visited Phoenix in 1987. She impressed enough that she was hired by KVOA and spent several years as a reporter here in Tucson, even landing an interview with Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was then the first lady of Arkansas campaigning in Tucson for her husband. She moved up to Phoenix and became a reporter for Channel 12 back in 1993.
She stepped back from full time television reporting in 2005 to become the publisher of Native Youth Magazine. The site gets around 4 million hits a month and is considered the top Native American website in the country. Titla also serves on the board of UNITY, a group that advocates for Native American youth. She has recieved numerous journalism awards, the Ira Hayes Honorable Warrior award, and even has a scholarship named after her at Eastern Arizona College.
Titla is a member of the San Carlos Apache tribe. Not only was she the first and only Native American reporter on Arizona television, but should she be elected, she’d be the first Native American Arizonan in congress. There have been candidates: Albert Hale made a great but unsuccessful run in 1992, and Debora Lynn Norris and Jack Jackson Jr. both ended up not running after floating their names as candidates. Interesingly, all three of these candidates are Navajos (Although Norris lived in Sells in the Tohono O’odham Nation). Titla is the first Apache I can think of that has tried to make a political splash.