The Elections Department will continue to count and verify signatures, since CBA turned in more than 18,000, so the final valid number could be more than 10,000. But the good news is that there will be an election in AZ-18. The Secretary of State now has five days to approve the count, then Governor Jan Brewer has 15 days to call the special election.

That's not to say the district will flip to the D column. In fact, there are several moderate Republicans who have hinted that they will challenge Pearce, and since the Mesa district is very conservative, it's likely to remain under Republican control, even if Pearce loses. The bottom line, though, is that there may be enough people in District 18 who want to give the bigot the boot -- which would benefit the entire state, not just District 18.

I don't have time to write a long dairy about the reasons Pearce should be sent packing, but here's a quick "Best Of" list:

1. Wife beater (she later dropped the charges, but the affidavit, saying how he punched, shoved, and grabbed her by the throat, exists).

2. Fired as director of Motor Vehicles for forging documents. His son was also arrested in the FBI sting, while another son currently sits in jail for domestic abuse -- nice family.

3. Associate of Arizona's National Socialist Party. You may remember how he forwarded lots of Nazi emails.

4. Author of SB 1070 and tons of even more radical, racist, and homophobic legislation. (I'm sure I've written 20 diaries on this one item.)

5. Fiesta Bowl ticket scandal.

6. Follower of Mormon wackjob and Bircher Cleon Skousen, who believed only white Mormon men can save democracy (there's the justification for SB 1070).

7. Tried to gin up anti-Mexican hatred by introducing a substitute teacher's letter into a Senate debate -- a letter that falsely accused Mexican students of hating whites and wanting to "take back" Arizona.

8. Declared himself King Russell when he became Senate President: created a "blacklist" to keep protestors out of the Capitol; barred the public from press conferences; declared it okay for legislators to pack heat.

9. On top of all the bigotry and bullying, while he's been presiding over the Senate ("the most powerful official in Arizona" the media say), the state has plummeted into an economic death spiral -- education has been gutted, healthcare is on the ropes, the state's reputation isn't worth a plug nickel, and unemployment is going through the roof. To top it off, this week Pearce and his hateful disciples refused to extend jobless benefits, even though doing so cost Arizona nothing, and would help thousands of families keep a roof over their head and bread on the table.

I've just scratched the surface (here's an earlier diary with the Top 20 Reasons to Recall). Pearce has been an embarrassing catastrophe in so many ways, and there's no doubt the state would be in a much better place, economically and socially, without this one peckerhead. I could write a lot more about the mean-spirited SOB, but I'll let one 5th-generation Mormon, a lawyer from Pearce's district, speak for everyone. This is from his letter to Governor Brewer:

I believe my letter represents the views of the majority of right thinking Mormons in Arizona. We clearly still have some knuckle dragging closet racists in the Church. We pray that they will recognize the evil in their ways.

While you're at it, pray that soon Pearce won't be in office. And vote too.

Arpaio next.