AZGOP using AZ Green Party as patsies

...by doing something that they did in 2008 in a few select districts.  It worked then (costing then-Rep. Jackie Thrasher her seat), so they've expanded it.

From the AZ Republic -

The state Democratic Party is alleging possible voter fraud in what it called a scheme to undermine its candidates by recruiting "sham" Green Party hopefuls.

In a complaint filed late Monday, the party seeks an investigation by federal, state and county law-enforcement officials.

The complaint names Rep. Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix; Steve May, a Republican candidate for the Legislature; and a House Republican staffer as complicit in an effort to register at least a half-dozen people as Green Party members so they could run as write-in candidates in last week's primary election.

Note: Weiers is a candidate in the same district as Thrasher.

The Republicans are denying any wrongdoing, but their disdain for the standards of behavior (aka - "laws") that govern elections seem to have led them to be less than subtle when they went about their machinations.

The Arizona Green Party itself caught on to the scam, as evidenced by this press release listing which candidates that they actually endorse, and which ones that they consider to be "carpetbaggers" -

Claudia Ellquist, AZGP state co-chair, stated, "There are several Green Party candidates that are actively opposed. We strongly advise all registered Arizona voters to not waste their votes on these individuals during the August 24th Primary Election or the November 2nd General Election (assuming they advance)." The offices include: Governor, Secretary of State (write-in), Treasurer (write-in), Corporation Commission (2 write-in candidates), U.S. Congress (CD 5, write-in), State Senate (LD 10, 2 write-in candidates), State Representative (LD 17, write-in), State Senate (LD 17, write-in), State Representative (LD 20, write-in), State Representative (LD 22, write-in), and State Senate (LD 23, write-in).

Some interesting patterns emerged from a little research from a few weeks ago (so it is possible that some of this has changed, though that doesn't seem likely) into the candidacies cited above -

- Ryan Blackman, the faux-Green running as a write-in for CD5, gave the same address as the faux-Green running for LD17 as a write-in, Clint Clement.  Which isn't illegal.  What is interesting, however, when one finds out that Blackman isn't registered to vote anywhere in the state, much less at his listed address.  Clement *is* registered to vote.  He has never done so, however.  In addition, while he filed as a Green Party write-in on July 13, he modified his party enrollment on July 19.

- Thomas Meadows, the faux-Green running as a write-in for State Treasurer, filed on July 15, giving a Tempe P.O. box as his campaign's mailing address and 420 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe as his committee address.  He registered to vote on July 16.

- Theodore Gomez and Benjamin Pearcy, the two faux-Greens running as write-ins for the Arizona Corporation Commission, gave the same combo of mailing/committee addresses as Meadows.  Both registered their candidacies on July 15.  I couldn't find any evidence that Gomez is registered to vote at all (caveat: that's a common sort of name and he could have registered under a nickname like "TJ" or something similar); Pearcy was registered to vote prior to getting involved in this scheme and just updated his partisan affiliation on July 14.

BTW - for those readers who aren't familiar with Tempe, "420 S. Mill Ave." is the location of Starbucks store #11573.  Umm...Starbucks' locations aren't known for either their office or residential components.  Just sayin'...

Bonus BTW - "4/20" is a popular verbal shorthand is some videos linked later in this post.  It refers to the unofficial "National Pot Smokers Day" of April 20.  "Two birds, one stone" and all that - they can refer to a favorite place and a favorite activity at the same time. 

- Anthony "Grandpa" Goshorn, the faux-Green running for LD17 State Senate, lists the same mailing address, but has a committee address in Scottsdale.  He changed his partisan affiliation on May 17.  That is the earliest change date for those in on this scheme, but he was also one of the first involved.

Originally, he was going to run as a ballot-qualified Green candidate for LD17 State Representative, but his petitions were challenged and he withdrew from the race on June 16.

- The faux-Greens running for LD10 State Senate, Christopher Campbell and Gail Ginger, modified their partisan affiliations on July 15.  According to the AZRep article linked above, Ginger has dropped out the race in favor of Campbell.

- Drew Blischak, the faux-Green running for LD20 State Representative, modified his registration on July 13.

- Michelle Lochmann, the candidate for State Treasurer, modified hers on July 15.

I wasn't able to do similar research on the suspect candidates from outside of Maricopa County, though they exhibited the same pattern in regards to their filing dates, filing their candidacies on July 14 and 15, the last two days that someone could declare a write in candidacy for the August primary election.


In addition to the write-ins, the ballot-qualified Green candidate for Governor, Larry Gist, also looks to be part of the scheme.  While his campaign has almost no cash on hand, it has loads of debt, mostly to ethically-challenged R operative Derrick Lee (info here and here).

Many, but not all, of the suspect candidates, are acquaintances of Republican former legislator Steve May.  For example, his video talk with ACC candidate Pearcy can be found here (but view it soon, before May takes it down).

May's ties to Goshorn are illustrated on this screenshot of his Facebook page -

May has displayed his contempt for the laws of this state and those who enforce them, as shown in this video, where he encourages someone to damage public property (@1:50 in the video) and has given the same person a t-shirt (@ 2:39) that May has designed and sells that says "Welcome to Mill Ave.  Our Cops Suck".

Note: All of May's uploaded videos can be found here on YouTube.  Catch 'em while you can...

It seems that the AZGOP is running on empty this year.  Their positions of "no taxes for the wealthy", "no regulations for large corporations", and "bupkus for everybody else" are unsupportable in Arizona's cratered economy, so they have settled on a campaign plan of demonization (SB1070), distraction (lies and name-calling), and sleaze (this scheme).

They are hoping that the state's voters won't notice that they have nothing positve to offer to Arizona.

More to come...

Maricopa County community colleges sued for discriminating against *legal* immigrants

Ummm...don't the defenders of SB1070 in the legislature and the other nativists in Arizona like to say that they aren't opposed to all immigrants, just "illegal" ones?

From AP via the Arizona Republic (I don't normally quote MSM articles in their entirety, but this one is very short) -

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Community College District alleging it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination in hiring authorized non-citizens.

The Justice Department says its investigation revealed that Maricopa Community Colleges required all newly hired non-citizens to present additional work authorization documents beyond those required by law, but did not require U.S. citizens to do so.

The Immigration and Nationality Act requires employers to treat authorized workers in the same manner during the hiring process, regardless of their citizenship status.

District spokesman Tom Gariepy says the district has no comment because the matter is in litigation

This development, on top of last week's resignation of MCCCD Governing Board member Colleen Clark (interesting timing, that) should make for some interesting discussions at the Board's next meeting, whether that occurs at the next regularly scheduled meeting on September 28 or if one is scheduled  in the interim.

Now the attitude of contempt toward the "the other" that suffuses political discourse and practical governance at the upper reaches of Arizona's political food chain (state and county versions) has made its way to lower levels.
It seems that in Arizona, the Republicans embrace both "trickle down economics" and "trickle down bigotry."

Is Jan Brewer setting up a run for President?

Let's see -

- Alabama's then-Governor (and staunch segregationist) George Wallace objected to the federal Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s.

- Arizona Governor (and staunch nativist) Jan Brewer has objected to the inclusion of SB1070 and Arizona in the Universal Periodic Review report submitted to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

- George Wallace ran for President in 1964, 1968, 1972, and 1976.

- Jan Brewer should have some free time on her hands after Terry Goddard wins the election in November, so....?


Yeah, I know this is a bit of a cheap shot (more of a spleen vent than an actual post), but with Brewer's whole-hearted embrace of the nativist wing of the AZGOP, spewing of frightening rhetoric (beheadings, anyone?), and enthusiastic obliviousness to the threat presented by three murderers with ties to white supremacists who escaped from a private prison in Kingman, she's become an embarrassment to the state.

Enough already.

Elect Terry Goddard, if only to keep Arizona off of The Daily Show.


Note: I love watching The Daily Show.  I don't love watching Arizona on The Daily Show.

Fun with campaign signs

It hasn't even been a week, and the Schweikert campaign dirty tricks have already started...

Sighted on the northeast corner of 48th St. and Chandler Boulevard today -

And in case anyone questions the source of the signs...

There were others, calling Mitchell "union owned" and more.  The ones I saw were also located in the 48th St. corridor.

This technique, putting up "counter" or "insult" signs next to an opposition candidate's signs, is hardly a new one, but it had fallen into some disfavor over the last few election cycles.  It cropped up a little during the primary season, and with this, it's evident that certain campaigns are digging deep into the bag of dirty tricks (more on that tomorrow).

It's generally a waste of money because the primary audience for them has already made their choice.  In other words, it's "preaching to the choir" time.  In addition, in the case of the above sign, most undecided voters won't know who "Pelosi" is, or why being associated with "Pelosi" is supposed to be a bad thing (though I happen to think it is a good thing, but I'm just a wiseass liberal blogger :) ).

It's rather telling that Schweikert has started his general election campaign with dirty tricks with signs coordinated "coincidentally timed"** with Americans for Prosperity television attacks on Harry Mitchell.  Most campaigns try to start off on a positive note, trying to educate voters on why they should vote *for* their candidate, not why they should vote *against* their opposition.

However, the Schweikert platform mainly consists of "tax cuts for the wealthy and no regulations for corporations," which aren't exactly strong planks in an area as economically distressed as Arizona.  As such, he has no recourse but to go negative early in the general election cycle.

Look for more stunts like this one or last cycle's mailer where Schweikert claimed to have the endorsement of the Arizona Republic.  He *had* received such an endorsement.

For another race.

Years before.


Anyway, I suppose I have to give the Schweikert campaign some credit -"Pelosi's Lap Dog" may not be the truth, but it is probably more beneficial to his campaign than the actual truth -

"CD5's Champion."


** = The AFP spots are "independent expenditures" and cannot be coordinated with a candidate committee.  Given the lead time on both creating signs and TV spots, the timing of both the signs and the TV spots could reasonably inspire some raised eyebrows.  However, suspicions aren't direct knowledge that AFP and the Schweikert campaign coordinated the roll out of both.

KNXV-TV (Phoenix channel 15) coverage here.

Billionaire wingers from New York trying to buy elections in Arizona

Since Tuesday's primary results came in, showing David Schweikert to be the Republican nominee in CD5, television viewers have been inundated with ads deriding Democrats in general and Representatives Harry Mitchell and Ann Kirkpatrick in particular. 

The spots are the product of a Republican front organization named "Americans for Prosperity." (AFP)(The spot specifically targeting Mitchell and Kirkpatrick is here.  I won't embed it here, but will be referring to it later. :) )

AFP is dedicated to protecting the short-term financial interests of large corporations and the ultra-wealthy, organizing and funding campaigns against health care reform, efforts to address climate change, tobacco regulations, balanced state budgets, and anything resembling a social safety net (like Social Security).  It has also played a big part in funnelling money and direction to the tea party movement within the Republican Party.

As this article from The New Yorker documents, AFP is the brainchild of David Koch who, with his brother Charles, owns almost all of Koch Industries, one of the country's biggest polluters (hence their opposition to industry/environmental regulations).  Aside from AFP, the Koch brothers are literally two of the biggest contributors to Republican/corporate causes, donating approximately $100 million over the years.

That's all just background to the latest attack ads that they are bombing Arizonans with.

The spot that targets Harry Mitchell and Ann Kirkpatrick specifically has, shall we say, a rather "weak" relationship with the truth (focusing on the Mitchell-related stuff) -

Lie:  The spot refers to Mitchell as a "Washington liberal."

Reality: Mitchell was born and raised in Tempe.  He married his high school sweetheart there and has lived in the same house in Tempe for almost 50 years.  He taught at Tempe High for 28 years.  He served Tempe (and Scottsdale and the rest of CD5) as a member of the City Council, Mayor, State Senator, and Congressman for almost 40 years.

Reality: Harry Mitchell is hardly a "liberal" (a fact that occasionally infuriates actual liberals in CD5, like yours truly :) ).  Don't take my word for it - the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action graded Mitchell's voting record as 60% liberal, with the average Democratic grade as 85% and fellow AZers Pastor and Grijalva at 100%.  Mitchell is one of an ever-shrinking group in Congress - the moderates.


Lie: When Harry Mitchell voted in support of the health care reform, he voted for something that will cost a trillion dollars,balloon the federal deficit, limit medical choices, and gut Medicare.

Reality: HCR will reduce the federal deficit by $143 million, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Reality: According to WebMD, HCR doesn't limit choice any more than the current system does.

Reality: According to the AARP (hardly a partisan organization), HCR actually strengthens Medicare by, among other things, reducing prescription costs for seniors.

Reality:  David Schweikert, the AFP-supported Republican candidate in CD5, is actually the candidate in the race who supports Republican Representative Paul Ryan's plan for privatizing Social Security and ending Medicare.


Lie (or fib, at least): Arizonans "overwhelmingly" oppose HCR.

Reality: They are citing a poll from Rasmussen Reports.  Rasmussen is known for being somewhat biased and partisan, favoring Republican positions in their polling results. (OK, if the RNC decided to say that Magellan and centuries of scientific observations are wrong and the world is actually flat, Rasmussen would come out with a poll that says that 70% of Americans agree...but I digress :) ).

Reality: More objective polling organizations, such as Gallup, show that the country is sharply divided on the issue.


Lie: The spot claims that Mitchell votes for the positions and interests of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leadership, ahead of the interests of Arizonans.

Reality: As this Washington Post study shows, Mitchell is the sixth-most independent member of Congress, voting with his party's leadership less than 80% of the time.  He's easily the most independent member of the AZ delegation, Republican or Democrat.


...OK, that's just the wonky, facts-centered stuff.

The juicy, gossipy stuff from analyzing the ad is this -

One of the actors in the spot (pic from the spot below), Greg from Scottsdale (I think)

is "sort of" well known within local tea party circles -

Not just a paid demonstrator/actor he. 

He's a true believer and has a website where he offers to "coach" interested folks on living his philosophy...over the phone...at $45 per hour.

Gotta pay for the photoshopped photos of President Obama in white-face somehow...

AFP and the Koch brothers may think this guy and David Schweikert are typical CD5ers, but they lens through which they view Arizona is a rather long one (Oklahoma, D.C., and NYC) and rather scratched.

Of course, with Schweikert's penchant for vulture investing, picking the bones of desperate Arizona homeowners, Schweikert is probably what they *hope* the typical CD5er is like.

Harry Mitchell, with his lifetime in and dedication to Arizona, is far more representative of CD5.

Friday Night Videos

When I was younger (a year or two ago :) ), one of the coolest shows on broadcast TV was NBC's Friday Night Videos.

OK, it was "cool" for people who didn't have cable and access to MTV back when they took the "M" in "MTV" seriously and still played music...but I digress... :))

So it is with that as background, I announce the start of a new series of posts.

Once per week, on Friday nights, I'll feature the best in new political videos (What?  You were expecting Lady Gaga or Katy Perry?  ...not that a Katy Perry vid would be a bad thing...something to think about for after the election cycle is over... :) )

For the premiere video in this series (drumroll, please)...

Vulture, featuring David Schweikert.



More info at Your loss, his gain.

Brewer campaigning on wishful thinking. Now she's insisting that Arizona's economy is healthy.

From the Arizona Republic -

Gov. Jan Brewer and Attorney General Terry Goddard, fresh off primary-election victories this week, shared the podium at the annual League of Arizona Cities and Towns meeting Thursday, painting completely opposite pictures of the state's economy and direction.

Brewer, a Republican, and Goddard, a Democrat, are vying for election to the Governor's Office in November.

In her remarks, Brewer described Arizona as a state in the midst of a comeback and touted her economic-development efforts and her work to bring thousands of new jobs to the region.

Ummm...just a few numbers for everybody's perusal -

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Arizona's unemployment rate in January 2009 (when Brewer ascended to the governor's office): 8.0%
Arizona's unemployment rate in July 2010 (the month with the most current info available): 9.6%

Number of unemployed people in Arizona in January 2009 - 252,224
Number of unemployed people in Arizona in July 2010 - 305,941


From the US Courts website:

Number of Arizona bankruptcy filings for the quarter ending December 31, 2008 (the last period before Brewer became governor): 5,792

Number of Arizona bankruptcy filings for the quarter ending March 31, 2010 (the most recent period for which data is available): 9,652


From the website of Arizona Indicators, from the Morrison Institute for Public Policy:

Monthly taxable sales in January 2009 (when Brewer took office): $4.831 billion
Monthly taxable sales in April 2010 (most recent available data): $3.64 billion


From the website of the Arizona Legislature's Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC):

The State of Arizona's General Fund revenues in January 2009: $662.5 million
The State of Arizona's General Fund revenues in July 2010 (latest date available): $622.1 million, including $64.6 million from the sales tax increase enacted by the voters in May. (Revenue would have been $557.5 million if the voters of Arizona hadn't stemmed the bleeding.)


Home prices are still declining in Arizona, with no real indication of when the housing market is going to stabilize:

AZRepublic article, dated August 15, 2010, on the continuing decline in Phoenix home prices here; EV Tribune article on the lagging housing market in Arizona here; ABC15 piece here.


So let's summarize the economic performance of Jan Brewer so far -

Unemployment - UP

Bankruptcies - UP

Economic activity - DOWN

Home prices - DOWN

State finances: STILL PLUMMETING


Insisting that there is an economic recovery in Arizona isn't the same thing as there actually being an economic recovery in Arizona.

Her performance on economic issues is like her performance in debates with Terry Goddard -


Nonexistent.

Jan Brewer admits that SB1070 is bad for Arizona...

...but instead of using her words to do it, she's using our money...

From ABC15's website -

The state hopes a public relations agency can convince people to travel to Arizona despite concerns they might have about the state’s immigration law.


The Arizona Governor’s Task Force on Tourism and Economic Vitality hired HMA Public Relations to come up with a campaign to help tackle any negative backlash caused by Senate Bill 1070.

The PR firm's press release on the subject is here.

It turns out that the $100K contract is for outreach to "traditional media relations in targeted domestic markets as well as Mexico City and Northern Mexico." (emphasis mine)

Jan and her clan have spent months (hell, *years*) demonizing Mexicans and anybody with skin that is a shade other than lily-white, and now that she has figured out that perhaps her kowtowing to the nativist wing of her base has done severe damage to Arizona's national and international image, she wants to spend our money to clean up her mess?

A seat in the AZ lege isn't the steppingstone it is in other states...

...at least not for Republicans, anyway.

Last night, former legislators Rusty Bowers, Jim Waring, Pam Gorman, Sam Crump and Jonathan Paton lost primaries in Congressional races, bringing the record of Republican state legislators looking to jump to the federal level to an abysmal 0 for at least 2.  As in at least 2 decades (with a minor caveat that I will discuss in a moment.)

- Former state senator Bowers lost to dentist Paul Gosar in the CD1 primary by almost 12,000 votes.

- Former state senator Waring lost to Ben Quayle in the CD3 primary by more than 3,000 votes.

- Former state senator Gorman lost to Quayle by more than 9,000 votes.

- Former state representative Crump lost to Quayle by more than 11,000 votes.

- Former state senator Paton lost to Jesse Kelly in the CD8 primary by more than 6,000 votes.

That's in 2010.  In 2008...

- Former state rep David Schweikert lost to Democrat Harry Mitchell (CD5) by almost 27,000 votes in the general election.  Schweikert's back for another go, so he may be the one to break the dry spell.  Of course, even if he does, he'll have gone through another office (Maricopa County Treasurer) and a losing race first.

- Now former state senator Tim Bee lost to Democrat Gabrielle Giffords (CD8) in the same general election by more than 39,000 votes.

- Now former state representative Mark Anderson lost in the CD5 primary by almost 9,000 votes to Schweikert.

- Former state representative Laura Knaperek lost in the same primary by nearly 7,000 votes.

In 2006...

- Former state rep Randy Graf lost to Democrat Gabrielle Giffords in the CD8 general election race by more than 30,000 votes.

- Former state rep Steve Huffman lost to Graf in the CD8 primary by almost 3,000 votes.

And so on.

In fact, the last R legislator to win a seat as one of AZ representives in the U.S. Congress was Trent Franks, who first won election in 2002.  Of course, he had left the lege in 1986, so he had time to get past whatever stench attaches itself to Republican legislators.

As for the other Republican members of the AZ delegation -

- John Shadegg once worked for the lege, but he was never a member.

- Jeff Flake once headed the Goldwater Institute, where he may have served as a de facto member of the lege, but he wasn't elected to it.

- Former Congressman Rick Renzi went to college in AZ, but he never served in the lege here or in his real home state of Virginia.

- Former Congressman JD Hayworth went straight from a TV sports desk to Congress in 1994, with no legislative experience.


However fruitless the quest has been for Republican legislators looking to move up, the same isn't true for Democratic legislators.


In 2006, former state senators Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords won their elections in CD5 and CD8, respectively. 

In 2008, former state representative Ann Kirkpatrick won her election in CD1.

Hmmm...that pattern brings to mind two possibilities.

One, as bad as the AZ legislature is for Democrats, it seems to serve as a good training ground for the rigors of a campaign for Congress.  Maybe some of the more ambitious Rs should consider becoming Democrats.  OK, so that probably isn't going to happen. :)

Two, maybe the Rs who care more about their furthering their careers than furthering the interests of Arizona will pass on the legislature.  OK, so that probably isn't going to happen either.  :(

Later...

Musings on yesterday's primary results...

Since I so willingly spouted off with predictions before the vote results came in, it's only right that I dissect the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of those predictions.

On to the post-mortem...


R Senate primary prediction: McCain, with a caveat that it might not be the blowout that it should be.  Reality: At a 24 point margin (almost 122K votes), this race *was* the blowout it should have been.

D Senate primary prediction: Parraz in a squeaker, though I left open the possibility that Glassman could hold on.  Reality:  turns out that the caveat about Glassman was a good one.  He, in fact, did hold on to win...over Cathy Eden.  Parraz came in fourth, and it wasn't even a close fourth.  Even though I knew better (internal poll numbers are *always* suspect...argghhhh!), I bit hard on the numbers that the Parraz campaign released showing him in a solid second place, within the margin of error.

I can promise that I won't make that mistake again during this election cycle.

R CD3 prediction: "Got no clue, other than it won't be Quayle. Even R primary voters want more substance in a candidate."  Reality: an even bigger miss than with Parraz in the D Senate primary.  That's what I get for overestimating Republican voters.

I can promise that I won't make that mistake again, during this or any other cycle.

R CD5 prediction: Dead on with Schweikert.  Questioned whether Ward would hold on to 2nd place, which he is right now by approximately 570 votes over Bitter Smith.

D SOS prediction: Wercinski.  Reality: Deschene, and it wasn't close.  The margin is more than 60K votes right now.  Wercinski ran an energetic campaign, and I saw more of his campaign than of Deschene's.  Turns out that there is more to the state than Maricopa County.  Who knew?  :)

D AG prediction: Rotellini.  Reality: so far correct, but Rotellini's lead over Lujan is only 1375 votes.

R AG prediction:  Horne. Reality: Horne's ahead, but this race makes the Democratic race look like a blowout.  Horne is currently up 454 votes statewide.  Attribute the closeness of this one to Thomas' fame (and access to Joe Arpaio's deep campaign coffers) in the largest county in Arizona, Maricopa.  Thomas finished ahead in Maricopa County by 4669 votes.

R Superintendent of Public Instruction prediction: Huppenthal.  Reality: Huppenthal.  I didn't think it would be close, and it wasn't.

D Superintendent of Public Instruction prediction: too close to call.  Reality: Kotterman easily.  The margin surprised me, but Kotterman's victory did not.  The reason for my hesitance when making predictions was that four years ago. Slade Mead seemed to have the D nod locked up and most observers underestimated Williams' campaign skills.  Yes, I made a mistake, but it was an understandable and even reasonable one, I think.

R Maricopa County Attorney prediction: Romley, though Montgomery could make it interesting.  Reality: Montgomery won easily.  The biggest surprise was that while this was a "turnout" win (meaning that the hard right wing of the Republican Party was motivated to get out and vote), it didn't help JD Hayworth (politically, very similar to Montgomery).  In the Senate race, Hayworth lost Maricopa County by 24 points, the same margin as he lost statewide.

For at least the next two years, Joe Arpaio has another patsy in the CA's office.

Overall evaluation of my predictive abilities:  Mixed.  Mostly OK, with appropriate caveats in the races I wasn't sure about, but also made a couple of glaring pure misses (Parraz not finishing higher in the D Senate race, Quayle winning in CD3).

Live and (hopefully) learn...

More coming out about Schweikert's predatory dealings

During the primary season in CD5, one of the Republican candidates for the nomination sent out a hit piece targeting Schweikert's vulture investment fund that targeted "distressed homeowners" facing fiscal difficulty in Arizona's depressed economy.

Greg Patterson of Espresso Pundit led the chorus of support for Schweikert, criticizing Salvino for criticizing a fellow Republican for doing something that they all consider to be acceptable.

The matter quickly faded in the tumult of a heavily contested primary.  There were always dozens of other things clamoring for the attention of voters.

Well, it turns out that Patterson and the other R voters in CD5 should have paid closer attention.

Much closer.

As this website, sponsored by the Arizona Democratic Party, documents, Schweikert's vulture fund entered already devastated neighborhoods (full list of properties here) and driven them further downhill (long list of citations from the City of Phoenix here).

Part of Schweikert's campaign platform is that he is running to stand "up for Arizona values."

OK, I'll accept that from him.  All he has to do is show me where the initiating and profiting from the predatory destruction of Arizona's neighborhoods for fun and profit is an "Arizona value."

More on this later.

"Your Loss, His Gain." Worth a visit.

Cherny challenges Ducey to a series of debates

Andrei Cherny, former Assistant Arizona Attorney General, White House staffer, and Democratic nominee for Arizona State Treasurer, in a letter today challenged the Republican nominee Doug Ducey to a series of debates.

The letter, from an emailed press release -

Dear Douglas,


Congratulations on your victory last night in the primary. Yesterday’s outcome sets up the clearest choice Arizonans have ever had in a Treasurer’s race and I look forward to a vigorous discussion of our respective backgrounds and approaches to the position.

This new campaign gives you the opportunity to come clean with the people of Arizona and release a full disclosure of your financial and business holdings. I ask you to not only comply with the letter but the spirit of Arizona's Public Official Financial Disclosure Law. Arizonans deserve to have a full picture of each candidate’s financial history, so they have all the information they need to decide who is best suited to protect the billions of dollars of state assets held in trust and to guard against conflicts of interest.

In order to fully discuss all the important issues facing our state, I am proposing a series of four or more debates over the next 69 days before the general election. These debates would be held in different parts of the state with a different theme for each debate. I am proposing debates around the topics of job creation, government transparency, investment strategies, and using the audit power of the Treasurer's office.

My campaign manager, Bill Scheel, will be in touch with your staff to begin making arrangments for these debates. Thank you in advance for being willing to discuss these important issues with Arizonans.

Sincerely,

Andrei

Yes, you can tell that primary season is over - Democrats and Republicans are going after each other directly now.  Keep the popcorn handy. :)

Preliminary results

It's still to early to call most of the primaries in statewide races, but here are some results from the East Valley part of Maricopa County (OK, and a little bit on statewides...can't resist)... :)


- University Lakes Justice of the Peace: With 33 of 47 precincts reporting, outgoing Democratic State Sen. Meg Burton Cahill has a comfortable lead over Kathy Hayden, 2554 - 1388.  I'm comfortable calling that one for Burton Cahill.

- In the D SOS primary, Chris Deschene is up solidly over Sam Wercinski.

- In the D AG primary, David Lujan and Felecia Rotellini are running neck and neck, with Rotellini current ahead by approx. 2400 votes.

- In the R AG primary, it's virtually a dead heat with Andrew Thomas ahead of Tom Horne by 410 votes.  Recount coming if it stays this close.

- In the R primary for state treasurer, scandal-plagued businessman Doug Ducey looks to be cruising to the nod.

- In the D primary for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Penny Kotterman looks to be swamping 2006 nominee Jason Williams by a 2 - 1 margin.

- In the R primary for the same office, John Huppenthal looks to be doing even better over his Republican opponents, with a margin of more than 2 - 1 over his nearest competitor.

- In the R US Senate primary, McCain is up 25 points with 8 counties reporting, and has declared victory over JD Hayworth.

- In the CD8 R primary, tea partier Jesse Kelly is ahead of establishment candidate (and darling of the payday loan industry) Jonathan Paton.

- In the CD3 R primary, Ben "Brock Landers" Quayle has a comfortable (but not insurmountable) lead over businessman Steve Moak and former state senator Jim Waring,  13448 - 10624 (Moak) - 10523 (Waring), with 200 of 249 precincts reporting.

- In the CD5 R primary, David Schweikert looks to be cruising to a second consecutive nomination to take on Democratic incumbent Harry Mitchell.  With 204 of 248 precincts reporting, he has 20858 votes to Susan Bitter Smith's 13399 and Jim Ward's 13704.

- In the LD8 R primary for state rep, incumbent John Kavanagh and tea partier Michelle Ugenti have large leads for the two nods, but only 32 of 76 precincts have reported.  Kavanagh will win one nod, while Ugenti could be upended if the remaining precincts are strongholds for Michael Blaire or Paula Pennypacker.  Probably not...

- In the LD7 R primary for state rep, once-ousted (for Clean Elections violations) legislator David Burnell Smith looks like he will get on of the R nods.

- In the LD22 R state rep primary, Eddie Farnsworth looks to be well on his way to a return to the state house, but only 26 of 62 precincts have reported.

- In the Republican primary for West Mesa Justice of the Peace, former state rep Mark Anderson leads Clayton Hamblen 1628 - 927, 16 of 16 precincts reporting.

- In the D primary for Corporation Commission, the race is too close to call.  David Bradley and Jorge Luis Garcia have slight leads over former Commissioner Renz Jennings.

- In the R primary for the same seats, Brenda Burns and Gary Pierce look to be cruising to the nominations over Barry Wong.

And in the worst news of the night, Bill Montgomery (R-Arpaio's patsy) leads Rick Romley in the race to serve the next two years in the Maricopa County Attorney's office, 117436 - 89390.  Withdrawn candidate Boyd Dunn, who endorsed Romley upon his withdrawal from the race, has received 28644 votes.  (739 of 1142 precincts reporting.


These numbers could, and probably will,change by tomorrow.  I'll update then.

It's Up To Me AZ: A Day of Civic Action

On Thursday, September 23, a group of civic organizations, including Arizona Town Hall, the Arizona Foundation for Women, Center for the Future of Arizona, Girl Scouts - Arizona Cactus Pine Council, and The OʼConnor House, will hold an all-day event at the Wyndham in Phoenix.  The goal of the event is to bring together Arizonans interested in working to improve Arizona through civil discourse and civic engagement.

The day's activities begin at 7:30 a.m. and continue until 8:30 p.m. 

They include:

Who Votes? Who Helps? Who Speaks for Arizona?  at 7:30 a.m.

The Status of Women in Arizona: A Special Report and Call to Action by the Arizona Foundation for Women at 9:15 a.m.

Arizona Town Hall Fall Luncheon, activities starting at 10:30 a.m., lunch at noon.

It’s Up To Me AZ: The Action Starts Now starting at 1:45 p.m.

Inspiration & Action for AZ, reception and dinner starting at 5:30 p.m.


Sign up and get more info here.  Interested folks can sign up for the entire day's slate ($200) or can pick events a la carte (as low as $free). 

While I haven't participated in any events put on by any of these particular organizations, I have been part of the last two sessions put together by Project Civil Discourse (a May discussion of the sales tax question that was on the ballot then, and one this month on immigration).  The discussions were perceptive and yes, heartening.  If only because while we didn't all agree on the issues under discussion, we could *talk* and not *yell.*

After covering the lege for years, that was definitely refreshing. :)

Anyway, it's worth a look.

Later!

Fun with campaign signs - Primary Day edition

Pic taken at approx. 8:45 a.m.  The woman on the right is CD5 R candidate Susan Bitter Smith with some campaign operatives (hers mostly, but at least one was a Salvino volunteer) looking at the signs in the dumpster at the Scottsdale Elks Club on Oak St.  Turns out that while the Elks are willing to allow their facility to be used as a polling place, they are not willing to allow campaigns to put up signs on their property.  Signs that were placed on the property itself were removed and disposed of.

Bitter Smith et. al. were "undisposing" of some. :)

BTW - This is the polling place for her precinct, so her personal presence isn't much of a surprise.

Pic of the Mills sign taken in Tempe, though I've seen them elsewhere and heard of them being elsewhere.  Didn't he drop out of the race? 

BTW - I didn't see any Brewer signs at polling places during my travels this morning.

Pic NOT taken at a polling place, but on a high traffic corner.  As such, I'm not going to say where I saw it, but can say that tens of thousands of commuters are able to see the upside down Schweikert sign. 

Every day.  :)