A possible future career for John Huppenthal that utilizes his current skill set...

This has not been a good week for AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal (but it's been a GREAT week for the writers at Blog for Arizona!).

The news, broken by Bob Lord at BfA, that Huppenthal used pseudonyms like Thucydides and Falcon9 to post comments on blogs went all MSM and national -

Phoenix channel 3 (KTVK)

Tucson channel 9 (KGUN)

Phoenix channel 5 (KPHO)

Arizona Republic

Arizona Daily Sun

Phoenix New Times

Talking Points Memo

Sacramento Bee (via AP)

Boing Boing

Crooks & Liars

DailyKos

Education Week

 ...and many more.

The story seems to have legs, as other blogs find comments by Huppenthal, many of which make his BfA comments (i.e. - poor people are "lazy pigs", etc.) look mild, almost endearing.

It also seems to be hurting him where it counts (for an R facing a primary challenge, anyway) - with other conservatives, many of whom are trying to distance themselves from him.  And they're not being subtle about it.


I'm not going to predict that his political career is all but over (he's weaseled out of tight situations before), but he's facing some strong electoral headwinds in 2014, and may be looking for work in 2015.

As such, I have an oh-so-humble suggestion -

When he's out of work next year, he should join with other similarly embattled (currently) elected officials and form a "think tank" dedicated to espousing conservative positions.

The principals of the "think tank":

Scott Walker, current governor of Wisconsin, and alleged "capo di tutti capi" of a major criminal conspiracy centered on illegal coordination of campaign fundraising.  Ostensible head of the "think tank"

Tom Horne, current attorney general in Arizona, who has his own (alleged) experience with campaign finance misdeeds (he can serve as the "think tank's" lawyer)

John Huppenthal, current superintendent of public instruction in Arizona.  He can serve as the "think tank's" "Director of Online Propaganda Communications" (because "Sock Puppet" doesn't look good on a resume)

Rick Scott, current governor of Florida.  He can serve as "Director of Whiz Quizzes For Fun And Profit"

Rick Snyder, current governor of Michigan.  He would be the "Director of Disenfranchising Minorities"

Chris Christie, current governor of New Jersey.  He will be the chief enforcer/bully.

Paul Lepage, current governor of Maine.  Deputy bully.

Constantin Querard, political consultant.  Talking head.  Not an elected official, but with Al Melvin's campaign for governor of Arizona circling the drain, he finds himself in need of a paycheck.

Eric Cantor, current majority in the US House of Representatives.  Chief of Governmental Relations (aka - head lobbyist)

Rick Perry, current governor of Texas - Director of Insight on Social Issues


The chief funders of the "think tank"?  The Koch brothers, of course.

Huppenthal betrays Arizona's children and his constituents

John Huppenthal is Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction.

He seems to have a bit of a problem with the "Public" part, however.

From the Arizona Republic -

The 2014 Republican Dream Team is assembling...

...well, "Dream" by my standards; probably not so much by the GOP's...

The Republican fields for the various statewide offices that are up for election next year are becoming clearer, to the point that in many of the races, there are favorites.

As in, candidates who people who are not Republicans hope emerge victorious in the Republican primary.

Under the theory that many of candidates have weaknesses that are so overwhelming that they should be easy to defeat in the general election.


...The team "Cap'n" of the Dream Team is, of course, candidate for governor "Atomic" Al Melvin.

Currently a state senator, he's part of the "Bay at the Moon" caucus at the state lege.  In fact he's one of the leaders.

When he isn't trying to turn Arizona into a nuclear waste dump or pushing to expand slave prison labor here, he is spouting off, like with his recent assertion that trees cause drought conditions.

He's looking to pull off the same play that the notorious Ev Mecham pulled off more than a quarter century ago.  If he does gain the office, he has the potential to embarrass and even damage the state even more than Mecham.  However, his presence at the top of the ticket will serve as an anchor on the rest of the ticket.


...The Dream Team's candidate for Cap'n in Waiting, aka "Secretary of State", is State Senator Michele Reagan.  She's nowhere near as colorful as Melvin.  Never a true "moderate", she was known as someone who would do the right thing for her district and state.  However, her political hard right turn over the last few years, perhaps in preparation for a statewide run, has her firmly ensconced in the heart (such as it is) of the Republican establishment.  Even though she is running for Secretary of State, the state's chief elections officer, she pushed nearly every anti-voter bill that was heard by the Arizona legislature this year.  The provisions of most of those bills were rolled into the blanket non-Republican voter suppression package known as HB2305.

However, none of the above is the reason she is on this list.

Nope.  It's simple statistics.

Over the past 20 years, literally dozens of sitting Republican legislators have sought higher office* while still in the lege.  Two have succeeded - Matt Salmon ran for Congress in 1994 and John Huppenthal ran for State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2010.

And Salmon did it during a period that held the legislature in somewhat higher esteem than it is now.

To be sure, in AZ, many statewide and federal electeds are former legislators.  However, other than the two exceptions, all had at least one term away from the legislature before gaining the higher office.

* = Federal or statewide office.  County and municipal offices in AZ are steps up in esteem level (or at least reductions in notoriety level), but steps down in influence level.


...The Dream Team's candidate for enforcer, aka "Attorney General", is the incumbent, Tom Horne.

Possibly the weakest candidate of a weak bunch, an almost unheard-of description of an incumbent.

However, any state attorney general with a resume that includes a federal investigation over campaign finance violations, charges stemming from a hit-and-run accident while leaving a nooner at his girlfriend's home, and giving that girlfriend a highly-paid taxpayer-funded job probably should be looking for a new job.

However, Horne is looking for another term as AG.  It will be up to the voters to tell him that it's time to leave.

...The Dream Team's candidate for Mr. Moneybags, aka "State Treasurer", is Randy Pullen, former chair of the AZGOP and treasurer of the Republican National Committee.  On Thursday, he announced his "exploration" of a run for treasurer (source: Channel 12's Brahm Resnik).

A candidate for state treasurer who's known more for his divisiveness and his poor judgement (note: those are three sources that I never even imagined that I'd link to :) ) in handling others' money than for his financial acumen?

That would be a gift...to whoever else is on the ballot for that office.


...The Dream Team's candidate for Minister of Propaganda, aka "Superintendent of Public Instruction", is the incumbent, John Huppenthal.

Hates public education in a state where the vast majority of parents can't afford private schools and he hates Hispanic people in a state where the Hispanic population is growing both in size and political influence.

That combination is more ripe for a political Darwin award than it is for re-election.


...Note: I am not including the office of State Mine Inspector because it is too low-profile.  Most people in AZ don't know the office exists; most that do cannot name the officeholder.  Perhaps at the founding of AZ, it was a necessary position, but these days it just a place for former rural legislators to pad their pensions and a chance to hobknob with mining industry lobbyists.


Predictions: If the Rs were to nominate this slate, I would be very happy...and very surprised.

...Melvin doesn't seem likely to emerge from the primary, but neither did Ev Mecham in 1986.  At least by the standards of the AZGOP,  being "bay at the moon crazy" doesn't disqualify someone from being their candidate.

...Reagan is the "establishment" candidate, in a party that is being wracked by paroxysms of anti-"establishment" fervor.  Probably the favorite, for now, but not a prohibitive one.

...Horne should be toast.  Someone who's even a little more polished should have little trouble dispatching him in the primary.  If no one does, however, Felecia Rotellini, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the job, will thoroughly kick his ass in the general election.  Which is the main reason that Horne will face a primary challenger.

...Pullen may very well win the nomination, but he has so many enemies within the AZGOP that it won't be easy for him.

...Huppenthal, well, many people (me among them), have written his political epitaph before.  And we've been wrong each time.  He is utterly unqualified for elected office or any position of public trust.  Having said that, no smack talk until it's proven that he can be defeated.

Irony Alert

On Thursday evening, the Arizona Town Hall held a Forum on Civic Engagement at Central High School in Phoenix.  If a video archive of the event is posted on the internet, I'll link to it here.

It was a thought-provoking evening, and one deserving of a serious write-up, which I'll do later, but for now, I'm going to let my inner wiseass run wild for a moment.

John Huppenthal is Arizona's State Superintendent of Public Instruction.  He, along with his predecessor Tom Horne (AZ's current Attorney General) has done everything within his power (and a few things that may be outside of his authority) to demonize Mexican-Americans and attacking the Mexican-American Studies program of the Tucson Unified School District.

With that background, Thursday's forum served up this week's moment of irony -

(L-R) Susan Carlson of the Arizona Business and Education Council, Peggy Klein of the O'Connor House, Bryanna Cisneros of the Maricopa Community College District's Center for Civic Engagement, and John Huppenthal, Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction

That's Huppenthal on the far right of the pic (of course). 

I wonder if he appreciated, or even was aware of, the irony of appearing on a stage while under that quote?

Short Attention Span Musing

...Is Frank Antenori angling for a promotion...or just another electoral beat-down?

H/T to The Range at the Tucson Citizen (Mari Herreras and Dan Gibson) , AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona and Tedski at Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion for spotting this...

State Sen. Frank Antenori (R-Tucson)  has all but announced that he will run for Congress next year by posting a faux-poll on his Facebook page asking for "advice" from readers.

He wanted to know if they thought he should run for Congress or stay in the Arizona Legislature.  Maybe someone should remind him what happened the last time he ran for Congress.

In 2006, he came in fourth in a five-way R primary in CD8, looking to replace the retiring Jim Kolbe, a spot eventually won by Democrat Gabrielle Giffords.

He received 4.12% of the vote.


...It looks as if Hugh Hallman is getting out of Tempe while the getting is good...

From the East Valley Tribune, written by Garin Groff -

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said he’ll stay involved in civic issues and is open to seeking another office after stepping down next June.


Hallman announced he won’t seek a third term while decrying the state of politics in Arizona. He’d like to address challenges he sees at the state and federal levels, though he hasn’t decided just how yet.

It's long been rumored that Hallman has his eye on higher office.  It appears as if he is setting up a statewide run for 2014, though run for Congress or Fulton Brock's seat as a Maricopa County supervisor next year isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Note: Neither Hallman nor Antenori has an active campaign committee at the federal, state, or county levels that I can find, as of this writing.


...Russell Pearce may not be toast yet, he's definitely feeling the heat.

Word has gotten out that the Maricopa County Recorder's Office has unofficially validated more than enough petition signatures to force a recall election.  Most electeds in his position would at least pretend to care about their images, but not Pearce.

Nope.  He went on KAET's Horizon on Thursday and started spouting outrageous, and more importantly for the people who have united to unseat him, easily disproven lies about those people.

This on top of a week spend dealing with criticisms over his handling of the "special session to nowhere," the special session called to change a single word in Arizona law that would have allowed 15,000 Arizonans to continue receiving federally-funded unemployment benefits?

The "special" session where the Republicans in the legislature refused to act to help average Arizonans who need the help, unless the corporate benefactors of those Republicans got another big tax cut?

Not a good week for Pearce.


...Not a good week for John Huppenthal, either.

To great fanfare, the man who is Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction pronounced that Tucson's Mexican American Studies program is illegal and must be changed or shut down.

As part of his supporting "evidence" he cited an audit conducted by a private firm.

The problem?  The audit he cited actually found that the program didn't violate the law.

Though as Huffington Post's Jeff Biggers points out here, Huppenthal may have done so himself.

Oopsie.

Later...

Arizona Republic editorial board to its readers: Arizona may be in lousy shape, but you should vote for the status quo

Liberals like to claim that the Arizona Republic is a "conservative" paper, but it's not. (Though to be fair, many of them remember the not-so-distant days when the Rep was officially named the "Arizona Republican" or less officially served as the press release outlet for the Arizona Republican Party.)

Conservatives like to claim that the Rep is a "liberal" paper, but it isn't.  (It just isn't a mouthpiece for the "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" wing of the AZGOP.)

Instead, the Arizona Republic is a "corporate" paper, dedicated to defending corporate profit margins.  Since most corporations operate in such a way as to derive the maximum profit from the political status quo, the Republic has become a staunch defender of that status quo.

Their latest list of election endorsements clearly illustrate this tendency.

- They passed over Terry Goddard in giving their endorsement in the race for governor to Jan Brewer.  They called Goddard an "articulate, dedicated servant of the people of this state" yet gave the nod to Brewer, citing her ability to "handle the legislature" (apparently, the Rep's editorial board slept through all of 2009) and her disbanding of the state's Department of Commerce in favor of a meaningless (and authority-less) "Commerce Authority."  What they also liked was her support for "enhancing prospects for job creation" - better known as blanket tax cuts directed to corporations.

- They ignored Rodney Glassman (literally!  He wasn't even mentioned in the article!) in giving their endorsement for U.S. Senate to John McCain.  In the opinion piece, they cited "McCain's role in all those great national and world debates," such as the debates over the war in Iraq and campaign finance reform.  What they didn't cite were McCain's accomplishments for Arizona.  They couldn't cite those accomplishments, because there aren't any.  This particular endorsement also isn't a surprise, even aside from its "status quo" characteristics - the Rep's editorial board has been in the McCain family pocket for decades (is Dan Nowicki the Republic's reporter who is embedded with McCain's staff, or is he the McCain staffer embedded with the Republic?  Either way, the effect, and the final product, is the same...)

- The Rep's endorsement of Ann Kirkpatrick in the CD1 race also serves to illustrate the Rep's "status quo" bias - she's an incumbent, and while a Democrat, she's a conservative one who thoroughly supports Big Business.  Note: While I too support and recommend voting for her, it's because she is the better candidate, not a great candidate.

- The logic the Rep's editorial board used when passing over Penny Kotterman when endorsing John Huppenthal for State Superintendent of Public Instruction astounds me, even when allowing for their "status quo" bias.  They cite his 18 years of legislative experience focusing on education issues and then follow it up with this quote -

We believe the sort of reform advocated by John Huppenthal is best for improving Arizona's often dismal comparative standing on the crucial questions of how best to improve schools.

Ummm...do they understand that Huppenthal and the "reforms" pimped by him are some of the major reasons for Arizona's "dismal comparative standing" on most education-related metrics?  And that his experience in the lege has included years of trying to slowly destroy public education in Arizona?

Their endorsement is as sensible as a doctor sitting down with a patient who has been diagnosed with lung cancer after decades of smoking and suggesting that the patient could cure the cancer by smoking more cigarettes.

- In a bit of a surprise, the Rep's editorial board endorsed Felecia Rotellini over Tom Horne for Attorney General.  They complimented her as "smart and unflappable," which is very true, but Tom Horne is a current office holder and an establishment Republican.  This would seem to disprove my "status quo bias" position, until one remembers that, like Rotellini, Terry Goddard, the current Attorney General, is smart, unflappable, and a Democrat. 

- However, the Rep did spring one big surprise on voters, and not in a good way.  They twisted themselves like a pretzel to find a way to ignore Jon Hulburd and give their CD3 endorsement to Ben Quayle.

First, they opened up their piece with -

Ben Quayle, a Republican, may be the best-known congressional candidate in the country who isn't a member of the "tea party." That shouldn't matter to voters in District 3, which stretches from north-central Phoenix to New River. They don't need a celebrity. They need the best representative they can elect.

In the next paragraph, they follow that up with -

If this were a job interview, Democrat Jon Hulburd would have the large advantage. He rose to become a partner at Fennemore Craig, one of Phoenix's top law firms. He left to start an import business. He has career and community accomplishments that Quayle can't match.

So naturally, after pointing out Quayle's celebrity status and saying that CD3 doesn't need a celebrity in Congress, and Hulburd's vastly superior resume and qualifications, they gave their endorsement to Quayle -

But elections aren't just about resumes. They're about ideas. And on that score, Quayle is the better candidate to succeed John Shadegg. Quayle is well-versed in the issues. He speaks with passion and conviction.

So, the Rep soft-pedals Quayle's lack of qualifications for any elected office, much less a seat in Congress, and completely ignores his pre-candidacy career as a writer for the website Dirty Scottsdale, under the porn-riffic nom de plume "Brock Landers."

Could the Quayle family's previous ownership of the Republic have influenced the endorsement?  Nahhhh, couldn't be...

The headline for the Rep's endorsement was "Ben Quayle offers candor, conviction."

Given that Quayle's previous "candor" indicated a deep disrespect for women and could lead to convictions of the criminal variety if he becomes part of the free-for-all social environment in D.C.'s political subculture, instead of being a surprise, perhaps the Rep's endorsement of his [possible] ascension to Congress would be in perfect keeping with their desire to maintain the status quo.

Less than a week ago, the Republic actually brought themselves some credit with their list of endorsements for the Central Arizona Water Conservation District - the candidates they endorsed were intelligent, educated, experienced, and highly-qualified for the job.

Apparently, however, those qualities are desirable only in candidates for lower-profile (though extremely important) offices. 

I may agree with some of the Rep's coming endorsements, but where I will support the candidates who are better for Arizona, they'll be supporting the candidates who they see as most protective of their preferred status quo.

Jawdropper of the day

I don't normally counter-post something that an R blogger has put up, and I certainly don't publicize R campaign events, but this one is a press release and it features a combination of performers that is so stunning that it merits a post of its own.

The press release for this event was originally published by the R blog Sonoran Alliance here.

My first thought upon seeing this was "whatthehell does Joe Arpaio have to do with education?"*

* = OK, he probably thinks that the fact that there are still people in the county who don't worship the ground he walks on is evidence that there is *too much* education in Arizona, but other than that, he doesn't appear to have any ties to the education system in Arizona.

Of course, Thursday's forum is probably less about "education" and more about "winning the Republican primary".  Huppenthal spent most of the last eight years in the state senate working to weaken the state's education system, and nothing about his embrace of Arpaio indicates that he is interested in fixing what he helped to break.

Of course, I'm just a cynic...

BTW - Normally, I don't bother attending R events, but this one should be fascinating in a "train wreck" sort of way...

Huppenthal petitions challenged: I *love* being able to say "I told you so"

Yes, I'm a bad man, but I really enjoy it when something I more or less predicted (more than a year ago!) starts looking like it will come to pass.

From my post a from a year ago -

Hi. Your snarky (but oh-so-friendly and helpful) neighborhood liberal blogger and Democratic activist here. I don't normally write for you folks, but this one is for you.

Some of you have signed nominating petitions for one John Huppenthal for next year's race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

{snip}

Under the laws of Arizona and the rules from the Arizona Secretary of State, a candidate must form a committee (file paperwork with the state formally declaring the candidate's interest in a particular office).

From the Secretary of State's candidate handbook (page 29 of the .pdf) (emphasis mine) -

4. Statement of Organization OR $500 Threshold Exemption Statement.
A Statement of Organization registering the candidate’s campaign committee OR a $500 Threshold Exemption Statement must be filed before making any expenditures, accepting any contributions, distributing any campaign literature or circulating any petitions. If the candidate has an exploratory committee open at the time of filing, then the candidate, chairman and treasurer must file an amended Statement of Organization to change the committee to a candidate’s campaign committee.

So far, Huppenthal has only formed an "exploratory" committee - filer ID 201000065, formed and last amended on March 16, 2009. As such, any signatures he has collected to date are invalid.

So check out this AZ Republic story today -

John Huppenthal, a Republican state senator vying for his party's nomination as state superintendent of public instruction, is being challenged by the state Democratic Party on the basis that many of his 11,000 petition signatures were gathered before he had formally entered the race.

His case is scheduled for a June 18 hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Yessss!

Now, there is no guarantee that the challenge will be successful - we *are* in Maricopa County, Arizona, where somedays it seems as if the principle of "the rule of law" has been replaced by the principle of "IOKIYAR*".

However, the law seems clear - he had to change his exploratory committee to a candidate campaign committee *before* collecting sigs. He amended his campaign paperwork on January 14; he submitted his petitions on January 20.

I'm guessing that he didn't collect 11K sigs in 6 days.

Anyway, the complete list of challenges received by the Secretary of State's office is here; the current list of withdrawn candidates is here.

*IOKIYAR = "It's OK If You're A Republican

Later...

Indications are that State Sen. John Huppenthal doesn't appreciate irony

Cross-posted at Blog for Arizona...


Wednesday afternoon, State Sen. John Huppenthal chaired a meeting of the Senate Education Committee.

Much of the meeting was an exercise in campaign positioning (he's running for state superintendant of public instruction this year). That positioning included inviting Matthew Ladner of the Goldwater Institute to give a presentation on the "wonderful" statistical results of education reform in Florida.

After that, the committee considered a couple of bills, proposed by Huppenthal himself. One of those was SB1039, a bill to remove certain info from the "report cards" that public schools have to issue about themselves to the public. The info he wants removed from public scrutiny includes (from the lege summary sheet) per pupil expenditures, available social services, available transportation services, class size, and teacher/student ratios.

His objection is that such info is "self-reported" and not subject to verification. As such, it is suspect and shouldn't be disseminated to the public.

The ironic part is that while Huppenthal was blunt in his criticism of public schools as deceptive, his praise of Ladner and GI, an organization known for fudging numbers and taking shortcuts (apples to oranges comparisons) with statistical analyses, was effusive to the point of being overtly obsequious.

Yes, it's an election year, with all of the expected posturing and preening, but it isn't unreasonable to expect a little intellectual honesty out of someone who want to oversee the state's education apparatus, is it?

Next up in Breaking News: Water is wet

On Thursday, Pro Tem Justice of the Peace Daniel Washburn acquitted State Sen. John Huppenthal (R-Anger Management Issues) on misdemeanor theft and political sign tampering charges.

Washburn is a Republican activist and candidate in Pinal County. Huppenthal is a state senator and likely candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction next year.

This was not a really shocking verdict (the sign tampering statute's language refers to the signs for a candidate, and the sign in question was not "for" a candidate) but the fact that Washburn took so long to find something to hang an acquittal on the theft charge was a little surprising.

While the ruling cannot be appealed by the prosecution, the grounds for the acquittal on the theft charge seems weak.

The Judge found that the state hadn't proven that the sign in question belonged to the Arizona Democratic Party, and that was enough to acquit.

My understanding of the law (which isn't great; if a real lawyer wants to chime in with some insights, that would be fine) is that theft occurs when someone takes property that doesn't belong to him, not when that someone takes property that belongs to a specific owner.

Another weakness of the verdict is that it was based in part on the property manager giving Huppenthal permission to take the sign down.

Well, while Huppenthal testified that he was given permission, the property manager testified that she said "I don't care."

Only in Arizona could "I don't care" be synonymous with "I give you permission."

I guess we can file all of this under "IOKIYAR" - It's OK If You're A Republican.

Huppenthal case continued until Thursday

Expectations were that the verdict in the misdemeanor theft and political sign tampering case against state Sen. John Huppenthal was going to be announced on Tuesday.

However, a quick glance at the online record of the case shows that a "status conference" on the case has been scheduled for Thursday, August 27 at 4 p.m.

I'm not sure what is causing the delay.

Stay tuned a little longer...