Things that make you go "hmmmm": Yee vs. Horne

Caveat: None of this is an accusation.  I don't believe in accusing someone of doing something based only on my own suspicions.  I need stronger evidence than that.

On the other hand, neither do I believe in coincidence.

In late June, a dark money PAC sponsored an over-the-top and unequivocally bigoted TV spot in the Republican primary for state Superintendent of Public Instruction, a race between incumbent Tom Horne and termed-out State Treasurer Kimberly Yee.

Most observers, including me, immediately blamed Horne.

It was an easy conclusion to reach - Horne is a bigot, lousy human being, and someone who is known to campaign unethically.

Yee won the primary -

The PAC that sponsored the ad, Arizonans for Election Integrity, filed their Q2 finance report on July 14th.  It covers the period from May 3, 2026 to June 30, 2026.

It shows two transactions; one receipt and one disbursement (expenditure).

The receipt -

So, they received $200K on 6/25 from an entity (CEG) with an address of a PO box in VA.

The disbursement -

Also on 6/25, they expended $200K - $10 to an entity with an address in VA.

The recipient of the largesse, Red Eagle Media, has a sketchy past.

Red Eagle is not registered with the AZ Corporation Commission; at least not under that name.

However, a search of the VA SOS' records indicates that they are a subsidiary of another company..

From the VA State Corporation Commission -

Know who else received $200K in June?

The AZ affiliate of Turning Point...received money from their federal mother organization.

While Yee was their anointed candidate in the primary and I'm *really* not a fan of the coincidence of $200K, the money was received on a different day AND many bills were paid subsequent to receipt of the funds.

It turns out another dark money group paid Conservatives for Effective Government $200K on 6/25.

From the Paradise Valley Independent, written by Stacy Mantle, dated 7/22 -

[snip]

Campaign finance records show the committee received a $200,000 contribution on June 25 from the Virginia-based Super PAC Conservatives for Effective Government, which had received a $200,000 contribution from Massachusetts-based Per Aspera Policy Inc. earlier that same day.

Horne publicly condemned the advertisement, saying he had no involvement with the committee or its messaging. Federal campaign finance records show funding for the ad passed through multiple political committees before reaching Arizonans for Election Integrity, which purchased the television advertising. 

From FEC filings -

The reporter, and the FEC filing, indicate that Per Aspera is based in MA, but their Form 990 tax filing indicates that they are based in VA, with the same PO box as CEG.

From ProPublica -

Peter Thiel seems to be behind Per Aspera..

Racism and bigotry rears its ugly head in AZ Republican primary

[begin sarcasm]

This is so surprising.

[/end sarcasm]

From KJZZ, written by Camryn Sanchez, dated 6/30 -

Arizona superintendent candidate Kimberly Yee calls attack ad 'racist,' blames opponent Tom Horne

A new TV attack ad targets Arizona candidate for school superintendent Kimberly Yee and accuses her of being too liberal. Both Yee and her opponent call it racist.

Yee, a Republican who currently serves as the state treasurer, is Chinese American and is portrayed in the ad with an Asian backdrop, the sound of gongs and the tagline “empress of DEI,” referring to diversity, equity and inclusion.

[snip]

Yee accused her primary opponent, Republican incumbent Tom Horne, of being behind it.

“Tom Horne and his supporters have clearly put out a racist attack, it’s out of line with Arizonans, and they have nothing but a failed track record to run on, so they’re reverting to racism,” Yee said Monday.

Tom Horne, the incumbent AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction, denied any involvement with the ad, but he's been known to lie.

I'm not a fan of Yee, but I'm more not a fan of Horne - he's a profoundly lousy human being, possibly the worst in AZ politics, and he has a LOT of rivals for the crown..

Yee is partially right when she says "it’s out of line with Arizonans..."

Actually, it's out of line with *most* Arizonans.

Most Arizonans don't vote in Republican primaries.

And the fact that the surrogates (Horne's?) believe that message will persuade voters in an R primary says a LOT about what they think of the character of R primary voters.

During the research for this post, I learned a couple of things.

1. The PAC behind this ad, Arizonans for Election Integrity, utilizes a CA-based company, Liberty Strategic Partners, hasn't registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission (at least, not under that name).  The California Secretary of State (CASOS) has the following information: 

Note: The listed agent here, Jonathan Huey, is listed as the Treasurer of the PAC -

2. There's a quirk in the financial reporting periods for committees that are politically active in AZ.

The post primary report period post dates the Q2 report period but is due *before* the Q2 report is due.

From the AZ SOS -

Initially, I thought they had simply skipped filing the Q2 report, which would be significant, as the expenditures for the ad were in Q2, but the Q2 report is not yet due.

Mark Lamb had a very bad week

Mark Lamb, the former sheriff of Pinal County and erstwhile candidate for Congress in CD5 had a very bad week last week.

From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State (AZSOS), the list of candidates -

Reporters at the Arizona Republic published a story about his habit of sending nude pictures of himself to women.

From MS Now (the Republic article is behind a paywall) -

Growing list of MAGA sex scandals now includes Arizona congressional hopeful

As sure as the sun rises, the list of sex scandals involving a Trump ally continues to grow.

My colleague Steve Benen has been doing a great job tracking the Jan. 6 rioters who have been charged with sex crimes after receiving pardons from President Donald Trump.

[snip]

This excerpt basically sums up the Republic’s reporting:

Digital evidence reviewed by The Republic found the Arizona lawman invited intimate encounters and indulged a yearslong habit of sexting that he later denied or sought to conceal, sometimes with threats or intimidation.

Interviews and screen captures of photos, chats, social media posts and emails shared with The Republic stand in contrast to the image Lamb has built across a decade in public life.

The report begins with a story of one woman who told the Republic that Lamb threatened to sic the Arizona Department of Public Safety on her to prevent her from posting sexual messages he sent her, including nude pictures:

Lamb, who is now running for Congress, appeared to suggest he could control the Arizona Department of Public Safety and stop any investigation if the woman agreed to stop posting on social media, messages and interviews show.

One Facebook message included a link to the state’s revenge-porn statute and said violations are a “Class 4 felony,” screenshots show.

“Please just no more posting,” read the back-to-back messages, accompanied by Lamb’s profile picture. “I will call DPS.”

And if the woman volunteered to take down the posts?

“I will ask for them not to proceed,” came the reply, which added, “My wife says she is okay with that too.”

[snip]

This clearly isn’t a great look for someone who has made his family life and Mormon faith a major part of his political biography.

Alone, that might damning enough, but there was more.

From KNXV, written by Manuelita Beck, dated 5/21 -

Mark Lamb hits primary opponent Daniel Keenan with 'cease and desist' notice

Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb has sent his Republican primary opponent in the Congressional District 5 race a cease-and-desist letter, telling him to stop talking about how Lamb failed to disclose a bankruptcy on legal documents as required by law.

Daniel Keenan, who is facing Lamb in the Republican primary, has talked on the campaign trail about Lamb’s 2018 failure to disclose a bankruptcy on documents filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission for his now-defunct nonprofit, the American Sheriff Foundation.

While there has been talk about Cheeto pulling his endorsement of Lamb over this stuff, I don't believe that will happen.

With Cheeto, things like sexual misconduct, misuse of office, and bankruptcy fraud only happen on days ending in "y". 😀

The one thing that might get Cheeto to pull his endorsement is if it looks like Lamb is on track to lose the primary.

Right now, there are at least three people who are probably wishing this news broke in February, not in May.

Jay Feely, who jumped from the R primary in CD5 to the one in CD1 at Cheeto's behest.

Gina Swoboda, who jumped from the R primary in CD1 to the one for AZSOS when Feely entered the CD1 race.

Alexander Kolodin, who had been the only the only candidate in the R primary u for AZSOS...until Swoboda jumped into it.

Of course Lamb may (or may not - just ask his campaign and his lawyers) cheat on his wife, abuse the authority of his office, and/or commit perjury, but one thing may impact the voters' loyalty to him - his (apparent) loyalty to the district.

From Bluesky -

His "ranch" (OK - "events venue") is in Tennessee.  The website lists the address as 833 N Prather Rd, Michie, TN 38357 .

It didn't exist until just over a month ago.  From the website of the Tennessee Secretary of State -

However, nothing by that name owns property in McNairy County, which is where the "ranch" is located (caveat: the search function on the Tennessee property assessor's website in McNairy County is profoundly lousy, so I may have missed it) .

From the TN property assessor's website -

"American Sheriff LLC" is interesting.

Nothing by that name is listed on the website of the TNSOS.  However, an organization by that name shows up on the website of the Arizona Corporation Commission (AZCC).

From the website of the AZCC -

CD5 is overwhelmingly R in terms of registration, to the point where it's considered a "safe Republican" district, yet weirdly, the person who may be/should be the most hopeful if Lamb emerges from the R primary as the nominee is the eventual D nominee.

This district covers the same area that, in 2000, ousted Republican Jeff Groscost, then the Speaker of the Arizona House and a rising star in R circles after his involvement in Arizona's infamous "alt fuels" debacle.

A Democratic victory there isn't guaranteed (far from it), but is will be easier if Lamb is on the general election ballot.

Schweikert bashes Biggs, and the Maricopa County Republicans remind people

Including me, because I generally avoid paying attention to the internal R machinations.

From Arizona's Family, written by staff and Dennis Welch -

Phoenix-area GOP reignites controversy in Republican governor’s race

A controversy that Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Andy Biggs hoped would fade has returned to the headlines after his own party stepped in.

About a month ago, Biggs found himself the target of a political attack. His Republican opponent in the governor’s race, Rep. David Schweikert, accused him of palling around with racists and anti-Semites. Biggs denied it and moved on.

But it was his own Republican Party that brought it back.

Also from Arizona's Family -

I don't claim to know how this all will play out, but two things seem obvious -

1. Observers should get out their popcorn, as this promises to be entertaining.

2. They should get out their seatbelts, too, as 2026 promises to be a bumpy ride.

This all does beg one question -

What is Schweikert thinking?  

Accusing Biggs of being a white supremacist won't exactly change the minds of the voters in an R primary, aka the people he needs to reach.  It seems to help Biggs more than it does Schweikert.

Laws don't matter to GOPers, they just ignore them, and get a deal (free pass?) if called on it

Cheeto and his mini-me (and others) can speechify at the Charlie Kirk Memorial Tent Meeting all they want, but I'm going to honor him another way.

From AZMirror, written by Caitlin Sievers, dated 9/17/2025 -

GOP ex-lawmaker, Turning Point Action leader, offered plea deal in petition signature forgery case

Former Arizona legislator Austin Smith has been offered a plea deal in a multiple-felony criminal case that alleges he personally forged numerous voter signatures on his own petitions for reelection. 

Smith was indicted in June by a Maricopa County grand jury on four felony counts for presenting documents he knew were forged to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, in addition to 10 misdemeanor counts for personally forging the names of electors on his reelection petitions.

The Republican from Surprise was a member of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, which has a history of spreading false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election and pushed for election law changes in the state legislature. 

The tie-in to Kirk?

At the time, Smith was an employee of Kirk's organization.

From the website of Turning Point Action -

The case number in Maricopa County Superior Court is CR2025-007007-001.

A candidate demonstrates that he's utterly unfit for office

...And for once, I'm not talking about Cheeto. 

From The White Mountain Independent, written Suzanne Adams-Okrassa -

Candidate for Navajo County Recorder cited in road rage incident

A candidate for the Navajo County Recorder’s Office was cited after an alleged road rage incident on Oct. 23.

According to Show Low Police reports, Timothy Jordan, 46, of Lakeside was cited for suspicion of disorderly conduct-noise, disorderly conduct with a weapon, false reporting to law enforcement and reckless driving.

I was going to specify to specify which party the candidate belongs to, but truth be told, his behavior  is unacceptable for anyone, regardless of partisan affiliation.  If a reader *really* must know it, Navajo County has a list of their county-level candidates here.

Of course, regardless of partisan affiliation, getting arrested just before an election is probably not a good idea.  Especially when the opposing candidate is also the incumbent.