Giffords’ October Surprise

Sure, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has captured the endorsement of the Tucson Weekly, the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen in her race against Republican Tim Bee. But she was saving the big one for now–just one week before the Nov. 4 election.
That’s right: Giffords, who is married to astronaut Mark Kelly, [...]

Rasmussen: McCain Widens Lead in AZ

Remember all those reports about Arizona being a swing state? Maybe not so much.
A new Rasmussen poll puts John McCain up by 16 points here in Arizona.
The Rasmussen survey that McCain has the support of 52 percent of voters, while Obama has the support of just 36 percent.
A June survey by Rasmussen showed a nine-point [...]

AZ = Presidential Swing State?

The New York Times is the latest outlet to question whether Arizona is a swing state in the 2008 presidential contest. We have a hard time swallowing that one, but the McCain campaign did include the Grand Canyon State in his own list of swing states some time back.
The most recent Rasmussen Reports poll of [...]

Tim Bee’s Campaign Ad

The folks at Sonoran Alliance tipped us off to state Sen. Tim Bee’s new TV ad for his campaign against Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. It’s a slick spot that pushes the family friendly, consensus-building angle–so much so that he doesn’t even mention he’s a Republican; instead, he flashes the word “Independent” in big ol’ type [...]

Legislative Candidate Ephraim Cruz: No Comment on Child Support Lawsuit

State House of Representatives candidate and former Border Patrol agent Ephraim Cruz is open to talking about a federal court case in which he beat charges of illegally smuggling an illegal immigrant across the border.
But Cruz, who is one of seven Democrats seeking two House seats in southside Legislative District 29, is not as forthcoming [...]

Payday Loan Effort Bounces

Rep. Marian McClure has made it official: She has given up on Stop Payday Loans, an initiative effort she was chairing that would have curtailed the payday lending industry. McClure tells ScrambleWatch she only had about 30,000 signatures and needed more than 153,000 by July 3 to qualify for the November ballot.
Last month, Democratic state [...]

Recommended Reading: 10 Simple Rules

From time to time, we’ll be posting links to stories in TW’s archives that shed some light about today’s issues or help you better understand Southern Arizona politics.
Our first installment: Campaigning 101: 10 Simple Rules for Running for Office, a piece I wrote before last year’s city election. We hope it will help all the [...]

ScrambleWatch Smackdown: Clean Elex Debates

Mark your calendars: The Clean Elections Commission has announced the upcoming dates for the primary election debates!
Up first in Southern Arizona is the GOP battle everyone will be watching: Al Melvin vs. Pete Hershberger in Legislative District 26. The forum will also feature GOP House candidates Trent Humphries, Vic Williams and Marilyn Zerull. The bell [...]