Following The Money: Democrats Spend Big in Southern Arizona Legislative Races

We’ve mentioned recently in The Skinny (here and here) how the Arizona Democratic Party is making a big push to flip the Arizona House of Representatives. To do it, they need to flip four seats into the Democratic column while hanging onto the gains they made in 2008.
That’s no easy task, but the Democrats are [...]

But Bruce: We Thought You Opposed Earmarks!

We mentioned in an earlier post about how the Arizona Republican Party was facing tough financial times because they had to return $105,000 in contributions from a group called SCA, which wouldn’t reveal its contributors to the AZ GOP.
That refund came after the party had spent a bundle on TV ads trashing Dan Saban, the [...]

Bee’s Latest Financial Report: $185K

Republican Tim Bee has turned in his latest financial reports with the FEC. The numbers show him once again trailing Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Bee reports raising $185,183 in the most recent period, which ended Sept. 30. That brings his total haul for the campaign to $1,426,833—or less than half of the $3 million that Giffords [...]

The Final Debate: Giffords Meets Bee Tonight! Plus: Giffords Campaign Surpasses the $3 Million Mark While DCCC Pulls Out of CD8

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords faces Republican challenger Tim Bee tonight in the last scheduled debate of the Congressional District 8 race. We’re not sure how it got scheduled on the same night as the presidential debate, but you can see the throwdown at 7:30 p.m. at Flowing Wells High School, 3725 N. Flowing Wells Road.
Speaking of [...]

The After Math: Crunching Numbers in Last Week’s Primary

Questions and answers in the wake of last week’s primary election:
What was the big takeaway in the legislative races?

Conservatives ruled. In almost every local race in GOP districts, the most conservative candidates carried the day.
In the GOP primary for the Legislative District 26 Senate seat, Republican Al Melvin beat state Rep. Pete Hershberger by exposing [...]

Match Game: Judge Rules Against Portion of Clean Elections Program

Opponents of Arizona’s Clean Elections system won a big round in court last week when federal Judge Roslyn Silver said that the campaign-finance program’s matching-funds provision could be unconstitutional.
In a case brought by the Goldwater Institute on behalf of various GOP candidates, Silver didn’t rule against the Clean Elections system itself, which provides qualifying candidates [...]

Curious George: What’s Up With Sam What’s-His-Name?

Looks like we’re not the only ones having trouble catching up with Democratic Corporation Commissioner Sam George–or, as we call him around the Watchtower, Sam Vajayjay.
George, a political strategist who made a bundle from working on initiative campaigns in the 1990s back when his real name was Sam Vagenas, also dodged Sarah Fenske at the [...]

No Reservations: Will Bee Get Help From NRCC?

Bad news for Republican Tim Bee’s congressional campaign against Democrat Gabrielle Giffords in Congressional District 8: Politico is reporting that the National Republican Congressional Committee has reserved ad time for the first round of television spots–and Bee is not on the rather short list.
From the report: “GOP lawmakers will focus more money and manpower on [...]

Frank Talk: Antenori’s Response to GOP Activist Pete Davis

Republican Frank Antenori, who is seeking a seat in Legislative District 30, asked that we post his full letter responding to GOP activist Pete Davis’ denouncement of him following our report on fundraising in Legislative District 30.
I certainly miss spoke in some of my comments to the Tucson Weekly. Between the contorted public funding mechanisms [...]

Following the Money in Antenori/Sposito/Collins/Gowan LD30 Four-Way

A few weeks back, we mentioned that Republican Frank Antenori went on a bit of a rampage against his fellow GOP candidates in Legislative District 30.
Antenori was angry that fellow Republican Doug Sposito and his supporters were spending so much money that the Clean Elections candidates in the race—Sharon Collins and David Gowan—were getting a [...]