(Editor's note, 4/16, 2:40pm: This was originally published April 8, 2014. When adding tags, the program inadvertently deleted the previous article and re-published it as a "new article". If you linked this article, please change to the new URL The most recent article on this subject was published April 9, and is available here.)
The somewhat-unusual attack ad that calls Arizona gubernatorial candidate Scott Smith "Obama's Favorite Mayor"* may have already had its true intended purpose - to spark a debate on who is behind the ad.
Arizona's Politics has been digging around about the $173,000 ad buy, and can set out some data points without drawing a conclusion.
Background: the ad is from a group calling itself the Legacy Foundation Action Fund ("LFAF"). It attacks Smith's record - not as the Mayor of Mesa, but as the current President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. LFAF as audio of nearly-identical radio ads against Smith and the two Vice Presidents of the Conference - who happen to be Democrats.
Arizona's Politics has not confirmed whether those radio ads have actually aired in Sacramento (former Suns' star Kevin Johnson) and Baltimore; the true target of the LFAF may be Smith's gubernatorial run.
Yesterday afternoon, Mayor Scott Smith sent out an email to his list titled "The political games have begun. He claimed that "On Friday, the political games began when an out-of-state special interest group
tied to one of my opponents – Doug Ducey – began running negative ads against
me. Actually, describing them as negative would be generous since they
contained a series of lies so distasteful that they do not deserve to be
repeated." (
The full email is reproduced below the jump.)
Arizona Treasurer Doug Ducey wasted no time in responding. His email hit inboxes at 7:46 this morning, titled "False accusations that have no merit." He leads with "Amazingly, Mayor Smith’s campaign has reacted…by blaming me! For the record, I want you to hear it from me directly: no one involved in my campaign had anything to do with that ad. Period. The charge is false, and there are no facts to back it up." (
His full email is also below the jump.)
Of course, both of their statements can be true at the same time - and very well might be. Smith claims that LFAF has ties to Ducey, and Ducey retorts that "no one involved in (his) campaign" was responsible. (If someone in the campaign was involved, that would evidence "coordination", which could result in trouble under Arizona campaign law.
Here is what we have been able to learn of the new LFAF:
--LFAF is relatively new. It has not filed a statement of organization with either the Federal Election Commission ("FEC") or the Arizona Secretary of State. However, it has filed a couple of independent expenditure reports with the FEC, indicating that it has
spent $350,000 in the last few months supporting a conservative candidate (Ben Sasse) for Nebraska's open U.S. Senate seat.
--Those FEC reports link LFAF with the Legacy Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that does not disclose its donors.
2) A somewhat-anonymous tipster says that it points back to Noble, and supporting Ducey. Only evidence he's given me so far, though, is that the ad buyer is Noble's. He also passed on a rumor that Noble is not on Ducey's campaign so that he can orchestrate IE's/etc (presumably like this one).
3) My research on Legacy turns up two tangential points of interest - one of its 1st big things, in 2010-12, was funneling about $1M to the Rose Law Group to pay for Sheriff Dever/Babeu's legal efforts in supporting SB1070. And, second, it granted $80K to Center for Arizona Policy in '12 (with Herrod on Ducey's team, hmmm) and $200K to American Family Association.
4) Legacy Foundation's 990's reflect from $770K in '10, to $4.8M in '11, to $6.6M in '12!
5) My article in 11/13 re: Ducey's Noble connection in the Prop 204 situation:
http://bit.ly/AZp690
* Preview of Fact Check: it is highly unlikely that the President prefers Smith to Obama's former Chief of Staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel!
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Friend,
On Friday, the political games began when an out-of-state
special interest group tied to one of my opponents – Doug Ducey – began running
negative ads against me.
Actually, describing them as negative would be
generous since they contained a series of lies so distasteful that they do not
deserve to be repeated.
This type of political campaigning is why
Americans are so fed-up with politics. Instead of building our state and our
country up, all some politicians and their campaigns know how to do is try to
tear others down.
It's shameful.
We should all expect more from
our leaders, shouldn't we?
My campaign
is about Building a Better Arizona and I ask that you stand with me today by
clicking here now. Your immediate donation is needed to help me respond to these
negative attacks.
Building a Better Arizona is about building a
world-class education system that has high standards and expectations for our
children.
Building a Better Arizona is about creating high-paying jobs
and bringing the companies who are the best of the best to Arizona. We did this
recently with Apple and there is more to come.
Building a Better Arizona
is about building our infrastructure needs to be ready for the future growth of
our state. Our infrastructure needs include state of the art technology in all
of Arizona, building and maintaining roads that are safe for families to drive
on, and bringing high-quality universities to our communities like we did in
Mesa.
Building a Better Arizona is about you and I working together to
create a state where our children are safe, educated and have the endless
opportunities that all parents want for their children.
I believe Arizona
is a state that can achieve greatness. I believe Arizona's best days are ahead
of us. If you agree, I ask that you join me
right now and together we will Build a Better
Arizona.
Sincerely,
Scott Smith
P.S. Unfortunately,
if we don't respond to these negative attacks voters will start to believe these
lies as being true. That is why
I need your immediate donation today by clicking here now! Let's Build a
Better Arizona together.
*****************************************************************************************************
False accusations that have no merit
Friend,
As you may have seen on TV, Scott Smith’s record as the head of the liberal U.S. Conference of Mayors has received some scrutiny in recent television ads.
Amazingly, Mayor Smith’s campaign has reacted…by blaming me!
For the record, I want you to hear it from me directly: no one involved in my campaign had anything to do with that ad. Period. The charge is false, and there are no facts to back it up.
I have dedicated the first months of this campaign to staying on the high road. I’ve criss-crossed the state, sharing my vision for Arizona’s future and recruiting support from people in all corners of the state.
You know that’s my nature – to be upbeat and positive and emphasizing the good things that can happen in Arizona over the next four years. That’s a candidate’s job – to articulate a positive vision and build support for it.
It’s also clear now, unfortunately, that others in this race don’t share that approach. And I need to be prepared to fend off their attacks, no matter how baseless the charges are.
So I’m asking you to go to www.dougducey.com and view the videos that we’ve put out, and consider making a contribution to the campaign. We’re going to need an ample warchest to fend off the negativism and attacks that are clearly headed our way.
Thank you for reading this, and thank you for your consideration. We won’t let false charges throw us off our game, and we’re going to be prepared for a very competitive next few months, regardless of what others throw at us.
Respectfully,
Doug
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We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.
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