Gosar was admittedly caught by surprise after a SuperPAC began what has become a $281,000 attack on him. He received national attention by claiming that the Right Way SuperPAC was part of an attempt by House leadership (a.k.a. "the Establishment") to pick off members of the conservative Freedom Caucus.
Gosar (or, his staff) did not post the more straight-up news articles from Roll Call* and Politico** about his claims; however, they did post the more-accusatory opinion pieces highlighting his primary opponent (Ray Strauss) as a "phony conservative" and Sarah Palin's amplification.
Arizona's Politics published an article showing that the Right Way funders were actually Arizona and California agricultural interests. The Western Growers declined to tell Arizona's Politics WHY they were spending so much money on the effort. (Though they are still welcome to respond.)
Rep. Gosar not only declined to explain why he had thought that House Speaker Paul Ryan and//or his allies were trying to "Huelskamp" him, but why he thought the farming interests were trying to send a message. The only indication that he had received Arizona's Politics' inquiries was that he removed the articles from the Congressional website and server. (The links are still - properly - available on Gosar's campaign website.)
House Ethics rules prohibit members from using their House.gov websites for overt campaign purposes.
Gosar's campaign committee has spent $300,000 in 2016 and had $183,000 in cash on hand on August 10. That is more than Right Way and Strauss combined.
The primary election is August 30.
* and ** To Arizona's Politics' knowledge, neither Roll Call nor Politico have yet updated their proven-incorrect articles (despite emails).
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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