APS' parent company is Pinnacle West ("PinnWest"). Yesterday, PinnWest transferred another $3M to its committee primarily dedicated to opposing Prop. 127, Arizonans for Affordable Electricity. That is not surprising, as APS/PinnWest had already contributed more than $22M to AAE.
However, today is the first time that AAE has disclosed a PinnWest cash infusion to the Federal Election Commission. (It was not concurrently filed with the Arizona Secretary of State's Office.*) And, the first expenditure from this new $3M pool of money was the flurry of phone calls "oppos(ing) Vermont Senator Bernard Sanders".
(Arizona's Politics has extensively covered (and uncovered) APS' political contributions on the state and local levels since 2014 - whether they have been to dark money organizations, to those national organizations that have funded campaigns supporting Governor Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich, or to SuperPACs that have spent money on federal races.)
AAE spokesman Matt Benson tells Arizona's Politics that the calls were made to Arizonans as "a continuation of our GOTV efforts as part of hte No On 127 campaign." The federal disclosure was made "out of an abundance of caution" since the calls referred to Senator Sanders. (The FEC form would have supported a more complete explanation of the purpose of the phone calls and the disclosure.)
The calls were apparently made to Arizona voters to coincide with Sanders' Arizona visit yesterday, where the former Presidential candidate rallied students at the UA and ASU in support of David Garcia, the Democratic candidate for Governor.
Sanders did not directly mention Prop. 127 in his Tucson rally, but he did say "the time is now to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels to (energy efficiency) and solar energy and renewables. This state can be a leader in solar energy." Neither AAE nor the committee supporting the Proposition that would require utilities to obtain a minimum of 50% from renewable sources mentioned Sanders' visit in their social media feeds yesterday, and both told Arizona's Politics that they were unaware of Sanders' comments about solar energy.
Benson indicates that he will soon share with Arizona's Politics the content of the live phone calls.
Arizona's Politics has extensively covered (and uncovered) APS' political contributions on the state and local levels since 2014 - whether they have been to dark money organizations, to those national organizations that have funded campaigns supporting Governor Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich, or to SuperPACs that have spent money on federal races.
AAE IE Rept vs Bernie by arizonaspolitics on Scribd
*The only AAE filing with the state today was that of a $28k mailer supporting state lawmaker Cesar Chavez.
Just saw today's FEC filing for Arizonans for Affordable Electricity, and wow, it surprised the heck out of me! So many questions that I hope you can answer quickly:
Spend side:
1) The report lists $330,791.70 in "phone calls" opposing Bernie Sanders. Were these calls to Vermonters or Arizonans?
2a) If calls were to Vermonters, why? What was the subject and the messaage?
2b) If calls were to Arizonans, was the subject Prop. 127 or was it Sanders or was it something else?
3) Were they timed to coordinate with Sanders' rallies in the state?
4a) Were these live calls or robocalls?
4b) If live calls, can you provide a script? If robocalls, can you provide a copy?
5) I did not cover either of the Sanders rallies yesterday, and as far as I can tell, he did not address Prop. 127. Do you know if he did?
Contribution side:
6) According to the report, PinnWest contributed $3M to AAE yesterday. Is this $3M specifically for the Sanders expenditure and similar, federal-level efforts? (Segregated?) Or, is it simply a $3M contribution to AAE that will be spent on federal/state/etc efforts?
7) What other contributions has PinnWest made to political organizations (e.g. Arizona Grassroots, RAGA, RGA, etc) since October 1?
8) What is the current total of all contributions PinnWest has now made to AAE (at all levels)?
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