BREAKING UPDATE: APS Makes Year End $50,000 Contribution To Republican AGs

Pinnacle West is no longer limiting its political contributions to obvious campaigns. A new filing reveals a December 31 $50,000 contribution to the association to elect Republican Attorneys General (aka RAGA).

During the last campaign cycle, APS's parent company donated $150,000 to RAGA, which turned around and spent heavily to help re-elect Arizona AG Mark Brnovich. ($425,000 went from APS to RAGA in the 2014 campaign.) That significant amount of assistance raised eyebrows last year when the AG's office changed the ballot wording of Proposition 127 last autumn in a way that directly aided APS's opposition to the initiative.

Ryan Anderson, the Communications Director for the Attorney General's Office, takes offense to the implications that the APS contributions to RAGA have any impact on Brnovich's actions. He tells Arizona's Politics that "It's ridiculous....to suggest that that was done at their (APS's) behest or to their benefit is sad and disappointing." Anderson notes that people look at the political scene and "assume the worst in everyone," but that that is not the kind of person Mark Brnovich is.

RAGA IRS 2018 Yr-end filing by on Scribd

Phoenix attorney Paul Weich contributed this article. He is also co-founder of Arizona's Politics.

If you would like to show your appreciation for Arizona's Politics reporting, please consider donating to our pool to support OTHER journalism-related nonprofits.  

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.