CAMPAIGN FINANCE SNAPSHOTS: Mark Kelly In Higher Orbit

Jim Lamon Stays At Trump Hotel, Nabs Jeff DeWit Endorsement

In July, Senate candidate Jim Lamon spent the night at the Trump hotel in Washington, spending $3,165. While he has not received the big payoff yet, he did receive a solid endorsement from Jeff DeWit, a former Arizona State Treasurer and Trump campaign CFO.

However, so far, it has not translated into campaign financial success, as the Lamon campaign is $1.4M under water. Last quarter, Lamon - a former solar energy company executive - lent his campaign $2M. As the 3rd quarter was coming to a close, he wrote another IOU for $3M, so that his report would look positive on the surface. (Without the loan, he raised $135k and spent $727k.)

Blake Masters Raises $1.0M In 3rd Quarter...In Addition To Separate Thiel Fund

Blake Masters showed some fundraising chops in his first full quarter of his campaign for the U.S. Senate, raising more than $1M from donors not named Peter Thiel. Masters shows net cash on hand of $768,000. (He has chosen not to immediately reimburse himself and a couple of the campaign's employees for out of pocket expenses, which explains the "debts owed" figure below.)

His main consultant expenses are to a trio of Phoenix-based groups (Marson, Saguaro Group, Summit).

Of course, as has been widely reported, Masters is receiving a huge boost from Peter Thiel. In fact, earlier today, Thiel's "Saving Arizona PAC" dropped $63,567 on an ad attacking GOP front-runner Mark Brnovich.

Mick McGuire Struggling To Maintain Altitude, Gets Assist From Fox News

One of the primary GOP opponents for the Mark Kelly seat is retired Gen. Mick McGuire. However, McGuire had to lend $50,000 to his campaign in the 3rd quarter, bringing his personal outlay to $249,500 this year. His net cash on hand as of September 30 was $66,000.

Most of his outlays this past quarter went to his political consultants (Lincoln Strategy Group) and to legal counsel (Snell & Wilmer and Holtzman Vogel).

McGuire is battling AZ AG Mark Brnovich, Blake Masters and several others for the GOP nomination.

McGuire received a Fox News boost yesterday, gaining a coveted spot on Fox & Friends to talk about how "the radical left is tearing this country apart."

Mark Kelly In Higher Orbit

Mark Kelly's liftoff already having taken place, Arizona's junior Senator continues to achieve higher and higher orbits. Here is his 3rd quarter snapshot, in which added $5.4M to his campaign's reserve of rocket fuel. Kelly now has $13M ready to keep him in the U.S. Senate beyond next year's election.

(Mark Kelly's 3q21 snapshot)

(Please check back later for full reports and further analysis.)

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NEW, BREAKING THE BANK: Sinema Fundraising Juggernaut Continues, Raises $1.1M In 3rd Quarter, Cash On Hand $4.5M (REVIEW Report)

Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema turned in a gargantuan fundraising haul in the 3rd quarter of 2021, raising $1.1M and growing her campaign coffers by $900,000 (to $4.5M) more than three years away from her next election.

For perspective, the numbers are nearly identical to her previous quarter. And, in the comparable off-year quarter of 2019, Arizona's senior Senator (D-AZ) netted *only* $200,000.  

Sinema has been criticized by some for her fundraising from pharmaceutical and other corporate interests. Although the number is made up of monies from different types of PACs, Sinema raised $191,600 from the Political Action Committees in the 3rd quarter, bringing her haul for the election cycle to more than $1.5M.

There are several other key things to suss out of the 671-page report, and many will be looking at it closer. (If *you* see noteworthy items, you can email them our way.)

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We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to PaulWeichAZlaw-at-gmail-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.

A BIT OF PERSONAL NEWS: Arizona's Politics Co-Founder Announces Run For State Legislature

The mainstays of both Arizona's Law and Arizona's Politics for the past 11 months have been legal wrangling about the 2020 election, the State Senate's subsequent subpoenas and "audit", and the Legislature's new laws limiting voting options (without balancing increases in election accuracy). Those are also among the key reasons why I am announcing today my candidacy for the State House of Representatives.*

As readers of these two news blogs know, I have been dedicated to reporting news as objectively as possible. This reflects my previous life as a news reporter (primarily in Tucson) and my ethos to add some straightforward coverage to issues that I believe to be important. 

I moved from journalist to being an honest advocate for my clients, and in recent years have spent time pursuing both of these passions. Since 2010, I have worked to deliver reporting that people would view as credible no matter where on the ideological spectrum they may currently rest; my conversations with R's, D's and everyone in between leads me to believe I was close to that mark. 

Today's announcement will not make it more difficult for me to write non-partisan articles on these news blogs, but it will make it more difficult for some readers to view them as factual, honest articles. 

I will continue to report on legal and political news as time permits, and will fully disclose my candidate status as warranted. I will also be looking to others to assist with coverage of Arizona legal news - and will label that as "news analysis" or "commentary" where appropriate. (Let me know if you are interested.)

Thanks to everyone who has read and/or shared our articles to date, and I hope you will continue to find them worthwhile. (And, a special thanks to those who have provided feedback - positive *or* negative.)

Although my campaign website (and, Twitter account) will be up and running within the week, if you are interested in receiving updates, you could contact me here, or you could email me at "Paul Weich 4 AZ @gmail.com" (no spaces)

--Paul Weich

P.S. h/t to the sharp-eyed @KC_Haas at Yellow Sheet Report for "breaking" this story yesterday!

* I reside in the Ahwatukee portion of the current Legislative District 18. The boundaries of the new legislative district are not yet known, but I will be running in whichever district encompasses my address.

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. http://bit.ly/AZpDonate 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.