Arizona Congressional Payrolls, Part 2: Outgoings' Swell Payroll Expenses; Numbers May Put Them In "Unfairly Unfavorable Light"

In preparing last week's report on the payrolls for each of Arizona's 8 Representatives in Congress, I noted some seeming aberrations.  Though I had not yet had time to investigate them further, I noted a couple of days ago that the website which posts the payroll information (among other important data) had also seen the red flags.  Their response was to pen an article (OK, "type a post") which details which departing Representatives "splurged" on their staff as they were leaving. 

It turns out that two of Arizona's three departing Representatives are near the top of the list.  Former Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-CD1) and Harry Mitchell (D-CD5) both listed more than $100,000 in payroll expenses in the last two days of their terms.  ($105,294 and $120,790, respectively) 

Digging a bit deeper, I quickly discovered that it is not as clear a picture as it first appeared.  Each Representative gets a fixed amount to spend on their office expenses (including salaries), and none of them receive exactly the same amount (at least in Arizona).  The amount of the "Member's Representational Allowance" ("MRA") varies based upon the distance of the district to D.C., the size of the district, the cost of living there, etc.; the national range for a Representative's budget is currently between $1.3 and $1.9;  Arizona's is between $1,445,393 (Pastor) and $1,565,655 (Franks).  There is no standard procedure for all House members to follow in how to hire staff, how to structure their compensation packages (vacation, sick time, etc.).  Monies are authorized based upon the legislative year (Jan. 3 - Jan. 2, which explains why the expenses are shown through Jan. 2) while they are funded in separate budgets based upon the fiscal year (Oct. 1 - Sept. 30); this makes it even harder to wade through the disbursement reports to figure out whether a Representative spent all of the funds at his or her disposal.

Put another way, Reps. Mitchell and Kirkpatrick could have structured their offices and compensation packages to pay employees at the back end while other Representatives (John Shadegg was the third Arizona Congressperson to leave office at the beginning of this year, and he only had one significant expenditure for January 2 - a $4,000 payment to one district aide) may have compensated employees more upfront, or paid out untaken vacations earlier in the year.

The real key is how much of their annual office budgets the Representatives return at the end of the year.  Or, even more accurately, how much they have returned at the end of their service in Congress.  Because, Representatives do not actually return unused monies to the United States Treasury at the end of the fiscal (or legislative) year(s), they have two subsequent years in which those monies can be used.  (Although, apparently, unused Kirkpatrick monies - if any - do not become available to Paul Gosar, her successor.)

The House does not make it easy to find out which Congresspersons have returned parts of their office budgets to the Treasury.  Both Kirkpatrick (through campaign spokesman)and Mitchell have purportedly returned monies to the Treasury from their budgets.  Mitchell's former Chief of Staff, Alexis Tameron, told Arizona's Politics on Friday that...

"..while funds were used in part to payout unused vacation, sick and other accrued compensatory benefits accrued by staff, all MRA expenditures including those referenced by Legistorm are a matter of public record and can be verified by the Clerk of the House. This includes the hundreds of thousands dollars in unspent funds allotted to Rep. Mitchell's office that had been returned to the Treasury each year over the course of his time in Congress." (italics added)

Arizona's Politics is attempting to obtain  from the House of Representative the data that would confirm or refute those claims (as well as comparative data for other Representatives' offices).

But, there is very clear data that the Legistorm (and the Arizona Republic article that was published on Saturday while this report was being prepared) headlines and numbers might be misleading - despite the disclaimers - is by looking at additional payroll numbers for the three Arizona Representatives who left office on January 2.  Shadegg's 2010 (calendar year) payroll expenses totaled $1,120,707, far more than either Kirkpatrick ($886,856) or Mitchell ($979,058) for the same period.  INCLUDING the first two days of 2011, Shadegg had spent $528,066 more than Kirkpatrick on payroll during their entire two-year term, and a quarter of a million dollars more than Mitchell.

This reminds me of an article I wrote two months ago. Rep. Ben Quayle (R-CD3) was written up on another non-partisan website as having the worst attendance record in the House for the firsts couple of months of this term.  While the numbers showed that he had missed an alarming 22% of the House's votes, it turned out that Quayle had missed a Friday-Saturday debate on current year federal spending, and there were lots of votes on amendments to skew the percentage.  We labeled that an "unfairly unfavorable light".  Without more complete information about how much each Representative's office spends of its budget, it is premature to judge about "splurging". 

When we are able to present the amounts that were RETURNED by each Representative to the United States Treasury, we will. 

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Quick Roundup Of Some Of More Interesting Speculations About Arizona's 2012 U.S. Senate Race

Arizona's Politics tried to bring some straightforward coverage of the Jon Kyl retirement announcement and the reactions it engendered.  And, if you have not yet seen our posts about Kyl's net worth declining while in the Senate, and about the fundraising effort designed to urge Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to run for the seat... well, please click on and read those before reading the articles linked below!

Most of the articles and columns speculating about who will run to be the 11th (according to comments made by Kyl yesterday) U.S. Senator from Arizona were pretty standard fare.  However, some did add to the big picture.  Arizona Republic D.C. reporter Dan Nowicki apparently spoke with Rep. Jeff Flake (R-CD6) last week and confirmed that he is interested.  Real Clear Politics added that they found Arizona sources who said that former Arizona Governor (current Homeland Security Secy.) Janet Napolitano "has already begun calling out to activists in the state to gauge support."

This Talking Points Memo report cites an anonymous Arizona Democratic source as trying to forestall other Democrats from getting into the race until the recovering Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-CD8) makes a decision as to whether she is willing/able to run for the seat.  Yes, her recovery seems to be proceeding miraculously, but this surprised the heck out of me.  The Washington Times advanced the Giffords angle last night by getting well-known Arizona pollster Bruce Merrill to state (on the record) that she would be a "shoo-in" if she is able to and decides to run.

Oh, I almost forgot:  I did try to find my own mini-scoop in the speculation sweepstakes.  At about noon, I came across this brief tweet from former Rep. Harry Mitchell: "Things are going to get interesting."  I could not resist replying thusly: "@HarryEMitchell Fmr staffers Tweeted they'd like YOU to run; any other comment than "things are going to get interesting"? Are you running?"  Mitchell has not tweeted since.



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WRAP-UP CD5 - FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: Arizona's $7 Million House Race

(Arizona's Politics tried to pay close attention to the flow of national spending in Arizona's competitive congressional races during the campaign, through our "Following Money In Arizona's Politics" series.



Congressional District 5, encompassing much of eastern Maricopa County, received quite a bit of that attention throughout the general election campaign.  In fact, the negative ads and outside spending started before the ink on the primary election results was dry. Everyone expected a tough rematch battle between Democratic incumbent Harry Mitchell and Republican David Schweikert.


And, it was.  Most visibly, on the air, where ads attacking each other were often run back-to-back during commercial breaks on the local news.  In the end, however, the Republican wave was more than enough to send Schweikert to Congress on his third try for the office.*  Schweikert received 110,374 votes (52.0%) to Mitchell's 91,749 (43.2%), while Libertarian Nick Coons collected 10,127 votes (4.8%). (per official state canvass)
CD5 is the third in our series of post-election reviews of where the money came from. (CD1, CD7) Most of the information is collected from the Center for Responsive Politics - which compiles the required FEC filings. However, totals here may differ from CRP's due to occasionally-confusing coding by the outside group's filings; Arizona's Politics has attempted to catch those (in?)advertent errors.)
The outside spending on the Schweikert/Mitchell race began quickly with the 60-Plus Association's ad attacking the Democratic incumbent on healthcare reform ruling the airwaves at first.  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ("DCCC") responded, the National Republican Congressional Committee ("NRCC") entered the ring a few days later, and the air war accelerated right up 'til the last vote dropped.

The final total for outside groups ended up in Schweikert's favor, $1.7Million to $1.5Million.  However, if you remove homegrown outside money - the Arizona Republican Party ($84,998) and John McCain's committee ($80,472) - the national independent expenditure money was virtually even.  This is also reflected in the DCCC vs. NRCC numbers - $1,179,157 vs. $1,145,283!

Here are the other IE's on behalf of Mitchell:  $267,316 by America's Families First Action Fund, $29,266 by America Votes, and $4,600 from NARAL Pro-Choice America. (The UFCW and Sierra Club spent $436 and $10, respectively.)

Going to bat for Schweikert were:  the Club For Growth ($153,284), the SuperPAC for America ($89,794), $52,224 from the NRA, and $35,292 from the American Academy of Ophthalmologists. (Didn't see that one coming, didja?)  The 60-Plus Association spent $19,251, National Right to Life dropped $13,039, and Revere America kicked in $1,302.

The close contest in outside money spent was also reflected in the spending by the candidates' committees themselves.  Adding in their disbursements, nearly $3.8M was spent by Mitchell or on his behalf, compared to $3.3M by Schweikert or on his behalf.

BOTTOM LINE: It was a great win for Schweikert and the Republicans.  Like Gosar in CD1, Schweikert enjoyed an advantage in outside money spent on his behalf;  however, unlike his new colleague, Schweikert was outspent by the incumbent/on his behalf.  Nevertheless, his victory margin exceeded Gosar's. 

This was the most expensive congressional campaign in Arizona (maybe even including the Senate race, after all is picked through), clocking in at slightly over $7.1 Million.  Still, Schweikert went into debt ($530,000, all but $30,000 to himself); more on that to come.




*The 8.8% spread in favor of Schweikert was less than the average margin of victory for the statewide GOP.




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WATCH: Club For Growth Ad vs. Rep. Mitchell

The Club For Growth has spent about $150,000 for this last minute ad against Democratic Rep. Harry Mitchell.  It repeats much of the Republican mantra across the nation this Fall: record spending, big government healthcare, Wall Street bonuses.  It suggests that Mitchell has already been in Washington too long (4 years).

FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: Club For Growth Spends Big For Schweikert

On Friday, the Club For Growth PAC put its final foot forward in CD5 to give Democratic Rep. Harry Mitchell the boot. (supporting GOP nominee David Schweikert)

They purchased $150,800 (less a few thousand for production costs) for the last-minute ad. Also spent $80.89 on a press release. 




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WATCH: Current Hybrid (Negative/Positive) Mitchell Ad Vs. Schweikert

This current ad is running in heavy rotation against GOP nominee David Schweikert and for Democratic incumbent Harry Mitchell (CD5).  It starts by attacking Schweikert for audits of the Maricopa County Treasurer's Office and his purchasing of foreclosed-upon home.  It ends with Mitchell talking about his actions in Congress (stopping pay raise, etc.)

WATCH: NRCC Ad Vs. Rep. Harry Mitchell (Debt Ticker)

Here's the ad that the NRCC is running in heavy rotation against Rep. Harry Mitchell in CD5, on behalf of their nominee David Schweikert.  It features several of the same, stock challengeable claims about the stimulus and healthcare reform bills that FactCheck and Politifact have refuted elsewhere.

VIEW: AZ Dems Try Different Tack To "Support" The Libertarian Candidate in CD5

We just passed on the Star's article about the mailer introducing some voters to the Libertarian candidate for Congress in CD8.  Now, we just stumbled upon this blog post from Freedoms Phoenix - a Libertarian site - showing that the Arizona Democratic Party is trying a different method in CD5, where Rep. Harry Mitchell (Dem.) is in a close battle with GOP nominee David Schweikert.

In CD5, the state party is sending out multiple mailers ATTACKING the Libertarian candidate, Nick Coons, for his very libertarian/conservative views.  Apparently, the thinking there is that linking Coons to anti-Obama positions will appeal to people who might otherwise vote for Schweikert.

Again, the Democrats clearly take responsibility for the two mailers.  The third mailer on the blog post - which attacks Schweikert and praises Coons - is more troubling since no group takes credit for mailing it out. 

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FACT CHECK: AZ GOP Chair Tries To Tie Harry Mitchell To The Tracks, But Uses Faulty Rope And Comes Out The Villain

Apparently, Democrats hammering away at GOP nominee David Schweikert (CD5) has struck a nerve.  This afternoon, AZ GOP Chair Randy Pullen attempts to smear incumbent Rep. Harry Mitchell with real estate-related allegations.  Upon review, however, the reports he uses fall apart quickly.

Pullen's news release is headlined "All Aboard For Self-Interest."  The money quote from Pullen: "The reports coming out about Congressman Mitchell requesting millions for a Metro light rail study is especially troubling. If he has financially benefited from an insider information voters should hold him accountable. Evidently, when people say that the country is on the wrong track, they meant it literally and figuratively."

I had not heard of these "reports", so some investigation was necessary.  It turns out that it was written by (one or) two Republican operatives/researchers/journalists who posted their faulty analysis on RedState.com.  They titled it "Harry Mitchell Is the Poster Boy For Earmark Reform".  (Amazingly, it was picked up and re-posted verbatim in Schweikert's website's newsroom later that day.)

The substance that so excited Pullen is that Rep. Mitchell has requested $6.4 Million dollars for preliminary engineering for extension of Phoenix' light rail (hence all of the train puns from Pullen - and Arizona's Politics).  As RedSky explains, "Sounds great, except Mitchell’s company owns three homes in that study area."

However, the three small (824-1,188 sq.ft.), old (1945-1965) homes west of the ASU campus are NOT in the study area.*  They ARE close to the study area and would be within walking distance of a potential streetcar line in the ASU area; however, to even suggest that  the near-the-study-area houses would benefit from the transit extension is hard to imagine.  That neighborhood is extremely campus-centric and that would not change;  if anything, easier mass transit access to ASU from south Tempe and north Chandler would likely make it easier for Mitchell's future potential tenants to live farther away from campus.

The RedSky post concludes by claiming that there was no excuse for Mitchell not to sell the student homes when he went to Congress, and accuses him of "us(ing) the earmarking process to make some money on the side."

Bad enough, but Pullen pulled it farther into falsity and ludicrousness when he made the allegation (in the form of asking a question) that Mitchell "financially benefited from an (sic) insider information."

The GOP Chair gets a grade of "F" - for failure and falseness - for this feeble effort to counter the Democrats' drumbeat on Schweikert's real estate activities.





*Study area is bounded on the west by the railroad tracks; MCC Property Investments owns three properties on Roosevelt Street, which is west of the tracks.  By the way, Mitchell does not "run" MCC Property Investments, as alleged by RedSky.  And, property baron that he is, MCC only owns one other property in Maricopa County, and Mitchell personally owns only his Tempe home - which, by the way, IS in the study area.



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WATCH: "Super PAC for America's" TV Ad Attacking "The Arizona Three" (Reps. Mitchell, Kirkpatrick, Giffords)

A few days ago, we reported on the "SuperPAC For America's" quarter-million dollar ad buy, lumping together Democratic Reps. Harry Mitchell (CD5), Ann Kirkpatrick (CD1) and Gabrielle Giffords (CD8).

FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: NRCC Buys $750,000 Arizona Ad Time On Friday

Another big spending Friday for the national Republicans, as the NRCC ("National Republican Congressional Committee") sent three-quarters of a million dollars to Arizona to bolster their hopes of unseating Reps. Harry Mitchell (CD5) and Ann Kirkpatrick (CD1).  $303,078.68 to attack Mitchell, and $452,910.40 to attack Kirkpatrick (and positively mention challenger Paul Gosar).

Elsewhere, the Sierra Club bought a $180,361.33 TV ad supporting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (Dem., CD8). (see accompanying post)

A group calling itself "Protecting America's Retirees" paid $30,000 ($29,559.67, to be exact) for a TV ad supporting Rep. Raul Grijalva (Dem., CD7).

Tucson's radio stations also sold some ad time yesterday.  "Defenders of Wildlife" spent $12,500.00 on a radio ad for Grijalva, and Citizenlink (formerly known as "Focus On the Family") bought time on KNST and KIIM, to the total tune of $6,711.21.

Several groups took to the mail on Friday:
1) Club For Growth spent $1,689.19 for Jesse Kelly (CD8) and $1,917.17 for David Schweikert (CD5).
2) America Votes dropped $14,633.21 into the mailbox favoring Grijalva.
3) "Women Vote!" spent $21,286.00 for mailer comparing Kirkpatrick and Gosar, and Giffords and Kelly.

Finally, "Blue America PAC" filed that they spent $2,000 ($1,998.00, to be exact) on "web ads" for Grijalva.





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BREAKING: McCain Files With FEC For McClung, Kelly Ads; Spends More Supporting Schweikert, Too

Previous report noting conflicting responses from McCain camp AND that no FEC filing: http://bit.ly/bHCcKA

Moments ago, Friends of John McCain filed its required independent expenditure filing with the Federal Election Commission ("FEC"). The reports disclose their expenditures supporting GOP congressional challengers Ruth McClung and Jesse Kelly, as well as a new ad supporting David Schweikert.

The ads formed the basis for a complaint filed with the FEC by the DCCC.  By law, independent expenditures are supposed to be "independent" - with no coordination between the spender and the candidates' committees.  The complaint calls it "utterly implausible" that there is not coordination going on between the candidates and their committees.

Here is the report on the McClung and Kelly ads: http://bit.ly/9MvS1a .  It indicates that they spent $11,872.00 producing each (separate) ad, and $80,000.00 buying media time for each.

Yesteday, the McCain committee paid $13,672.00 to produce an ad supporting Schweikert, and $64,000.00 for the media buy.  That report also shows that McCain spent $1,386.28 for "message phone calls" on behalf of McClung. ("My friends....")

Perhaps importantly, it is apparent that there is at least a violation in failing to TIMELY REPORT the McClung and Kelly ads.  As the McCain committee notes, it filed a "24-hour notice".  It reports the expenditures as taking place on Oct. 19, but did not electronically file the report - which is instantly available on the FEC's website - until this evening.


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FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: Breakfast In Arizona As GOP-philics Work the Team Aspect; Dems Hammer On McClung

As we get closer to November, the independent expenditures on behalf of or against Congressional candidates will continue to increase. Arizona's Politics will check in regularly on the reports that these groups must submit to the Federal Election Commission.


Our previous reports on Independent Expenditures in Arizona's Congressional campaigns were posted October 20, October 19, October 16, October 15 x3, October 13, October 12, October 7, October 4, September 30, and September 28. In addition, on Saturday, we provided a "tote board" of the busy Friday.

The single biggest independent expenditure in Arizona congressional races yesterday was the first appearance of the Republican-philic (Dick Morris as pitcher) group "Superpac for America".  Their ad focuses on lumping together Democratic incumbents Harry Mitchell (CD5), Ann Kirkpatrick (CD1) and Gabrielle Giffords (CD8) as part of a team that should be tossed from the game.  (I saw it this a.m., shortly after saw that Ben Quayle is also running a "team" ad in CD3 against Jon Hulburd; more on that in a separate post.)  Superpac spent $17,980.00 on production, then made two separate ad buys (presumably, Phoenix and Tucson and/or Flagstaff) totaling $251,403.00.

Democrats and a supportive group spent more money attacking Ruth McClung in her CD7 race against incumbent Rep. Raul Grijalva.  The DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) spent $32,430.00 more on ad time, and the America's Families First Action Fund put $51,996.74 into a radio ad.

The Republican-philic group the Susan B. Anthony List sent out mailers attacking Mitchell, Grijalva and Giffords. In order, spending $9,484.14, $2,933.09, and $9,172.08.

Elsewhere in Republican-affiliated spending, the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) put $16,545.00 more into its most recent ad attacking Mitchell.  Americans for Limited Government spent $29,602.18 on a mailer against Giffords, 60 Plus produced and mailed a piece against Grijalva for $6,606.32, and the NRA designed new pieces supporting Schweikert and Kelly at $642.86 each.


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FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS ALERT!: They Can See Clearly Now - Half-Million Dollar Democrat Tuesday In Arizona; Ophthamologists See It Differently

As we get closer to November, the independent expenditures on behalf of or against Congressional candidates will continue to increase. Arizona's Politics will check in regularly on the reports that these groups must submit to the Federal Election Commission.


Our previous reports on Independent Expenditures in Arizona's Congressional campaigns were posted October 19, October 16, October 15 x3, October 13, October 12, October 7, October 4, September 30, and September 28. In addition, on Saturday, we provided a "tote board" of the busy Friday.


Earlier today (Tuesday), we reported on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ("DCCC") - and a Democrat-philic group answering the Republicans' challenge in CD7.  This evening, the DCCC also made media buys of nearly a quarter-million dollars each in CD1 and CD5, where incumbent Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick and Harry Mitchell are facing difficult campaigns.

A new ad was produced ($10,988.00) opposing GOP challenger Paul Gosar (CD1), and $236,770.69 in media time was purchased.  No production costs in CD5, but $237,365.57 of spots bought opposing David Schweikert.

Also late Tuesday, four other outside groups notified the Federal Election Commission ("FEC") that they had spent money to assist Arizona Republicans. (1) the American Academy of Ophthalmologists (spell that ten times quickly) paid $35,292.00 for a direct mail piece favoring Schweikert; (2) Republican-philic group Freedomworks planted $3,990.70 for yard signs for Ruth McClung (CD7); (3) The Republican-philic Susan B. Anthony List sent $10,988.85 for a mailer opposing Kirkpatrick; and (4) the National Rifle Association shelled out $1,481.53 to send out a McClung mailer.


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FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: Dems Engage In Grijalva/McClung Race; Big Direct Mail Piece For Mitchell

As we get closer to November, the independent expenditures on behalf of or against Congressional candidates will continue to increase. Arizona's Politics will check in regularly on the reports that these groups must submit to the Federal Election Commission.


Our previous reports on Independent Expenditures in Arizona's Congressional campaigns were posted October 16, October 15 x3, October 13, October 12, October 7, October 4, September 30, and September 28.  In addition, on Saturday, we provided a "tote board" of the busy Friday


Last Friday, we saw the Republicans - through what we are calling Republican-philic groups - expand the congressional playing field into the heavily-Democratic CD7.  The "Americans for Tax Reform" ("ATR")spent $230,000 on the television ad focusing on Rep. Raul Grijalva's call to boycott Arizona over SB1070 and his vote to recess Congress last month.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ("DCCC") responded the next day with a $62,732.50 commercial expenditure against McClung.  Today, the Democrat-philic group "America's Families First Action Fund" (can we get a duck to quack "AFFAF"?) one-upped ATR with a $250,595.40 ad buy against GOP challenger Ruth McClung.

The Republicans mailed a bit more money to southern Arizona, too.  "Americans for Limited Government" dropped $22,499.22 to design/produce/print/mail a piece to oppose Grijalva.

AFFAF also spent in the six figures in the CD5 race, spending $101,246.00 on a direct mail piece opposing GOP challenger David Schweikert, against Rep. Harry Mitchell.

Another Republican-philic group has gone to the air on the hotly-contested CD1 race.  The "Trust In Small Business PAC" spent $2,489.00 producing a radio spot supporting challenger Paul Gosar against Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, and $13,435.00 on radio airtime.

In smaller expenditure news, the "Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund" spent $207.63 on salary to support Grijalva, and NARAL Pro-Choice America spent a total of $63.00 renting lists favoring the Democrats (Jon Hulburd, Mitchell, Gabrielle Giffords) and opposing the Republicans (Ben Quayle, Schweikert, Jesse Kelly) in CD's 3, 5, and 8. 

Arizona's Politics will attempt to post ads - that are airing - from all races.  If you find one (that is not already up here), please send us the link.  (Same deal for radio, mailers, etc.)



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FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: Yesterday's Tote Board: Republicans ALMOST hit $1 Million, Did Pitch a Shutout

We filed four money reports on our "Following Money In Arizona's Politics" series yesterday/today, but did not really take a moment to stop and total them up until just now.  Quite the stunning result.  Republicans and Republican-affiliated groups filed expenditures NEARLY spent $1 Million dollars in the Grand Canyon State yesterday.  (Unfortunately, about 1/2 of that COULD be coming from undisclosed corporate contributions.) Democrats and their affiliated groups spent ZERO during the same period.

Please supply your own drum roll as we go to the tote (total) board............... $991,640.84!!!

Brief recap (check out the links for more detail):
1) NRCC spent $248,698.21 against Kirkpatrick, more than $382,000 against Mitchell.
2) NRA spent $25,555.58 for Kelly, $3,035.25 for Schweikert.
3) ATR spent more than $230,000 attacking Grijalva.
4) CFRW spent more than $112,000 attacking Giffords.
5) ATR spent $40,709.00 attacking Kirkpatrick.


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FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: NRA Goes Postal, NRCC Sends Half-Million To Central and Northern AZ

As we get closer to November, the independent expenditures on behalf of or against Congressional candidates will continue to increase. Arizona's Politics will check in regularly on the reports that these groups must submit to the Federal Election Commission.



Our previous reports on Independent Expenditures in Arizona's Congressional campaigns were posted yesterday, October 13, October 12, October 7, October 4, September 30, and September 28.

Yesterday was a big day for Republicans and Republican-philic groups.  We previously discussed the quarter-million dollar ad buy targeting Rep. Raul Grijalva (Dem., CD7) and smaller efforts against Reps. Gabrielle Giffords (Dem., CD8) and Ann Kirkpatrick (Dem., CD1).  Later in the day, the NRA (National Rifle Association) and the NRCC ("National Republican Congressional Committee") joined in the fun/funding.

1) The NRCC made new ad buys against Rep. Harry Mitchell (CD5) and Rep. Kirkpatrick.  (I saw the slightly tweaked new anti-Mitchell ad airing last night.)  Two separate buys against Mitchell totaled $372,162.80, and one against Kirkpatrick cost $248,698.21.  In addition, the NRCC sent $11,500.00 to the Tarrance Group to conduct "survey research".

2) The NRA filed notice that it has printed and mailed "four color cards" and/or "postcards" supporting challengers David Schweikert (Repub., CD5) and Jesse Kelly (Repub., CD8).  The cost (four color cards, postcards, postage combined) was $3,035.25 for Schweikert and $25,555.58 for Kelly.


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FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: NRA Takes Aim, Dentists Go For Gold, 60 Plus Drops 40 In The Mail, and Dem Group Sends $80K Harry's Way

Our previous reports on Independent Expenditures in Arizona's Congressional campaigns were posted on October 12, October 7, October 4, September 30, and September 28.



Today is not even over at the FEC's (Federal Election Commission) filing site for independent expenditures, but it has already been full of fireworks for Arizona campaigns.  Four good-sized media buys (including mailers as "media") - let's break them down in order, from large to (relatively) small.

1) "America's Families First Action Fund" bought $80,000.00 of advertising time in the Phoenix market to oppose Republican David Schweikert in his campaign against incumbent Harry Mitchell in CD5.   Here's a bit more about this group, which indicates that it spent $60,000+ on this race previously.

2) The American Dental Association continues to spend heavily on behalf of its member, Paul Gosar DDS.  Republican Gosar is running in CD1 to defeat incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick.  Today, the ADA spent $39,133.00 on a mail piece, and $37,975.90 on a radio ad.

3) The "National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund" drew a bead on the CD5 and CD8 races, spending $48,545.00 ($1000 for production) to air a radio ad in the Phoenix market in favor of Schweikert and $12,747.50 ($1000 for production) for radio time in Tucson supporting challenger Jesse Kelly against incumbent Democrat Gabrielle Giffords.

4)  The "60 Plus Association" is putting separate mailers out opposing the three Democratic incumbents in CD's 1, 5, and 8.  Kirkpatrick, Mitchell, and Giffords were the same targets in the 60 Plus TV ads that were the subject of an earlier Arizona Politics' Fact Check.  The amounts being spent are $13,456.53, $12,261.38 and $15,271.81, respectively. (total: $40,989.72)

PLEASE!!! If you come across any of these advertisements/mailers/etc., please send a copy/link/whatever to Arizona's Politics.  If you think any claims need to be Fact Checked, call our attention to them.  E-mail address is info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com.  Thanks.
 






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. Thanks.

FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: DCCC Drops Another (Nearly) Half-Million On Two Arizona Races

As we get closer to November, the independent expenditures on behalf of or against Congressional candidates will continue to increase. Arizona's Politics will check in regularly on the reports that these groups must submit to the Federal Election Commission. Here are the details for this week's filings.



Our previous reports on Independent Expenditures in Arizona's Congressional campaigns were posted on October 7, October 4, September 30, and September 28.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ("DCCC") made another mega-media ad buy in the Phoenix and Flagstaff markets today.  The ad buy is nearly evenly split between anti-David Schweikert (CD5) and anti-Paul Gosar (CD1) spots.

In today's filings, the DCCC notified the Federal Election Commission ("FEC") that it spent $238,480.08 opposing Schweikert in his renewed bid to unseat Democrat Harry Mitchell, and that it spent $233,309.51 opposing Gosar in his first-time campaign against first-term incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick.

On the other end of the dollar spectrum, "NARAL-Pro Choice America" spent $24.12 on "list rental" supporting Gabrielle Giffords (Dem., CD8) in her campaign to retain her seat against Jesse Kelly.


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. Thanks.

You know it must be early ballot time when...

...you get mailings from Planned Parenthood and National Right to Life on the same day. (And, no, they did not agree on Harry Mitchell or David Schweikert - that won't happen 'til the lion and the lamb hang out together or something.) NARAL has also filed that they spent money on mailers - mine must have been delayed due to Columbus day.


By the way, the real point of this post is that I would like to fact check as many of these mailers as possible over the next few weeks. So, please feel free to scan and e-mail material that you believe should be looked at more closely. Thanks!




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. Thanks.