BREAKING: Kyrsten Sinema Parts Ways With Longtime Democratic Campaign Compliance Firm (READ FEC Filings)

UPDATE, 1/20, 12pm:

***

ORIGINAL ARTICLE, 12/15, 2:30pm: "Kyrsten Sinema Parts Ways With Longtime Democratic Campaign Compliance Firm (READ FEC Filings)"

Now that Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema is no longer a Democrat, she is parting ways with her longtime Democratic compliance firm. Today's development also raises the question of whether she will have to rebuild other parts of her campaign finance juggernaut.

Common Cents Consulting is an Arizona compliance consulting firm that has worked with Sinema since before she entered Congress in 2012. And President Darryl Tattrie notes in his LinkedIn profile that he has been "happily helping democrats win compliantly since 1997 :-)."

Sinema's three campaign committees - her principle "Sinema for Arizona", the "Getting Stuff Done" leadership PAC, and the "Sinema Leadership Fund" - all filed amended Statements of Organization with the Federal Election Commission today replacing Common Cents with the apparently-unknown "Santa Rosa Partners"*.

It is unclear whether the major switch was initiated by Sinema's campaign organization or by Common Cents Consulting. Arizona's Politics has reached out to both and will update as warranted.

In the past two years - a non-election cycle - Sinema's three committees paid Common Cents more than $170,000 to make sure that they remain in compliance with federal campaign finance laws. During that period, Sinema raised more than $9.1M. Combined, the committees are holding some $9.7M cash on hand.

Other parts of Sinema's campaign infrastructure could also be in for changes. ActBlue is her contribution-processing platform, and it specifically states that it serves "Democratic candidates". Sinema's principle committee paid ActBlue $126,000 in the 2021-22 fundraising cycle. NGPVan provides voter outreach services (and more) to Sinema's committees; it features its support to "Democratic and progressive campaigns and organizations". NGPVan was paid more than $60,000 this past cycle. Arizona's Politics has reached out to both and will update as warranted.

Those companies do provide services to multiple Democrats running against each other in a primary election. However, if a Democrat is running against an Independent Sinema in the general election, different pressures will likely apply.

* The new email address given to the FEC for the committee is "compliance@SantaRosaPartners.com". No website or search results come up for that entity and no other federal campaigns reported paying that entity in the past two years.

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BREAKING: APS Re-Starting Its Big Money Campaign: Gives $150,000 To Support Ducey, Brnovich

APS (aka Arizona Public Service) has already donated at least $150,000 to support the re-election campaigns of Governor Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich

Perhaps gearing up for a repeat of its political performance in 2014, Pinnacle West Capital Corporation - APS' parent company - gave $100,000 to the Republican Governors Association and $50,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association in the 2nd half of 2017. (The complete filings are below.)

The RGA and the RAGA are required to disclose contributors* on a quarterly or semi-annual basis, and filed their year-end reports just under the deadline on Wednesday.  APS is getting an early start on their re-election support. As Arizona's Politics reported extensively on in 2014, the APS contributions did not come until the two months before the general election.

APS contributed $425,000 to RAGA, which ended up spending more than $3.0M in television advertising shredding Brnovich's Democratic opponent, Felecia Rotellini.  APS donated $50,000 to the RGA two weeks before election day, as that organization was winding up its $6.1M campaign to help elect Ducey. (For perspective, RGA raised $25.6M in the last 6 months of 2017, RAGA raised $8.5M. Their Democratic counterparts raised $16.0M and $3.7M, respectively.)

(APS also contributed $560,000 to the pro-McCain SuperPAC - Arizona Grassroots Action - in 2016.)

Courtesy of Arizona Republic

Not coincidentally, the Arizona Republic just published a picture of Governor Ducey deep in conversation at the Phoenix Open... in the RGA's suite.

Of course, in addition to the nearly 1/2 million that APS contributed in 2014 to these party-centric organizations - APS does not donate to their Democratic counterpart organizations, by the way - the state's largest utility also apparently spent large amounts of money donating to anonymous/dark money groups working on Corporation Commission and Secretary of State races. They also may have supported dark money groups active in the gubernatorial contest.

For their profligate spending, APS and most of the Corporation Commission is currently involved in a court battle with Commissioner Robert Burns. Burns is trying to force APS to disclose all of its political contributions in the 2014 campaign. (A Motion to Dismiss Burns' most recent case is currently awaiting Judge Daniel Kiley's decision.)

APS' robust and early start supporting their favored candidates in 2018 may just raise the level of urgency to Commissioner Burns' attempted inquiry.

   RGA Irs 2017 Year End by arizonaspolitics on Scribd

   RAGA Irs 2017 Year End by arizonaspolitics on Scribd

*RAGA also receives considerable money from organizations that do not disclose their original contributors, so they are a somewhat dark money group. After an extensive analysis, Arizona's Politics scored RAGA at a 35 on its $#50ShadesOfDarkMoney spectrum.

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BREAKING: Noble's Dark Money Washing Machine Cycled $5.1M Into Arizona Governor Race, Corp. Commission Issues In 2014, New Tax Filings Show (#50ShadesOfDarkMoney)

(UPDATE, 1:10pm: Sean Noble responded to Arizona's Politics with the following statement (in its entirety): "I have never been involved in Corporation Commission races either inside any campaign or the outside." It is entirely possible that AE's involvement detailed in the article was limited to the solar/net metering issue.The article has been adjusted accordingly, and further details have been requested.  Also have changed headline to remove reference to ACC "race".)

A new tax filing from Sean Noble's "American Encore" washing machine shows that he did, indeed, run the dark money portion of Doug Ducey's Arizona gubernatorial campaign, funneling money to various groups which - combined with AE's own ads - resulted in more than $3.3M in anonymized spending. The groups that received grants from AE also spent heavily on the Corporation Commission race, supporting Justin Pierce for Secretary of State and on the solar/net metering issue.

Through all of these transactions, Noble's personal companies netted more than $1.8M, and American Encore retained nearly $3.5M going into the quiet 2015 year (ready to spend this year).

The sources of the $5.4M contributed to American Encore in 2013-14 are entirely secret, leading to the use of the term "dark money." Arizona's Politics has previously offered its definition of dark money and scored organizations on its #50ShadesOfDarkMoney spectrum. AE is a solid dark 50 on the scale.

American Encore is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Its required IRS filing for 2014 was made this past November and just became publicly available this month. (That is part of the problem with the patchwork of disclosure laws - untimely disclosures which organizations can take advantage of.)

AE started 2014 off with $8.5M in the bank, and brought in $3.2M during the year. Of the $7.9M spent during the year, most - $5.1M was either directly spent in Arizona or went to groups that have been focused on Arizona races. Here is the breakdown.

Arizona Governor's Race

Sean Noble has worked with now-Governor Doug Ducey for the past several years. While he was the main money man for the nationally-prominent Koch brothers' political operation, he also was the dark money conduit for then-Treasurer Ducey's organization opposing the renewal of a 1% sales tax to help fund education. The Noble operation anonymized $925,000 for that Ducey campaign.

During the 2014 gubernatorial campaign, it was widely assumed that Noble was not joining the Ducey campaign so that he could operate the anonymized independent expenditures. Arizona's Politics and others detailed the links between Noble and some of the committees which popped up. This tax filing confirms those connections.

First up was a mysterious group out of Iowa which began an odd $173,000 attack on then-Mesa Mayor Scott Smith; he was widely seen as a top candidate for the GOP nomination. Legacy Foundation Action Fund. At the time, Arizona's Politics sketched out the data points that might connect LFAF to Noble.

The 990 shows that American Encore did, in fact, give LFAF $880,000 in 2014 (and $25,000 in 2013). In addition to the $173,000 for the TV ad, LFAF is apparently using some of the rest of the money for legal expenses being incurred in their ongoing battle with the Arizona Clean Elections Commission, which is now pending in the Court of Appeals.*

The following month, another new (to Arizona) organization popped up with another unusual attack. Veterans For a Strong America ("VSA") started up an ad campaign hammering Christine Jones - another top candidate for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Jones was lambasted for saying positive things about Hillary Clinton and later for misleading voters about her military service. Arizona's Politics asked VSA to explain who was funding its involvement (they declined), and pointed out the past connections to Noble.

We now know that, in fact, American Encore gave a total of $275,000 to VSA in 2014. As VSA filed no 2014 reports with the Arizona Secretary of State, the FEC (it had filed its 2012 anti-Obama spending), or the IRS (its status has been revoked), we cannot tell what happened to the rest of AE's money.

American Encore gave $450,000 to the well-known Arizona Free Enterprise Club ("AZ FEC") during 2014. The AZ FEC also ran a $150,000 TV ad hammering Smith two weeks before the primary. However, because AZ FEC poured a total of $1.7M into statewide and legislative races in 2014, and because it, too, does not disclosed sources of money, it is not (yet) provable as to whether the AE grant was for the Governor's race or for the Corporation Commission race (see below).

AE's longtime close collaborator - the 60 Plus Association - also received the most money from AE. In 2014, the grant(s) was/were $1,845,000; the year before, $529,000 was transferred. 60 Plus spent more than $1.6M on Arizona elections that year, and was also involved in the 2013 Corporation Commission battle between APS and solar companies (solar/net metering). $1,332,000 was spent on the Governor's race - mostly ($752,000) before the GOP primary in August.

After the primary battle was over and Ducey came out on top, Noble's American Encore felt it could take a lead in the general election campaign. AE spent $1,437,670. Most of it was "pro-Ducey", as 60 Plus took the negative route, spending $578,000 hammering Democratic nominee Fred DuVal.

Arizona Corporation Commission

Noble's and American Encore's influence on the Arizona Corporation Commission race and its related matters (i.e. the GOP primary for Secretary of State, solar/net metering) is ony slightly cloudier than on the Governor's race.**  However, the AE tax filings and other research do provide valuable data points, and when combined with an unusual admission from APS, it would appear that Noble served as a money funnel for this race, too. Noble tells Arizona's Politics that he was "not involved"; it is entirely possible that AE's involvement detailed below was limited to the solar/net metering issue. (Arizona's Politics has requested further details.)

As discussed, AE granted $450,000 to the Free Enterprise Club and nearly $2.4M to 60 Plus Association. Those groups did not spend all of those monies on the Governor's race. 60 Plus was active in 2013 in the solar/net metering, and AZ FEC spent $453,250 on the ACC election (almost exactly the amount it received from AE).  AZ FEC also dumped $752,447 in an unsuccessful attempt to secure the GOP Secretary of State nomination for Justin Pierce, son of ACC Commissioner Gary Pierce.

Finally, AE gave a total of $1,546,000 to Prosper, Inc. ($1.3M in 2013 and $220K in 2014). Those grants made up nearly all of Prosper's revenues in those years***. The 501(c )(4) was led by former Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams. Adams is now Governor Ducey's Chief of Staff. Prosper, Inc. took a lead role on the pro-APS position in the solar/net metering battle of 2013.

(Ducey, Adams and Noble also teamed up on the best-known dark money sagas of the 2012 election. Ducey chaired the committee opposing the continuation of the state sales tax for education, Noble was the committee's chief political consultant and Adams headed up dark money behemoth Americans for Responsible Leadership, the source for most of the committee's funds. AE's predecessor, the Center to Protect Patient's Rights, and ARL were the key cogs in the Koch brothers' political money operation that year.)

Significantly, APS acknowledged to the Arizona Republic's Ryan Randazzo in 2013 that it had provided money to both Prosper, Inc. and 60 Plus - and, potentially other groups - through Sean Noble. 

The questions of APS' political contributions through Sean Noble and elsewhere**** are again in the news, as ACC Commissioner Robert Burns has issued a letter requiring them to detail their expenditures. The AE 990, along with other IRS filings reported on here and elsewhere, provide clues.

***

SIDE NOTE #1: As noted, Noble's American Encore used to be the linchpin of the Koch brothers' political money network. Articles after the 2012 election noted that he no longer held the dark money wizard title for the operation. The tax filings show this was true, although Noble does retain some ties. In 2013, AE "granted" the Kochs' Americans For Prosperity $225,000, and added $40,000 in 2014.

SIDE NOTE #2: 60 Plus Association also poured $305,624 in advertising into the Arizona Secretary of State campaign, hammering Democratic nominee Terry Goddard. Goddard had made dark money disclosure the centerpiece of his campaign, and has now launched an initiative effort to amend the Arizona Constitution to require disclosure of original sources of money.

  American Encore 990 2014

*LFAF has many apparent discrepancies between its public filings with the IRS and the FEC, as well. The $905,000 from AE does not appear to be properly accounted for. (An article for a future date.)

** One of the purposes of anonymizing money and laundering it through different groups, after all.

***As Arizona's Politics reported, former Arizona Senator Jon Kyl - and, Ducey "mentor" did contribute $10,000 to Prosper

****As Arizona's Politics uncovered, APS funneled at least $425,000 to support Mark Brnovich's Attorney General campaign and at least $50,000 to support Ducey.

*****Arizona's Politics would like to give a shout-out to Guidestar, Foundation Center, and Citizen Audit for making the IRS filings of these organizations easily findable on the internet. Phoenix attorney Paul Weich greatly contributed to the researching and writing of this article. Links and copies of related documents/filings available upon request.

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FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: GOP Appetite To Remove Grijalva Is Gone; Saucedo Mercer Campaign Starving

As Republicans look to defeat three Arizona Democrats in swing Congressional districts, the appetite to defeat longtime progressive Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-CD3) has waned.  As a result, the campaign of Gabriela Saucedo Mercer - who was the Republican nominee in 2012 - is starving.

Saucedo Mercer has filed her campaign finance report for the year ended December 31, 2013, and not only is it barely in the black, but it pales in comparison to where she was at this point two years ago (when she was a no-name new candidate).

Saucedo Mercer, a Tucson businesswoman, brought in $5,795 in contributions in the 4th quarter of 2013, with a total for the year of $22,351.  As of December 31, the campaign's bank account had a balance of just $773.

In 2011, she had brought in more than $100,000 in contributions and started 2012 with $10,000 in the bank.  She had benefited from contributions from several employees from Rosemont Copper and related companies, as well as reliable Republican donors.  In 2013, only Jim Click and Gabriela Saucedo Mercer stand out among the major donors.

Of course, much of her 2011 fundraising success can be attributed to the fact that it was just after Grijalva had barely passed the 50% mark in the 2010 election against Ruth McClung.  And, the lack of success in 2013 may be because Grijalva defeated Saucedo Mercer 58%-37% and the Republican money is being saved for the neighboring races against Reps. Ron Barber (CD2) and Ann Kirkpatrick (CD1).

Grijalva has not yet filed his year end report (due January 31), but he had $95,000 in the bank on September 30, 2013.

Arizona's Politics attempted to reach Saucedo Mercer for comment on her finance numbers.


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Arizona Still Headed Toward Two-Tier Election; Just Under Deadline, U.S. Election Assistance Commission Denies Arizona/Kansas Bid To Change Motor Voter Form

Arizona and Kansas are still headed towards having separate ballots for people who register to vote with the federal form (and do not separately provide proof of citizenship).

Last night - just before a court-ordered deadline - the Acting Executive Director of the ghost ship known as the U.S. Election Assistance Commission issued a scathing decision determining that the states showing that 0.007% and 0.001% (respectively) of registered voters are non-citizens - which may or may not have been prevented by requiring proof of citizenship documents - is not enough to justify changing the federal voter registration forms.

The result of yesterday's decision - which is found below and which concisely-yet-completely summarizes the entire situation - is likely to be that Arizona and Kansas will continue to play out the legal effort to force the federal voter registration form to change, but will have to continue with their plans to print out federal office only ballots for people who use the federal form to register.

  20140117 EAC Final Decision on Proof of Citizenship Requests - FINAL

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9 Republicans Vying For Arizona's 3 Swing Democratic Congressional Seats; Complete (and Final?) List of Official Congressional Candidates For Arizona's Nine Districts (With Links)

The primary fields for Arizona's three most competitive Congressional districts are likely filled, and there are 9 Republicans vying for the three Democratic incumbents.  Three incumbents have no challengers at all, and a fourth has one independnt challenger.

The most attention in the August 26 primaries will be focused in Districts 1 and 9.  CD1 comprises much of northern and eastern rural Arizona and is currently represented by Ann Kirkpatrick.  State lawmakers Adam Kwasman and Andy Tobin (House Speaker) have the most name recognition, but business owner Gary Kiehne got a fundraising headstart.  Jim Brown filed earlier this month, and Mike Olivas previously filed, but his paperwork makes it appear that he is no longer officially a candidate.

In Maricopa County's CD9, incumbent Kyrsten Sinema will wait to see whether newcomer/former ASU quarterback Andrew Walter can defeat two candidates who ran for the seat in 2012 - Vernon Parker (nominee) and Wendy Rogers.  Southern Arizona Democrat Ron Barber (CD2) will wait to see whether Martha McSally can repeat as GOP nominee vs. Shelley Kais.

Two Republicans who previously tried to defeat long-time Rep. Raul Grijalva in CD3 are giving it another shot, but no Republicans have stepped forward to challenge Ed Pastor in CD7.  A Democratic activist is opposing GOP incumbent Paul Gosar (CD4), and an independent has filed against Matt Salmon (CD5), but Republican incumbents David Schweikert (CD6) and Trent Franks (CD8) have no challengers.

Here is the complete list, with links and other tidbits:

Congressional District 1 (incumbent: Kirkpatrick-Dem; website):
--Jim Brown (R) (filed January 4, 2014) (Jim2Washington@aol.com)
--Gary Kiehne (R) (Previous article) (Website)
--Adam Kwasman (R) (filed Nov. 8, 2013) (Website)
--Andrew Tobin (R) (filed Oct. 17, 2013) (ran in 2010) (Website)
Congressional District 2 (incumbent: Barber-Dem; website):
--Martha McSally (R) (Previous article)(website)
--Shelley Kais (R) (Website) (filed October 29, 2013)
Congressional District 3 (incumbent: Grijalva-Dem):
--Gabriela Saucedo Mercer (R) (lost in general 2012) (website)
--Jaime Vasquez (R) (lost in primary 2012)
Congressional District 4 (incumbent: Gosar-Repub; website):
--Mikel Weisser (D) (political activist) (website)
Congressional District 5 (incumbent: Salmon-Repub; website):
--James Alan Samuelson (I) (filed Nov. 25, 2013) (no committee yet)
Congressional District 6 (incumbent: Schweikert-Repub; website):

Congressional District 7 (incumbent: Pastor-Dem; website):

Congressional District 8 (incumbent: Franks-Repub; website):

Congressional District 9 (incumbent: Sinema-Dem; website):
--Wendy Rogers (R) (lost in primary 2012) (website)
--Vernon Parker (R) (lost in general 2012) (website)
--Andrew Walter (R) (new to politics) (website)


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WATCH: Carlos Santana To "The People of Arizona": "You Should Be Ashamed of Yourselves"

The soft-spoken music legend Carlos Santana carried a big stick yesterday when he was honored by Major League Baseball with a "Beacon of Change" award before the MLB's annual Civil Rights Game in Atlanta.

On Friday, Georgia's governor had signed into law a bill that contains some similarities to Arizona's well-known SB 1070, dealing with enforcement of illegal immigration.  Santana took the microphone and said, "The people of Arizona, and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves."

After the on-field ceremony, he elaborated: "This law is not correct. It's a cruel law, actually.  This is about fear. Stop shucking and jiving. People are afraid we're going to steal your job. No we aren't. You're not going to change sheets and clean toilets."

Added Santana: "This is the United States. This is the land of the free. If people want the immigration laws to keep passing, then everybody should get out and leave the American Indians here."

He did not try to link Arizona's law - which is mainly on hold pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on whether to accept an upcoming writ of certiorari from Arizona - with the upcoming MLB All-Star game in Phoenix.

We will have more to add to this post shortly, but here is a report of his on-field statements (with photos), as well as a link to a soft-spoken video of Santana speaking on the subject shortly before the game.




MLB video interviewing Santana before ceremony:  http://atmlb.com/mrL7nU

UPDATE:  Major League Baseball is doing its best to play down Santana's remarks during and after yesterday's game.  They have not released (or permitted the release of) the video of Santana's comments before Sunday's game or the "impromptu news conference" afterwards.  The interview of Santana from before or after Saturday night's ceremony is mixed so low as to be extremely difficult to hear his (more benign, broad) comments.  MLB's website article about the Sunday ceremonies ignores Santana's comments.  For his part, Santana makes no mention of his comments on his website, although he does have an announcement that he was going to receiving/accepting the award.

Here is a link to the Saturday night ceremony, at which Santana accepts the award (from Harry Belafonte).  He speaks at about the 5:40 mark, about how "deeply honored" he is to receive the award. 

Carlos Santana was born in Mexico, and grew up in the San Francisco area (California), before reaching great heights in the music world.

He is scheduled to play concerts in both Phoenix and Tucson in September 2011.

Santana at the ceremony (at about 10:37):  "And I want to say that it's a shame that those in charge (in Georgia) would pass a law - an immigration law - just like Arizona.  The sound that comes to my heart - and my fingers - is the sound that we are all in it together.  We don't leave anybody out.  This is why it's called universal tone."

Afterwards: "It allows me to give voice to the invisible ones."








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Only Arizona and Texas Share Title Of Having Most Conservative Member of House AND Senate

The National Journal today started releasing its analysis of how members of Congress voted in 2010.  Their initial focus is on how Arizona Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has moved from the middle of the ideological pack to be tied for the most conservative member of the Senate.  Not earth-shattering news, as his tack to the right in advance of his primary challenge from former Rep. Hayworth received lots of attention.

The National Journal - which analyzed about 1/3 of the Senate's roll call votes - found that this is McCain's most conservative ranking in his long history (only the conservative landslide year of 1994 was close - hmmm).

NJ also lists the ten most conservative members of the House of Representatives.  Arizona's Trent Franks (R-CD2) is tied for first in that house, giving Arizona the only 1-1 punch - other than Texas (Sen. Cornyn, Reps. Neugebauer and Johnson).

These rankings also confirm what Congressional Quarterly found last month, and the Washington Post has found on an on-going basis.  When the National Journal releases the rest of its rankings, it will probably also show that Arizona also was home to three of the biggest Democratic rebels. (Two of whom - Harry Mitchell and Ann Kirkpatrick - were defeated in November and one - Gabrielle Giffords - recovering from a would-be assassin's bullet.


(h/t to James King at Phoenix New Times)


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Arizona No Longer "Solid Democratic" State, As It Was In 2008; Who Knew?

As Pink would say, who knew?  Politico reported earlier Monday that Arizona is among a dozen states that "shifted from solidly or leaning Democratic to competitive."  Just in the past two years.

These words leapt off the monitor and slapped me in the face!  Did Politico - or, Gallup, upon which the story is based - stumble upon an alternative political universe where red is blue and blue is red.  Of course, it is a mistake.

Apparently, even though Gallup did not use those still-confusing-after-48-years two-letter state abbreviations, Politico confused Arizona for Arkansas.  In fact, according to the venerable Gallup organization, Arizona was "competitive" in 2008 and remained so in 2010.

To be clear, Gallup is not using actual party registration numbers or actual election results; what their numbers and labels are reflecting is how many people who they interviewed in the state during an entire year either identify themselves as being Democrat or Republican or suggest that they lean more towards one party or the other.  Gallup interviewed more than 350,000 adults across the U.S. last year to come up with these numbers - not likely voters or even possible voters; many may not even be registered. 7,660 of those interviews were of Arizonans.

Arizona was defined as "competitive" in 2008 and again last year.   That means that the difference between the two parties' affiliations is less than 5%.  In Arizona last year, 40.0% identified/leaned Democratic, 44.1% Republican.

Interestingly, the Gallup story focuses on how Democrats lost affiliation across the country in the past two years.  However, Arizona's Democratic drop was the third-lowest in the nation.  Only 2.8%.  Nevertheless, Arizona Republicans picked up two congressional seats and swept the statewide offices.







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New Arizona Congressmen Finished Before They Start; Sen. McCain Gone, Too

Shockingly, Arizona's three new Representatives in Congress - Paul Gosar (R-CD1), Ben Quayle (R-CD3), and David Schweikert (R-CD5) - already have a "former" in front of their new titles.  In addition, John McCain is now a "former Senator".

This shocking news today from the website http://www.govtrack.us/ , which (often) provides very useful information about Congress. 

Arizona's Politics discovery of this peculiar development came while researching the report on Paul Gosar's staff connections with Sarah Palin and the Alaskan dental profession.  Here is what we found:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBHreWc8iFKVsXPN_ZflN0n1W4xnHadBv-M9vOjIJ8xQ-w7o5lAXJuksvD85_4fgCaTiuU1MhAMJyhU_59s0fQ5uyRivecUoGC1OTDllZGx3ZT8DAtm_F6mxXAixLGQlAVNETCmJ7pqI/s144/Former%20Rep%20Gosar_.jpg

(Appropriately, your mouth might now have dropped open wide enough for your dentist to begin the examination.)

As it turns out, Schweikert's and Quayle's profiles have the same "former" designation.  More startlingly, Sen. John McCain is also listed as our "former" Senator.  (Ruining the effect somewhat, the incumbent Representatives who were re-elected on November 2 also appear to have left the House.  In fact, only Sen. Jon Kyl - who is in the middle of his 6-year term - is listed as representing Arizona in D.C.)

The creator/developer/etc of govtrack.us, Joshua Tauberer, tells us that this anomaly is "confusing" and a result of the "true legal question about who actually holds any office right now."  And, he does indicate on the site that much of the content is automatically collected from http://www.thomas.loc.gov/ .  (Although that does not explain why members who have not yet served in the House are listed as "former".)

So, sure it is a glitch that will be corrected tomorrow when the new Congress is sworn in.  But, it sure got our attention, and while we were there, we checked out some of the other features of the website - it's a keeper!

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More, In-Depth Analysis Of Today's Oral Argument On Arizona's Employer Sanctions Law

Following up on my earlier post of the official transcript of today's oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court on the Arizona employer sanctions law - as well as the Associated Press analysis of the arguments - here is a wonderful firsthand account from what has become the definitive news source on the Supreme Coutr: SCOTUSBlog.com.

Lyle Denniston believes it is virtually certain that Arizona's law will be upheld, either on a 5-3 or 4-4 vote .(Justice Kagan recused herself due to her previous position as Solicitor General.)  If it is a tie vote, the law is upheld because it does not overturn the 9th Circuit's decision, but it cannot be used as a "national rule".

Denniston believes that Justice Kennedy is the possible difference between precedent status and the sister-kissing decision.  He finds Justices Breyer, Ginsberg and Sotomayor  prepared to vote to reverse. (He believes the latter might need some persuading.)

Barring whatever NPR's Nina Totenberg files this afternoon, this is likely to give you the best "you are there" perspective on this morning's arguments.  At least until the court releases the audio.


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You Be The Justice; READ: Transcript of Oral Argument Before Supreme Court On Arizona's Employer Sanctions Law

Today, the Supreme Court (of the U.S.) heard oral arguments on the legal issues surrounding Arizona's employer sanctions law - the law that permits the suspension of business licenses of companies knowingly hiring workers in the United States illegally.  The Associated Press reporter who attended the argument concluded (in his or her lede) that the Court "appeared likely" to uphold the law.

I have not yet had a chance to review the transcripts to see if I reach the same conclusion.  But, I know that most who occasionally view this blog are interested in this case and in checking out the transcript.  Here is a link to the Supreme Court's official (subject to final review) transcript. 

Although the PDF is 68 pages long, (1) it reads quickly, as most depositions/transcripts/etc do; and (2) starting on page 57 of the document is a sort of "word index", which allows you to quickly find the page and line number that you might be looking for. For example, if you wanted to find questions asked by Justice Breyer, look up "Breyer".  (Court-watcher unsurprising fun fact: Justice Thomas is not indexed.)

If you find things that you think the rest of us should check out, please comment below and we can start our own useful index!


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NOT REALLY OFF-TOPIC: The Moments Following Last Night's Dramatic Conclusion (Beyond Hyper-Partisanship)

I coulda and shoulda written this last night.  After all, I was wired for a few hours after watching the ASU-UA "Duel In the Desert" on ESPN.  (Witness the time stamp on my previous post.)  And, I did speak with one of my kids about it in real time as I was trying to hear about the "Return of Lebron" (it ties in, naturally).

As the exhilaration and frustration of a classic 4th quarter and 2 OT's started to die down, the several post-game displays of good sportsmanship from both squads brought the exhilartion back.  There were head coaches Stoops and Erickson - who had been so (entertaining and) menacing during the game - leading the way with what looked like a heartfelt exchange of good wishes.  There were players from the losing team congratulating their opponents, and the winning players consoling their opponents.  There was UA quarterback Nick Foles waiting patiently off-camera for ASU Head Coach Erickson to finish his interview with ESPN to give him a congratulatory embrace. And, all of this caught on national TV.

My kids and I noted all of this, and I felt compelled to explain that it is special because the UA-ASU rivalry has always displayed sportsmanship - but, that it is often BAD sportsmanship.  Having lived in both Tucson and Phoenix, having worked and/or studied on both campuses, having attended or watched UA-ASU rivalry games (in many sports) for some 40 years (with some good interactions with other fans and some that were pretty damned nasty), and raising our kids to favor one of the schools while not dissing the other, last night will hold a VERY GOOD spot in my personal chronicle of the rivalry.  And, I hope it will be so for my kids, as they play team sports and choose between fine institutions of higher learning.

But, anyway, I hope you have also already realized why this is "not really off-topic" for a blog that is trying to cover Arizona's Politics.  If you haven't, try picturing the Sun Devils wearing blue jerseys last night.  (The Wildcats wore red.)

If you still are missing the connection, well, unfortunately, you are probably part of the problem.



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ARIZONA SUPREME COURT: Affirms Death Sentence For Armed-Robber-Turned-Executioner

The Arizona Supreme Court today unanimously affirmed the conviction and death sentence of Mike Peter Gallardo.  Gallardo was attempting to rob a Phoenix house on a December afternoon in 2005, was surprised to find 20-year old Rudy Gallardo there, and proceeded to execute him.

Gallardo was convicted and sentenced to death in June 2009, and the mandatory appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court was argued earlier this month in front of law students at the University of Arizona.  The opinion makes it apparent that further federal appeals are likely to occur before any execution of the 53-year old Gallardo will take place.


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WATCH: Jimmy Fallon Ties Together Arizona's Top Two Issues (;-) )

In checking out late night TV show host Jimmy Fallon's website in preparation for tonight's hour-long interview/performance with Bruc Springsteen, I saw his monologue from last night.

Knowing his audience, Arizona's passage of Prop. 203 was joke number two.  Check out for yourself how he tied it to the issue that has brought Arizona most of its widespread attention this year:




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FACT CHECK FOLLOW-UP: U.S. Urged To "Repeal" Arizona's SB 1070; Human Rights Review Process Nearing End

On Friday, the world had a chance to compliment and criticize the United States' human rights practices.  Ecuador recommended that Arizona's anti-illegal immigration law SB 1070 should be "repeal(ed)".  The U.S. delegation noted that it is already in the courts and re-expressed "the commitment to advancing comprehensive immigration reform."

In August, the United States State Department filed its self-survey of the status of human rights in the U.S.  Near the end of that mostly-positive report, it noted the ongoing legal action surrounding Arizona's anti-illegal immigration law.  This upset Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who accused the Obama Administration of "trying to make an international human rights case" of SB 1070, and that it was "unconstitutional" and "internationalism run amok."  The State Department responded by noting that the federal court case (now before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals) is a positive example of how a country should use the rule of law to deal with issues.

Arizona and SB 1070 did end up being discussed at the Working Group session on Friday, and thus being included in the (draft) report issued today.  The 228 recommendations and conclusions submitted by a large number of nations may be further responded to by the U.S. and will be forwarded to the U.N. Human Rights Council for rubber-stamping.  The U.S. will then act on some of the recommendations, reject others, and ignore the rest.  End of story.  There is no enforcement and there are no penalties.

Basically, the Universal Periodic Review ("UPR") is an opportunity to shine a light on every nation's human rights efforts and to give every nation and every NGO (non-governmental organization) a chance to sound off about each other.  For example, the United States made a number of recommendations when Iran was reviewed earlier this year; Iran rejected nearly all of them.

What happened on Friday? According to the draft report, "Mexico recognized the robust institutional infrastructure for the protection of human rights." (para. 19) There must have been some mention of Arizona in the first round of nation's statements, because the U.S. delegation virtually repeated its report word-for-word about SB 1070. (para. 37)

Discussion about racial profiling and immigration continued.  Later, the U.S. "assured delegations that it condemns racial and ethnic profiling in all of its forms, and is conducting a thorough review of policies and procedures to ensure that none of its law enforcement practices improperly target individuals based on race or ethnicity." (para. 72)  Regarding immigration, the U.S. stated that "it is committed to improving its immigration system", while noting that more than 9.4 million people have either become permanent residents (5.5M), naturalized citizens (3.5M) or resettled/granted asylum (nearly 425,000) in the U.S. in the past five years. (para. 73).

The draft report then turns to the recommendations and/or conclusions noted by the different nations.  Haiti urged the U.S. to ratify the 1990 "International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families". (para. 15).  A number of countries joined in on that suggestion, mainly from Central and South America.

Four countries then made recommendations which appeared to be referencing SB 1070.  Guatemala, Bolivia, Mexico, Uruguay urged the U.S. to attempt to restrain state initiatives which encourage racial profiling. (paras. 79, 101, 105, 108)  Finally, Ecuador came right out and urged the U.S. to "repeal and do not enforce discriminatory and racial laws such as Law SB 1070 of the State of Arizona." (para. 110)

Likely, the U.S. will respond to that entreaty by noting that the federal government can neither repeal nor prevent Arizona from enforcing the state law if the federal courts do not find in favor of the U.S. in the pending legal action. 

_____
Arizona's Politics wishes to commend the ACLU for posting the draft report and for quickly responding to its media inquiry.




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FACT CHECK: State Sen. Russell Pearce Misleading About Obama "Jihad Against Arizona"

(Earlier, the Ahwatukee Foothills News ("AFN") featured (top left, front page) coverage of a speech made by State Sen. Russell Pearce to the Ahwatukee TEA Party on September 15.  In it, Pearce reiterated comments made by Gov. Jan Brewer in a letter to Secy of State Hillary Clinton about the U.S. self-review on human rights.  Arizona's Politics previously fact-checked those comments, and supplemented it with text and video of the State Department's response to a reporter's question.

The AFN indicated that they would - at some point - run the following Fact Check column.  A few issues have since come and gone.  Here is the Fact Check that it will, hopefully, still run; AFN's circulation and  importance - and, hence, its responsibility to the public - are far greater than this small blog forum.)

FACT CHECK: Sen. Pearce Misleads Re: Obama “jihad against Arizona”

AFN’s front page article on State Rep. Russell Pearce’s speech to the Ahwatukee TEA Party reported on his comments. It obviously was not intended to provide a balanced view, nor to fact check Pearce’s claims.

Fortunately, I am able to assist (somewhat) on the latter. I wrote an Aug. 30 article for Arizona’s Politics “fact checking” Gov. Brewer’s letter to Secy. Of State Hillary Clinton, branding the U.S. human rights report (the “UPR”) “unconstitutional.” The letter was found to be “Completely Misleading.”

Pearce apparently bases his Obama/Arizona jihad on two things – the SB1070 suit and the UPR. The judge’s determination in the suit demonstrates – at a minimum - the Administration has a good-faith argument about some of the law’s provisions.

The UPR requires our examination. Pearce told the rally that the U.S.’s “submission of Arizona to judgment by the UN panel – which includes nations such as Saudi Arabia… could be construed as an impeachable offense.” His main factual error in that claim is that it was not “submitted” to “judgment”.

The “Universal Periodic Review” that all nations are submitting is a self-survey of positives/negatives of efforts in the area of human rights. As the UPR indicates, our Declaration of Independence was a key step in furthering human rights and we have been a leader in promoting human rights awareness elsewhere.

Near the end of self-exam of U.S. progress, the UPR politely tip-toes around the Arizona situation. The COMPLETE passage: “A recent Arizona law, S.B. 1070, has generated significant attention and debate at home and around the world. The issue is being addressed in a court action that argues that the federal government has the authority to set and enforce immigration law. That action is ongoing; parts of the law are currently enjoined."

No “submission” to the world. No portrayal of SB1070 as positive or negative. Basically saying, ‘our system is WORKING.”

The three nations reviewing our data and preparing the report - which happens after anyone can comment and is not limited to what is already in the UPR – are Cameroon, France, Japan. The review can result in recommendations, which can be accepted, rejected, or ignored.

Pearce’s factual basis is incorrect. Thus, his conclusion is “Completely Misleading”. The AFN is not expected to fact check every speech it covers; however, in incendiary cases like this, it would be wise. More, including citations, can be found at www.ArizonasPolitics.com.

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SUCCESS For "Fact Check Follow-up": Rotellini Campaign Removes Primary-Only Endorsements

It is nice to see a campaign acknowledge and correct its mistakes.  And, nice to see one of our "Fact Check Follow-Ups" prove to be a success.

Yesterday, we posted and publicized a piece noting that the Rotellini campaign was still using primary-only endorsements on its website and Facebook page.  Two weeks earlier, our Fact Check had first brought attention to the endorsement abuse, including the active use of the Republic's endorsement in an e-mail.

Within hours of making e-mail contact, the site and Facebook page were scrubbed clean.  Evan Brown, Communications Director, reported: "Thanks for bringing it to our attention - much of our new media effort is run by volunteers, and this was just something that got overlooked."

Overlooking that the September 15 e-mail was not likely "run by volunteers", Arizona's Politics is glad to see the responsiveness and accountability. 




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FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS: The (Washington) "Nationals" Still Slugging It Out In Mitchell vs. Schweikert race. Or, ARE they?

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.


The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ("DCCC") filed their notice with the Federal Election Commission ("FEC") that it had spent $56,715.34 opposing Republican challenger David Schweikert in CD5.  Approximately $10,000 for production of the ad(s), $10 for a website registration, and the rest for air time.  No other Arizona district was mentioned, and here is a rundown of other races around the country that the DCCC put down some money this week.

Interestingly, on this past Monday, a Republican blogger working hard for Schweikert announced that the National Republican Congressional Committee "NRCC" was about to launch a couple of ads against Mitchell within "a couple of days." This blogger has also repeatedly stated that the DCCC has given up on the race.

The claim about the impending assault on Mitchell was interesting for a number of reasons.  (For one, if the Schweikert lead is as imposing as claimed and Mitchell supporters have given up, how do you explain the blazing barrels of the NRCC?)  Earlier this week, we noted that the National Republican Congressional Committee "NRCC" had filed that it had spent $83,000 on ads in the CD1 race against Democratic incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick.  The mandated FEC reports are notices that money has already been spent, not future plans; the notice is required within 48 hours of spending the funds.

The NRCC has apparently not filed ANY reports of expenditures in the Mitchell/Schweikert battle - going back to the August 24 primary. (Here is page with links to their reports.)

Maybe Arizona's Politics is missing something here.  Maybe the NRCC has delayed their expenditures, or maybe the ad was created for free and will only air on their YouTube channel.  Maybe the blogger was blowing smoke or mistook the NRCC for the DCCC.  Maybe we will never know for sure. 










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In Arizona CD8, Quien Es Mas Macho?

NPR's (Tucson-based Southwest Correspondent) Ted Robbins had a very good piece about the CD8 race between incumbent Gabrielle Giffords and challenger Jesse Kelly on "Morning Edition" this morning.  (Here is link to transcript and audio.)  The story focused on border issues, even as Robbins concluded that Social Security, the Bush-era tax cuts, and the health care bill will be the "issues beyond the border (that) will probably decide the race". 

Why? "Because when it comes to border security and immigration, the candidates running for Arizona's 8th Congressional seat seem to have only two lines — hard and harder." 

Great closing line.  And, Robbins had a quotable line near the beginning of the four-minute report:

"There's an old saying in Spanish — Quien es mas macho? (Who's tougher?) — that sums up the debate in the district over border security and immigration.


Democrat Gabrielle Giffords, the two-term incumbent, can't afford to look soft, so there isn't any talk of immigration reform. Instead, she reminds voters how she fought to get $600 million for border security this summer."

(I tried fact checking the origin of the "quien es mas macho" line, to no avail. My guess is it belongs to Bill Murray.)

By the way, the Morning Edition hosts got some mileage out of the theme for this story.  At the top of the hour tease, Steve Inskeep promo'd the story and then claimed to be tough; fill-in host Ari Shapiro introduced himself as being "not tough".  My vote for toughest of the day goes to Ted Robbins!

(Disclaimer: The paths of mas macho Ted Robbins and I crossed in Tucson for a brief period more than two decades ago.  We covered stories for different organizations, and spent a small amount of time in the same newsroom.)

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