(4th and FINAL UPDATE, 2:54pm: Jones campaign spokesperson Anna Haberlein has now confirmed to Arizona's Politics that an ad WILL begin running tomorrow, as first reported. Ms. Haberlein said the campaign will not release any further details until tomorrow. As is oft said before an ad runs, "Stay Tuned!")
(
Previous updates are at end of article.)
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Now that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is out of the way -
announcing that she will not attempt to run for re-election - GOP candidate Christine Jones is beginning to run the first TV ads in the campaign.
Although the ad is not yet available, Jones' committee has purchased approximately
$20,000 of air time on Channel 15 (Phoenix) for a spot that will begin airing tomorrow. Presumably, she has purchased similar amounts of time on other stations in Phoenix, and she may also be spending in the Tucson and Flagstaff markets.
Arizona's Politics has asked the Jones campaign for more information about the ad and the ad buy.
Campaign spokesperson Anna Haberlein confirmed that the ad will begin running on Thursday, but would provide no further details at this time. Lately, Jones has been campaigning hard on the issue of the 2nd Amendment (to the U.S. Constitution) and is holding appearances at gun stores in
Flagstaff and
Prescott Valley. (
A video posted on her YouTube channel last month on the subject is below.)
Jones - former counsel for GoDaddy.com - has put $500,000 of her own money into the campaign and has already spent that. She entered 2014 with only $50,000 of cash on hand. (
See report, below.)
The Republican primary election concludes on August 26, and the winner will face presumed Democratic nominee Fred DuVal and presumed Libertarian nominee Barry Hess.
)
(1st UPDATE, 11:45am: I received a tweet from Ryan Smith, with the Arizona political consultants HighGround, that the ad buy discussed below may have been pulled back. The Jones campaign signed off on the ad buy yesterday and it was filed by Channel 15 late yesterday afternoon; until we receive confirmation from the campaign that it has been pulled, this article will remain up.
Also, the Jones campaign has posted a 60-second YouTube video praising Governor Brewer; the ad buy document suggests a 30-second spot. We have inquired as to whether the new video will be aired instead of the (presumably) previously-recorded commercial.)
(2nd UPDATE, 12:00pm: I received a follow-up Tweet from Jones' spokesperson Anna Haberlein telling Arizona's Politics "we'll be on the air sooner rather than later.")
(3rd UPDATE, 12:37pm: Arizona's Politics has now spoken with Ms. Haberlein, and the campaign will say nothing further than what was in her tweet. Guess we will have to tune in tomorrow to see if it runs. According to the ad buy statement, it is supposed to begin airing during Good Morning America (7-9am), and then once during each of Channel 15's 6pm, 6:30pm, and 10pm newscasts.)
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