Strike Everything

France may be the GOP’s favorite cautionary example for liberal economic policies, but it’s a fine place for a post-election trip.

Now that the election is over, Gov. Jan Brewer’s advisor Chuck Coughlin is making up for lost time by taking his long-awaited honeymoon, which he and his wife, Patricia, are taking in Paris and Italy.

Arizona GOP Chairman Randy Pullen is taking his downtime in the land of Napolean and de Gaulle as well. Doug Cole, Coughlin’s partner at HighGround, said the two are in different parts of the country and joked that they aren’t taking any meetings.

Coughlin and his wife, Patricia, got married in March, but with Proposition 100 and Brewer’s election, Coughlin couldn’t get away for the honeymoon until now.

“When you get married in March and do your honeymoon in November, that’s a pretty understanding spouse,” Cole said. “Patricia is a very understanding spouse to wait that long for a honeymoon.”

Pullen may need all the downtime he can get, since he looks to be pretty busy once he gets back. He hasn’t made clear whether he’ll seek a third term as the Arizona GOP chairman, but others are already campaigning for his job.

Pinal County Republican Party Chairman Marty Hermanson’s announcement that he’ll seek the party chairmanship came during Pullen’s vacation, and Sen. John McCain’s allies are rumored to be seeking a candidate as well.

Pullen’s absence left Arizona GOP 1st Vice Chair Augustus Shaw as the man to talk to for party business. When Arizona Democratic Party Chairman Don Bivens sat down with the Arizona Capitol Times to discuss his party’s electoral fortunes and future, Shaw filled in for Pullen to give the Republican perspective.

Pullen is due back in Arizona this weekend, while Coughlin will return a week or two after that – provided that there are enough non-striking cab drivers and airport workers left in France to get them here.

- Jeremy Duda

Karl Rove’s speech at the downtown Phoenix Sheraton Tuesday started out with about as much intrigue as I expected from the top political advisor for former President George W. Bush; for the first half-hour he flaunted an uncanny grasp for statistics as he explained exactly what’s wrong with the health care law and predicted how the 2012 elections would pan out if voters followed the same patterns as they did on Nov. 2.

It was numbers overload, even for someone who routinely tracks those things.

Honestly, I kept myself busy during that portion of the speech by imagining just how dangerous the security detail sitting next to the stage really was. You gotta’ think they put some pretty experienced bodyguards on guys like Rove, whom is routinely the subject of protests for his role in the Bush administration’s decision to go to war in the Middle East.

Twice, in fact, during Rove’s speech, protesters barged into the room to shout something that was unintelligible from where I was sitting. Rove just kept talking while authorities wrangled the protesters out of the ballroom, unfazed as if that’s what always happens during the Phoenix Chamber’s luncheon speeches.

As usual, Rove got more interesting toward the end when people in the crowd got to forward their questions through moderator-on-stage Russell Smolden. One of the questions was whether Rove had insight on the 2012 GOP presidential candidates and, if so, which one was the frontrunner.

Rove replied by saying it was too early to name a frontrunner because there is no single heir-apparent as there has been for the GOP during recent election cycles.

Instead, he rattled off 10 potential nominees: Former New York Gov. George Pataki, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Minnesota Gov. TIm Pawlenty, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and South Dakota Sen. John Thune.

We see lots of things from our virtual perch high above 1700 W. Washington. Our exposure to all things political in Arizona typically results in some mix of these three reactions: Often we laugh, occasionally we’re astonished, and rarely we’re surprised.

Our continual challenge to present the news to you, our faithful readers, in such a way as to grab your attention, sometimes produces wild and outlandish results. Our creativity can be entertaining, but in many cases it’s just too far out there to present in a serious manner.

However, readers, you are about to benefit from our newsroom’s sleep-deprived and coffee-fueled state on this Nov. 3, so here are eight headlines from the election that never made it into the Arizona Capitol Times – and for good reason.

• Brewer has did it!
• Citizen Goddard – even more boring than Politician Goddard
• Quayle ready to knock the hell out of Washington… if he can find it
• Prop. 203 outcome still hazy
• Terry, Barry and Larry announce reality TV series, premium ice cream brand
• Horne: Secretary of State is a step up from AG, right?
• Ducey creams Cherny
• Schweikert offers to buy Mitchell’s abandoned CD5 office

As the GOP wave that had started on the East Coast began cresting over Arizona on Election Night, excited energy filled the Hyatt as many seemed to sense that some power was coming. But not every Republican in the building was jumping for joy.

One, whose reelection was all but assured long before Nov. 2, had the audacity to consider what the party would need to do come January, when campaign criticisms and promises must be reconciled on Capitol Hill.

In other words, U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, of Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, was being all Jeff Flake-y about the election.

“I don’t think we ought to celebrate for too long,” said Flake, known for occasionally stoking the ire of his GOP colleagues. “If we don’t do what we need to do, it will be a short stint in the majority.”

Flake, who held a small gathering in one of the Hyatt’s meeting rooms on Election Night, preferred to trade the revelry of the evening for facing the realities of being in power – and therefore at least partially responsible – for what happens to the country.

“Cutting spending is priorities one, two and three. We are at the point where we have to,” Flake said. “The cutting can’t just be from unpopular programs. It’s probably going to be more than out caucus can stomach.”

As I left the five-term congressman’s gathering and made my way back to the main lobby of the Hyatt, I was reminded that there was actually a party going on in the rest of the building.

And by that I mean the City of Mesa’s voters agreed to fund an $84 million training complex for the Chicago baseball institution, allowing the team to continue preparing for 30 more heartbreaking and frustrating seasons of futility.  Or maybe the lopsided vote in favor of the team’s request — 63 percent in favor — will break the streak.

Pictured: Cubs Hall-of-Famer Ernie Banks, who lent his support to the measure.

–John Stodder

On Twitter, you find a lot of people who are still mad at the Grand Canyon state, and tonight just made them madder.  Here are a few that I found in the past few minutes — censored as needed:

From koalasloverain of Arkansas:

What the —- is wrong with you, country? Especially you, Arizona. Get out of my face. I want to move to Vancouver or London. Couve=cheaper.

From Carmelita, whose location is “Worldwide”:

McCain and Brewer wins pretty much means I’m not stepping into #Arizona anytime soon. Oh well time to get @yayamartinez to L.A.

Read more…

Nearing 10 p.m., Jon Hulburd’s campaign manager Josh Abner had decided his candidate had talked enough about his likely 10 percentage point defeat at the hands of Republican Ben Quayle.

A quick glance around the swanky room at the Hotel Valley Ho didn’t immediately reveal Hulburd, so I convinced Abner to talk. He informed me he was breaking his “I don’t talk on record after having a drink rule.” I told him that I was breaking my “I don’t settle for spokespeople rule,” so we came to a truce and proceeded.

Abner ultimately chalked Hulburd’s defeat to the “Republican wave which crested in Arizona tonight.”

“We felt there were some issues related to this campaign we could control,” Abner said. “And there were some macro issues we couldn’t.”

Although the race for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District featured negative campaigning from both sides, Abner said Hulburd wouldn’t have changed it. “His goal was to run a race with no regrets, and he accomplished that,” Abner said.

As Abner finished his answer, Hulburd, seeming to appear from thin air, patted my shoulder from behind and said “rough night, rough night.”

He posed for a photo with a man from the “Republicans for Hulburd” contingent. My reporter instincts made me follow him.

I found him out on the patio, enjoying a drink in a martini glass like anyone hanging out at the Valley Ho should.

I heard Hulburd say to a party-goer, “You should have heard my win speech. It was funny.”

Three incumbent Democratic state senators appear to be on their way out, based on unofficial and preliminary results on Tuesday night, dramatically altering the political landscape at the capitol.

If they failed to mount a late comeback, the defeat of Assistant Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Rios in District 23, Sen. Amanda Aguirre in District, and Sen. Manny Alvarez in District 25 paves the way for Republicans to gain a veto-proof majority in the Senate.

There are currently 18 Republicans in the Senate. Victories in the three districts would push their number to 21, one vote more than needed to enact legislation that needs a two-thirds vote.

So far, Rios is losing to Steve Smith, Aguirre to Tea Party candidate Don Shooter and Alvarez to former legislator Gail Griffin.

“It’s a very difficult night for Democrats,” groaned Sen. Paula Aboud, a Democrat from Tucson. “It’s going to be really a tough year.”

Rios’ exit would have an immediate impact on the Democratic caucus.

Rios was in line to succeed as the minority leader next year. Democrats would need to scramble to select someone to take her place if she loses.

Senate Democrats are expected to meet tomorrow to choose their next set of leaders.

But a commanding control of the Capitol machinery poses both an opportunity and a risk for Republicans.

“If we end up with that big of a margin in the House also, then it definitely would be on to us to balance the budget,” said Sen. Ron Gould, a conservative Republican from Lake Havasu.

- Luige del Puerto

With nearly half the state’s precincts reporting vote totals, Republicans looked poised to sweep Arizona’s statewide offices for the first time since 1994.

By 9:15 p.m., the Republicans’ statewide slate took the stage at the Arizona GOP’s election night party at the downtown Hyatt to rousing cheers. Meanwhile, attorney general hopeful Felecia Rotellini was the only statewide Democratic candidate still walking around at the Democrats’ party at the Wyndham.

The attorney general’s race was the most competitive of the bunch in the early totals, with Republican Tom Horne holding a 5-point lead over Rotellini. Rotellini remained hopeful and said trends were moving in her favor. Horne’s lead, however, hadn’t diminished much since the first results came in from Maricopa County.

A Horne win would dash many Democrats’ best hope for winning statewide office and would give Republicans control of the only statewide office currently held by a Democrat.

That Democrat, Attorney General Terry Goddard was aiming for a promotion to the governor’s office, but trailed 150,000 votes behind incumbent Gov. Jan Brewer.

Shortly before 9 p.m., 12 News called the race for Brewer. Not long after, the Republican Governor’s Association sent out a press release congratulating Brewer on her victory.

“Governor Brewer’s victory sends two important messages,” RGA chairman Haley Barbour said in the press release. “First, it shows that she has done great work focusing on issues important to Arizona like jobs and the economy.  Second, it sends a resounding message to Washington that America wants secure borders and we want them now.”

Further down the ballot, Republican Doug Ducey led Democrat Andrei Cherny by about 130,000 votes in the state treasurer’s race, while Republican John Huppenthal held a similar lead over Democrat Penny Kotterman in the race for superintendent of public instruction.

In the secretary of state’s race, incumbent Ken Bennett appeared to be running away with the race early. The Republican led Democrat Chris Deschene, a first-term legislator, by about 190,000 votes.

–Jeremy Duda

Walking into the ballroom of the Hyatt, I expected to be greeted by a crowd full of a careless energy, with drinks and merriment flowing as the GOP faithful watched their slate ascend to each statewide office.

What I found was a largely empty room. That would change however. It was 6:45 p.m. and the room hadn’t opened to the public yet. Many prominent Republican candidates had rented suites on the second and third floors of the Hyatt for individual pre-party parties. That was where the action was.

As I headed up stairs, I happened by a room with a small sign that said “Ben Quayle for Congress.” Just as I thought I had lucked into a party no one knew was going on yet with one of this year’s more controversial candidates, I was greeted by an older gentleman in a cowboy hat and a woman wearing a “Quayle for Congress” T-shirt at the door. And that was it. No Ben, no party, nothing.

Disappointed, I recalibrated my internal compass to direct me to the suite level of the hotel.

GOP Corporation Commission candidates Gary Pierce and Brenda Burns had erected a grease board in their suite, with room to manually update all the totals for the statewide candidates. The biggest pictures on the board were, of course, for the Corporation Commission candidates.

Doug Ducey’s suite, disappointingly short on ice cream, was jammed packed with supporters. He said he felt like his time leading ColdStone Creamery had built “a reservoir of goodwill with voters” and that running on his resume would resonate with the electorate.

He wouldn’t specifically predict a win, saying “We have to get across the finish line first.”

Back in the steadily filling main ballroom at the Hyatt, Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen said that even if the GOP-wave materializes as expected across the country, he doesn’t take it to mean voters are clamoring for Republicans to be in office.

“I would not take from this that voters are endeared with Republicans,” he said. “Voters are upset with Obama.”

He acknowledged that voters seemed to be fed up in general. “Voters are going to give us another chance, we better live up to it,” Pullen said.

–Josh Coddington