Moderate candidates among those endorsed by Brewer

Gov. Jan Brewer

Most of Gov. Jan Brewer’s recent primary endorsements have been for out-of-state candidates, but now Brewer is officially weighing in on some of the state’s most contested GOP battles.

Brewer in late July formally issued her legislative endorsements for the Aug. 24 Republican primary. Among the candidates Brewer is endorsing is Rep. Bill Konopnicki in the District 5 Senate race, Sen. David Braswell in the District 6 Senate race, Rep. Adam Driggs in the District 11 Senate race and Rep. Amanda Reeve in the District 6 House race.

Several of the candidates Brewer is pushing for in contested primaries are percieved to be the moderates in their races.

Konopnicki, who is widely considered one of the most centrist Republicans in the Legislature, is challenging conservative incumbent Sen. Sylvia Allen. Driggs is being challenged in his primary by illegal immigration hawk Rich Davis, a former U.S. Department of Homeland Security official in the Bush administration.

Brewer campaign spokesman Doug Cole said the governor wasn’t specifically backing moderate candidates, and said all of the candidates she endorsed are conservatives.

“I don’t buy into this purported labeling system of various members of the Republican Party. The governor has enjoyed working with these members and candidates and is happy to support them. And if you look at the list, they represent a broad spectrum of members of our Republican Party,” Cole said.

Cole said Brewer considered numerous factors when deciding who to endorse, including her working relationships with incumbent lawmakers and their support for her budget plan. He said she did not consider candidates’ support for legislative leadership positions.

In District 6, Braswell, who was appointed in February to replace Pam Gorman, faces a challenge from Lori Klein, the owner of a firm that conducts fundraising for non-profit organizations. And Reeve, who was appointed to replace Sam Crump, is in a seven-way primary with incumbent Rep. Carl Seel and challengers David Fitzgerald, William Kaiser, John Adam Kowalski, Rick Robinson and Clint Van Wuffen.

Brewer has been especially supportive of Braswell, who until late July was the only candidate she had publicly endorsed. Brewer headlined a fundraiser for Braswell in June, and she also recorded a robocall for him, Cole said.

“She’s developed good personal relationship with these folks, and David’s one of them,” Cole said.

In District 1, Brewer’s only endorsement was Noel Campbell, who is running a in a three-way primary against incumbent House Minority Whip Andy Tobin and Karen Fann. One of those House seats is being vacated by termed-out Rep. Lucy Mason. In the District 20 House race, she endorsed former Rep. Bob Robson, who is also in a three-way primary.

Not all of the candidates Brewer endorsed have primary opponents. She’s backing Sen. Russell Pearce, who is running unopposed in the District 18 primary, but is largely responsible for the recent turnaround in her political fortunes due to his sponsorship of S1070. Brewer’s flagging popularity shot up after she signed the bill on April 23, and she is now virtually unopposed in the GOP primary.

Brewer is also endorsing Sen. Linda Gray and Rep. Jim Weiers in House District 10, Rep. Michelle Reagan in the District 8 Senate race, Rep. Russ Jones in House District 24, and Wendy Rogers, the Republicans’ lone candidate in the District 17 Senate race. She is backing incumbent Sen. John Nelson, who faces two primary opponents, in District 12, and Rep. Vic Williams, who has a three-way primary in House District 26.

Prior to the recent slate of endorsements, most of the candidates Brewer had publicly backed were in out-of-state races. Brewer endorsed two Republican gubernatorial candidates: Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel and Oklahoma Rep. Mary Fallin, formerly the state’s lieutenant governor. She also endorsed Colorado Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, who is seeking the Republican nomination for Sen. Michael Bennett’s Senate seat. Brewer knows Fallin, Handel and Norton through the National Lieutenant Governors Association.

Brewer’s only other public endorsement prior to the three out-of-state candidates was U.S. Sen. John McCain.