Rabago, Rotellini spar as Dem AG hopefuls outline experience

Vince Rabago, Felecia Rotellini, David Lujan

Outside of a late sparring match between Vince Rabago and Felecia Rotellini, the first televised debate among the three Democrats vying for the attorney general’s seat lacked the fireworks and animosity of their Republican counterparts.

Policy-wise, the candidates disagreed on little and were unified in their desire to crack down on drug cartels, protect the elderly and defend consumers from fraud. Instead, House Minority Leader David Lujan, Rabago, a former state prosecutor, and Rotellini, formerly the state’s top banking regulator, used their professional experience to bolster their cases for the Democratic nomination.

The real fireworks didn’t come until late in the debate, which was sponsored by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission and conducted at KAET’s Horizon studio. Rabago and Rotellini traded blows over Rabago’s handling of a case against a payday loan company and Rotellini’s ties to the community banks she regulated for three years as head of the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions.

In response to a question about the ties between the banks and the law firm she joined after leaving the department – a question frequently raised by Rabago – Rotellini accused Rabago of turning his back on the case against Quik Cash, which was filed about a month before he resigned from the Attorney General’s Office in January to begin his campaign. After the debate, her campaign said the lawsuit was “poorly constructed” and has essentially been on hold since Rabago’s resignation.

“That lawsuit has never made it out of the starting gate,” Rotellini said. “You walked out on those families, Vince. That lawsuit has stopped in its tracks.”

Rabago fired back that Rotellini left the Department of Financial Institutions in 2009 and immediately went to work for Zwillinger & Greek, a law firm that represents the banks and mortgage lenders regulated by the department.

“The reality of this is this – the day that Ms. Rotellini resigned … she went right to work for a law firm that represents banks,” he said. “She went straight to the industry that she regulated.”

The argument consumed the final segment of the half-hour debate, with Rotellini saying Rabago’s pledge to investigate large national banks that played “high-risk poker” with Arizonans’ mortgage was unrealistic because the regulation of those banks is primarily the domain of the federal government. Rabago frequently struck a populist, anti-corporate tone, vowing that, “people will always be at the forefront of my agenda, not the big corporations.”

Rotellini said her law firm has gone after mortgage lenders and hired her because of her expertise in that area. None of the banks it represents, she said, have face disciplinary actions from the state. She has made her tenure at the Department of Financial Institutions and her fight against mortgage fraud and predatory lending a centerpiece of her campaign, and said she would continue that fight as attorney general.

“I want to run that office as the largest law firm and prosecutorial office in the state,” she said.

But Rotellini appeared to slip up when she questioned Rabago’s statement that he got a court-ordered injunction to stop Quik Cash from filing debt collection lawsuits against borrowers, telling the former assistant attorney general, “that’s a lie.” According to media reports and court records, a Pima County Superior Court judge issued the injunction in December.

“There is a motion to dismiss that’s pending that was filed in January, and then the case has just stopped dead in its tracks. So if there is an injunction that was issued before January that is something that is on the record, then so be it. I can’t comment further,” Rotellini told reporters after the debate.

Most of the debate, however, was not as contentious. Lujan, who was largely sidelined during the Rabago-Rotellini spat that dominated the end of the debate, touted his experience in the Legislature as an asset, saying it provided him a greater understanding of the myriad issues tackled by the Attorney General’s Office, such as the mentally ill, the environment and the justice system as a whole. Lujan also highlighted his work for Defenders of Children, a non-profit anti-child abuse organization.

“Say what you will about being in the Legislature, being a legislator gives you an incredible education on all of the policy issues that impact the state of Arizona,” said Lujan, a former assistant attorney general. “Being in the Legislature for six years, and two years as the attorney for the Senate Judiciary Committee, I understand those policy issues better than anybody.”

Rabago spoke of his experience as a prosecutor at the Attorney General’s Office, while Rotellini touted her background in fighting mortgage fraud. All three candidates pledged to continue much of the work of current Attorney General Terry Goddard, who has taken tough stances against consumer fraud, crimes against senior citizens and cross-border drug cartels.

“Nobody’s going to lecture me about the border. I know we have to be tough about our laws but we have to be smart and get the job done,” said Rabago, who grew up in Cochise County.

When asked by debate host Ted Simons about S1070, Arizona’s strict new illegal immigration law, all three candidates said they opposed the bill. Lujan and Rotellini, however, said they would defend the state in the numerous lawsuits filed against the law, and Rabago said he would appoint independent counsel to defend the state.

“I would enforce the law as the attorney general, but I don’t think it’s the solution,” Lujan said, echoing similar opposition to S1070 voiced by the other candidates.

The candidates also looked ahead to the general election, where the Democratic nominee will take on the winner of the Republican battle between Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne and former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Lujan, Rabago and Rotellini presented themselves as the lone candidate who could keep the Republicans out of the Attorney General’s Office.

“If you want Andy Thomas or Tom Horne, then vote for one of these gentlemen,” Rotellini said of her Democratic rivals.