Mills snubs Brewer, trades barbs with campaign

Buz Mills

Buz Mills didn’t end his gubernatorial campaign quietly, lashing out at Gov. Jan Brewer instead of giving her the support she saw from state Treasurer Dean Martin when he bowed out of the race several days earlier.

Brewer and Martin had nothing but nice things to say about each other when the treasurer ended his campaign and vowed to stand by the governor in her battles with the federal government. But Mills struck a more defiant tone, criticizing Brewer’s economic and tax policies and saying Brewer’s newfound popularity is due solely to a law that she had little do with.

When asked whether he would eventually endorse Brewer, who is now running virtually unopposed in the Republican primary, Mills would only say that there is “probably a great philosophical divide” between them.

“We were doing very well before (Senate Bill) 1070. In the polls, we were the only ones that were beating (Attorney General Terry) Goddard. I think reality will come back before the general election,” Mills said. “I think Arizonans will focus on important issues.”

Mills lashed out at Brewer for raising the sales tax rate, racking up millions in state debt, failing to secure the border and doing little to bring more jobs to Arizona. S1070, which Brewer signed on April 23, shifted the public’s attention away from the economic issues that were the lynchpin of his campaign and gave the governor a massive boost in the polls, Mills said, though she deserves little credit for the law’s passage.

The post-S1070 surge in Brewer’s popularity gave her a massive lead in the polls and made her a conservative media darling. Brewer has been a regular fixture on FOX News since signing the bill, and has appeared seven times on Greta Van Susteren’s show alone.

“Some days you’re better to be lucky than smart,” Mills said. “It’s tough to compete with the Greta and Jan show every night on national television.”

Chuck Coughlin, a top advisor to Brewer, fired back at Mills. While Martin’s exit from the race was dignified and supportive of the governor, Coughlin said, Mills was childish in his continuing criticism.

“It’s childish. I’ve lost a lot of races that I’ve participated in. And the rule, whether it’s in sports or in politics or in anything, is you act dignified at the end of the game. And I think his behavior and his statement yesterday reflect the character of the man,” Coughlin said.

Coughlin said the governor has not asked Mills for his endorsement.

He also criticized Mills for what he called a lack of understanding of the key issues facing the state. Coughlin said the governor extended a personal invitation to Mills to attend a budget briefing in March, which Mills declined.

“He just didn’t understand the budget. Never did. He would’ve saved himself a lot of money if he would’ve gone to the meeting,” he said.

Coughlin also chastised Mills for blaming S1070 for the demise of his campaign. He said the governor’s success in getting a budget passed quickly, getting her proposed tax hike referred to the ballot, her opposition to President Obama’s health care plan and other issues turned her campaign around, though she has gone from a virtual three-way tie to leads as high as 45 percent in the months since she signed S1070.

Mills said he doesn’t regret spending $3.2 million of his own money on a campaign that didn’t make it to the Aug. 24 primary. Before S1070, he said, polling showed him as the strongest challenger to Goddard, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, and said he went from being completely unknown to 86 percent name identification after just several months of television ads.

“Most politicians would kill to have 86 percent statewide name recognition,” he said.