Mills’ money no match for S1070

Buz Mills

Few political observers had ever heard of the northern Arizona businessman, a National Rifle Association board member who owns the Gunsite firearms training center in Paulden.

But Mills put himself on the political map when he hired Symington Group partner Camilla Strongin to manage his campaign and became the talk of the Capitol in January when he put $2 million of his own money into his campaign.

As Mills’ television ads aired across the state, he seemed a force to be reckoned with. Some thought his background – a successful businessman with no history in electoral politics – would help him tap into anti-incumbent voter sentiment that was hostile to career politicians like Gov. Jan Brewer, Attorney General Terry Goddard and state Treasurer Dean Martin. And as an entrepreneur who built a telecommunications empire on the East Coast, Mills said he knew what it took to create jobs.

A Rasmussen Reports poll in March showed him in the lead with 21 percent of the vote, though Brewer and Martin were both within 2 points of him. But the poll turned out to be Mills’ high-water mark.

S1070, Arizona’s strict new immigration law, stole the spotlight and pushed Brewer ahead, while critical comments about Arizona’s employer sanctions law damaged his credibility on the issue of the day.

Revelations about a Florida judge’s 1999 ruling that Mills defrauded his business partner further dimmed his hopes.
After spending $3.2 million of his money on the campaign, Mills pulled out of the race and cleared the way for Brewer.