Polling on Arizona’s statewide races has consistently shown GOP candidates on top, and Republicans are optimistic that the anti-Democratic mood sweeping the state and the country will give them total control of state government.

Only a couple of relatively competitive races stand between Republicans and their first sweep of Arizona’s six statewide offices since 1994, not including the Corporation Commission.

For a candidate who has trailed by as much as 22 points in recent polls, even a sliver of good news is cause for celebration. Every poll taken over the past few months has shown Republican Gov. Jan Brewer beating Democrat Terry Goddard by double digits, with some showing him down by as much as 22 points. But though they all show different margins of victory for Brewer, a couple polls have shown Goddard narrowing the gap as Election Day approaches.

Gov. Jan Brewer and other Republican candidates are moving to make controversy surrounding Arizona's illegal immigration law an election issue by putting a spotlight on Democratic rivals' backing by unions that support an economic boycott of the state.

Doug Ducey reported spending $581,000 on the Republican primary for state treasurer, more than any state-level candidate except for Buz Mills' defunct gubernatorial campaign.

Ducey, the former CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, spent $100,000 in the week before the Aug. 10 trigger report was submitted to the Arizona Secretary of State's Office. Partly due to the spate of television ads he's aired, Ducey has spent more than every state treasurer candidate from the past two election cycles combined in his four-way primary.

The Republican Governors Association appears to be paying a lot more attention to Arizona than its Democratic counterpart. The RGA has about $1.2 million in its Arizona political action committee, compared to just $4,500 in the Democratic Governors Association Arizona PAC.

Gov. Jan Brewer and legislative leaders have agreed to limit the special session to fixing ballot language aimed at preserving the right to vote by secret ballot in union elections. But that hasn't stopped lawmakers and groups from pushing for other issues to be included in the special session.

In the wake of three convicted murderers' escape from a private prison in northern Arizona, Attorney General Terry Goddard slammed Gov. Jan Brewer for cutting the Department of Corrections' budget.

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

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.

A new poll says Republican Gov. Jan Brewer's popularity surged in recent months, with the Behavior Research Center saying she surfed "a political wave" from signing Arizona's immigration enforcement law.