[{"id":35454,"date":"2011-10-04T11:39:32","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T18:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azcaptimes.wpenginepowered.com\/election\/2011\/10\/03\/russell-pearce-2\/"},"modified":"2011-10-17T15:11:53","modified_gmt":"2011-10-17T22:11:53","slug":"russell-pearce-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/2011\/10\/04\/russell-pearce-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Russell Pearce"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Russell Pearce<\/p><\/div>\n

Name: Pearce, Russell (Republican)<\/h2>\n

Phone:<\/strong> (480) 703-6700<\/p>\n

Email:<\/strong> russellpearce@cox.net (www.russellpearce.com)<\/p>\n

Address:<\/strong> 1247 E. Inca St, Mesa, AZ 85203<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 64 (6\/23\/47, Mesa, AZ)<\/p>\n

Arizona since:<\/strong> Birth<\/p>\n

Occupation:<\/strong> Current: Senate President; Past: Chief Deputy, Maricopa County Sheriff\u2019s Office; Pro-tem judge for Maricopa County Justice Courts; North Mesa Justice of the Peace; Arizona Motor Vehicle Division Director; Governor\u2019s Office of Highway Safety Director.<\/p>\n

Marital:<\/strong> Married (Luanne)<\/p>\n

Children:<\/strong> 5<\/p>\n

Religious preference:<\/strong> The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/p>\n

Education: <\/strong>B.A., Management, University of Phoenix,1981. Received alumni of the year in 1997. Also attended JFK School of Government, Harvard; AZ Judicial College and AZ Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Political experience: <\/strong>Precinct committeeman; District 18 Executive Committee; GOP state committeeman; AZ Senate since 2009; AZ House, 2001-08.<\/p>\n

Memberships have included: AZ Chiefs of Police Association; AZ Police Olympics; Boy Scouts of America; Fraternal Police Association; International Association of Chiefs of Police; Maricopa City Deputies Association; Mesa Senior Center; National Sheriff\u2019s Association; Rotary Club.<\/p>\n

Background & experience: <\/strong>I worked as a state agency director. I have been the chief deputy of the fourth-largest sheriff\u2019s office in the nation with one of the largest county jail systems. I have been a judge, and I have worked as a laborer in the construction field. I have raised a family while continuing my education.<\/p>\n

Interests: <\/strong>Constitution, softball, church, organizations for youth and elderly, rodeo.<\/p>\n

Issues<\/h2>\n

Political influence:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our Founding Fathers, President Ronald Reagan and an Arizona icon of the \u201860s, Barry Goldwater, Tom Freestone along with my brothers Lester Pearce and Richard Pearce and Cleon Skousen on the \u201cMaking of America\u201d series.<\/p>\n

Why are you the best candidate to serve District 18?:<\/strong><\/p>\n

During these troubled times, we do not need \u201con-the-job training\u201d for our leaders.<\/p>\n

I have the needed experience in state government and with the state budget to help guide our state. I also have a proven record of making the hard decisions and not avoiding them.<\/p>\n

My fellow senators recognized this experience and track record when they elected me as Senate president.<\/p>\n

And finally, my record best reflects the values of District 18 of promoting smaller government, protecting the traditional family and guarding our constitutional freedoms.<\/p>\n

Describe your views on illegal immigration enforcement and how you plan to deal with it at the state level:<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are a nation of laws. We must have the courage \u2013 the fortitude \u2013 to enforce, with compassion but without apology, those laws that protect the integrity of our borders and the rights of our lawful citizens from those who break our laws.<\/p>\n

The federal government has refused to fully secure our border and enforce our immigration laws. Arizona\u2019s crisis is particularly galling because it was caused by the federal government funneling illegal aliens and drug trafficking through Arizona when it fenced off the El Paso and San Diego Sectors. Arizona cannot continue to bear this burden.<\/p>\n

For example, roughly 15 percent of our state prison population is made up of criminal aliens and the federal government refuses to reimburse the state.<\/p>\n

I have proudly led Arizona\u2019s efforts to deter and decrease illegal immigration by, among other things:<\/p>\n

(1) Deterring employers from knowingly hiring lower-paid illegal aliens instead of Americans by imposing sanctions and requiring the use of E-Verify.<\/p>\n

(2) Stopping illegal aliens and their families from obtaining in-state university tuition subsidy and welfare benefits (passed by the voters).<\/p>\n

(3) Protecting public safety by denying bail to criminal aliens (passed by the
\nvoters).<\/p>\n

(4) Protecting the integrity of voting system by requiring proof of citizenship (passed by the voters).<\/p>\n

(5) Prohibiting \u201csanctuary\u201d cities and allowing local law enforcement officers to enforce immigration laws as part of their normal duties.<\/p>\n

(6) Increased law enforcement efforts to stop Mexican drug and human smuggling cartels.<\/p>\n

What do you think of SB1070?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am the author of SB1070 and I strongly support it. Likewise, public surveys have consistently shown that Arizonans and Americans strongly support SB1070.<\/p>\n

SB1070 is based on the inherent right of state and local enforcement officers to assist in enforcing federal law, including federal immigration laws, when they are performing their normal duties. Not enforcing federal immigration laws is a form of \u201cbackdoor amnesty\u201d for illegal aliens and will only encourage more illegal immigration.<\/p>\n

SB1070 and other measures have decreased the illegal alien population in Arizona and decreased its burden on Arizona taxpayers. While still insufficient, the federal government has put the National Guard back on the border and increased Mexican cartel interdiction efforts in the Arizona desert in response to SB1070.<\/p>\n

Without SB1070 and other state efforts, Arizona will be back to begging the federal government to solve a problem that it has refused to solve for decades. In other words, just talking to a federal government and Congress that won’t do anything; Washington, D.C. does not like tough decisions.<\/p>\n

Budget recommendations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arizona faced one of the worst budget deficits, if not the worst, in the nation at the start of the Great Recession. Arizona state tax revenues were down by one-third while demands on state government were increasing. We have come through that crisis bruised, but still on our feet.<\/p>\n

Just as many Arizona families have done, we have made the tough decisions necessary to balance our budget. As we face a slight revenue upturn, we must proceed with caution to keep a balanced budget in these turbulent times.<\/p>\n

For the budget, our motto should be to \u201chope for the best, while preparing for the worst.\u201d To accomplish this, we must continue to search for cost-saving ideas. For example, just recently the Department of Juvenile Corrections consolidated two facilities that will save money while increasing rehabilitative services to troubled youth.<\/p>\n

And under no circumstances, should we bend to the free-spending special interests.<\/p>\n

Other concerns:<\/h2>\n

Quality job creation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Increasing quality job creation is our No. 1 job. For this reason, as Senate president, I led the enactment of this year\u2019s Arizona jobs bill. This nationally-recognized act will increase Arizona\u2019s economic competitiveness versus other states. Through this legislation, we are creating the environment in Arizona to retain and grow our existing businesses and attract businesses from other states.<\/p>\n

Unlike Washington D.C., we are listening to employers and reacting to what they need. My goal is to make Arizona one of the most job-friendly states in the nation for employers.<\/p>\n

Education:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Improving Arizona children\u2019s educational opportunities is essential to Arizona\u2019s future economic prosperity. I believe that children will learn best with a combination of involved parents and having the best teachers in the classroom.<\/p>\n

We have not been sitting still. Arizona has adopted new, higher academic standards and will be replacing the AIMS test in the near future. We will also adopting a system to reward our best classroom teachers.<\/p>\n

Public safety:<\/strong><\/p>\n

From my years in law enforcement, I know that the duty to protect our citizens from those who would do them harm cannot be compromised.<\/p>\n

Conservative values:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will continue to fight to protect the traditional family, the unborn and the right of parents to raise their families. I also have led the fight to expand Second Amendment rights in our state.<\/p>\n

Fiscal philosophy:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am a fiscal conservative. I was chairman of the Arizona State Senate Appropriations Committee for two years. During that time I helped steer the state from a fiscal disaster to where Arizona now has a balanced budget. This is one of the many reasons I was selected by my peers to be Senate president. My colleagues knew I would ably lead our state to a sound fiscal footing.<\/p>\n

Pro-life\/pro-choice:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am 100 percent pro life and my record proves it.<\/p>\n

One last thing:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arizona stands in stark contrast to the continuing debacle in Washington, D.C. While the federal government refuses to make tough decisions, Arizona has. We have a balanced budget. We have a nationally-recognized jobs bill. We are implementing reforms to involve parents, reward good teachers, and toughen student accountability. And not least, we are leading the fight for the rule of law against illegal immigration and against federal inaction. It is no secret why the federal government does not take action \u2013 tough decisions upset people and, in particular, special interest groups.<\/p>\n

It reminds me of the old saying by World War II pilots: \u201cIf you\u2019re not catching flak, you\u2019re not over the target.\u201d I am over the target, and the special interest groups promoting this recall election are attacking. The proponents of the recall election are seeking to send a message to Arizona and the nation that we should go back. I disagree. I will continue to stand firm, listen and reflect the values of my constituents, clearly state my positions and always keep my promises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Russell Pearce<\/strong><\/a>
\n  Party: Republican
\n  Age: 64
\n  Full candidate bio…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9281],"tags":[1623,1251,3748,762,342,3939],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35454"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":35469,"date":"2011-10-04T11:37:39","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T18:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azcaptimes.wpenginepowered.com\/election\/2011\/10\/04\/jerry-lewis\/"},"modified":"2011-10-17T15:16:47","modified_gmt":"2011-10-17T22:16:47","slug":"jerry-lewis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/2011\/10\/04\/jerry-lewis\/","title":{"rendered":"Jerry Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>

Jerry Lewis<\/p><\/div>\n

Lewis, Jerry (Republican)<\/h2>\n

Phone:<\/strong> (480)359-5880<\/p>\n

Email:<\/strong> JerryLewisCampaign@gmail.com<\/p>\n

Address: <\/strong>P.O. Box 332, Mesa AZ, 85211<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 55<\/p>\n

Date and place of birth:<\/strong> N\/A<\/p>\n

Arizona\u00a0since: <\/strong>1982<\/p>\n

Occupation:<\/strong> Assistant Superintendent, CEO,\u00a0Sequoia\u00a0Distance Learning\u00a0Schools<\/p>\n

Marital:<\/strong> Married (Janet)<\/p>\n

Children:<\/strong> 7, ages 13 to 31<\/p>\n

Religious preference:<\/strong> The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/p>\n

\u2028\u2028Education:<\/strong>\u00a01982 BS and MS \u2013\u00a0accounting,\u00a0Brigham\u00a0Young\u00a0University<\/p>\n

Political experience:<\/strong> Republican precinct commiteeman<\/p>\n

Memberships have included:<\/strong> Vice president, Grand Canyon Council of the Boy Scouts of America; former chairman, Mesa District, Boy Scouts of America; stake president and bishop, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; treasurer, board Member and coach, Westwood Little League (formerly Mesa Northwestern Little League); coach, Mesa Girls Softball and Mesa YMCA Soccer; member, various Whittier Elementary, Carson Junior High and Westwood High School parent groups; chairman, Westwood Baccalaureate Committee; president, Arizona Drug Abuse Program (formerly the Palmer Drug Abuse Program)<\/p>\n

Background & experience: <\/strong>Senior manager, Deloitte and Touche; COO, Quorum International; teacher, CES; CEO, TJ Development; assistant superintendent, Sequoia Schools<\/p>\n

Interests:<\/strong> My wife, my grandkids, running marathons, Boy Scouts, cycling, gardening\/yard work, Arizona Diamondbacks, fishing with sons<\/p>\n

Issues<\/h2>\n

Why are you the best candidate to serve District 18?:<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I started my family and career in Mesa, I worked in the private sector helping small businesses make a profit. Ten years later, after taking advantage of a great opportunity, I had the chance to teach for nearly 15 years. I have experienced the struggles that Mesa citizens are going through right now. We need improved schools. We need jobs. I have the experience necessary to tackle these serious issues.<\/p>\n

Describe your views on illegal immigration enforcement and how you plan to deal with it at the state level:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I stand for the rule of law and am\u00a0not\u00a0for open borders. The federal government has the responsibility to secure our national borders and create manageable and meaningful immigration policy. Lawlessness, as well as inconsistent enforcement of existing immigration laws has created an environment where people are calling upon Washington to wholeheartedly address and resolve the many issues pertaining to immigration. Immigration has polarized Arizona more than any other issue in recent memory. I support law enforcement\u2019s efforts to carry out their duties as defined by their constitutionally enforceable city, county and state laws. I also recognize that we need to move beyond the polarizing, contentious and fear-based rhetoric that undermines the chance for any real solutions.<\/p>\n

Arizona\u2019s first priority is to effectively and collaboratively work with the federal government to secure and enforce the border. While the federal government fulfills its responsibility to secure the border, I support a rational and fair solution for dealing with immigrants who have committed no crime other than being here without proper documentation. Reasonable, enforceable and sustainable immigration reform must be guided by principles of maintaining national security, respecting all humanity, preserving families, enforcing the rule of law, and weighing economic impact.<\/p>\n

A balanced approach to solving our immigration problem is supported by many faith groups and business leaders. Let\u2019s focus on doing the hard work of actually solving our immigration problems.<\/p>\n

What do you think of SB1070:<\/strong><\/p>\n

SB1070 contained necessary solutions to fix Arizona\u2019s current illegal immigration problems. Parts of the law are arguably unconstitutional. It is a piece-meal solution to a complex problem.<\/p>\n

Budget recommendations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Budgets need to be balanced, but they can\u2019t be balanced on the backs of our children. As education is one of my highest priorities, it is the last place I\u2019ll look to make cuts. Government has too much money being spent on low priority agencies.<\/p>\n

Other concerns:<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the recent Fiesta Bowl fiasco, I am worried that special interests have too much influence on our legislation. I will sponsor a gift ban to keep legislators beholden to their constituents, not special interest groups.<\/p>\n

Fiscal philosophy:<\/strong><\/p>\n

If there is one thing I\u2019ve learned as a CPA, you cannot tax your way out of a recession. I will work so that revenue shortfalls of the past will not be tax burdens of the future.<\/p>\n

Pro-life\/pro-choice:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pro-life<\/p>\n

One last thing:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mesa has been mired in political rhetoric for too long. I love Mesa and I love Arizona. I hope that when elected, I can be a fresh voice for Mesa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Jerry Lewis<\/strong><\/a>
\n  Party: Republican
\n  Age: 54
\n  Full candidate bio…<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9281],"tags":[1623,13301,8975,1251,3748,9009,8965,1198,7011,7044,342],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35469\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1,"date":"2011-06-28T20:13:20","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T20:13:20","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-06-28T20:13:20","modified_gmt":"2011-06-28T20:13:20","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/2011\/06\/28\/hello-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Hello world!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Arizona Capitol Times<\/a>. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Arizona Capitol Times. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":32363,"date":"2010-12-30T15:35:45","date_gmt":"2010-12-30T22:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azcaptimes.wpenginepowered.com\/election\/2010\/12\/30\/defiant-quelland-fails-to-pay-fine\/"},"modified":"2010-12-30T15:35:45","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T22:35:45","slug":"defiant-quelland-fails-to-pay-fine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/2010\/12\/30\/defiant-quelland-fails-to-pay-fine\/","title":{"rendered":"Defiant Quelland fails to pay fine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Former<\/a>

Former Rep. Doug Quelland (File photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

The saga surrounding the removal of former House member Doug Quelland from the Legislature isn’t over quite yet.<\/p>\n

In addition to his removal from office for violating Clean Elections spending laws, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission also leveled a fine of $31,000 against the former Legislative District 10 representative.<\/p>\n

The commission threatened “legal remedies” if it didn’t receive the payment within 30 days of a letter it sent back in August.<\/p>\n

But Quelland hasn’t paid a dime, and he told the Arizona Capitol Times<\/em> he has no intention of doing so until he gets his “due process.”<\/p>\n

“Read the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That’s my reason,” a defiant Quelland said when asked why he hasn’t complied with the demand.<\/p>\n

“See, according to the U.S. Constitution, they cannot deny me of life, liberty or personal property without due process,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Commission has forwarded the matter to the Attorney General’s Office after failing to elicit a reply from Quelland.<\/p>\n

The Commission ordered Quelland to be removed from office late last year after finding that he paid a consultant $15,000, in violation of rules for publicly-funded candidates.<\/p>\n

The courts upheld the Commission’s ruling, and the secretary of state declared the seat vacant last May. Quelland dropped his appeal of the Superior Court ruling in July.<\/p>\n

Quelland sought reelection this year, but was defeated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The saga surrounding the removal of former House member Doug Quelland from the Legislature isn’t over quite yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,563,4851,10,4810,12],"tags":[463,395,6580,6581],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":32295,"date":"2010-12-26T15:59:18","date_gmt":"2010-12-26T22:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azcaptimes.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=32295"},"modified":"2010-12-26T15:59:18","modified_gmt":"2010-12-26T22:59:18","slug":"rep-pratt-beaten-hospitalized-on-christmas-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/2010\/12\/26\/rep-pratt-beaten-hospitalized-on-christmas-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite vicious assault, Pratt still considers business area \u2018fairly safe\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rep.<\/a>

Rep. Frank Pratt, R-23<\/p><\/div>\n

After a Christmas Day assault that left Republican Rep. Frank Pratt with severe facial lacerations, a broken nose, tied up and unconscious for several hours, he still considers the area around his business in Casa Grande “fairly safe.”<\/p>\n

He has been released from the hospital and is recovering at his home, which is less than a mile from his business, Pratt Pools. In a phone interview Dec. 28, he indicated he was quite sore and bruised, but thankful that his injuries were not worse.<\/p>\n

“It was very scary. I was very scared,” Pratt, 68, said. “I am fortunate in the fact that my eyes are OK. I don’t think I received a concussion or anything like that. My nose was broken and I have pretty severe cuts and bruises on my face and head.”<\/p>\n

He received a CAT scan at the hospital where he said doctors indicated he avoided any brain damage, despite being knocked unconscious for several hours by the surprise assault.<\/p>\n

After apparently surprising a man who appeared to be taking shelter in his business, Pratt said the intruder appeared to be calmly leaving, but that’s when it got ugly.<\/p>\n

“I thought he was gathering up his stuff to leave because I confronted him and I was going to basically run him out,” Pratt said. “I don’t have any idea why he attacked.”<\/p>\n

As far as a suspect goes, Pratt couldn’t think of anyone who would have reason to harm him. “I don’t think it was anybody that actually knew me. I think he was just hiding out in the building”<\/p>\n

He has not provided details about the assailant yet, largely because he is still recovering and said he doesn’t want to provide inaccurate information. “I had been knocked unconscious, tied up and laid on the deck for about six hours. I don’t think I was the most coherent, I was in a pretty stressed-out situation.”<\/p>\n

Pratt was discovered by his wife about 8 p.m. Dec. 25 said Mike Keck, criminal investigations commander for the Casa Grande Police Department.
\nPratt had gone to his business earlier in the day to check on it and was confronted by someone who was already inside, Keck said. That’s when he was beaten and knocked unconscious, and left tied up inside the building.<\/p>\n

When he did not return home by 4 p.m., his wife, Janice, said she tried to telephone him, but he had left his cell phone at home. She went to check on him about an hour later.<\/p>\n

His vehicle was not at the shop. Keck said Pratt’s sport utility vehicle was stolen.
\nJanice Pratt did not realize her husband was inside, so she returned home. She checked the business again at 8 p.m. and noticed an unlocked gate. She then tried the door and heard her husband call for help. Pratt was then airlifted to a Phoenix hospital.<\/p>\n

Pratt said he doesn’t know how the man got in, since the main door was locked and showed no signs of forced entry. The business does have two other doors and several windows, however.<\/p>\n

Pratt said he routinely goes by his business on days it is closed to check on things. “It’s just kind of a habit more than anything else. Normally I pick up the mail, check messages, the pool water level, chemicals and stuff.”
\nEarlier media reports indicated that the assailant stole Pratt’s “state-issued” GMC Yukon. He said that the vehicle is in fact his, but he described the vehicle to police as having a license plate on the front that “identifies him as a legislator,” which is where the confusion possibly came from. The intruder also stole Pratt’s Rolex watch.<\/p>\n

For now, Pratt is focusing on recovering and getting past the frightening incident. “I’m bruised from one end to the other,” Pratt said. “So far I just want to block it all out.”<\/p>\n

Pratt, a Republican representing Legislative District 23, plans on being in Phoenix for the start of the 50th Legislature, since he “has the honor of opening” the session which will take place Jan. 10.<\/p>\n

~-The Associated Press contributed to this report.~<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a Christmas Day assault that left Republican Rep. Frank Pratt with severe facial lacerations, a broken nose, tied up and unconscious for several hours, he still considers the area around his business in Casa Grande “fairly safe.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563,4868,815,4836,12],"tags":[4015,1521,394],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":32245,"date":"2010-12-20T19:32:30","date_gmt":"2010-12-21T02:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azcaptimes.wpenginepowered.com\/election\/2010\/12\/20\/recount-confirms-defeat-of-proposition-112\/"},"modified":"2010-12-20T19:32:30","modified_gmt":"2010-12-21T02:32:30","slug":"recount-confirms-defeat-of-proposition-112","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/2010\/12\/20\/recount-confirms-defeat-of-proposition-112\/","title":{"rendered":"Recount confirms defeat of Proposition 112"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recount has confirmed that Arizona\u2019s Proposition 112 failed by the slimmest margin in state history.<\/p>\n

The ballot measure would have moved up the deadline to submit signatures for a citizen\u2019s initiative by two months. It failed by 194 votes, according to the Secretary of State\u2019s Office, which oversaw the state\u2019s first-ever recount of a ballot measure.<\/p>\n

The first count following the Nov. 2 election showed the measure had failed by 128 votes, triggering the recount because the margin between rejection and passage was so thin. More than 1.5 million votes were cast on the measure, with 792,664 votes to pass the measure and 792,858 votes against it.<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Ken Bennett said the slight shift in vote totals was expected given the large number of ballots being re-tabulated, but the final count was still very close from the original tally, the Secretary of State said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis exercise confirmed the accuracy of our voting system and should give voters confidence in the integrity of Arizona elections,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n

Proposition 112, which the Legislature referred to the ballot, raised very little support or opposition during the election season, presumably because it called for a technical change to a process that very few voters have experienced.<\/p>\n

The measure would have shaved two months from the period in which Arizona residents can gather signatures to put a citizens\u2019 initiative on the ballot. Instead of turning in signature petitions by July 1, the measure would have set a deadline of May 1, which would have made it more difficult for groups to collect the required number of signatures.<\/p>\n

Republican and Democratic lawmakers supported the measure, arguing that the date change would give election officials enough time to ensure that signatures are properly filed, counted and verified. The way it is now, they said, there isn\u2019t enough time to properly verify whether the signatures are valid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recount has confirmed that Arizona\u2019s Proposition 112 failed by the slimmest margin in state history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3852,563,6],"tags":[1623,6504,1159,6503,6500,6282,438,6501,6502,3068],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32245"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":32182,"date":"2010-12-15T19:34:47","date_gmt":"2010-12-16T02:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azcaptimes.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=32182"},"modified":"2010-12-15T19:34:47","modified_gmt":"2010-12-16T02:34:47","slug":"walking-the-green-mile-with-green-party-candidate-gregor-knauer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/2010\/12\/15\/walking-the-green-mile-with-green-party-candidate-gregor-knauer\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking the green mile with Green Party candidate Gregor Knauer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Former<\/a>

Former LD-17 House candidate and Arizona Green Party member Gregor Knauer. (Photo by Ryan Van Velzer)<\/p><\/div>\n

Bringing a whole new meaning to back-door politics, Gregor Knauer agreed to run for office while standing in the alley behind his Tempe home.<\/p>\n

On the drive home from the ultra progressive Howard Zinn Memorial Film Festival in early April, Knauer, a 56-year-old groundskeeper, was urged to run for the Arizona Legislature. His friend, the driver, told him the Green Party had just gotten the 20,000 signatures necessary to put candidates on the 2010 ballot for the upcoming midterm elections.<\/p>\n

By the time they arrived at Knauer’s home and lifted Knauer’s bike out of the VW convertible, Knauer decided to run as the little guy, for the little guy, for the Arizona House of Representatives, District 17.<\/p>\n

Knauer isn’t the average political candidate. Not even close. He’s an offbeat, idealistic working man who has a spiritual guru, practices celibacy, abstains from alcohol and only enters his home from the back door. Like pistachio ice cream versus the much more familiar chocolate and vanilla, Knauer’s peculiarities both distinguished him and doomed him all at once.<\/p>\n

When he launched his bid for the House he had been a registered Green for several years. This was his first political candidacy, and although he knew the odds were stacked against him, he believed his “standing up for the little guy” message would resonate with District 17 voters.<\/p>\n

He was wrong.<\/p>\n

Although Knauer only garnered 2 percent of the vote, he wants to run again for public office, but he’s not sure which one.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, however, he wants to get people past the tree-hugging stereotypes associated with the Greens and inform them about the party’s focus on social responsibility (drug legalization and environmental conservation), social justice (prison reform) and grassroots democracy (electoral reform). He’s even considering buying a computer to help spread the message.<\/p>\n

While he may be focused on changing the public’s perception of Greens, Knauer, sporting khaki shorts, suspenders, a long-sleeve shirt, glasses and a bucket hat while talking to a reporter one day in late November, doesn’t deviate too far from what could be considered the mold of a typical Green candidate.<\/p>\n

He stays fit, runs often, and works as a groundskeeper for Cosanti, an Arizona historical site in Paradise Valley developed by Paolo Soleri. He explains the architecture of Cosanti uses Soleri’s earth-casting method creating large cement domes to control temperatures. He then walks around the five-acre lot explaining his daily routine and duties as groundskeeper.<\/p>\n

Spirituality plays a big part in his life. Knauer meditates every morning.<\/p>\n

He sits cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom facing a shrine of his spiritual master. The shrine consists of a small wooden box adorned with sheet music, photographs and a black and white photograph of his master, Sri Chinmoy, in a “transcendental” state. As Knauer meditates, he practices the “lion’s gaze,” closing his eyelids halfway and staring at the shrine hoping to take in the both the inner and outer world.<\/p>\n

Chinmoy was an Indian spiritual leader who preached inner harmony through vigorous exercise, meditation, writing and community involvement. He ran a meditation center out of Queens, N.Y., which claimed to have 7,000 disciples from 60 different countries. Knauer became one of those disciples in 1988 after being invited to a public meditation session in New York City.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday evenings, Knauer meets with fellow devotees in the front room of his home in Tempe. Sitting on a blue rug, they practice group meditation. Knauer keeps the front room of his house sacred buy only entering and exiting his home through a back door that leads to an alley.<\/p>\n

Knauer shrugs off accusations that Chinmoy and his followers are part of a cult, suggesting those involved in the accusations were nothing more than “spoiled children on a vendetta” against his guru. Knauer has never donated money to his spiritual center, but says others do.<\/p>\n

About halfway through his legislative campaign, Knauer received a special phone call from the leader of his spiritual center. He had been granted a spiritual name – Haryakasha. All followers of Chinmoy eventually receive a new name and for Knauer (who is now called Haryakasha by co-workers, friends and family) it took more than 22 years.<\/p>\n

The name was more than a reward for his spiritual devotion; it was a call to action, to live up to the meaning of his spiritual name – divine lion, noble in demeanor and conduct.<\/p>\n

Out of his spirituality, grew his political platform. Knauer has long been a registered Green, devoted to the party’s core principles for environmentalism and social responsibility. Saying that both major parties have become “bogged down with bureaucracy and are bound to corporate paymasters,” Knauer considers the Greens a party focused on serving the people.<\/p>\n

Knauer ran for the House as one of only seven Green Party candidates on the ballot for the 2010 midterm elections and the only candidate endorsed by the Green Party in his district. The main Republican opposition, Steve May, dropped out of the race amid controversy. May, a former legislator, convinced a handful of locals, including teens and the homeless, to run as non-endorsed Green candidates in District 17. With May out, Knauer was left to battle it out with two well-known, heavy-hitting Democrats: Ed Ableser and Ben Arredondo.<\/p>\n

Knauer’s war chest was more like a piggy bank with about $1,300 to spend on his campaign while Ableser had $40,000 and Arredondo wielded more than $113,000. Despite strong competition, a lack of funding and a district that favored Democrats, Knauer managed to pull in 1,260 votes – more votes than there were Greens registered in the district.<\/p>\n

On Election Night, while members of the main political parties congregated at hotels in downtown Phoenix preparing victory and concession speeches, Knauer was at home meditating with three other devotees, to clear his mind.<\/p>\n

After group meditation, he went out to dinner with friends, waiting to look at the returns until later that night.<\/p>\n

Only a week before, Knauer had his final meeting with fellow Green candidates where he reminded everyone to get the phone numbers of their political opponents so they can make their concessions when the time came. Knauer, having taken his own advice, called Arredondo and Ableser and offered his congratulations.<\/p>\n

And now, as Knauer ties up the loose ends of his campaign – shutting down his committee, sending out e-mails, attending rallies and completing the post election financial report – he contemplates his next run for office – spiritually.<\/p>\n

“The path is accepting the world in order to transform the world – in God’s own way at God’s own hour,” Knauer says. “I think all of us in our hearts want a better world.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bringing a whole new meaning to back-door politics, Gregor Knauer agreed to run for office while standing in the alley behind his Tempe home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563,4932,10,4823,12],"tags":[5350,5272,594,6465,6463,5345,6466,6467],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":32127,"date":"2010-12-13T07:13:05","date_gmt":"2010-12-13T14:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azcaptimes.wpenginepowered.com\/election\/2010\/12\/13\/late-spending-flurries-fail-to-help-dems-win-in-2010\/"},"modified":"2011-06-28T21:17:31","modified_gmt":"2011-06-28T21:17:31","slug":"late-spending-flurries-fail-to-help-dems-win-in-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/2010\/12\/13\/late-spending-flurries-fail-to-help-dems-win-in-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"Late spending flurries fail to help Dems win in 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

Final campaign spending reports from the 2010 election season revealed desperation by ultimately unsuccessful candidates who loaned their campaigns large amounts of money, as well as aggressive spending by winning candidates who likely didn\u2019t need it.<\/p>\n

The deadline for filing the post-general election reports, which show fundraising figures for Oct. 14 through Nov. 22, was Dec. 2.<\/p>\n

Democratic Senate candidates had little to show for a spending blitz in which they greatly outspent their Republican opponents during the final stretch of the campaigns.<\/p>\n

Democrat Justin Johnson, who tried to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Linda Gray in Legislative District 10, was an especially active fundraiser, collecting the third largest amount of money during his entire campaign \u2014 $137,000 \u2014 among legislative candidates in this election cycle.<\/p>\n

In fact, Johnson raised nearly $19,000 and spent about $50,000 between Oct. 14 and Nov. 22 alone. Gray, in contrast, ran as a Clean Elections candidate, which limited her spending to roughly $21,000 during the general election. Gray beat Johnson by more than 4,000 votes.<\/p>\n

Cheryl Cage, a Democrat from Marana, faced a similar situation to Johnson in her bid to win the Legislative District 26 Senate seat from Republican incumbent Al Melvin.<\/p>\n

Cage raised about $125,000 for the entire campaign, nearly doubling Melvin\u2019s overall fundraising total of $63,000. Cage lost to Melvin, who captured 6,000 more votes than the Democrat. When the two squared off two years ago, about 2,000 votes separated them.<\/p>\n

In one of the biggest surprises of the election, tens of thousands of dollars in independent spending failed to lift Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Rios over Republican newcomer Steve Smith.<\/p>\n

Both candidates ran with equal amounts of public money. But independent expenditure groups came up big for Rios, spending about $90,000 for her re-election campaign. It was the most independent spending for any legislative candidate this election cycle. Rios came up about 4,000 votes short.<\/p>\n

Jon Hulburd, the Democratic candidate in Arizona\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, faced the same situation and result as his legislative brethren.<\/p>\n

Hulburd loaned himself $500,000 in the last month of the campaign, but lost by 23,000 votes to Republican Ben Quayle.<\/p>\n

One congressional Democratic candidate did manage to turn a late spending blitz into a victory at the polls.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords disposed of Republican challenger Jesse Kelly by a little more than 4,000 votes. She spent more than $1 million during the final five weeks of the campaign, whereas Kelley spent $447,000.<\/p>\n

Giffords was able to bombard voters in Arizona\u2019s 8th Congressional District with her message during the entire campaign. She raised about $3.5 million, while Kelly reported raising nearly $1.7 million.<\/p>\n

Even the record-setting amount of money spent in the state treasurer\u2019s race by both candidates wasn\u2019t enough to make it close. The race saw each candidate spend around $1 million. Andrei Cherny spent more than half \u2014 $533,000 \u2014 of his $983,000 campaign war chest from Oct. 14 through the end of the campaign, primarily on television advertising. He loaned himself $280,000 in late October.<\/p>\n

Doug Ducey, the former CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, loaned his campaign about $317,000 near the end of the campaign. During that same period, he spent about $427,000.<\/p>\n

Ducey reported spending about $1.2 million and Cherny spent $983,000 for their entire campaigns, both record amounts for the treasurer\u2019s race. In the end, Ducey topped Cherny by about 165,000 votes.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Democrats\u2019 best chance for a statewide victory was attorney general candidate Felecia Rotellini. The state Democratic Party gave Rotellini, former superintendent of the Department of Financial Institutions, $30,000 on Oct. 22. In the end, it didn\u2019t make enough of a difference, although Rotellini came the closest to winning out of all the statewide Democratic candidates.<\/p>\n

While millions were spent in congressional and statewide races, Arizona House Republicans, who had relatively easy sailing, still raised and spent money as though their races were closer than they actually were.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Kirk Adams outraised and outspent all other candidates for the Legislature this year. He raised $196,531 and spent roughly the same amount in his re-election campaign, for a race where his victory was more or less assured.<\/p>\n

Adams and Republican freshman Justin Olson beat their lone Democratic challenger in Legislative District 19, Kit Filbey, by approximately 20,000 votes each.<\/p>\n

Legislative District 19 is a conservative enclave, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 2-to-1.<\/p>\n

Even just the possibility of being in leadership helps pull in contributions for a candidate.<\/p>\n

Rep. John McComish ran unopposed for the Legislative District 20 Senate seat, but he still collected a whopping $54,634.<\/p>\n

Rep. Steve Yarbrough, who also didn\u2019t have an opponent, raised $27,854 for his election to the Legislative District 21 Senate seat.<\/p>\n

The two senators-elect had eyed the Senate presidency, which ultimately went to Sen. Russell Pearce, a Republican from Mesa.<\/p>\n

While prominent legislative Republicans had little problem raising enough money to secure their re-elections, the state Republican Party\u2019s overall fundraising results for the past two-year election cycle (2009-2010) were largely flat.<\/p>\n

Although the AZ GOP raised more than twice as much money this cycle for its non-federal account than it did in 2008, its overall fundraising was only slightly higher than two years ago. And, when one takes into account the money the party raised that was directed to the 2009 Tucson City Council race, the overall cycle-to-cycle fundraising was nearly identical.<\/p>\n

According to the party\u2019s post-general campaign finance report filed last week with the Secretary of State\u2019s Office, the party raised $1,468,294 for its non-federal account, including $667,891 from individual contributors. Both numbers represent dramatic increases over 2008, when the GOP raised only $710,030, of which $180,415 was from individuals. However, more than a quarter of this cycle\u2019s individual contributions were used to fund the party\u2019s 2009 campaign efforts in the Tucson City Council race.<\/p>\n

While the Republican Party\u2019s non-federal account was more robust in 2010 than in 2008, its federal fundraising was significantly less. Two years ago, the GOP raised $1,771, 227 in federal money, compared to only $1,236,633 this year. The combined total of $2,704,927 the party raised is an increase from the $2,481,257 raised in 2008. However, if the Tucson City Council race money is removed, the party raised only about $40,000 more than in 2008.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Final campaign spending reports from the 2010 election season revealed desperation by ultimately unsuccessful candidates who loaned their campaigns large amounts of money, as well as aggressive spending by winning candidates who likely didn\u2019t need it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4245,563,6],"tags":[426,3694,5511,4420,3847,5182,483,5276,2207,3389,5154,6047,352,418,4225,431,762,5504,405,3760],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":31974,"date":"2010-12-02T17:31:51","date_gmt":"2010-12-03T00:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azcaptimes.wpenginepowered.com\/election\/2010\/12\/02\/clean-elections-commission-puts-off-vote-on-fixed-assets-rule-change\/"},"modified":"2010-12-02T17:31:51","modified_gmt":"2010-12-03T00:31:51","slug":"clean-elections-commission-puts-off-vote-on-fixed-assets-rule-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/2010\/12\/02\/clean-elections-commission-puts-off-vote-on-fixed-assets-rule-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean Elections Commission puts off vote on fixed-assets rule change"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Royann<\/a>

Royann Jordan Parker, chairwoman of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, says no rule can cover every possible way a candidate can use public funding. On Thursday, she and other commissioners put off voting on a proposed rule change that would require candidates to return or buy back laptops, printers, cameras and other fixed assets that cost $200 or more. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Alyssa Newcomb)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission on Thursday put off voting on a proposed rule change that would require publicly financed candidates to return or purchase fixed assets such as laptops, printers and cameras.<\/p>\n

The original rule change would have made Clean Elections candidates turn over all fixed-asset purchases exceeding $200 to state surplus within seven days of the election\u2019s end or buy them with their personal funds for 75 percent of the purchase price.<\/p>\n

At Thursday\u2019s meeting, Jeff Fairman, a commissioner who will be the chairman next year, suggested the rule be changed to allow candidates up to 30 days after an election to return fixed assets and provide the option of buying them for 50 percent of the purchase price.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re getting a great computer for a reasonable price. I think more people would take that option,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added it would reduce the amount items state surplus would have to take back.<\/p>\n

The proposed rule, with its suggested changes, will be available for public comment for another 60 days before the commission takes action at its Jan. 27 meeting.<\/p>\n

Cronkite News Service reported last month that some of the 107 legislative candidates who opted for Clean Elections funding purchased laptops and other fixed assets, paid relatives to do campaign work and provided entertainment such as a mariachi band and a \u201cpost-debate discussion\u201d with campaign staffers at T.G.I. Friday\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Current rules allow purchases of fixed assets worth up to $800 provided that candidates disclose them.<\/p>\n

Todd Lang, executive director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission said such purchases are an issue that has come up several times over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be fair, the expenditures in question are often the same expenditures traditional campaigns make,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re running a serious campaign these days, you need a computer. You need a printer. You need a cell phone and a camera,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

But Lori Daniels, one of the five commissioners, said \u201cthere is a distinction because it is taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniels later clarified for the record that the money comes from fines paid by taxpayers, not from general tax revenues.<\/p>\n

In an interview after the meeting, Royann Jordan Parker, chairwoman of the commission, it\u2019s impossible to write a rule that will cover every possibility in campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cCampaigning is a subjective industry, in a sense,\u201d she said.
\n
\nProposed rule changes:
\n<\/strong>
\nOriginal: Candidates would have to return fixed assets worth more than $200 to state surplus within seven days or buy them for 75 percent of the purchase price.<\/p>\n

Amended: Candidates would have to return fixed assets worth more than $200 to state surplus within 30 days or buy them for 50 percent of the purchase price.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission on Thursday put off voting on a proposed rule change that would require publicly financed candidates to return or purchase fixed assets such as laptops, printers and cameras.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4245,794,6,10],"tags":[1623,13293,708,6331,578,3780,3846,6332],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31974\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":31896,"date":"2010-11-30T10:16:47","date_gmt":"2010-11-30T17:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azcaptimes.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=31896"},"modified":"2010-11-30T10:16:47","modified_gmt":"2010-11-30T17:16:47","slug":"general-election-canvass-sets-up-first-known-recount-of-ballot-measure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/2010\/11\/30\/general-election-canvass-sets-up-first-known-recount-of-ballot-measure\/","title":{"rendered":"General election canvass sets up first known recount of ballot measure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Secretary<\/a>

Secretary of State Ken Bennett signs the official canvass of this year<\/p><\/div>\n

General election results made official Monday set up the first recount of a statewide ballot proposition that officials can recall.<\/p>\n

Proposition 112, which seeks to move the initiative filing deadline forward by 60 days, trailed by only 128 votes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may be the first time in the history of the state [that a proposition is recounted],\u201d Secretary of State Ken Bennett said.<\/p>\n

State law requires that a Superior Court judge order a recount for differences of less than one-tenth of 1 percent or 200 votes, whichever is less. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Oberbillig issued that order Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Proposition 112, which would move the filing deadline for citizens\u2019 initiatives from July 1 to May 1 of an election year, didn\u2019t garner much support or opposition. Some county election officials said they needed the extra time to verify signatures.<\/p>\n

The Legislature unanimously referred the measure to the ballot.<\/p>\n

Attorney General Terry Goddard, who was present at the canvass, suggested it was general apathy about the proposition that created such an even split.<\/p>\n

Gov. Jan Brewer was also on hand to certify the results, as required by law.<\/p>\n

Bennett said the \u201cmonumental task\u201d of recounting will begin in the next two days, after each county retests their logic and accuracy machines. The state will cover the cost of the recount, which is estimated at between $150,000 and $200,000.<\/p>\n

The results are expected to be delivered to the judge around Dec.15.<\/p>\n

The overall election went smoothly and without any major hiccups, Bennett said.<\/p>\n

After three weeks of early voting and with 2,200 polling places open on election day, Arizonans cast a total of 1,750,840 ballots.<\/p>\n

That put the statewide turnout at 55.6 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was within the normal range of our off-presidential-year elections,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n

The county with the highest turnout was Yavapai, which recorded 68 percent. The lowest was Yuma at 46.3 percent.<\/p>\n

Turnout by county:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Apache 47.89 percent
\n\u2013 Cochise 52.35 percent
\n\u2013 Coconino 57.38 percent
\n\u2013 Gila 60.20 percent
\n\u2013 Graham 52.77 percent
\n\u2013 Greenlee 59.7 percent
\n\u2013 La Paz 52.99 percent
\n\u2013 Maricopa 54.22 percent
\n\u2013 Mohave 47.21 percent
\n\u2013 Navajo 52.03 percent
\n\u2013 Pima 65.54 percent
\n\u2013 Pinal 48.48 percent
\n\u2013 Santa Cruz 46.49 percent
\n\u2013 Yavapai 67.97 percent
\n\u2013 Yuma 46.31 percent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

General election results made official Monday set up the first recount of a statewide ballot proposition that officials can recall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4245,10],"tags":[1159,337,438,6286,2982,685,6287],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31896"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31896\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/election\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]