Constantin Querard can help you get elected to the Legislature if, and only if, you are what he describes as a “platform Republican” with uncompromising beliefs in the sanctity of life, pro-family issues, low taxes and the right to keep and bear arms.
The 36-year-old father of two has been labeled by opponents as a “brass-knuckled political street brawler,” a cheat, or something akin to a money launderer. And that’s just from members of his party.
Other detractors might take him as the author of a manipulative early ballot request scheme or a hired gun for David Burnell Smith, the former District 7 representative who became the first legislator in the nation to be removed for campaign spending violations.
Yet the ire he raises might be matched by the respect and sympathy of supporters who view him as a highly motivated and intelligent campaign consultant for social conservatives; a sort of media-bullied rebel hero, thorn-in-the-side of the liberally biased creators and administrators of Arizona’s system of publicly funded elections.

The more neutral observers will note his effectiveness, saying the election of five of Mr. Querard’s clients, including Mr. Smith, has helped to create the most conservative Legislature to be seen in years.
Mr. Querard recently was interviewed by Arizona Capitol Times about his battles, his work in 2006 and why he prefers to call himself a political message vendor.
How did you get into politics and when?
Probably as a teenager. I grew up in Colorado and it was something that I was always paying attention to. I wasn’t from a political family per se, but it was something that captured my imagination. Then I started volunteering for campaigns and got to college, started a chapter of College Republicans and stayed involved. The more you do, the more you know how to do and so the more the campaigns will give you to do. You get to take on greater and greater responsibility
Many people say that social conservatives have benefited the most from Arizona’s system of publicly funded elections, yet some of the elected lawmakers who have run publicly funded campaigns are the system’s most vocal critics. What is your opinion of Clean Elections?
In spite of the ideological opposition to public financing, Clean Elections has been a real blessing for conservatives. Like most liberal ideas on how to change the rules in their favor, it has backfired on the left — and both parties — and allowed committed conservatives to run for office without having to beg the money establishment for resources. The problem with Clean Elections has been a commission whose members weren’t interested in being a neutral referee, but interested in achieving predetermined outcomes. There is a new staff and new commissioners this cycle and I think this group will do a better job of staying impartial and being fair. With good people in charge the system can work. It’s so very difficult to take politics out of politics and that’s the challenges Clean Elections faces.
East Valley Tribune reporter Le Templar wrote that it is arguable that you and consultant Chris Baker affected the political bent of the Legislature more than any other figures. Several of your candidates were elected, some in competitive districts against incumbents. But judging by the lawsuits, a four-hour deposition with the Citizens Clean Elections Commission and what have you, it’s safe to say that you have your share of opponents. Is it better to be loved or feared?
I would prefer to be loved. But I understand that realistically that will not be universal. Let me put it this way: smarter people than me have told me that liberals see me as some kind of mastermind and they want to destroy me so I’ll stop helping conservatives get to office. I don’t know if that’s true. But it does fit the attacks on me and the timing of the attacks. They are always timed around election dates. If I was not successful at electing conservatives they probably wouldn’t care about me, so I suppose I should take as a compliment all the attention. But, obviously life was simpler before all of this.
In an e-mail regarding the Republican Primary Vote-by-Mail Center, you specifically stated that you did not want information that you obtained from returned requests for early ballots that you sent out to be shared with other Republicans running for the Legislature. Why not?
It wasn’t a question of other Republicans. It was designed to strictly benefit pro-life, pro-family platform Republicans. There are candidates in the Republican Party who are not platform Republicans. They are not pro-life, pro-family and they are not solid on tax issues or second amendment issues (the right to bear arms) and I do not do what I do to benefit them. I do what I do to benefit the folks in my party who share the party’s platform.
Do you take pride in unseating RINOs [Republicans in Name Only — derogatory term for moderate GOP members]?
I take pride in having helped the candidates who won because electing a good person is a lot more satisfying than just booting out a bad Republican.
Are all Republicans who don’t uphold all of your social beliefs bad Republicans?
Not bad people, but by definition if you are a Republican and you don’t believe in what the party believes in then it is fair to say that you are a bad Republican. You can be a good person. You can be a good Democrat. There already is a party for people who don’t believe what Republicans believe in. But there are folks who vote like Democrats and believe like Democrats but who run as Republicans because it is a Republican district. I think it is fair to point out their ideology, their voting records and to find a Republican with Republican values to replace them.
What is a political message vendor?
A term that has been abused. I worked as a vendor, period. And I have been asked by Clean Elections to somehow be more specific in my term because a vendor could be anyone who sells anything and I don’t sell anything — I sell specific things. I describe it as a political message vendor because I sell the things that allow candidates to convey their political message to voters. So the term political message vendors was picked up by several reporters and overused.
Even the term vendor was really more of the result of Clean Elections definitions because they have rules regarding vendors versus non-vendors.
Did you ever contemplate running for office?
No. I’ve joked that Constantin Querard is not a name that it well suited to retail politics. Although a few years ago, along came a man named Thayer Verschoor [GOP senator from District 22] to give us all hope.
When several of your candidates were under investigation by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, they asked you for financial records so they could provide amended campaign reports that show greater detail on how their money was spent. You refused. How come?
I first point out that these investigations were the result of opponents who lost and filed these complaints that were ultimately dismissed. The details that I was asked for are called trade secrets in business terminology. Who and where I get my goods printed, published, distributed is what determines how successful my business is, what my profit margins are. They are not for public consumption. I had offered to show all of this to Clean Elections for their own internal use so they could verify that everything was done appropriately. But I did not want my competition to be able to file a public records request and be able to dissect why I am successful and who I use as my sub-vendors. That did not belong in the public arena. But it was offered to Clean Elections and they basically refused the offer.
Your defamation trial against Tom Liddy, who you contend falsely accused you of money laundering, ended with the Superior Court judge ruling that Mr. Liddy’s assertions might be true. Are you worried about being indicted in the future or any effects on your career?
Nobody ever likes bad publicity, but what Tom had accused me of had never happened. It was one of a number of things that he was doing to try to hurt me and these conservative candidates. It got to a point where you finally have to say enough is enough; you can’t just make up these sorts of accusations against people. I’m not an attorney, but I did get legal advice and it was clear to my attorney that what had gone on was defamatory so I filed the suit. Obviously when you step into the courtroom you roll the dice and never know what is going to happen. I am still surprised at the outcome because I don’t see how it cannot access or touch the money in any way to have done inappropriate things with it. I don’t know if we’ll ever get the judge’s reasoning for that. I think people that know what’s been going on and understand the dynamics of Tom and his agenda and me and mine, recognize the truth and I don’t think there will be any long-term damage.
Conservative blogger Greg Patterson of Espresso Pundit respectfully likens you to a political guerrilla fighter created by the system of publicly funded elections — smart, ideological and willing to work cheap, capable of recruiting candidates, organizing campaigns and using Clean Elections money to run low-cost, effective campaigns. Do you predict that you will consult for more candidates during the 2006 elections than you had in 2004?
That’s a colorful description. I will be busier in 2006 than I was in 2004. I’m sure some of the bad press and exposure have cost me some business, but I still have a full plate for 2006.
Who will you be consulting for in 2006?
The list is long and distinguished.
And not further detailed?
Obviously, a lot of the folks that were elected in 2004 and are running for re-election. There are open seat races and some challenger races. I do some work in other states as well. It’s a long list.
And you are not worried about an indictment from the attorney general?
How do you plan in life for every possible eventuality? You’d go nuts. I don’t. Do I think it’s going to happen? No, I don’t because I know I didn’t do anything. This whole mess was two years ago. Is it possible for political purposes that somebody is going to try to whack me [laughs]? After the experiences I’ve had? I wouldn’t know how to answer that. The best answer is — I’m never surprised what people will do for political gain. The accusations made two years ago were false then and they are now.
I appreciate you sitting down for an interview and taking the time.
No problem. Take care.