Secretary of State Jan Brewer says Governor Napolitano’s publicly funded campaign may have violated state law by committing to campaign spending for a Web site before Ms. Napolitano formally registered her re-election campaign.
Ms. Napolitano’s campaign denies it did that, contending that it didn’t commit to spending on Internet services until after Ms. Napolitano filed her re-election campaign on March 1. An initial version of her campaign Web site was launched on March 1 but after the filing, the campaign states.
However, Mrs. Brewer formally notified Attorney General Terry Goddard on June 22 that she had reviewed a complaint filed by the state Republican Party against Ms. Napolitano’s campaign and concluded that “reasonable cause” exists to believe that Ms. Napolitano’s campaign violated prohibitions on spending more than $500 before a candidate registers his or her campaign.
Similarly, the state commission that oversees Arizona’s public campaign financing system voted 4-1 on May 25 to launch its own investigation of the Republican Party’s complaint that the same Napolitano campaign activity was a violation of a different prohibition against campaign spending before the candidate has money to cover the cost of the spending.
Len Munsil’s campaign also questioned
In a separate matter involving a complaint filed by the state Democratic Party, Mrs. Brewer concluded that Republican gubernatorial candidate Len Munsil’s campaign may have violated another election law by not stating on Mr. Munsil’s campaign Web site that it was “paid for” by the campaign.
Mr. Munsil’s campaign has acknowledged the omission, calling it an oversight and a technical violation and correcting it.
Mr. Goddard spokesman Steve Wilson said the office was reviewing Mrs. Brewer’s findings.
“It’s up to us to decide whether there needs to be some kind of enforcement,” he said of the Ms. Napolitano matter. “It will probably take a while. It’s not a clear-cut, black-and-white issue.”
Mr. Wilson also said that Mr. Goddard, a candidate for re-election, would have a senior aide decide the cases.
Mrs. Brewer, whose duties include acting as the state’s chief elections officer, is a Republican. Ms. Napolitano and Mr. Goddard are Democrats.
Ms. Napolitano’s campaign officials say the spending on Internet services involved didn’t take effect until the campaign made its first monthly payment to a vendor in late March.
Ms. Napolitano’s campaign manager Noah Kroloff said June 26 that Mrs. Brewer’s action was “part of the process” and that the campaign would cooperate with official proceedings.
“We absolutely believe we comply with the law,” Mr. Kroloff said.
State Republican Party Executive Director Glenn Hamer said he was pleased by Mrs. Brewer’s action. “An experienced politician like Napolitano can’t claim this was a rookie mistake. There seems to have been a conscious effort by her campaign to game the system,” Mr. Hamer said.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.