Attorney General Tom Horne is in the hospital recovering from surgery he underwent on Friday.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has hired two lawyers who have contributed money or campaign work for Attorney General Tom Horne to investigate claims he and his staff are using taxpayer time and resources to run his re-election campaign.

The Citizens Clean Election Commission voted unanimously to investigate allegations that Tom Horne and his staff are using taxpayer time and resources to run his reelection campaign, which could lead to the embattled attorney general being removed from office

Amid concerns that it could benefit him in his gubernatorial campaign, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission rejected Secretary of State Ken Bennett’s request that it authorize him to appear in voter education ads.

The executive director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission urged the commission to reject a request from Secretary of State Ken Bennett, a candidate for governor, that he be allowed to appear in his office’s proposed voter education ads.

The director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission said Attorney General Tom Horne’s response to a complaint filed by a former employee didn’t adequately answer allegations that he and his staff campaign on state time, and in some cases lends credence to her allegations.

The Citizens Clean Elections Commission said it needs more information before deciding whether Secretary of State Ken Bennett’s request to appear in voter education ads being planned by his office would constitute a promotion of his candidacy for governor.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill intended to prevent the Citizens Clean Elections Commission from regulating traditionally funded candidates, potentially sparking a lawsuit against it.

In a rare split decision, the Arizona Supreme Court explained today that a law setting new contribution limits is valid because voters in 1998 would have set specific amounts into statute if they wanted them fixed.

The past year included perhaps the most significant changes to Arizona’s election laws since the creation of the Clean Elections system and independent redistricting more than a decade earlier.