Jonathan Paton dropped a lawsuit that sought to have one of his Republican contenders in the 1st Congressional District race removed from the ballot.

The complaint also alleged illegal coordination by GOP consultant Nathan Sproul, who worked for BLA during the campaign. Dybus accused Sproul of providing regular campaign advice to both BLA and Horne himself, and credited him with securing the $350,000 contribution from RSLC, which was co-founded by Republican operative Karl Rove.

Federal authorities are investigating Attorney General Tom Horne over allegations that he illegally collaborated with an independent expenditure committee that spent more than a half-million dollars on negative ads against his Democratic opponent in 2010, the Arizona Capitol Times has learned.

A complaint filed in February by a prosecutor in Horne’s own office - and a onetime political ally of Horne - alleges that the attorney general collaborated with an independent expenditure called Business Leaders for Arizona, which received $115,000 from Horne’s brother-in-law in California.

The complaint, filed with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, also alleges that Horne rewarded the chairwoman of the campaign group with a high-paying job at the Attorney General’s Office.

If you can’t beat them, pack up and move to a new district.

That’s the lesson that a handful of legislators are taking with them as they prepare to run in the new districts drawn by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

Legislative candidates across the state are quickly learning how difficult it is to run a campaign without knowing where their districts will be.

The uncertainty also complicates fundraising.

This week’s most outstanding utterances, gibes and quips.

In a state that has so often been an afterthought in presidential campaigns, Gov. Jan Brewer wants Arizona to have a role befitting its newfound national prominence in 2012.

Arizona has dominated the national discourse on illegal immigration and border security for the past two years, and it's one of the epicenters of the nationwide housing crisis.

Now Brewer wants to parlay that influence into a louder voice for Arizona in choosing the Republican Party’s nominee to face President Barack Obama.

This week’s most outstanding utterances, gibes and quips.

Republicans have railed against the Independent Redistricting Commission, saying it intends to draw political lines that turn the state over to Democrats.

But the combination of constitutional requirements, federal regulations and voter registration numbers make for a reality that is far different from any tea partier’s nightmare scenario.

Arizona Democrats have said they want a legislative map that will be used for the next decade to significantly increase the number of competitive districts in order to give more voters an actual choice when they go to ballot boxes every other November.