Congressman Raul Grijalva is launching his own iPhone app. According to Grijalva’s office the free download will allow iPhone users to get news, follow legislation, and find out about the Congressman’s public appearances.
Arizona Congressman Ben Quayle also has on iPhone app for constituents.
Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl is on the list of six Republicans who will work with six Democrats to whittle down the federal deficit by $1 trillion.
Republican leaders named Reps. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). Joining Kyl from the Senate are Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.).
Democratic Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) were appointed to the committee. House Democrats on the committee are Reps. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
Wil Cardon the CEO of the Mesa-based Cardon Group is the latest person to enter the race for US Senate. Cardon is running as a Republican which means he will face Congressman Jeff Flake in the primary.
Cardon says he will not be outspent in the campaign. That is a tall claim considering Flake already has a little more the $2 million in cash and an AZPM analysis of the last campaign finance reports show he’s not afraid to spend money.
Senator Jon Kyl has already announced he is not running for reelection.
In an article today, the Washington, D.C. newspaper Politico reported Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, (R-01) has had staffing problems.
The article says two of the Republican's staffers have connections to former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Apparently that's caused some problems, and the story quotes heavily from an email former Gosar staffer Stefani Zimmerman wrote in January, the first month Gosar was in office. Zimmerman and other staffers left Gosar's office this summer.
Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick jumped into the conversation later today, sending the article to her Congressional campaign email list. Gosar beat Kirkpatrick after her first term in Congress, and she is running against him in 2012.
Since Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was wounded on January 8th, other members of Congress have been working on her behalf. Provisions of bills she has championed in the past have been folded into other legislation, a handful of lawmakers have traveled to Congressional District 8 to hold hearings and listening sessions about military bases and the border, and some have even sponsored bills.
Representative Adam Smith (D-WA,9) filed a bill on behalf of Giffords earlier this year that would move the Defense Department away from dependence on fossil fuels. Even though, that was a pet project of Giffords in the past she did not sign on as a co-sponsor during her visit to Washington, DC earlier this week. In an email, her staff said it was a “brief trip” and she was there only to vote “on a specific bill.”
Republican Arizona state Sen. Frank Antenori has openly mused about the idea of running for Congress from Southern Arizona's 8th District.
That seat is now held by Democrat Gabrielle Giffords, who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head in January. She appeared for the House of Representatives debt-ceiling vote on Monday, fueling speculation that she will continue pursuing her political career.
Antenori has said all along that he won't run if Giffords seeks reelection. He reiterated that in comments published this week by the Arizona Capitol Times, saying that he took her appearance on the House floor Monday as a sign she will be back.
From the Capitol Times:
*She’ll be hard to beat, Antenori said. Even if she didn’t have an outpouring of sympathy from the shooting, she would have been a tough challenge for any Republican.
But if and when she hits the campaign trail, he said, Giffords will have to answer a lot of the questions that people are asking today about whether she’s capable of fully carrying out her duties as a member of Congress.
“I think that will be something that comes out during the campaign, if somebody runs against her,” Antenori said. But, he added, “The name recognition and the plight that she faced … is going to be too much for anyone to overcome.”*
News, commentary, analysis from the AZPM political team: Christopher Conover, Andrea Kelly, Michael Chihak.
