Democrat Ron Barber released the first general election CD8 ad today, a day after the GOP primary revealed Jesse Kelly as the party pick to face Barber.
Barber ran unopposed in his primary, and Green Party candidate Charles Manolakis beat a write-in candidate from his party to move on to the general election June 12.
The ad is an introduction to Barber, with a focus on the issues his campaign says are most important to voters in the district.
Kelly bought commercial air time during the primary election, and his ads were still airing late Tuesday night. Barber's is the first new ad of the general election cycle in this race, and is also Barber's campaign TV premiere.
Neither House incumbent in Legislative District 29 is seeing reelection in the fall, leaving two open seats on the south side of Tucson in the upcoming elections.
Daniel Patterson resigned from the Arizona House this week. Rep. Matt Heinz, the other LD 29 House member, is running for Congress in the fall.
That means there are two open seats for potential candidates on the south side of Tucson. Of course, a replacement will be named for Patterson, but the appointed person will serve less than half a term before asking voters for support, assuming the appointed replacement also decides to run in the fall.
In other legislative districts, incumbents are facing the opposite problem. Redistricting has thrown some legislators into head-to-head battles with former allies.
On Tucson's northwest side, just such a situation cropped up when Sen. Al Melvin and Sen. Steve Smith were drawn into the same new legislative district. The new lines would pit the two against each other in a Republican primary if they both seek reelection in the Senate.
Instead, Smith is running for House in the same district, ceding the Senate seat to Melvin. The two have joined Adam Kwasman to run as a Republican slate for the three legislative seats in that district.
Adam KwasmanAl MelvinDaniel PattersonLD29Matt HeinzSteve Smith,
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, a Republican running for Arizona's new Congressional District 4, released his first ad today.
In an email to supporters, he says the ad will be airing district-wide. The district covers vast territory in Arizona, stretching from the San Tan Valley in northern Pinal County, wrapping north of the Phoenix metro area, east to the Arizona-California state line, and north to the Arizona-Utah state line. (View the district maps here.)
In the ad, Babeu says he stands up for border security and fiscal conservativeness. He appears to be responding to recent news stories questioning the Pinal County Sheriff's office, but he doesn't reference anything directly, saying "a lot has been said about me lately, but I want you to hear it from me." Then he lists his legislative priorities.
Democrat Andrei Cherny is running for Congress in Arizona's Congressional District 9, and he pulled out a creative streak in his request for fundraising as last month's deadline loomed.
Nearly every candidate for federal office routinely points out that a fundraising deadline is near and asks for a last-minute donation.
But Cherny took it one step further in creativity. The email subject line is, "I didn't loose my passport."
The body of the fundraising request goes on:
"I did not lose my passport in some foreign country. I am not a Nigerian finance minister. But I do need your help. Today is the last day of the most important fundraising deadline of our campaign for Congress."
For a comparison, here are some examples of the usual email requests that land in our inboxes.
Republican Paul Babeu, running in Arizona CD4: "I wanted to drop you a quick note before the weekend gets underway... Tomorrow my campaign will report on our first quarter fundraising. I'd love to be able to count you as a supporter."
Republican Martha McSally, running in the special election for Arizona CD8: "Time Is Running Out! Early ballots are out. Campaign finance reports are due in a few days. And we have less than three weeks left until election day."
Democrat Nancy Pelosi, requesting money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: "We’re close to an incredible milestone in our campaign to stop endless Republican extremism. As of this moment, we are just 121 donations short of the most contributions we've ever had on a single day. Only a few short hours remain before the midnight Federal Election Commission deadline. Will you put us over the top?"
When it comes to big money Super PACs Citizens United is one of the top names in the category. Remember, it was a US Supreme Court ruling on behalf of Citizens United that opened up the checkbook for so-called Super PACs. So it is of note that the group is backing Rep. David Schweikert, R-CD 6, in his bid for a second term in Congress. Politico is reporting Citizens United giving Schweikert $ 10,000 for the primary and general election.
Adding to the intrigue is the fact that the newly drawn CD 6 pits two Republican incumbents against each other. Rep. Ben Quayle is also running in that race. Citizens United is not giving Quayle any backing.
In March, the Club for Growth, a powerful, conservative PAC sent a letter out to House Republican leaders telling them to stay out of the CD 6 race. They also threatened to back Schweikert if House leaders backed Quayle.
Citizens United also endorsed CD 8 Republican candidate Jesse Kelly. They also gave him the maximum $10,000 for his race.
