You are here: Home / 2010 / January / Archives for 25th

PR: Rasmussen Reports Dean Martin Leads Governor’s Race

January 25, 2010 By 9 Comments

NEWS RELEASE
Rasmussen Reports:
Dean Martin Leads Governor’s Race
Monday, January 25, 2010

Independent research organization Rasmussen Reports released results of a new poll showing a surge by Treasurer Dean Martin into the lead in the race for Governor just one week after his announcement.

“A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Arizona voters finds Martin with a nine-point lead over Goddard, 44% to 35%. In November, the race was a toss-up, with Goddard up by two.” The release continued, “State Treasurer Dean Martin for now looks like the Republican who’s offering the biggest challenge to likely Democratic candidate Terry Goddard in Arizona’s race for governor.”
In addition “Martin holds a 10-point lead over Goddard [with independent voters]” a double digit lead with males and even with female voters. By contrast Brewer is behind Goddard by 17 points with female voters.

“Thirty-seven percent (37%) approve of the job Brewer is doing as governor, while 60% disapprove. Those numbers include only seven percent (7%) who Strongly Approve versus 29% who Strongly Disapprove. These findings are little changed from November.” Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence

The poll also shows that Treasurer Martin is leading with likely primary voters with very high favorables among likely voters both in the primary and the general election.

“I am pleased to see we have surged into the lead so quickly just one week after my announcement. This proves that our plan for Arizona’s future which focuses on fiscal responsibility, job creation, education achievement, and border security is resonating with voters.” Treasurer Dean Martin said regarding the poll, “We have a long way to go until the race is over, and a lot of work to do, but you can obviously see that voters are tired with the status quo and are ready for a new generation of leadership for Arizona.”
Treasurer Dean Martin is an elected statewide constitutional officer serving as the state’s Chief Financial Officer. Treasurer Martin warned state leaders about impending financial crisis three years ago, in time to avoid the current budget mess, but was ignored as “Chicken Little”. Facing a government that was showing itself to be more out of touch with fiscal sanity and taxpayers, Treasurer Martin announced his candidacy for Governor on January 13th.

###

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

PR: Paton: Cook Report: Giffords More Vulnerable!

January 25, 2010 By 12 Comments

Over the weekend, the Arizona Daily Star called the Democratic Party’s attempts to downplay Jonathan Paton’s chances of winning in Congressional District 8 “whistling past the graveland.” Apparently, the Cook Political Report agrees.

A week after Paton entered the Congressional District 8 race against Gabrielle Giffords, Cook has downgraded Giffords’ chances of winning reelection, changing their nonpartisan listing of the race from “Likely Dem” to “Leans Dem.” This comes just two months after Giffords voted for Nancy Pelosi’s health care bill, prompting Cook to move the race from “Solid Dem” to “Likely Dem.”

YouTube Preview Image

Giffords has already started using Paton’s entry into the race to motivate her supporters to donate more to her wealthy campaign operation. And the consensus that Giffords will have an easy ride to reelection is eroding in other ways, too, after Paton’s announcement. Phoenix’s Channel 3 discussed the race over the weekend, and called Giffords a “vulnerable Democrat.”

Paton was also mentioned by CQ Politics. In a story today titled “Can Democrats Reverse Free Fall,” the publication writes: “Right now, even with huge majorities in the House and Senate and control of the White House, Democrats appear to be in political free-fall.”

And on Friday, Inside Tucson Business said: “… more than any other Republican who has run against (Giffords) before, Paton will fight the fight.”

“Momentum is building for real change in Washington,” Paton said. “The support I’ve seen for new representation in this district just over the last week has been incredible. As I’ve said before, this won’t be easy. We’re challenging one of the richest political machines in the country. But I’m committed to holding Gabrielle Giffords accountable in this election for rubber-stamping one Nancy Pelosi policy after another.”

“Join me and we can end one party dominance in Washington and get this country back on track.”

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Political Parties, Polls, Press Release

The Conservative Revolution of 2010

January 25, 2010 By 2 Comments

Jesse Kelly

“This morning the British army in Boston…disgracefully quitted all their strongholds in Boston and Charlestown, fled from before the army of the United Colonies, and took refuge on board their ships…The joy of our friends in Boston, on seeing the victorious and gallant troops of their country enter the town almost at the heels of their barbarous oppressors, was inexpressibly great.”

-As reported by an American newspaperman after the first Washington-led, American victory in Boston, 1776.

Just think about what conservatives have accomplished in 2010. Not in my wildest dreams could I have thought that a fiscally conservative candidate could be Massachusetts’ newest senator. Like General Washington’s victory at Dorchester Heights, the war for the future of liberty in America won its first great battle in the Bay State.

Like many of you, I saw the storm clouds gathering for over a year. The previous administration began an attack on our constitution and our free market system through big government conservatism. President Obama continued the assault on our liberties by putting big government into overdrive. Obama, Pelosi, Reid and Giffords all supported nationalizing our industries, taking over our healthcare and strangling us with environmental regulation. The free citizens of Southern Arizona and these United States are saying, “NO MORE!”

Pundits on every cable news channel are likening this year to 1994; however, they are missing the fundamental difference between that year and this: 1994 was a Republican revolution, 2010 is a CONSERVATIVE REVOLUTION.

No sitting congressman or senator is safe this year. Not Harry Reid, not my opponent, Gabrielle Giffords, not John Murtha, not John McCain. Both Republican and Democratic voters are shouting, “This is not about political teams, team elephant or team donkey! This is about limited government, fiscal sanity and free market solutions to our nation’s problems!” It is fundamentally important for incumbents and challengers alike to realize the following fact: if Republicans are conservatives, they will win. If Republicans are merely tax cutters, but have a record of out-of-control spending, they will lose. If Democrats are conservative, they will win. If Democrats vote with Pelosi, they will lose.

The greatness of the conservative revolution of 2010 lies in its ability to act as a driving force for America far longer than its Republican counterpart 15 years prior. The Republican revolution of 1994 was successful in its onset, but failed to be a lasting movement because it was not wholly and completely rooted in conservatism. Identity without ideology is empty, and the longer the Republican Party occupied the seats of power in Congress, the easier it was for them to stagnate and whither from the vine.

In the conservative revolution of 2010, candidates like me see the Republican Party as an organized medium for my actual ideology, conservatism. Where some want to label Republicans as “the party of no,” conservatives will always be full of pragmatic, new ideas, rooted in the first principles of the Founders. While Republican values are malleable and ill-defined, conservative values are fixed, well reasoned, and applicable to everything from political theory to everyday living.

As a conservative and as republican, I announced my candidacy in early 2009 because I saw the revolution ahead of us could not only be victorious, but also glorious. In my race, in Arizona’s 8th congressional district, I am battling against a big government Republican in the primary and a big government Democrat in the general. It’s time to open up the western front in the conservative revolution of 2010.

Jesse Kelly
Congressional Candidate
Arizona’s 8th District

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Guest Opinion, Political Science

Arizona Supreme Court Strikes Down Future Taxpayer Subsidie

January 25, 2010 By 1 Comment

Goldwater Institute News Release

Phoenix—Today in a unanimous decision the Arizona Supreme Court declared that government subsidies to encourage development violate the Gift Clause of the Arizona Constitution unless the developer offers tangible benefits of equal value in return. The ruling clarifies previous decisions the court believed were confusing and applied the rule prospectively. The Court declined to invalidate the CityNorth subsidy and sent the case back to the Arizona Court of Appeals to consider other legal challenges.

The ruling in Turken v. Gordon is a victory for the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of six small-business owners in 2007 in an effort to stop giveaways of taxpayer money. “The Court’s decision vindicates a core protection of taxpayer rights in our state constitution,” said Goldwater Institute litigation director Clint Bolick. “The days of rampant corporate welfare in Arizona are coming to an end.”

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge upheld the $97.4 million subsidy of the CityNorth shopping center by the City of Phoenix, basing his decision on “indirect benefits” such as jobs, sales tax revenues, and the creation of an urban core. But such indirect benefits “are not consideration under contract law,” the Supreme Court concluded in its opinion written by Justice Andrew Hurwitz. In reality, the only tangible benefit received by the City, the Court ruled, was 200 parking spaces, which the Court found unlikely to be worth $97.4 million.

“The ruling should stop schemes that government concocts to subsidize developers based on grandiose promises that often fail to materialize,” added Mr. Bolick. “Although we’re disappointed that the Court allowed the CityNorth deal to stand for now, that development has proved to be such a disaster that it’s doubtful taxpayer money will ever change hands. CityNorth will stand as a monument to government folly.”

The next step for the Goldwater Institute and its clients is to go back to the Court of Appeals, which invalidated the CityNorth agreement in 2008, to have two additional legal questions answered. The Institute will argue the deal constitutes an impermissible “special law” and violates the plaintiffs’ right to equal protection of the laws.

Read more about this and other Goldwater Institute lawsuits to protect individual rights and keep government within its constitutional limits at www.goldwaterinstitute.org/litigation. The Goldwater Institute is an independent government watchdog that develops innovative, principled solutions to issues facing the states and enforces constitutionally limited government through litigation. The Institute’s work is made possible by the generosity of its supporters.

Filed Under: City Government, Constitutional Law, Economic Development, Judicial, Press Release, Spending

PR: Brenda Burns Files Petitions, Clean Elections Contributions

January 25, 2010 By 8 Comments

brendaburns

For Immediate Release: Monday, January 25, 2010

Former Senate President Brenda Burns Files Ballot Petitions Signatures with Secretary of State:
Republican candidate turns in nearly 11,000 signatures; Shows strong support in counties across Arizona

PHOENIX, AZ- Brenda Burns, former Senate President and House Majority Leader, today filed nearly 11,000 petition signatures with the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, furthering her campaign for Corporation Commission, and solidifying her position as a frontrunner for the nomination.

“I am proud of the level of support we’ve shown across the board,” said Burns. “From Maricopa to Yavapai, Coconino to Graham, we’ve shown strength in every county of the state.”

Burns was required to turn in just under 6,000 signatures. Her campaign turned in nearly 11,000—an excess of 80%. None of the other announced candidates for Corporation Commission have turned in their signatures to qualify for the 2010 ballot.

In addition to filing above and beyond the requisite signatures needed to secure a place on the ballot, Burns has also turned in just under 2,000 five-dollar contributions in order to qualify as a Clean Elections candidate. She is only the second state-wide office candidate to turn in qualifying contributions and signatures under Clean Elections this year.

Brenda Burns has a strong record of protecting taxpayers from government waste, and she plans to extend that record to the ratepayers of Arizona as their next Corporation Commissioner.

“The Arizona Corporation Commission deals with many issues that affect our state,” said Burns. “These issues affect the availability, affordability, efficiency, and reliability of providing energy to Arizona consumers.” Burns continued, “The rates it sets and the policies that drive those rates will have an increasingly significant impact on the future of all Arizonans. We need also to increase our focus on combating securities fraud, especially in these economic times. ”

Burns credits her vast network of volunteers for her campaign’s early success. “All the credit goes to our many volunteers across the state,” said Burns. “Without them, this would not have been possible, and I am so grateful.” Burns will still be collecting signatures because the Secretary of State will be accepting supplemental signatures sometime in May. “We want to continue to show support through this method,” said Burns.

On top of turning in all qualifying documents for the ballot and Clean Elections, Burns has received the endorsement of many in the conservative Republican movement in Arizona. She has won the support of the entire Republican congressional delegation, and many more leaders from across the state. View the list at BrendaBurns2010.com.

###

Filed Under: Campaign Finance, Campaigns & Elections, Press Release