Free Republic

On Tuesday, the Arizona Republic reported that a local Republican politician was stepping down directly due to the shooting in Tucson. AZCentral.com reports:Miller, a 43-year-old Ahwatukee Foothills resident and former campaign worker for U.S. Sen. John McCain, was re-elected to a second one-year term last month. He said constant verbal attacks after that election and Internet blog posts by some local members with Tea Party ties made him worry about his family's safety. The report goes further to quote Miller as saying: "I wasn't going to resign but decided to quit after what happened Saturday," Miller said. "I love the...

OK, so before I get started I have to tell everyone here that JD Hayworth reads what we post here. And he REMEMBERS! LOL! I am a JD supporter, and several months ago when I met him for the first time, he told me he likes to come here to FreeRepublic and read what we have to say. I was going to have him come here, but I never followed through, which was my fault. However, I have been hard on him in recent weeks. I have to say that because Mohave County, where I live, is so conservative, conservative...

Sen. John McCain must personally and publicly explain why he allowed his staff to lie to the media about returning all $1.1 million given to his presidential campaign by a convicted felon; if he accepted even more from the felon's law partners; and why he has not donated all the dirty money to charity as his campaign claimed. Federal authorities have been investigating 30 lawyers who worked in the now-defunct firm of Scott Rothstein, who yesterday was sentenced to 50 years in prison for running an elaborate Ponzi scheme. According to his lawyer and media reports, the convicted felon is...

A now-disbarred Florida lawyer who admitted to orchestrating a huge Ponzi scheme gave more than $180,000 to Arizona Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, contributions that McCain's Senate rival is now making an issue in their competitive primary. Scott Rothstein was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years in prison after he confessed to running a $1.2 billion fraud using faked legal settlements. Rothstein also was a key contributor and fundraiser who bundled more than $500,000 in campaign contributions for McCain's 2008 race, according to the campaign finance watchdog Center for Responsive Politics.

PHOENIX -- The Arizona Republican Party is considering closing their primary elections to independent voters. The party committee directed the state party chairman in January to explore the costs and legal options for making the move. "Some folks in the party think the best way to ensure the Republican brand means something is to ensure that only Republicans are voting in our primary," said Lee Miller, an attorney for the state GOP. In Arizona, independent voters can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary. If the Republican primary is closed, it could hurt Sen. John McCain who is renowned...

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer went on the defense Monday night after U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl and former Scottsdale congressman J.D. Hayworth said they opposed a temporary 1-cent sales tax hike to deal with budget deficits. Brewer said if voters do not approve the May 18 referendum, Arizona will have to cut $1 billion from schools and public safety. “The Arizona Legislature and I have already adopted the largest permanent spending reductions in state history – well over $2 billion permanently reduced, out of what was once a $10 billion annual budget, with the adoption of this year’s...

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has lost the endorsement of a key leader of his own party, and a behind-the-scenes feud is emerging that could put McCain at odds with GOP activists in his home state. McCain and the AZ House delegation have agreed to divert money for the party's get-out-the-vote efforts away from the AZ GOP, sources tell Hotline OnCall. The decision comes after a contentious meeting between the McCain camp and top state party officials, according to sources on both sides of the debate. The decision highlights a contentious relationship between the state's DC delegation and local party leaders...

Lawyers for the state Republican Party are huddling to try to find out how they can close their primary election. Republican leaders who attended a mandatory state meeting last month voted to put a halt to the state's quasi-open primary system. Voters in 1998 approved allowing independents and voters in minor parties to vote in the Democratic or Republican primary. The move is coming at a time of heightened interest in the Republican primary. The Democratic ballot will be relatively tame compared with the GOP, where voters will make picks in high-profile races, like the McCain-Hayworth Senate match, and the...

You don’t really need to find out what’s going on You don’t really want to know just how far it’s gone Just leave well enough alone Eat your dirty laundry Written by Don Henley RNC Treasurer and AZ GOP Chairman Randy Pullen has done it again. Pullen’s official Arizona Republican Laundromat is open for business. Pullen’s newest scheme to break campaign finance laws took place in the last few months of the 2009 City of Tucson elections. And it’s a nasty one. Sonoran Weekly Review has discovered a new Exhibit A in the long list of formal and informal indictments...

SAN DIEGO – Immigration, a hot-button issue that has dominated headlines in Arizona and nationally over recent years, is fading from the public consciousness amid economic turmoil, Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen said July 30. “Because of what’s going on with the recession, although (immigration) is still important, it’s not nearly as important as the recession,” Pullen said in an interview at the Republican National Committee’s annual summer meeting. “Cap and trade is now even a higher issue in Arizona than is immigration, as well as health care.” . . . . . Pullen, an anti-illegal immigration activist before...

PHOENIX — It was supposed to be a surprise. But by the time Chris Simcox arrived at the state Capitol Wednesday morning — trading his standard jeans for a suit and tie — his intention of challenging U.S. Sen. John McCain had made national news. "The calls have been flooding in from across the country," Simcox said before dozens of television cameras and reporters. "We have the ability to run a national campaign as well as a state campaign. There are millions of supporters around the country who have been waiting for some leadership in Washington to take on this...

Gaming his 2010 reelection prospects. BY SEYWARD DARBY Since losing to Obama in November, Senator John McCain has conspicuously focused attention on his home state of Arizona, where he plans to run for his fifth term in 2010. The Arizona Republic recently reported that, in the few months since the presidential election, McCain has taken renewed interest in meeting with elected officials and getting up to speed on local issues. And, when he's been in D.C., McCain has squashed any hope that he would revisit his "maverick" phase, circa 2001, by becoming a Republican friend to the White House. Instead,...

I'm not writing about the Barack Hussein Obama government this early in his administration. It would sound like sour grapes and as an American, I do wish Obama well. But Sen. John McCain of Arizona has to "get out." John, buy a house in Green Valley, join a country club and go away! Our form of government is called advisarial. That means Democrats don't have to love Republicans, Republicans don't have to love Democrats. McCain has become a joke! He stood by while some of the Cabinet picks were shooed in. Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder and that tax evader Tim...

Conservatives in Arizona can have a little more hope now that their views will begin to be represented in the Arizona Republican Party. The AZ GOP State Convention was held today and, after a contentious and close race for the chairmanship, conservative Republican Randy Pullen won by a slim margin of 408 to 404. His opponent, Lisa James, was hand-picked by Sen. John McCain and represented the moderate, establishment Republican wing of the state party. Although she did pick up a handful of conservative supporters, for the most part her supporters were the liberals, moderates, and RINOs of the party....

Republicans are upset with a letter penned by Gov. Janet Napolitano to a top business group in which the Democrat takes credit for business property tax cuts approved during the 2005 session. Napolitano recently wrote the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, applauding the group's support for business tax cuts that included a reduction in corporate property tax rates. In the letter, the governor said she "was pleased to spearhead the effort to reduce the business property tax" as well as a number of other tax credit measures. Napolitano signed the business property tax cut when she approved a series...

Business folks and main street voters in Arizona may not care all that much, if at all, about the ongoing spat between Republicans and Gov. Janet Napolitano over funding for the state's independent redistricting board. But Monday events regarding the "inside baseball" restricting issue showed Napolitano's media savvy and knack for being able to stay ahead of the political curve. Republicans have been criticizing the governor for a week or so for not including funding for the Independent Restricting Commission. That panel was given the responsibility to draw up legislative and congressional district lines and now faces lawsuits from Democrats...