Free Republic

SIERRA VISTA — A winter storm lingered over Cochise County on Friday, bringing flurries of snow and splashes of rain. The cool weather, however, brought little measurable precipitation through 9:30 p.m. on Friday. And there were few reported problems due to the weather. At the Libby Army Airfield on Fort Huachuca, a National Weather Service monitoring station had measured just 0.11 of an inch of precipitation for the 12-hour period starting at about 6 a.m. At the Sierra Vista fire station on Fry Boulevard, only a trace of rain was recorded in the 24-hour period ending at 6 p.m. on...

McCain backs Minuteman Graf; Giffords wants Hastert to resign The Business Journal of Phoenix - October 8, 2006 by Mike Sunnucks The Business Journal Arizona Sen. John McCain has endorsed conservative Tucson congressional candidate Randy Graf despite a split between the two on immigration and the Mexican border. Graf is also a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a controversial group that patrols U.S. border and wants tougher immigration controls. The Minutemen have opposed McCain's approach to immigration, including a guest worker program. Graf faces an uphill climb against Democratic rival Gabrielle Giffords in a southeastern Arizona U.S. House...

McCain supports Graf for House seat By Daniel Scarpinato arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.08.2006 Republican congressional candidate Randy Graf has won the endorsement of political superstar John McCain — a significant step, the campaign says, toward unifying moderates and conservatives. "Randy Graf's record as a state representative has demonstrated his commitment to the values important to the people of Arizona," McCain said in a written statement provided to the Arizona Daily Star. "His voting record on issues such as supporting our military, reducing taxes and reining in election and welfare fraud bodes well for his future...

Tucson Region AdWatch: The Star's ongoing evaluation of the record versus the rhetoric in campaign ads Giffords' TV ad addresses America's safety By Josh Brodesky arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.01.2006 advertisement Today: We look at an ad for Democrat Gabrielle Giffords. The Race: Congress, District 8. Medium: A 30-second television ad. The Message: The ad begins with an image of cargo containers as a narrator says, "our ports uninspected." The message is re-emphasized by a graphic stating "one in 20 ports inspected." It then cuts to an image of a dirt road slicing across the desert as...

Tucson Region Political Notebook Despite Giffords' gripe, ad still on air By Daniel Scarpinato arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.01.2006 Democrat Gabrielle Giffords wants a new television ad criticizing her taken off the air, but Cox Media has no plans to pull it. In a letter sent Wednesday from Giffords' attorney to Cox Media, the campaign urges the company to take an ad paid for by the Minuteman Political Action Committee off the air since the Minutemen haven't been able to clearly back up claims they make about Congressional District 8 candidate Giffords in the ad. In the...

Trip Comes Amid New Reports Linking Rove to Indicted Former Republican Lobbyist Jack Abramoff9/29/2006 6:14:00 PM To: State Desk Contact: Luis Miranda of the Democratic National Committee, 202-863-8148 WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following release was issued today by the Democratic National Committee: Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Arizona Republican Party has gone to desperate measures today by bringing GOP fear and smear king Karl Rove to Tucson and Scottsdale to raise campaign cash. But, Rove is lucky to be getting out of Washington and avoiding questions raised in a new a bipartisan Congressional report,...

Tucson Region Minutemen's Graf ads: Rival is 'way too liberal' TV spots say Giffords favors aid for entrants By Daniel Scarpinato arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.27.2006 In an effort to boost support for Republican congressional candidate Randy Graf, the Minuteman Political Action Committee launched the first in a series of ads on Tuesday. The television advertising, appearing on cable stations, criticizes 8th District Democratic candidate Gabrielle Giffords as being "way too liberal for Arizona." The Giffords campaign calls statements in the ad lies, and campaign officials are working with lawyers to have the commercial removed from the...

Opinion Guest Opinion: John Kromko Demos losing poor Hispanic voters who want effective border security Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.25.2006 In 2004, Arizona voters passed Proposition 200, which cut some social services for illegal aliens. While impacts of this proposition have been frequently debated, one profound aspect has been ignored: the poorer a voter was, the more they supported Prop. 200, regardless of ethnicity. In heavily Hispanic precincts, about 40 percent to 45 percent of voters voted for Prop. 200, about the same percentage that voted for Bush. If you're wealthy, an alien probably won't take your job or...

Poll results District 8, U.S. House Gabrielle Giffords, Democrat: 48.4% Randy Graf, Republican: 35.7% David Nolan, Libertarian: 1.4% Jay Quick, independent: 1.1% Undecided: 13.4% Margin of error of 3.9 percentage points. Survey of 600 likely voters in Congressional District 8 Sept. 16-19. Name the single most important issue when deciding whom to vote for: Border Control/Immigration: 45.8% War in Iraq: 10.7% Candidates' experience: 8.5% Party affiliation/Support for President Bush: 7.4% Health care: 7.2% Education: 5.8% Rate the importance of these issues when deciding whom to vote for: Important or very important Immigration: 82.3% War on terror: 82.2% War in...

Tucson Region National Demos pulling Dist. 8 ads Republicans earlier did the same in Graf-Giffords race By Daniel Scarpinato arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.23.2006 advertisement National Democrats, following the lead of their Republican counterparts, yanked money out of the District 8 congressional race Friday. The move indicates the diminished level of national influence and interest — at least for now — in what has long been considered a competitive race. On Thursday, the National Republican Congressional Committee made the first move by canceling plans to run nonstop advertising through the Nov. 7 election. Now, Democrat Gabrielle...

  PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 21, 2006: Primary School Lessons from last week's election By JIM NINTZEL Why did Randy Graf kick Steve Huffman's ass in the Congressional District 8 GOP primary? Huffman had plenty of advantages in this race: The backing of the business community, a campaign war chest packed with more than $670,000 (we'll be really interested in seeing the final spending figures when he files his next Federal Election Commission report), six-figure support from the National Republican Congressional Committee, the endorsement of outgoing Congressman Jim Kolbe and the general perception that he was the moderate alternative to...

SIERRA VISTA — Locals celebrated the U.S. Constitution’s 219th birthday on Sunday with patriotic music, ringing bells and saluting the flag. The Tombstone Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution sponsored the program, “Bells Across America,” held at Veterans’ Memorial Park. “We do this every year, Vicki L. Brown, Constitution Week chairwoman. She added schools and churches may also participate. Mayor Tom Hessler read a proclamation declaring Constitution Week, which is Sept. 17-23, as a small group — many wearing American flag pins or patriotic clothing — listened. Judy Jolley Waterman, DAR chaplain, read an invocation. She thanked God...

--Advertisement-- --Advertisement-- Evolving wisdom and original reporting from the staff of the Hotline « WH 08: "Run, Tom, Run" | Main | The Big Number: 30 » September 08, 2006 House Race Hotline Update: Huff Over Huffman An unusual GOP primary is taking place 9/12 in AZ 08, where the NRCC is attacking front-runner Randy Graf while the DCCC is rooting for him. Graf has a loyal base of support because of his hard-line stance on immigration. But many GOPers fear he's unelectable in the general. Instead, they're spending over $100K to back state Rep. Steve Huffman, who fits...

National GOP has no business in local race Our view: Its support of Huffman in the primary is a mistake that has backfired Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.09.2006 The National Republican Congressional Committee should have stayed out of the GOP primary race in the 8th Congressional District. Its support of candidate Steve Huffman sends the wrong message that national party leaders know better than locals who would be the best candidate for Congress. The NRCC's move also has harmed local party unity and opened up Huffman to attacks within the Republican Party and from Democrats. If Huffman wins the...

WASHINGTON - An Arizona congressional race has sparked a rift between Rep. Tom Tancredo and the Colorado Republican Party. Tancredo, a Littleton Republican, is backing a fellow, hard-line opponent of illegal immigration, Randy Graf, in Tuesday's GOP primary in an open-seat race. Much of the national Republican establishment has lined up behind another candidate, Steve Huffman. This week, the Colorado Republican Committee sent Huffman a $5,000 contribution, Federal Election Commission records show. The Colorado contribution angers Tancredo, who has used his profile on immigration to boost state Republicans recently. "He's definitely not happy about it," spokesman Carlos Espinosa said Friday....

Poll: Giffords, Graf lead District 8 contenders By Daniel Scarpinato arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.07.2006 A week out from the primary election, Democrat Gabrielle Giffords and Republican Randy Graf have comfortable leads over their 8th Congressional District rivals, according an Arizona Daily Star-sponsored poll of likely voters. The poll, conducted by Zimmerman & Associates and Marketing Intelligence, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points and polled 800 likely voters Sept. 1-4. Election Day is Tuesday. It also found Republicans are more likely to cross party lines than Democrats in the general...

Ads grow vitriolic in pivotal race Roughly a week after the National Republican Congressional Committee announced that it would be running more than $122,000 worth of ads supporting moderate Republican candidate Steve Huffman, who's locked in a competitive primary race in Arizona District 8, the Democratic Congressional Committee has also leapt into the advertising fray with an ad lambasting Huffman's eight-year record in the State Legislature. p>"When it came time to secure our borders, Steve Huffman was missing," says the Democratic ad, citing Huffman's absence during votes to fund border security technology and fix the immigration system. "If we can't...

For Immediate Release September 6, 2006   Contact: R.T. Gregg (520) 887-2984    Congressman Dana Rohrabacher Endorses Randy Graf(Tucson, AZ) Randy Graf, the leading Republican candidate to replace retiring US Congressman Jim Kolbe, was proud to announce that his candidacy was endorsed today by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California. Congressman Rohrabacher is currently serving his ninth term in Congress and represents the 46th Congressional District of California, which includes the Pacific Coastline of Orange County and Los Angeles from Huntington Beach to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.Congressman Rohrabacher currently serves as Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the...

TUCSON, Ariz. -- As Republican leaders work to retain control of Congress, a number of primaries around the country are pitting their party's conservative base against its moderates. One such fight can be found in this socially moderate border district, where the National Republican Congressional Committee has spent more than $200,000 to help Steve Huffman -- a state representative who favors abortion rights and federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research -- win Tuesday's primary.

Huffman's foes in primary blast national GOP support By Josh Brodesky arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.06.2006 Republican congressional candidate Steve Huffman's primary opponents said Tuesday morning that a flurry of recent advertisements paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee supporting him have interfered with the election process. It was reported last week that the committee had decided to spend more than $122,000 on television advertisements, now airing, in support of Huffman. "I have never seen such an attempt to fix an election," said Mike Hellon, who is seeking the District 8 Republican nomination along with Randy...

WASHINGTON -- Arizona Republicans in a crowded House primary denounced the national GOP Tuesday for taking sides in the race. "They're idiots," one candidate said. The National Republican Congressional Committee last week backed a candidate in the primary, launching a $122,000 advertising campaign for state Rep. Steve Huffman. The party contends Huffman is a moderate candidate who could win the district in November. On Tuesday, Huffman's four GOP opponents took the unusual step of holding a joint news conference and delivering a message to the National Republican Congressional Committee. "Stay the hell out of southern Arizona," said Mike Hellon, one...

JOINT STATEMENT ISSUED BY FRANK ANTENORI, RANDY GRAF, MIKE HELLON, AND MIKE JENKINS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 5, 2006 "Today, we, four of the five Republican candidates for Congress in Arizona's Eighth District take a bold step to jointly declare our unified outrage at the highly unusual actions taken by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to openly support one candidate, Steve Huffman, in this Republican primary. On March 30, 2006, RNC Chairman Ken Mehiman visited Tucson to attend a local party fundraiser. During his visit, Mehlman held a private meeting with the five declared candidates for Congress or their...

A special one-hour edition of Arizona Illustrated's Friday Roundtable featuring 5 Republican candidates for Congress in District 8: * Frank Antenori * Randy Graf * Mike Hellon * Steve Huffman * Mike Jenkins. The candidates are questioned by Ann Brown of the Arizona Daily Star, Jim Nintzel of the Tucson Weekly and host Bill Buckmaster. High Speed Windows Media: mms://kuat.org/ai/pol/pol180806a.wmv Quicktime http://www.kuat.org/arizonaillustrated/segments/pol/pol100806a.mp4

BISBEE — Congressman Jim Kolbe said he would be “closely watching” the Border Patrol’s management of traffic revision points in the area after the officer in charge of the agency’s Naco station said that a permanent checkpoint on Highway 90 would be reinstated. Kolbe has long opposed permanent Border Patrol revision points, which he says are predictable and ineffective. Instead, he advocates roving checkpoints and has inserted a provision into Border Patrol appropriations bills requiring the agency’s Tucson Sector to relocate checkpoints on a regular basis. “The law allows checkpoints, but they must be relocated at least once every seven...

BISBEE — More than once Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever has been called to Washington, D.C., to testify before congressional committees about border problems. Today the sheriff is heading to the East Coast, where he will testify before two committees — one in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, and the other in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. What senators and representatives will hear is more of the same, more of what he told members of Congress in 1997, and that is the nation’s immigration and border strategies are failing, Dever said Sunday. While it is expected that both...

AR RAMADI, Iraq, Feb. 15, 2006 — The streets here are a far cry from the corner of 8th and I streets in Washington, D.C., and yet for an infantryman who joined the Marine Corps to travel the world and do his part in the war on terrorism, it is the only place he wants to be. Cpl. Jared St. Clair, an infantryman with 4th Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, has finally made it to Iraq and is making the most of his opportunity. He’s serving in the city that many experts and officials are calling the...

COLUMBUS, N.M. — For Capt. Brendon Dever, the landscape he reviewed from a knoll was almost like home. Born and raised in Arizona, Dever was recently in New Mexico taking part in Operation Western Vigil, a mission supporting the U.S. Border Patrol in locating illegal activities crossing the international boundary. The soldiers are not authorized to apprehend any illegal immigrants or drug smugglers, but they do provide information of where those engaged in illegal activities are located. “We are the gathers of intelligence,” Dever said. Dever is the S-2, the intelligence officer, for C Troop, 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment...

SIERRA VISTA - The creator of a hard-hitting documentary about life in a border community says public reaction to the film has been "amazing." Now "Cries from the Border" is set to be screened at major cities across America. Retired producer and director Mercedes Maharis made the hourlong documentary following her own encounters with illegal immigrants, who regularly cross the land next to her Hereford home. She approached different agencies, organizations and local residents, who all agreed to be interviewed about the problem of illegal immigration and how they deal with it on a daily basis. It received its first...

For a few hours on Friday, Cochise County residents knew they had the attention of state lawmakers - and not just lawmakers who represent the county. The state House Judiciary Committee came to Sierra Vista to discuss and hear comments about illegal immigration. The effort was spearheaded by the Greater Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce and Rep. Jonathan Paton, whose district includes Sierra Vista. The few hours the legislators spent in the Sierra Vista area were an opportunity for them to see more than the illegal immigration issue. They also were taken on a tour of Fort Huachuca in...

SIERRA VISTA - State Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said Friday that illegal immigrants being detained on Fort Huachuca is a problem for the Army. On Friday, he, six other members of the Judiciary Committee and two state senators met with post and local officials for lunch. They also received a briefing and tour of the fort. The committee was in the area for a hearing concerning an immigration bill that will criminalize actions taken by people smugglers engaged in sexual exploitation or forced labor. The state Senate approved the bill 29-0 Thursday, and the House...

Sheriff says he may not have known he'd shot drug backpacker, who died. Criminal investigators have determined that a U.S. Border Patrol agent who shot and killed a drug backpacker last Saturday was not being threatened at the time, officials with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department said Friday. The agent, though, may not have known he had shot somebody, said Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada. The dead man, Julio Cesar Yenez Ramirez, 31, from Nogales, Sonora, was shot through the right arm and the bullet pierced his heart and lung, exiting through the left armpit, Estrada said. He...

DOUGLAS - Individuals on the Mexican side of the border shot at a pair of U.S. Border Patrol agents on Friday and Monday, according to an agency's Tucson Sector spokeswoman. The two incidents bring the number of shootings aimed at agents in Cochise County to three since last Wednesday and four since Oct. 1, Andrea Zortman said. All involved agents from the Douglas Station. "They are definitely a lot more aggressive," Zortman said about assaults against agents. In the most two recent shooting incidents in the county, a vehicle and material protecting cameras were hit, she said. Around 6 p.m....

FORT HUACHUCA -The flow of illegal immigrants through Cochise County will continue this year, with Sheriff Larry Dever predicting an increase in the traffic. "Immigration is likely to be the hot-button issue in political circles this year," Dever told about 90 people who attended the Greater Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce's Military Affairs Committee luncheon Wednesday. The U.S. Border Patrol has been able to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants in the border areas near San Diego, Calif., and El Paso, Texas, a move made because the terrain made it easier to control access, the sheriff said. In California,...

SIERRA VISTA - The U.S. Border Patrol's drug seizures and illegal immigrant apprehensions rose for the agency's Tucson sector and Cochise County in fiscal year 2004 and continue to rise in the first quarter of fiscal year 2005. Officials say these heightened numbers are a result of increased enforcement personnel within the county and within the Tucson Sector, which stretches from the New Mexico state line to Yuma County, a length of 261 miles. The Border Patrol seized 362,351 pounds of marijuana and made 347,263 apprehensions during its 2003 fiscal year, which ran from Oct. 1, 2002 to Sept. 30,...

TUCSON - A Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle flown out of Fort Huachuca as part of a U.S. Border Patrol test program helped stop four groups of drug smugglers and aided in the apprehension of 43 illegal immigrants in separate incidents between Monday and Wednesday. Andrea Zortman, a spokeswoman for the agency's Tucson Sector, said all the marijuana seizures happened in Santa Cruz County, while the apprehensions of illegal immigrants occurred in Cochise County. An agent using a night-vision scope spotted nine people carrying bundles around 10 p.m. Monday that the agent suspected was marijuana, Zortman said. Because the group was...

"We've been told and promised repeatedly over the last six years that this is a federal responsibility and that the federal government is going to get this area under operational control. The problem is, I still don't know what they mean by operational control."- Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever This roundup was near Palominas. Next: Lt. Al Tomlinson searches a culvert in Bisbee for signs of illegal entrants. One of the motivations, he says, is personal: He was involved in the recovery of 38 bodies last year. Cochise deputies aid Border Patrol It's just past midnight as the brown sedan...

COCHISE COUNTY -- Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will see life along the border today, but he will not be taking the pulse of local people and how they view the fast-flowing traffic of illegal immigrants across the international boundary. Douglas Mayor Ray Borane said Ridge's visit is another example of a high-ranking bureaucrat from Washington, D.C., not wanting to hear from people who live along the border. Ridge is in Arizona for a number of reasons, including a review of special operations being used to combat the smuggling of illegal immigrants. He also will be on Fort...

Fort Huachuca Preservation Amendment Included in National Defense Authorization Act (Washington, D.C.) - The House of Representatives Friday passed the National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 1588, legislation that included the Fort Huachuca Preservation amendment. H.R. 1588 sets policies, programs and funding levels for the nation's military, authorizing $400 billion for the Department of Defense and the national security programs of the Department of Energy. This bill passed the House 362-40 and is expected to also pass the Senate early next week and then be sent to President Bush for his signature and enactment into law. The Fort Huachuca Preservation Amendment...

COCHISE COUNTY -- The number of illegal immigrants encountered in Cochise County is increasing again in what Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever likens to a tidal wave. "Highway 80 is just humming as is Davis Road," Dever said Thursday. "You can see, smell and feel more of them coming. We're being drowned by a tidal wave. We are gasping for air." Dever is not surprised that figures released earlier this week by U.S. Border Patrol officials show that more than half of the illegal immigrants taken into custody in the agency's Tucson Sector were in Cochise County. He is not...