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The Arizona shootings have made Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, the man in charge of investigating the tragedy, a liberal hero for his comments targeting what he calls the “irresponsible” political rhetoric of conservatives. But he also has critics who say his department was well aware of Jared Loughner’s mental instability and may have been slow to respond to death threats the suspect made in the months leading up to Saturday’s rampage. Mr. Dupnik has been Pima County sheriff for 30 years and is a seasoned law enforcement professional. But he hasn’t sounded that way of late. A Democrat and...

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik stood by his assertion that schools should be asking about the immigration status of students but said he planned to take no action nor make changes in the way Pima County deputies do their job. At a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Dupnik said he made the comments at a Senate hearing in Phoenix on April 20 because he wanted to seize the opportunity to weigh in on a sensitive topic he believes needs to be addressed. "It's wrong for the taxpayers in this country to spend the millions and millions and millions of dollars that...

In Arizona's Pima and Cochise counties law enforcement officials "are seeing more and more 'rape trees,' places where Mexican drug cartel members rape female border crossers and hang their clothes."

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 Chamber backs Napolitano An influential business group is endorsing Gov. Janet Napolitano's election effort. The Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is backing Napolitano, a Democrat, over Republican challenger Len Munsil in this year's governor's race. Napolitano has carved out a moderate, pro-business path since becoming governor in 2003. That includes approving business and Republican-backed tax cuts the past two legislative sessions. Napolitano is favored to win over Munsil, a social conservative and Scottsdale attorney. Munsil was head of the Center for Arizona Policy, a Scottsdale-based Christian conservative group, before entering the governor's race. The Tucson chamber and a number...

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...

--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...