The contests for attorney general remain too close to call.
As of late Wednesday, Felecia Rotellini was leading David Lujan in the Democratic primary by more than 1,000 votes out of close to 250,000 cast. But the number of ballots remaining to be counted still could make that anyone's race.
The race on the Republican side was even closer, with only a few hundred votes separating Andrew Thomas from front-runner Tom Horne in the GOP race.
And if the margin of difference in either case gets down to 200, then a recount is automatic.
But Thomas already has a theory of who is to blame if he loses: the Obama administration.
Thomas, until recently the Maricopa County Attorney, has gained a certain amount of publicity with the investigations he and Sheriff Joe Arpaio conducted of county supervisors and judges.
Those probes led to indictments which eventually were thrown out. Meanwhile the state Bar of Arizona is investigating Thomas' activities. And there are reports the FBI is looking into whether Thomas abused his powers.
"Obviously, what's going on is the Obama justice department wants to smear me so they can install the Democrat as attorney general and scuttle SB 1070," he said, pointing out the lawsuit the Obama administration filed challenging Arizona's new illegal immigration law. That resulted in a federal judge last month enjoining the state from enforcing some of the provisions until there can be a full-blown trial on the merits.
"I'm not saying the president is behind it," Thomas said. And Thomas said he's not even sure there really is an FBI investigation.
"These things have been leaked and there's no actual evidence this is going on," he explained. "But what they're doing is they're smearing the sheriff and they're smearing me to try to affect the election and frankly to try to protect some of the people you've reported on who were subject to legitimate corruption investigations."
Thomas never explained how working to defeat him in a Republican primary would help, since Tom Horne, his Republican foe, said he also supports SB 1070. He was equally nebulous on the idea of the Obama administration protecting its allies when it was pointed out that several of the county supervisors in his sights are Republicans.
"Here's the bottom line: You have the homeland security chief and the U.S. attorney who are close political allies with people we prosecute," Thomas said. "That's a fact."
Thomas denied he was being paranoid.
"No, it's true," he said, repeating his contention that he's the victim of "smears."
"And they're coming from the same Justice Department, apparently that wants to tube SB 1070," Thomas continued. "They want the Democrat in there as attorney general because the Democrats all oppose SB 1070. It's quite a mess of gumbo soup we're dealing with."
If Horne and Rotellini are the eventual winners, that could become an expensive statewide general election contest. That's because neither took public money, freeing them to spend what they could of their own cash or raise from outsiders.
At last report, Horne had spent $560,000 on his primary bid, more than half of that in personal funds. Rotellini's most recent report pegged her spending at $352,000.
By contrast, both Thomas and Lujan each qualified for public funding of $183,311, plus about $40,000 each was able to raise in "seed money" from private donors.
IceCat posted at 4:56 pm on Wed, Aug 25, 2010.
Andy Thomas just needs to go away, he is one unstable person.
Slabside posted at 5:50 pm on Wed, Aug 25, 2010.
I feel the same way about Obama.
samkat posted at 5:54 pm on Wed, Aug 25, 2010.
icecat: He may outlast you. Given the way the Obama administration is trying to discredit any state or individual who opposes they quest to give amnesty to the illegals for votes. I would give some credance to his comments regardless of who may dislike him.
hillstreet posted at 11:42 pm on Wed, Aug 25, 2010.
Thomas you putz. You and that other moron Arpaio have smeared and disgraced yourselves, Take responsibility for your own paranoid doings.
forkedlift1 posted at 1:58 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
A load of well documented complaints were filed with the state bar by local lawyers against Andrew Thomas describing his various misdeeds as a lawyer. The Arizona Supreme Court ordered an investigation by an outside attorney expert of Thomas' actions.
The general public here is well aware of some of those actions. We read grand jury transcripts made public, and we heard and saw Thomas lie about their contents.
His statement, "Obviously, what's going on is the Obama justice department wants to smear me so they can install the Democrat as attorney general and scuttle SB 1070," dishonestly blaming others, shows he's unwilling to accept the consequences for his own wrongdoing. Pretty sick.
Informed2 posted at 4:05 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
What a crybaby this Thomas is. Oh wahhh....
Poorman posted at 5:34 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
Lets see,anyone know where all the crimes Thomas has been charged with are? Or been convicted of? I can't seem to locate them. As for investigations,he is not the only county attorney who has ever been investigated. I guess its like the county board of stupidvisiors,they have been investgated,and slipped away also oh well thats life here in the big city.
forkedlift1 posted at 8:35 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
Poorman, since you've been asleep at the switch and don' t mind at all when an attorney elected to public office publicly lies through his teeth, check with the State Bar. Unless you really WANT to believe that Obama is at fault for Thomas' many transgressions.
n2mark posted at 8:55 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
Thomas, you got a hole in your shoe? Must be Obama's fault ! You made your bed Thomas, now sleep in it.
forkedlift1 posted at 8:59 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
Poorman, one more thing worth noting. Politicians often exaggerate and bounce around with doublespeak -- and we've certainly got a lot of lawyers in Congress who are known to do just that. The difference with Thomas is that his wrongdoings directly involve his work as an attorney and prosecutor. It is for that reason that he's likely to be severely sanctioned, if not disbarred.
n2mark posted at 9:00 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
If I get stopped by the police, I am going to say it is Obama's fault. That will last until the police writes the ticket.
wonderweenie posted at 9:09 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
Add me to the smear campaign. Thomas is a disgrace to Arizona. An AG should not target his enemies for prosecution as he does and waste the public's money and time. Thomas seems to have mental problems too.
DataMan posted at 9:15 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
It's just Thomas' standard M.O. BLAME SOMEONE ELSE! There must be a vast hidden conspiracy out to get him!
Thomas CONSISTENTLY fails to see that he messed up and admit it!
Hopefully the State Bar and the DOJ will act soon, as this guy is simply out of control.
Accuracy posted at 10:52 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
Race still too close to call…………
As of yesterday, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne led former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas by 394 votes in the Republican race.
And now with the neck-and-neck count, and the amount of uncounted ballots, GOP will wait to see who won the state attorney general nomination.
More than 119,000 ballots are still to be counted across Arizona, and counties have until the end of the day next Tuesday to report their results to the state.
The strong issue of illegal immigration was stated by both Andrew Thomas and Tom Horne in their campaigns . . . Secure the border, fight illegal immigration, support S.B. 1070 law, and defend the 2nd Amendment.
Bingo6 posted at 11:28 am on Thu, Aug 26, 2010.
Good at least Obama is doing something right!