PHOENIX (AP) — A leader of a group that collected thousands of signatures to force a recall election for state Sen. Russell Pearce says the group raised and spent approximately $92,000, with Arizonans making up the vast majority of the more than 1,000 contributors.
Pearce faces charter school executive Jerry Lewis in the Nov. 8 recall election in Pearce's legislative district in Mesa.
Randy Parraz of Citizens for a Better Arizona released some figures on its fundraising and spending as the group prepared a campaign finance report due by a Thursday midnight deadline.
Parraz says the group had approximately 1,000 donations larger than the $25 threshold requiring them to be itemized in the report. He says 90 percent of the donors were Arizonans.
Pearce has painted the pro-recall group as outsiders.
CooperG posted at 7:11 am on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
Tying Independent Expenditure groups to Lewis is simply a diversionary tactic to stop people from learning that 96% of the money Pearce raised and 98% of the money his campaign consultants raised came from outside of LD18. This "the big bad lefties are out to get me" cry is nothing but whining from someone who couldn't raise enough money to run for dog catcher in LD18.
Think about it LD18, who do you think Russell Pearce represents? You or the 96% and 98% of his donors who don't live in LD18? Remember the Fiesta Bowl? He didn't represent you then, he won't represent you now or ever.
Diogenes Lantern posted at 7:46 pm on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
Several left-leaning independent expenditure groups have spent $170,000 to unseat Arizona State Senate President Russell Pearce. This figure does not include the activities of the yet-to-be-disclosed “Citizens United for Progress” committee that is under investigation by the Attorney General’s office for illegal campaign activities.
In reviewing the independent expenditures in support of Jerry Lewis, the Arizona Capitol Times reported that quote Public Campaign Action Fund funding largely comes from liberal interests, including Common Cause, MoveOn.org, the National Education Association (unions), the Service Employees International Union and the Tides Voter Action Fund ,Soros foundation