All I would have to do is get less then 10 signatures and run for the Arizona House or Senate.

Then I could get around $30,000 to $40,000 in free clean elections money.

Hell I am homeless I could really use the money.

F*ck You David Dorn!

Source

What Clean Elections money bought

Candidates used funds for equipment, to hire relatives on campaign

by Alyssa Newcomb - Nov. 28, 2010 12:00 AM

Cronkite News

Some of the 107 candidates who received public money to run for state Legislature this year bought computers, cameras and printers they can keep and paid relatives as campaign workers and consultants, a Cronkite News review found.

Reports accounting for the $3.2 million legislative candidates received from the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission also included $60 for National Rifle Association dues, $650 for a mariachi performance and $229.87 for a "post-debate discussion" with campaign staffers at T.G.I. Friday's.

Publicly financed candidates are required to justify campaign expenses as legitimate. But there's little within the rules established by the Clean Elections Commission, which oversees the program, dictating what is an acceptable expenditure.

"You think about it being done largely to afford advertisements and signs, things that are specific to a campaign, not things you'd use for the rest of your life, necessarily," said David Berman, a research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy.

"I think we need some parameters on this," he said.

Todd Lang, executive director of the Clean Elections Commission, said the panel doesn't want to micromanage campaigns. But they also want to keep in mind that candidates are spending public money.

"There are occasions when people buy something we would not prefer, but ultimately it's up to the campaigns," he said.

Arizona voters created the public-financing system in 1998. To qualify for Clean Elections money, legislative candidates must collect 220 contributions of $5 to demonstrate support.

Clean Elections candidates received $14,319 or $21,479 for primary campaigns and, if they moved on, another $21,479 or $14,319 depending on whether they requested the higher amount for the primary. In return, they had to forgo contributions from political-action committees, businesses, unions and political parties.

The Cronkite News review focused on reports candidates filed before and after the August primary election and before the Nov. 2 general election. Final reports are due to the Secretary of State's Office by Thursday.

Computer equipment

At least 11 legislative candidates used Clean Elections money to buy computers within an $800 limit on purchases of fixed assets. Some bought cameras and printers. Current rules allow them to keep that equipment.

Michelle Ugenti, a Republican who won a state House seat representing Fountain Hills, Rio Verde and most of Scottsdale, bought her campaign a laptop. "In my case, my computer crashed, with everything on it," she said. "I was simply following the rules laid out by Clean Elections, like I've done since I started."

Catherine H. Miranda, a Democrat who won a House seat representing downtown and south Phoenix as well as Guadalupe, reported spending $796.80 on an iPad. She could not be reached for comment.

Nick Dranias, director of the Center for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute, which is challenging a key provision of Clean Elections before the U.S. Supreme Court, called such purchases unintended consequences of a well-meaning but flawed system.

"Bottom line is, when you give people free money, they abuse that," he said. "Especially if you give it to them thinking the best of people in a sort of naive way."

The commission has proposed rules that would require candidates to turn in computers and other fixed assets after an election if they are worth more than $200.

Candidates could buy the items back for 75 percent of the retail price; otherwise, the items would go to state surplus.

Hiring family

At least six Clean Elections candidates also confirmed paying relatives for campaign help. Victor Jett Contreras, a Democrat who lost a primary bid for state Senate in Miranda's district, paid his parents $660 each to knock on doors.

"Would he have done it for free? Possibly," he said. "But I'm paying other people. Why can't I pay my own father?"

Candidates can decide how much to pay for various services, but Lang said candidates are expected to pay the market rate.

Sue Dolphin, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for a state Senate seat from the northwest Valley, paid her husband, Bill Dolphin, $500 to install signs.

Bill Mahrer, of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian civil liberties law firm based in Washington, D.C., said relatives could be knowledgeable about campaigns and hard workers. Still, he said, "If (voters) believe you're using it as a system of nepotism or simply as a means to hire your relatives, it's going to be more difficult next time."

Other expenses

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, used $60 of Clean Elections money to pay his NRA dues. He initially said that the Clean Elections Commission had deemed that a legitimate expense but later said he was in error and would reimburse the panel.

Among other expenses:

- Miranda paid $650 for mariachis for a Sept. 4 event.

- Ken Smalley, a Tucson Republican who lost in the general election, reported spending $229.87 on a "post-debate discussion" with staff members at T.G.I. Friday's.