Smith said,
“We just witnessed how the radical left has used the recall system
to defeat an opponent they could not and would
not have been able to defeat in a standard election.”
Let's look at the claim by Mr. Montague that states:
If donations were an indication of support,
Lewis did a good job getting people
Lewis did a good job getting people
debunks the “outside leftist radicals”
story very nicely.
story very nicely.
Lewis got 67% of his money from Mesa,
43% came from LD18, and only 2% from outside the state.
Even though he massively outspent Lewis,
Pearce only got 4% of his money from LD18.
It doesn’t matter as much how popular
you are beyond your constituency—they can’t vote for you.
We've heard this claim before. What they choose to conveniently leave out is that on one hand, they are including ALL of the organizations that donated to Senator Pearce (PACs etc) while on the other hand, only including those donations made to "Jerry Lewis for Senate".
Missing from the assessment are the donations made to Citizens for a Better Arizona, Promise Arizona en Accion, and Campaign Money Watch whose one group alone spent upwards of $50,000 in mailers on Lewis' behalf. In all, the contributions total $280,000. And that's only those groups which we know about.
Another point that is conveniently glossed over is that a majority of the donations made by those within LD18 were maximum contributions made by members of the same family. Most of which are from a large, LDS conglomerate. By a rough estimate, there are less than 50 families and their extended families who contributed the most within LD18. Hardly a referendum of those within the district. Those $848 per household donations add up a lot faster than small, individual contributions.
If, according to Mr. Montague, 43% of the total contributions to Jerry Lewis for Senate ($67,000) came from those within LD18, that would put the total donations around $28,000. Adding just those contributions over $300 made by those within LD18, one would discover that in all, it totalled apx. $18,000. That is about 65% of the contributions from just within LD18. Add to this, the numerous maximum contributions from those OUTSIDE LD18, one can easily see that there wasn't a lot of INDIVIDUAL support. Just a lot of big money from a bunch of lawyers and wealthy LDS members of the church.
If we included ALL of those groups which donated on Jerry Lewis' behalf, the $28,000 in donations from those within LD18 would equate to about 10%. To use the words of Mr. Montague,
It doesn’t matter as much how popular
you are beyond your constituency—they can’t vote for you.
Let's look a little closer at those donors to Jerry Lewis. Rather peculiar, indeed. The donation in white represents the contribution to Jerry Lewis for Senate. The bold red refers to their donation made to Citizens for a Better Arizona. Donations in yellow represent contributions they made to Kevin Gibbons' campaign against Russell Pearce in 2008.
(On a side note: Chad and Rachel Snow donated $780 to Kevin Gibbons' campaign back in 2008):
Peggy Wright $399 in-kind for the use of the Wright House
Michael Wright (registered Democrat and PC/lawyer) $424 $250
Jeffrey Wright $100
Gary Wright $200
Stephanie Wright $50
Thomas Wright $50
Jane/John Wright $848
Jim Wright (lawyer) $424
Linda/Rex Crandall $848 $780
Marcia/Mary/Wallace (lawyer) /Trent Montague $1622
Jenny/Randy Richardson $848
William Richardson $424
Glenn/Susan Nelson $848
Beth/Chad Coons $848 $780
Timothy Coons (in law school) $424
Anita/Ross Farnsworth $848 $780
Ross Farnsworth JR $424
Joe Farnsworth $424
Amy/Craig Ahlstrom $848 $390
Cameron/Julie McKay $848
Liana/Steven Clarkson $848 $100 $780
Anson/Adam/Nathaniel/EdaMarie Clarkson $980
Kathy/Mark Dangerfield $848
Colleen/Damon Wheeler $848 $780
Martin/Mary Jo Whalen $300 $200 $100
Michael/Susan Fleming $848
Don/Hansi Hobbs $300
Adele/Larry Lesueur $848
Michael/Alice/Dixon Crowley $1272
Darissa/Roark Perry $400
Gunn/Jana McKay (lawyer) $200
Dale/Nancy Robinson (lawyer) $500
Holly/Jeff Whiteman $848
Don/Lynette Kenney $848
Daniel/Michelle King $500
Pamela/Patrick Mack $424
Wayne Pomeroy $400
Cecil Pomeroy $100
Jared/Shael Winsor $450
Kenneth/Rebecca Boren $848
Dave/Ruth Collins $848 $780
David Palmer $424
Kathy Palmer $400
Broc Hiatt $424 $390
Michael Norberg $424
Chris Zaharis $424
Steven Walters $400
Lance Wells (lawyer) $300
Ron Lewis $424
David Perkinson $424
Fred Ashby $424
Minyon Smith $424
Brent Bowden $424
Dennis Kavanaugh (lawyer) $100 $100
Chet Arnett in-kind $326
Norman Johnson $424
Al/Kathleen Gardner $848
Neil Jones $424
Yasser Sanchez (lawyer) $424
Don Stapley $250 $100
David/Iris Shumway $848
Tommy Cattey $424
John/Mila Linton $500
Clint (lawyer)/Kathy Smith $424
Other noteable contributors who live outside LD18 and donated large contributions to Lewis for Senate:
Kenneth P. Smith (lawyer) $424 $300 $390
Scott Perkinson $424
Bill/Cathy Konopnicki $848
John/Dawn Giles (lawyer) $848
David Johnson $424
Tom Stapley $424
Jill Geigle $424
Merwin Grant (lawyer)$424 $250
Daryl/Carleen Williams (lawyer)$848
Andrea/Todd Wood $848
Sarver $424
Joelle/Richard Provenzano $820
Scott Perkinson $424
Jeri Kishiyama (lawyer) $424
Raymond Kizer (lawyer) $300
Roger Hall (lawyer) $424
Reed Tolman (lawyer) $200
Scott Cooley (lawyer) $200
Here is a list of those "outside leftist radicals" who donated to Lewis for Senate and were a part of the recall process from the beginning. (And from "beginning" we mean CBA BEFORE they met with the "Mormon Lawyers"). Many of these donors also contributed to CBA (noted in bold red).
Fred Barlam $25
Saul/Lupe Solis $50 $400
Brian Barabe $25 $125
Robert/Nancy Unferth $25 $1320
Brenda Rascon $40 $85
Robert Haasch $150
Amanda Zill $65 $152.50
Julie Jorgensen $100 $110
Elizabeth and Donald Savino $800 $575.00
Mary Lou Boettcher $25 $85
Roberto Reveles (ACLU) $100 $1600
Seems a bit disingenuous and misleading to claim that Pearce suddenly became too extreme. Especially when we can see that four years ago, even before most of the immigration bills even came to light, many of these same people who voiced their disdain for Pearce this year were opposed to him back then as well.
Colleen Wheeler warned,
"I hope others in positions of leadership within the GOP
will see the election for what it was: a referendum on extremism."
“This whole movement shows there’s now going to be
consequences for this type of extreme,
ultraconservative agenda..."
Randy Parraz
