Even in “red state” Arizona it is possible for the left and the right, for labor unions and right-to-workers, for honest Republicans, Democrats and Independents, to find common ground in their struggles to “drain the swamp” and put some roadblocks up to slow down the crony capitalists and the millions in “dark money” they pump into elections.
With the State Legislature failing to act to identify sources of election campaign “dark money,” often from out-of-state, signatures are being gathered to put a “right-to-know” Constitutional initiative on the November ballot. It mandates disclosure of any individual, association or corporation that spends at least $2,500 in any two-year election cycle and imposes fines triple the undisclosed amount.
The initiative would be a Constitutional change to neutralize lawmakers Earlier this year they voted to ban cities and counties from enacting their own campaign transparency requirements. That effort was led by State Representative Vince Leach, now a candidate for State Senate on a L.D. 11 campaign team with Rio Nuevo savior Mark Finchem and wannabe Brett Roberts.
Governor Doug Ducey signed Leach’s bill into law, preempting city or county efforts for transparency in election money, such as the City of Tempe enacted. Leach’s rationale was that those secret corporate donors had a free speech right to be protected from potential harassment. House Speaker J.D. Mesnard declared that “money is speech.”
In one widely publicized case, two Republican Corporation Commission candidates favoring solar energy were outspent in 2014 better than eight-to-one by a regulated power utility to elect two other, and one suspects more compliant, Republicans. That company anonymously sank $3.2 million into the primary campaign, and another half-million-plus in the general election.
The “Outlaw Dirty Money” campaign has about half of the 300,000 signatures they hope to gather, including a cushion against rejected signers. On June 9 the AFL-CIO in Phoenix and Tucson called union members out to walk neighborhoods and talk to other union members about the campaign. About two dozen union members and candidates for various offices, along with established politicians and staff members, gathered in Tucson. Among them were Leach and Finchem’s L.D. 11 Democrat opponents, Ralph Atchue and Holly Lyon.
Pima County Board of Supervisors President Richard Elias welcomed the group, followed by Congressman Raul Grijalva’s Tucson staff member Ruben Reyes, who stressed the importance of “face-to-face campaigning.” State AFL-CIO Executive Director Fred Yamashita stressed the importance of the upcoming elections for the labor movement “for survival.” He stressed that “we have to get the dark money, the dirty money, out of politics.” Former Arizona Attorney-General Terry Goddard was expected when campaigners returned for lunch. Democrat Goddard is co-chair of the campaign with Republican former Attorney-General Tom Horne.
National AFL-CIO staffer Josh Anijar told the volunteers that “Arizona is ‘ground zero’ for working families…a battleground state,” and that these efforts were about “creating a movement that goes past the elections and holds those we elect accountable.” It’s important, he said, “to go back to labor’s foundations,” to “outlaw dirty money and prevent oligarchs from controlling politics.”
Despite the 105 degree heat, the volunteers took their materials and water bottles and headed out to do the job they had come for. To find a location near you to sign the petition, go to: https://outlawdirtymoney.com/depots/.
Earlier story: https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2017/11/30/outlaw-dirty-money-initiative-filed-with-az-sos/