“There is more dark money polluting the election process in Arizona than any other state in the US, according to the proponents of the Outlaw Dirty Money campaign.”
Arizona is the worst state for elected officials owing their office to dirty money,” says former Attorney General Terry Goddard. “There is more dirty money spent in Arizona than in California. I can’t tell you who’s behind the dirty money because they won’t tell us and our laws don’t require it.”
Goddard spoke at a forum organized by The Arizona Ground Game civic group. He and many progressive organizations are advocating an amendment to the state constitution that will require anyone that spends more than $10,000 on an election to disclose the original source of the money.
Corporations like the APS utility, super-rich donors like the Koch Brothers and dangerous groups like the NRA have teamed up to spend millions in Arizona, secretly funding Republican legislators who obediently pass anti-student, anti-consumer and anti-gun safety laws.
A notorious dark money stooge is Gov. Doug Ducey, who has attended Koch brothers summit meetings since 2011 and has secretly taken millions in dark money. Ducey has raised $500,000 for his re-election campaign since the beginning of the year, leaving him with more than $3 million on hand to spend on getting re-elected. That is 10 times more money than anyone else in the race.
“The people of Arizona have the right to know all the contributors who influenced our elections, ” Goddard says. “But our legislature has tried to make the state a safe zone for people who want to hide what they’re doing.”
