GOP Civil War: candidates turn on Gov. Brewer and her PAC

It turns out that Tea-Publican candidates are none too happy about Governor Jan Brewer using her political action committees (PACs) to attack them in the GOP primary.

The GOP gubernatorial candidates have all been attacking each other for “illegal campaign coordination” with the dark money groups pouring money into supporting or opposing their campaigns.

Now the GOP Civil War has broken out into the open with Tea-Publican candidates directly accusing Governor Brewer and her PACs of illegal campaign coordination.

“Cathi’s Clown” Doug Ducey now has the tears of a clown that he did not get Gov. Brewer’s endorsement. So he is lashing out in a jealous rage against Brewer’s favored suitor, Scott Smith. Howard Fischer reports, Ducey campaign questions Brewer giving cash to Smith:

Unable to get Jan Brewer’s endorsement for himself, Doug Ducey is now angling to prevent the governor from spending her own political funds to help elect Scott Smith.

Ducey press aide Melissa DeLaney said it is clear that Smith and his allies provided the governor with inside information, including polling, on how he can win the Republican gubernatorial primary. She said that makes Brewer privy to campaign strategy.

And she noted that Brewer flew with Smith to Yuma earlier this week to campaign for him.

But DeLaney, citing a Capitol Media Services interview with Brewer, said the governor intends to spend money from Arizona’s Legacy, her political action committee, to help elect Smith.

What that means, she charged, is anything Brewer does would not be truly independent of the Smith campaign as required by law.

“It doesn’t pass the smell test,” DeLaney said.

“Oh, please,” Brewer responded when told of DeLaney’s comments.

If Ducey believes that sharing information equates to illegal coordination, he might want to recall the two meetings she had with him where he sought her political blessing.

“They always give you their strategy, of course, because they want you to know that if you do it, you’ve got a winner,” the governor said.

“We’re fully aware of all the legal requirements, and we’re abiding with them,” Brewer said of her PAC, calling the bid by Ducey to block any spending on Smith’s behalf “sour grapes.”

To date, Brewer has not dipped into the Arizona’s Legacy account for Smith  . . . but the governor said she intends to use some of the $600,000 she has available “to make sure that he’s elected the next governor of the great state of Arizona.”

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Stevens alleges coordination in complaint against Brewer PAC:

Rep. David Stevens, R-Sierra Vista, today filed a complaint with the Secretary of State’s Office alleging that his primary opponent, Susan Syfert, illegally coordinated with an independent expenditure committee controlled by Gov. Jan Brewer.

The complaint stems from comments that Syfert made to the Yellow Sheet Report, the Arizona Capitol Times‘ sister publication, regarding the endorsement she received from Brewer in her campaign for a House seat in Legislative District 14.

Syfert said Brewer had asked what she could do to help the campaign, and Syfert said she told the governor, “Where we were lean was on money for mailers.”

Arizona’s Legacy, Brewer’s independent expenditure committee, reported on Tuesday that it spent $7,933 on mailers promoting Syfert’s candidacy.

In his complaint, Stevens said Brewer has made it clear since Arizona’s Legacy’s creation in 2013 that she has control over how the independent expenditure group spends its money. He cited comments Brewer made on Monday that she planned to use some of the “nest egg” raised by the committee to help gubernatorial candidate Scott Smith.

“There is no question that the PAC supports only those candidates that they are directed to support by Jan Brewer and that Jan Brewer had detailed and specific conversations with candidate Susan Syfert about her campaign’s needs,” Stevens said.

Stevens urged the Secretary of State’s Office to order Arizona’s Legacy to halt any expenditure on behalf of Syfert’s campaign, and to impose the maximum possible penalty outlined in the state’s campaign laws.

“While Ms. Syfert is a rookie to the world of campaigns, Brewer and her PAC team most certainly are not,” Stevens said.

Time to pop some popcorn! Let the games begin!