‘Recall’ Russell Pearce tops the list of Fiesta Bowl corruption

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Guardian reports that "New documents released Tuesday reveal what may be the full extent of Senate President Russell Pearce's trips around the nation on the Fiesta Bowl's dime." Pearce's political problems and the Fiesta Bowl (subscription required):

The documents show Pearce tops a list of 31 lawmakers who took cushy junkets in which they received free food, travel, hotel stays and football tickets.

Pearce took more than $39,000 in freebies from 2002 to 2009, according the records. His critics say they plan use that in an effort to remove him from office in what appears to be a likely recall election.

“It just tells us how disconnected he is, and how extreme his behavior is that he feels he can do anything and still get re-elected,” said Randy Parraz, co-chair of Citizens for a Better Arizona, the group that launched the recall of the Mesa Republican.

Speaking of the recall, Political insider: Announcement in Pearce recall election may be week or 2 away, official says:

Maricopa County elections officials have validated more than enough signatures to trigger a recall election of state Senate President Russell Pearce. But they're still a week or two away from an official announcement.

As of Tuesday night, elections officials had validated 10,374 signatures, a third more than the 7,756 needed to force a recall election of the Mesa lawmaker. The fighting will have to wait a bit, said county elections director Karen Osborne.

She estimates it will likely be the second week of July before the county can formally conclude its work. That's because Osborne and crew must compile a report they estimate will be 1,230 pages long to account for all of the 16,949 signatures submitted by the recall committee. The report will detail which signatures were tossed and for which reasons, as well as show all the valid signatures.

[B]oth sides are lawyering up.

If the county gets its report done by mid-July, it's looking more and more like a November recall election rather than next March. But, as Osborne cautions, one step at a time.