Arizona Corporation Commission

APS and the Carbon Monopoly try to buy an Attorney General

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Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic has a reasonable explanation for why APS and its parent company Pinnacle West, together with the “Kochtopus” Carbon Monopoly dark money network operated by Sean Noble, are investing heavily in the Attorney General race: because the Attorney General decides whether the policies adopted by the Corporation Commission meet legal muster. APS betting big on Mark Brnovich (and here’s why):

dark_moneyEverybody’s favorite electric utility is at it again.

Arizona Public Service, not content with trying to select [capture] who will regulate it, also is hoping to have a say in who will oversee the regulators.

APS’s parent company, Pinnacle West, has chipped in $175,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association for a new ad attacking Felecia Rotellini, the Democratic nominee for attorney general.

APS is supporting her opponent, Republican Mark Brnovich.

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During the primary, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and Save Our Future Now – a pair of dark-money independent campaigns widely believed to be funded in part by APS – spent an astonishing $1.7 million aimed at getting Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little elected to the commission that regulates APS and other utilities.

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Kochtopia: The GOP culture of corruption in Arizona

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Drac-bats

h/t “Dracula Untold”

The Dark Lord of “dark money” in Arizona, Republican consultant Sean Noble of DC-London, the money laundering bag man at the center of the “Kochtopus” dark money network, has released his minions in the final 10 days of the campaign against Democratic candidates.

The Arizona Republic reports today that “Kochtopus” front group 60 Plus Association, which receives its funding from from organizations with links to the Koch brothers, is dropping another $900,000 into attack ads against Democrat Fred Duval on behalf of the candidate from Koch, Doug Ducey. Newly aggressive DuVal attacks Ducey.

60 Plus has also dropped another $304,000 on attack ads against Clean Elections candidate for Secretary of State, Democrat Terry Goddard, who has promised to clean up dark money in Arizona if elected. $304,000 ‘dark money’ ad attacks Goddard.

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About that terrible no good Clean Elections board decision

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

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I haven’t gotten around to addressing it, what with the marriage equality hoopla and teenage abortion explosions taking place at this very hectic pre-election time, but last week the Clean Elections Commission allowed GOP Corp Comm candidates to walk with an insultingly low fine of $1K each after they admitted to violating Clean Elections law.

Per the AZ Capitol Times:

The commission voted 4-1 to adopt the a settlement, which the candidates proposed just before the commissioners met to discuss commission executive director Tom Collins’ recommendation for a full investigation into the candidates. Tom Collins reported that a staff analysis showed there was reason to believe the two broke campaign finance laws while investigating two complaints filed with the commission by the state Democratic Party.

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Pinnacle West (APS) ‘dark money’ in Corporation Commission and Attorney General races

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For much of this year the Carbon Monopoly, led by APS and its parent company Pinnacle West, have been the source of enormous amounts of “dark money” in support of Tea-Publicans Doug Little and Tom Forese in the Arizona Corporation Commission race, in an effort to “capture” the commission so it can write its own policies.

Now APS and its parent company Pinnacle West are big players in the Attorney General race as well. Arizona’s Politics Blog reports, BREAKING: APS Semi-Openly Places $425k Bet On Arizona Attorney General Race:

dark_moneyThe parent company of APS – Pinnacle West Capital – is spending (at least) $425,000 telling Arizonans about the “dangerous views” of Democratic AG nominee Felecia Rotellini.

While APS is widely-believed to be secretly spending large amounts of money on the Corporation Commission election, its $425,000 contribution to the Republican Attorneys General Association is the first (material*) political expenditure to be brought to light, after RAGA filed its quarterly report with the Internal Revenue Service last week.

Interestingly, the third quarter (July – Sept) report (below the jump) only lists one Pinnacle West $175,000 contribution, on September 15 – the day before Arizona’s Politics reported on the $1.6M ad buy by RAGA.  However, it indicates that the aggregate year to date contribution is $425,000.

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Tom Forese and Doug Little admit they broke Arizona’s campaign finance laws

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The “dark money” team of Tea-Publicans Tom Forese and Doug Little, secretly backed by APS and the “Kochtopus” Carbon Monopoly for the Arizona Corporation Commission, are in legal trouble as early ballots are being cast.

The director of Arizona’s Clean Elections Commission yesterday recommended that the commission investigate Tom Forese and Doug Little for violations of campaign finance laws. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports, Clean Elections director calls for full investigation of Forese, Little:

dark_moneyThe executive director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission has recommended a full investigation into the campaigns of Republican Corporation Commission candidates Doug Little and Rep. Tom Forese over possible violations of campaign finance laws.

The five-person commission will discuss Executive Director Tom Collins’ recommendation at tomorrow’s meeting, and may vote to move forward with an investigation. The recommendation comes after two complaints were filed with the commission by the state Democratic Party.

Some portions of the complaints were found not to have merit, according to the analysis by the commission’s director and staff. But they found Little and Forese may have violated the law by spending more money than they had on hand when they made some expenditures and failed to report expenditures for campaign signs and paid nominating petition signatures.

Collins’ report also raises questions about the amount each candidate reported paying for materials, specifically signs and associated costs. As the Arizona Capitol Times previously reported, several local sign vendors say the prices Little and Forese say they paid is far below market value. Collins explained that a full investigation could include an analysis of the reported prices.

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