Posted on 09/05/2006 12:32:58 PM PDT by Spiff
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2006
"Today, we, four of the five Republican candidates for Congress in Arizona's Eighth District take a bold step to jointly declare our unified outrage at the highly unusual actions taken by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to openly support one candidate, Steve Huffman, in this Republican primary.
On March 30, 2006, RNC Chairman Ken Mehiman visited Tucson to attend a local party fundraiser. During his visit, Mehlman held a private meeting with the five declared candidates for Congress or their representatives. Present at that meeting were Frank Antenori, Randy Graf, Mike Hellon, and Mike Jenkins. Steve Huffman sent a representative, his former treasurer, Bill Arnold. At that private meeting, Mehlman made it clear that the national Republican Party would stay out of the primary race, promising to help whomever the voters of the Eighth Congressional District chose as their candidate for Congress in the upcoming General Election. Those sentiments were echoed by NRCC officials during private meetings in Washington, D.C. with some candidates in this race. Sadly, the promises that were made have been broken.
Additionally, the funds expended by the NRCC are monies reserved to defeat Democrats in the fall, and are not used to work against other Republican candidates in the primary. That right is usually - and should always be - reserved for the voters. What's more, these funds are raised from hardworking Republicans across the country, folks who support Republican principles. These donors would be shocked to know that their contributions are being used to defeat credible Republican candidates here in Arizona. We call on the NRCC to immediately stop using Republican fundraising dollars to defeat fellow Republicans. This primary campaign should remain above the belt and outside the Beltway.
We want the people of Congressional District Eight to know that this seat is not for sale. We trust the voters to choose their Republican nominee - not Washington special interests."
Contact Information:
Frank Antenori for Congress
Matt Neely, (520) 419-0609
Randy Graf for Congress
R.T. Gregg, (520) 877-2984
Mike Hellon for Congress
George Gobble, (520) 319-8217
Mike Jenkins for Congress
Lauren Blevins, (520) 403-7973
Hellon: NRCC are "idiots" for helping Huffman
09/05/2006 06:17:05The Republican National Congressional Committee's decision to intervene in the 8th Congressional District's GOP primary drew a heated response today from most of the candidates.
The RNCC decided last week to back Steve Huffman and help him with more than $100,000's worth of TV ads. Retiring Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., also has endorsed Huffman, a state legislator. That idea didn't go over so well with the other Republicans in the race: Frank Antenori, Randy Graf, Mike Hellon and Mike Jenkins.
Jennifer Talhelm of The Associated Press writes:
On Tuesday, Huffman's four more conservative GOP opponents took the unusual step of holding a joint news conference and delivering a message to the National Republican Congressional Committee.Huffman (and others) might quibble with Talhelm's characterization of Hellon as "more conservative" than him. Both candidates are pretty moderate."Stay the hell out of southern Arizona," said Mike Hellon, one of the candidates and a former state party chairman, in an interview following the news conference.
The four contend the NRCC had split the party, handing an advantage to the Democrats. They urged the NRCC to pull its ads and stay quiet until after the Sept. 12 primary.
"This is the granddaddy of unintended consequences," Hellon said in the interview. "They're idiots."
Meanwhile, Graf has started a 7 a.m. to midnight "hotline" for voters with questions about Huffman's "salacious lies about Randy."
Here's the Graf campaign announcement:
(Tucson, AZ) Randy Graf, the leading Republican candidate to replace retiring US Congressman Jim Kolbe, has decided to open a 7 a.m. – 12 a.m. hotline for those who have questions in regard to Steve Huffman’s salacious lies about Randy. Huffman has mounted an extremely dirty smear campaign with the sole purpose of attacking the character of Randy Graf and has consistently lied and distorted Randy Graf’s positions on the issues. Randy believes that the technique of negative campaigning is not something that voters in Southern Arizona will appreciate. But in order to answer any questions about the lies coming out of the Huffman camp during the last days of the campaign, the Graf hotline, along with Randy Graf’s campaign website www.votegraf.com, which is available 24 hrs/day, will be there for the use of concerned voters. The hotline will be out of campaign headquarters at (520) 887-2984.
The ComPost is regurgitating Jennifer Talhelm's inaccurate and biased article. Another mistake in her article is she says that the NRCC has only interfered to the tune of $120,000. Their institutional corruption on the part of the NRCC, as of today, amounts to $190,000. She has NOT done her homework at all and her reporting is shoddy. I called the AP again and talked to the Washington Bureau where she works and let them know of the errors in the latest article as well as the one from August 28th.
I have relatives in western NY who may have the ear of Tom Reynolds. He is hearing about this issue, and running scared at home, from unrelated issues.
I have bought one car from Click and will never buy another from his chain. Kind of figures he is behind this idiocy.
He should stay in Los Angeles where he belongs.
The count is up to 32 outlets rehashing the same story.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/05/AR2006090501033.html&filter=0&sa=N&start=0
You should have seen Steve Huffman on the news tonight. What a total weasle. I mean that. He looks like one and his whiny voice would turn anyone off to voting for him. He gave this smarmy soundbite, "You know if the...if Howard Dean was hear, you know who he would vote for. Randy Graf that's who." Hyuk-hyuk...what a freakin' moron. After 22 years in Congress, one of the 12 "cardinals" in Congress, Rep. Kolbe couldn't come up with anyone better than Stevie 'the weasel' Huffman. It is no wonder that he rarely makes public appearances and avoids at all costs anything unscripted. I hope that Huffman gets more TV time over the next week. It will seal the deal and he'll never get elected.
Committee: NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE
STRATEGIC MEDIA SERVICES
1023 31ST ST. NW
4TH FLOOR
WASHINGTON, DC 20007
Purpose of Expenditure: Issue Ad Placement
This Committee SUPPORTS The Following Candidate: JON HUFFMAN
Office Sought: House of Representatives
State is Arizona in District 08
Date Expended = 09/05/2006
Person Completing Form: CHRISTOPHER J. WARD
Date Signed = 09/05/2006
That money could have beens better used for Heather Wilson in NM or Diana Irey!! Or many other deserving candidates.
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