Free Republic

SIERRA VISTA — Promising people some straight talk — a page from Arizona Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain’s campaign style — Jonathan Paton spoke about his credentials and why he should be the GOP candidate to take on incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. While there are four other GOP candidates in the race for the party’s nod to seek Arizona’s 8th Congressional seat, Paton is spending most of his energy running against Giffords’ two-term record. Saturday, he spoke to nearly 30 people — one of them making a video of the event for the Democrats — at a town...

Two congressional candidates with arms-length ties to the payday loan industry are swapping allegations about who has closer ties to what are often referred to as "predatory" lenders. U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' re-election campaign and the Democratic Party accused Republican Congressional District 8 candidate Jonathan Paton of not being honest about his past work for the industry after Paton announced a fundraiser co-hosted by Stan Barnes, the payday industry lobbyist. Paton responded that Giffords has no room to talk, charging she has not been upfront about her financial ties via her family's property rental businesses, which have payday lender tenants....

SIERRA VISTA — A game of political musical chairs began Saturday with Republican state Sen. Jonathan Paton saying he will officially announce today his campaign to remove Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from her Congressional District 8 seat. Paton’s decision to run against the two-term congresswoman was announced in a document obtained by the Herald/Review and came slightly more than four hours after Republican state Rep. Frank Antenori’s premature release Saturday of his intention to seek Paton’s Senate seat. Both Paton, whose statement was not released to the media, and Antenori, whose statement was, are from District 30. Two hours...

After days of airplane flights, a shot of hepatitis vaccine at a Texas base and a 100-mile shuttle drive down from Phoenix, Jonathan Paton arrived home to Tucson Thursday. The state legislator who made international news last summer for voluntarily enlisting to go to Iraq was greeted by his father after a grueling six months in Baghdad, where he worked as operations officer at a major intelligence operation for the U.S. Army. But now what? "I didn't have anything to do today and that was sort of an odd experience," the Army reservist said Thursday. "It's just a big adjustment,...

Arizona Rep. Jonathan Paton will make his mark on state — and military — history today when he graduates from Army intelligence school at Fort Huachuca. It's thought to be the first time a sitting state legislator has completed training at the military intelligence center 75 miles southeast of Tucson. "You only get so many chances to serve in life, and I've been given two," said Paton, 34, an Army reservist and rookie Republican lawmaker who represents Tucson's East Side and parts of Cochise and Santa Cruz counties. Paton, a second lieutenant, was called to active duty in June. He...

Whether you love him, hate him or couldn't care less, Thursday's the day to give George W. Bush his due. Don't let the tempest over the inauguration's $40 million price tag distract from the event's historical significance. Only 15 of the nation's 43 presidents have won second terms, and Bush is the first Republican to do so since Ronald Reagan. Arizona, of course, had a small hand in that feat. Bush carried the state, and the state in turn gave him 10 of the 286 electoral votes that allowed him to prevail over John Kerry. Dejected Democrats are sure to...