GOP candidates for AZ gov spending big before Tuesday's primary

New campaign finance reports show that U.S. Rep. David Schweikert has burned through the $1.2 million in his war chest. That includes not just about $534,000 in donations but also $572,000 he moved from his prior congressional campaigns and $99,000 from his own pocket.

What that left him on June 30, the last day the new report covers, is just $42,495 in the bank.

Schweikert has been spending the money in the four-way GOP primary.

His latest campaign finance report shows he spent more than $100,000 gathering the signatures needed to get his name on the ballot. Close to $60,000 is listed as being spent on "texting.''

He also spent money earlier this year on campaign mailers accusing fellow U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, the front-runner in the Republican gubernatorial race, of associating with white supremacist and antisemitic groups. The Biggs campaign responded by calling that "a desperate tactic by our opponent.''

Businessman Scott Neely also reported spending most of the $1.1 million he collected. He listed his cash on hand at about $218,000.

One thing that separates Neely from the other Republican candidates for governor is he is running with public funds. He managed to collect enough $5 donations to qualify, with apparently little financial effort, leaving him free to spend his money on billboards, a texting campaign, Facebook ads and billboards.

Like Schweikert, Neely has used much of his money to attack Biggs. Neely hopes to convince Republicans it would be a mistake to nominate Biggs, arguing that he cannot win against incumbent Democrat Katie Hobbs.

In one poster, he melds together pictures of Biggs and 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, whom Hobbs defeated that year. There is some statistical evidence that some Republicans, while refusing to support Hobbs in the general election, chose to skip that line on the ballot rather than vote for the highly divisive Lake.

"Don't make the Biggs mistake like we did with loser Kari Lake,'' Neely's sign reads.

Then there are ads attacking Biggs for being one of only a handful of votes against releasing the full records of investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, the politically connected financier whose evidence shows he trafficked young women.

Biggs, for his part, has pretty much ignored the other Republican candidates, attending one four-way debate but skipping other joint appearances.

So far, Biggs has reported spending $2.4 million in the race. But with donations of $3.6 million — plus $50,000 left over from his own prior races — that still leaves him with more than $1.2 million in the bank.

He is also benefiting from almost $489,000 being spent on his behalf to get him elected, with most of that coming from Turning Point. Plus he has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, which can carry a lot of weight in a Republican primary.

There was no campaign finance report immediately available for businessman Ken Miceli, the fourth Republican in the gubernatorial race.

Hobbs' fundraising 

Whoever survives the July 21 primary could need a lot of money to beat Hobbs.

With the benefit of incumbency, she reported hauling in more than $2.6 million in the three months ending June 30.

But despite having no primary, Hobbs, who won her first race for governor by just 17,117 votes, also has been spending money fast, with expenses in the same three-month period topping $7.4 million. She could sustain that because she already had more than $7 million in the bank on March 31.

So where is all that money going?

Hobbs has been all over the airwaves, spending about $6.5 million on TV and other advertising trying to reach independent and some Republican voters with a mix of ads touting what she said are economic wins for the state and her willingness to work across the political aisle with the Republican-controlled Legislature. There are also expenses for staff salaries.

The governor also has the benefit of getting some financial help from Copper State Values, a separate political action committee run by the same people who are running her campaign.

That separate PAC is important because donations to candidates are capped at $5,500. That is not true of political action committees, which not only have no donor limits but also are allowed to take corporate money, something strictly off-limits to candidates.

State election law does preclude Copper State from transferring funds above that limit to Hobbs. But the PAC can help Hobbs in other ways, such as a $400,000 donation to the Navajo County Democratic Committee, which is running a coordinated campaign to drum up support for Hobbs and incumbent Attorney General Kris Mayes.

The PAC also has transferred about $170,000 to the governor's own reelection committee in "shared expenses'' for payroll.

Hobbs is clearly not done raising money — and not just in the small contributions she seeks in text messages to individuals. MS NOW reports that Cindy McCain and her son Jimmy McCain will host a fundraiser in September in Sedona on behalf of the Democratic governor.

This isn't Cindy McCain's first foray into supporting Democrats. The widow of Republican Sen. John McCain, she backed Joe Biden in his successful campaign to oust Trump after his first four years as president.

Other parties' candidates

No Labels Party candidate for governor Hugh Lytle reported nearly $1.2 million in the bank as of June 30. His campaign has been mostly self-funded with $2 million of his own cash.

His foe in the No Labels primary, Teri Ann Hourihan, who is also using personal money, reported having less than $4,500 on hand.

Green Party candidate Lisa Lombardo has the benefit of more than $1.1 million in public funds she qualified to receive. She said that, after expenses, she has about $159,000.