Thursday, June 26th, 2008...2:15 pm
Kelty, McClure On the Ballot
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The challenge to the petitions of Kara Kelty and Marian McClure was dropped today. Kelty’s people had pointed out that among the people who were supposedly invalid signers included state legislators and judges.
The guys didn’t bother to show up, and the case seemed shaky in the first place. It makes me wonder if the idea was more to intimidate these candidates off of the ballot than to prosecute an actual legal case against them.
It’s kind of expensive to hire lawyers and pay folks to call voters claiming to be a quasi-governmental “Signature Verification Department,” ’specially when you don’t bother to show up at the hearing.
16 Comments
June 27th, 2008 at 10:08 am
A hockey player would have the money? I don’t get it?
June 27th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Was this all just an attempt to get attention? I kind of like Kara but what a better way to get votes than to play the victim?
June 27th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
An attempt to get attention? Are you kidding me? Here is the case history: http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/docket/CivilCourtCases/caseInfo.asp?caseNumber=CV2008-013777
This was a blatant attempt by someone to get Kara off the September 2 Primary ballot. We knew they had no case from the beginning - Kara circulated the vast majority of her petitions herself and a great many more were circulated by volunteers and supporters. We knew those signatures were valid, and we were proved correct when the Plaintiff dropped the case one hour before the hearing was scheduled yesterday.
So because we issued a press release and talked about this attempted political drive-by now we are victims?
This is dirty politics and all we are doing is exposing it to the light of day so that Democratic Primary voters in Arizona know the truth.
We’ll see who the victims are on September 3.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
For those that really want clean and renewable energy in Arizona, they’d be well advised to look up Kara Kelty–the real advocate for such change in Arizona. The other three are latecomers to the idea; Kelty was running with this as her principal campaign theme months before the other Dems even showed up on the scene. So, go Kelty (plus either two of the other three Dems or one of them plus Barry Wong).
June 27th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Let’s hope this year advocates for renewable energy get a chance. Previous CC candidates who had the temerity to suggest we ought to invest in solar or wind were mocked by their GOP opponents and the lapdog press.
June 27th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
WHO could you be referring to, Donna? (Not that I’m bitter….)
June 27th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
This should posting should really be filed under “gratuitus soccer reference”.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Sorry about the negligence, Mr. Chairman.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
My husband got a phone call regarding his signature on Kara’s petition. The caller didn’t seem to know what she is talking about, my husband got really upset and… snapped (maybe this is an understatement)
June 29th, 2008 at 12:32 am
Okay, back to the “Bridget” comment for a second. There are two women in this state that I know for a fact, are tough enough to whip a grizzly bear with a switchblade. One is Kara Kelty and the other is Michelle Carson (…maybe Rose Mofford). With that ludicrous comment Bridget, I would consider moving somewhere politically safer, like Basra.
June 29th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Seriously folks–do you bruise when the wind blows over your skin? OMG someone actually posed a question that we have thought of but are not suppose to acknowled!! Panic!!!
Why would someone go through the process to actually file a complaint and not show up to support it?
There are four Dems running and only three seats available. Three candidates, or so I have heard, are running as an alleged “dream team” that does not includ Kara. Why is that?
Think of the great press it gave Kara–as someone who likes her I think it was brillient. People who didn’t know her name before know who she is now. And just think, the “dream team” didn’t get any attention while that was all going on.
I don’t expect her to admitt it, but must you be so rude as to send me to Basra? That is just so wrong.
June 29th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Just an FYI - Bridget - Kara was asked to be a part of the “dream” team before Newman and Kennedy were even recruited. She declined and was the first candidate to file and announce.
Since then she has been traveling the state, talking to voters, and earning her own great press. This petition challenge was intended to knock her off her game, intimidate her supporters, and in the best case scenario, knock her off the ballot for good.
Whoever brought the case underestimated Kara, her legal team, and her supporters. She will not back down, she will not give up.
She is focused on only one thing - winning this Primary election so she can do what really matters - beat the Republicans in November.
June 30th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
A Clean Elections CorpComm candidate receives only $82,680 for the primary. Was Kara Kelty’s attorney representing her for free? If not and if defendant Kelty had to pay a thousand or two to attorney Desai and then the plaintiff was able to withdraw the suit at the last minute and walk away with no cost, then Kelty was forced to burn 1-2% of her resources on a bogus court action. Lots of primaries are decided by 1-2%, and that sure may be the case when there are four primary candidates running for three nominations.
This wouldn’t have happened if Kelty had a competent campaign operation. She was the first Democratic candidate to declare months ago, and yet she filed the fewest petition signatures of the four Democratic candidates by thousands (see totals at http://www.azsos.gov/election/2008/Primary/FullListing.htm ). That put a big ol’ bull’s eye on her back right there; if anyone was going to be culled from the herd over petition signatures, it was going to be her.
Was there a petition chair? If so, who? If not, why not? Who on earth is running her campaign? IS anyone running her campaign? Or is this one of those DIY operations where the candidate is the treasurer is the fundraiser is the media rep is the phone answerer is the petition circulator is the….
We’ve all seen so many good Democratic CorpComm candidates go down over dumb stuff like this because the people who were supposed to be watching the candidates’ backs weren’t. It would sure be neat if we had a renewables advocate on the CorpComm, but we’re going to have to see a lot more professionalism from the Kara Kelty campaign before that happens.
June 30th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Hey Nate,
What are you talking about? How is any of the petition stuff related to a professional campaign organization? Just because the “dream team” (nightmares are dreams, too) unethically, if not illegally, used a paid operative to collect signatures means they are professional? Two clean candidates combining with a “self-funded” candidate, how is that in the spirit of clean elections?
The other three candidates used a political hack named Steve Brittle to pass petitions. He accosted me a couple times. At a local Dem club meeting, he pushed Kara’s petition clipboard off the table.
I saw three of them, Kara, Sandra, and Paul (Alfred E.) Newman at a Santa Rita Dems “debate”. After that, I have decided to support Sandra Kennedy and Kara Kelty.
The Sam whatever his name is today character didn’t even show up, and Alfred E. was drooling over the possibility of picking up some of Sam’s starshine. The Republicans would eat these two for breakfast and still be hungry.
Personally, I would rather have two responsible Democrats on the ACC than a pothead like Newman and absentee dirty player Sam whatever his name is today.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Do Sandra Kennedy and Kara Kelty know that their supporters are going around trashing other good Democrats? Classy.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:32 am
I am aware of many things with this election. The person who says above here that Ms. Kelty circulated her petitions herself is not telling the truth. I personally witness many many paid circulators at anti war rally in Phoenix near city hall. I do not see Kelty there.
I asked another man circulating petition where he is from and he does not tell me he is from Arizona but another state. Something is very fishy there. He was also to carry the “civil rights” initiative which as I see failed to reach balloting.
Many discrepancies I see with this process. Even with paying people to get signatures Ms. Kelty still trailed other 3 candidates badly. I just wonder if that the paid circulators were ever mentioned on campaign finance report. Irrelevant now, but good question to ask.