AZ-5

David Schweikert, former Maricopa County treasurer and the Republican candidate in the 5th Congressional District race, blasted the financial bailout bill that was passed by the U.S. House today, saying some of the legislation's components "make the hair stand up on the back of your neck."

Schweikert's main opposition comes from the "amount of pork that was rolled into it."

"This is one of the most important votes in modern history,"  Schweikert told PolitickerAZ.com, "and it's full of crap."

Lauren Barnett has left her post as the communications director for the David Schweikert congressional campaign, she and the campaign told PolitickerAZ.com Friday.

Barnett, who was the campaign manager for unsuccessful 5th Congressional District Republican primary candidate Laura Knaperek, made the switch to Knaperek's former rival Schweikert after the latter secured the nomination in September.

However, Barnett is now leaving to work on the Clean Coal campaign in Virginia, according to her replacement, J.P. Twist.

Democratic Congressman Harry Mitchell and Republican challenger David Schweikert are scheduled for a debate on Friday October 10th at 2 PM. The debate will be sponsored by the East Valley Tribune and will be held at the Mesa Country Club.

Yesterday Inside Edge reported former U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate Fred Thompson would be in state on October 22nd to do a fundraiser for Tim Bee.  Inside Edge learned earlier today that Thompson will also be doing an event for David Schweikert before the election.

Rumor on the streets is Vice-President Dick Cheney is coming to Arizona for a fund raising event with AZ-5 Republican David Schweikert. Evidence points to a fund raising event by either Cheney or George Bush in the near future. On September 8th Schweikert amended his statement of organization to add an affiliated committee - Friends of David Schweikert. A similar committee was filed by Tim Bee before Bush's fundraiser.

The Schweikert campaign says they have not had contact with the VP's office. **Note: While this is not a confirmed visit, it is standard procedure and required for a campaign to deny a visit from the President or VP until just before the visit.

The David Schweikert campaign is calling its release of an attack on U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell on Sept. 11 the result of an "honest mistake."During the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, most political campaigns around the country honored an unofficial "truce" whereby negative campaigning was suspended.

However, two items appeared on David Schweikert's website on Sept. 11 that were not in keeping with the one-day cease fire. One announced the launch of Schweikert's first TV ad in the general election, which criticizes Mitchell for negative campaigning and says Mitchell "blocked new drilling for American energy." The other release focused on the drilling issue.

WASHINGTON – Voters in Tempe and Scottsdale glued to their television sets this weekend got a good sense of how national Democrats plan to target David Schweikert, the newly-minted Republican nominee in the 5th Congressional District.

“It’s the mismanagement pageant. And the winner is…David Schweikert!” an announcer blares in the new 30-second television advertisement aired by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee over the weekend.

The spot, hitting the airwaves just days after Schweikert’s primary victory, takes direct aim at the Republican’s management capabilities with a focus on his tenure as Maricopa County treasurer. It accuses Schweikert of being audited for record-keeping failures, of overlooking monitoring a taxpayer-paid line of credit, and for having a campaign account that was shut down by the Federal Elections Commission.

“David Schweikert. A record of mismanagement we can’t count on in Congress,” the announcer concludes.

Former Maricopa County treasurer David Schweikert officially became the Republican Party's nominee for the 5th Congressional District seat Friday, and will face incumbent U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Tempe) in the general election in November. 

Schweikert's official victory comes as Susan Bitter Smith, another contender in the 5th district GOP primary, who came very close to edging out Schweikert in Tuesday's vote, publicly endorsed him as the Republican candidate.

Bitter Smith had been waiting for the results of the official ballot count before dropping out. Friday, however, an announcement appeared on her website that read:

"Now it appears that enough ballots have been counted to project a likely winner. Today, Susan announced her support of David Schweikert as the Republican nominee in Arizona's Fifth Congressional District election in November."

U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Tempe)ST. PAUL, Minn. - David Schweikert provides Republicans with their best chance of stealing the U.S. House seat currently held by Democrat Harry Mitchell, one top analyst told PolitickerAZ.com today.

“I think Schweikert was probably the Republicans’ best nominee,” said David Wasserman, an analyst for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Schweikert, a former Maricopa County treasurer, is fresh off a victory in Tuesday’s Republican primary. To get the nod, Schweikert beat out lobbyist and former Scottsdale City Councilwoman Susan Bitter Smith and a host of other Republicans.

“He cuts the most outsider image of the bunch,” said Wasserman, who had just wrapped up speaking at a breakfast sponsored by National Journal.

AZ-5 Laura Knaperek was the first congressional candidate to reach out in a sign of unity today.  Knaperek issued a statement congratulating David Schweikert for winning and offered to help him defeat Democratic Congressman Harry Mitchell.

AZ-1 Democrats are also getting on the unity train.  The three losing candidates Mary Kim Titla, Howard Shanker and Jeffrey Brown will be attending a press conference tomorrow in Flagstaff to show their support for Ann Kirkpatrick.