Gerald Richard

Gerald Richard appeared with his former opponent Tim Nelson Wednesday to show support for Nelson in his fight to unseat incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

Speaking to press and supporters at Arizona Democratic Party headquarters, Richard, who was decisively defeated by Nelson for the nomination in Tuesday's primary, vowed to "support him wholeheartedly" and work with him to defeat Thomas.

"We've got to win," Richard told PolitickerAZ.com.

Richard said he doesn't have a formal role in the campaign, and hasn't discussed stepping forward as a surrogate for Nelson.

However, Joshua Kilroy, Nelson's campaign manager, said that such an arrangement is in the works. 

Gerald Richard has called Tim Nelson to congratulate him on his win in the Democratic Maricopa County attorney primary Tuesday night, according to Richard campaign manager Ed Peeples.

"Gerald is excited to work with Tim to defeat [Maricopa County Attorney] Andy Thomas," said Peeples.

Richard is set to issue a statement on his defeat on Wednesday, when he will also have a face-to-face meeting with Nelson to discuss the general election. 

With about 80 percent of votes recorded, Tim Nelson has an insurmountable lead over Gerald Richard in the race for the Democratic nomination for Maricopa County attorney.

Though only 43 percent of totals votes cast Tuesday have been counted, early votes gave Nelson a more than two-to-one margin over his rival. He currently leads Richard 67 percent to 33 percent. 

That lead is little changed now that Tuesday's votes are being totaled. The Maricopa County Recorder's office, in charge of overseeing the vote counting, has declared Nelson the winner.

Nelson will go on to face inbumbent Andrew Thomas in the general election in November.

After another lackluster fundraising period, Gerald Richard, one of two Democratic primary contenders in the Maricopa County attorney race, had only $8,768 left in his campaign coffers as of Aug. 13. While he still managed to outraise incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, drawing $26,244 in contributions between July 1 and Aug. 13 to Thomas's $9,800, the sitting attorney has a cash on hand total of $204,566.

Meanwhile, Tim Nelson, Richard's rival for the Democratic nomination, raised "about $72,000" during the same period, according to Joshua Kilroy, Nelson's campaign manager. They haven't released their cash on hand total yet, but Kilroy indicated it was going to far exceed Richard's total.

Gerald Richard and Tim Nelson, the Democrats vying for their party's nomination in the Maricopa County attorney race, faced each other at Central High School Tuesday night at a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

It was again apparent that both Nelson and Richard are close on a number of issues. On topics ranging from warrant enforcement to juvenille justice, human smuggling and the decriminalization of marijuana (both said they're vehemently opposed), the differences in their views most frequently came down to nuance rather than substance. 

Dan Saban, the Mesa Police Department veteran and former chief of police in Buckeye, left halfway through, proclaiming his ambivalence.

"It's a tough choice," he said, praising both as qualified and stating his confidence that the eventual primary winner will beat incumbent Andrew Thomas.

Throughout the debate, both emphasized the strengths of their resumes, and more sharply defined themselves as candidates.

The campaigns of Tim Nelson and Gerald Richard, the two candidates running for the Democratic nomination in the Maricopa County attorney's race, continue the barrage of accusations, refutations and counter-accusations they've been hurling at each other.

The latest round of elbow throwing comes amidst charges by the Nelson campaign that Richard "inflated his resume" in saying he was "Director of the Phoenix Police Department" in a press release.  

“That, in fact, was my official title for the last 15 years at the Phoenix P.D.,” said Richard in a press release. “I was the one and only Director, a civilian position at the level of Assistant Chief. In that position I oversaw various divisions of the Department on a rotating basis, just as an Assistant Chief would do.”

It is the relationship between the titles "assistant chief" and "director" that the Nelson campaign contends is the source of their criticism.

"When he uses the phrase 'the director' it implies he had more responsibility than he did," said Joshua Kilroy, Nelson's campaign manager. "There were a number of people, department heads, he was on the same level as. The others have the title 'assistant chief,' though. It's misleading."

County Attorney candidate Gerald Richard appears to be having his second "endorsement" problem of the campaign.  A few months back Richard had a quote on the news section of his website that said "Saban Endorses Gerald Richard for Maricopa County AG."  Problem was, it was misleading.  When you clicked on the link, it brought you to a blog that made the statement.  While Richard's campaign themselves never said Saban endorsed them, the link with that title implied it.  The blog was later updated to make the correction. 

Now Scott Wong is reporting Richard's campaign is claiming the endorsement of two state Representatives, Ed Ableser and Steve Gallardo, who actually support his opponent Tim Nelson.  Either the candidate or the campaign need to start being a little more careful when it comes implying endorsements

TEMPE -- The Changing Hands bookstore witnessed the first in planned series of debates between Democratic Maricopa County attorney hopefuls Tim Nelson and Gerald Richard, who are competing in a primary to take on incumbent Andrew Thomas. 

Before a crowd of about 80, many of whom literally wore their allegiances to one candidate or the other on their sleeves (yellow shirts for Richard, navy for Nelson), Nelson and Richard debated experience - both claiming the edge in prosecutorial expertise - but generally agreed in their critiques of Thomas and the problem areas they wish to address. After the debate, both spoke about how they would deal with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose policies starkly differ from those proposed by both Democratic candidates.

Richard and Nelson spoke in unison on the need to reduce funding to things like billboards, which both candidates labelled "self-promotion" when done by Andrew Thomas, whose name often prominently appears on anti-drunk driving advertisements. Overall both said that "fiscal responsibility" needed to be restored at the county attorney's office. They also took Thomas to task over the low morale at the office, and vowed to treat deputy county attorneys with respect.

TEMPE -- At a candidate forum Tuesday night, Maricopa County attorney candidate Tim Nelson announced he will be receiving the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Tempe).

The announcement came as Nelson was comparing his credentials to that of his Democratic primary opponent, Gerald Richard. He was ticking off a number of endorsements and named Mitchell, who has not yet formally endorsed Nelson.

Afterward, the Nelson campaign confirmed that Mitchell was set to endorse the governor's former general counsel over Richard, who previously ran the Phoenix Police Department's administrative division.