Joshua Kilroy

The Tim Nelson campaign has declared a "decisive victory" in last night's debate against incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, while Thomas called Nelson a "Johnny-Come-Lately" on the subject of domestic violence.

The forum, held Wednesday night and hosted by the Men's Anti-Violence Network, focused on the problem of domestic violence, and each man claimed he'd proven himself the strongest candidate on the issue.

The Nelson campaign declared he'd won by "outlining how he will put public safety first, expand protections for domestic violence victims and vigorously pursue offenders." In a press release following the debate, the Nelson campaign said Thomas had been "on the defensive for much of the evening," and said Thomas had tried "several times to distort Nelson’s record, trying to tie him to a death penalty case in which Nelson was only peripherally involved."

The Tim Nelson campaign was playing defense Tuesday, battling back against a string of criticisms from Nelson's opponent, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, centered around Thomas's assertion that Nelson opposes the death penalty due to what he wrote on behalf of a death row inmate in 1998.

Monday, Thomas hammered Nelson for having represented murderer Jose Ceja and arguing in favor of commuting his sentence to life imprisonment. He kept up the attack Tuesday, and criticized what the Nelson campaign had told PolitickerAZ.com.

On Monday, Joshua Kilroy, Nelson's campaign manager, told PolitickerAZ.com that "Tim is trying hard to remember how all of this happened," and that frequently seeking the death penalty could sap vital resources and "end up compromising public safety."

PHOENIX -- Tim Nelson's defense of a death row inmate in 1998 provides the foundation for the latest charge against him from the camp of Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, who is running to protect his seat from Nelson's challenge. 

"He has hidden this from the voters and the media," said Thomas at a press conference from the headquarters of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) on Monday. "Not to have acknowledged that he is against the death penalty," said Thomas, is a "violation" of public trust.

Nelson denies he is an opponent of the death penalty. 

The case in question involved Jose Ceja, a man who had been convicted and sentenced to die for the double murder of a Phoenix couple. When Ceja tried to get his sentence commuted from death to life imprisonment, the court assigned the law firm Brown & Bain to Ceja's defense. Nelson, at that time an associate with the firm, took the case.

PHOENIX -- Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas continued his assault against opponent Tim Nelson Monday, accusing him of "misusing" his position as general counsel to Gov. Janet Napolitano in order to benefit the American Civil Liberties Union, who Nelson had represented in private practice.

Thomas claims that Nelson gave a "sweetheart deal" to the ACLU when he approved the settlement of a lawsuit it filed against the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) over allegations of racial profiling. The state had to pay attorney's fees to the ACLU and was granted what Thomas termed "an unprecedented role in the regulation of police officers."

"The terms of the settlement were very detrimental to public safety and the taxpayers," said Thomas at a press conference in downtown Phoenix. "My opponent was an ACLU lawyer, and that meant that the proceeds of that settlement were for former colleagues that represented that soft on crime organization."

Nelson represented the ACLU in one case that took place in the late 1990s, when the organization sued the city of Gilbert to stop its mayor from issuing an proclamation that called for the observance of "Bible Week."

Forty-two days until the election, there have been no public debates finalized in the race between Democrat Tim Nelson and incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

Though the two will appear on NBC 12's "Sunday Square-Off" on Nov. 2, two days before the election, no other dates or venues have been set for the two to go head-to-head between now and then.

"I anticipate it will be resolved this week or next," said Thomas, speaking at a press conference Monday afternoon. "There is another one we're going to be agreeing to in the next couple of days."

Joshua Kilroy, campaign manager for Tim Nelson, confirmed that there are no other dates finalized, but said Thomas is missing an opportunity this week to meet his opponent.

"We are strongly encouraging County Attorney Thomas to attend the event being sponsored by the Maricopa County Bar Association on Wednesday," said Kilroy.

Andrew Thomas: Campaign PhotoThe death of Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas's father has forced the incumbent to suspend his campaigning against Democratic opponent Tim Nelson for the remainder of the week, according to a statement issued by his campaign.

The news prompted Thomas to cancel a press conference at which he planned to reveal "previously unreported information on ACLU lawyer Tim Nelson's soft on crime record, history and plans as it relates to illegal immigration and the consequences for public safety."

Nelson campaign manager Joshua Kilroy said, "Tim expresses his sympathy at the passing of Andrew Thomas's father."

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas will meet his Democratic opponent, Tim Nelson, on Channel 12's "Sunday Square Off" on Oct. 10 - the first time they will go head-to-head.

Nelson campaign manager Joshua Kilroy confirmed to PolitickerAZ.com that the two candidates will face off against each other, the first appearance in what Kilroy said his campaign hopes will be a number of

"In no way does this satisfy Thomas's obligation to help inform the voters through a series of public debates," said Kilroy. "We look forward to having several debates throughout the county, including one sponsored by the League of Women Voters."

Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Thomas said he is willing to debate Nelson, but there had not been "any overtures" made to Thomas on the debate front by the Nelson campaign.

The campaigns of Democrat Tim Nelson and Republican Andrew Thomas, who are battling over the Maricopa County attorney position Thomas currently holds, continue to refute assertions the campaigns have made against each other.

The general election campaign, only a week old, has gotten hot quickly. Tuesday, Thomas admonished Nelson for taking campaign contributions from defense attorneys, calling it "obscene." That prompted a quick response from the Democratic challenger. Thomas claimed no other candidate for prosecutor in U.S. history has taken as much from defense attorneys as Nelson.

"Thomas is wrong that there has never been a prosecutor's race in the country where defense attorneys have this amount of money.  I just worked on a State's Attorney race where defense attorneys gave many times that amount," said Joshua Kilroy, Nelson campaign manager, of a race he ran in Chicago last year.

Thomas's campaign hurled its own retort. Kilroy had told PolitickerAZ.com that the Thomas campaign's inclusion of former Arizona Superior Court judge among the list of defense lawyers they cited was "ludicrous."

"Campbell currently works at the law firm of Osborn Maledon along with Nelson," wrote P.R. pro Jason Rose for the Thomas campaign. "On Campbell's own bio page there - focusing on areas of practice - 'Criminal Defense' is listed." Rose called for an apology from Nelson, saying, "his comments now look a little goofy." 

Andrew ThomasPHOENIX -- Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas tore into his Democratic opponent, Tim Nelson, Tuesday for accepting thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from defense attorneys, calling it "incredibly unseemly and wrong."

Thomas argued that the job of defense attorneys is to help criminal clients either "beat the rap" or get out of prison earlier, and for Nelson to accept donations from them constitutes a "dangerous alliance."

"He is basically selling out the rights of crime victims for campaign cash. How much lower, frankly, can a candidate for public office get than that?"

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.