Lauren Barnett

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.

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.

The campaign for Laura Knaperek, one of the Republicans running in Congressional District 5, is convinced that Democratic incumbent Harry Mitchell is vulnerable.

“This is a fundamentally conservative district,” says Lauren Barnett, Knaparek’s campaign manager.