Fallout from Pederson donation to Gibbons

This is what happens when you try to get out of town! It turned out to be a pretty busy weekend in the Russell Pearce/Kevin Gibbons race. As I reported here, it was revealed that Kevin Gibbons had taken money from former Democratic Party Chairman Jim Pederson. Well, things appeared to heat up even more over the weekend. We have to give a lot of kudos to Sonoran Alliance who was all over this story all of the holiday weekend.

First, Sonoran Alliance reports Gibbons gave the money to a domestic violence shelter. Good for him for not keeping the money! Now, two questions to be answered: the statement says that they gave back the donation made by Pederson. What about the ones from the rest of his family? Plus, does spending other people's money instead of returning it back to them send the right message to taxpayers in this tight economy?

Next, the Maricopa County Republican Party took their message to Gibbons a step further by voting to endorse Pearce in the primary with a vote of 20-1. Only nudist Horst Kraus voted against it. Now, we know that there are a lot of people outside the Republican party scene that vote for these elections, but the Party is definately a source of grassroots support to get boots on the ground. Its also a place to get some conservative credibility. Gibbons is going to have to spend every penny of his cash in this primary just to fight against all of the negative press he is starting with.

Finally, I don't know if its directly connected, but Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) has announced their support of Russell Pearce. I would bet that a lot of the rest of the union crowd is going to endorse Gibbons, so it will be interesting to see how much of the law enforcement crowd will follow suit. We may end up seeing a situation where there will be law enforcement on both sides of the issue.

At the end of the day, its going to be an interesting race. Gibbons has a money advantage, but its not clear if its going to be enough to get him over the top. I expect that he will have even more money to pump into the race before everything is over with. However, before people jump to give him the advantage, I would point to the District 5 race to remind people that money isn't everything. Higgins has significantly less money than Austin and still pulled off a decisive victory. This will come down to who is able to work harder and smarter.