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Arizona Republican Spends On Ads In New
Jersey To Reach Trump |
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David M. Drucker, Washington Examiner
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Jan. 2, 2021 |
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Only one vote
matters in the
campaign for the
Republican Senate
nomination in
Arizona, which
explains wealthy
businessman Jim
Lamon's decision to
advertise on cable
television in New
Jersey, where former
President Donald
Trump is summering. |
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Trump's endorsement
could tip the scales
in Arizona's 2022
GOP Senate primary.
To gain the upper
hand, Lamon is
appealing directly
to Trump with a
30-second spot
touting his border
security bona fides
exclusively on Fox
News in northern New
Jersey. The former
president is
spending the summer
on his private golf
club in Bedminster,
43 miles west of New
York City. |
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Lamon, flush enough
to invest millions
of dollars of his
own money on his
campaign, is
spending $18,000 to
run the ad for two
weeks. "I don't
think there are a
lot of people from
Arizona that summer
in New Jersey," Jeff
Roe, who is advising
Lamon's Senate
campaign, said
Tuesday, confirming
his candidate's
blatant strategy to
outflank his primary
opponents. |
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"Chaos, crisis,
children dropped
alone in the
desert," Lamon says
in the spot, which
uses stark black and
white images and
film clips
purporting to show
illegal immigrants
entering the United
States to criticize
incumbent Arizona
Sen. Mark Kelly and
other Democrats of
fomenting a crisis
at the Mexican
border. "Join me.
Together we'll stop
drugs, gangs, and
politicians." |
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Roe described Lamon
as a "movement
conservative." In
addition to the
money the Republican
Senate contender is
spending to reach
Trump in New Jersey,
per current ad
purchases, he will
have invested just
under $1 million
from when his
campaign launched
May 1 through the
end of June to
introduce himself to
voters in Arizona.
Lamon is advertising
statewide on cable
television with a
slick 30-second
biographical spot. |
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Last November,
Democratic Sen. Mark
Kelly won a special
election to complete
the final third of
the six-year term
won by Republican
Sen. John McCain,
who died in August
2018. |
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President Joe Biden
also won Arizona,
becoming the first
Democratic nominee
to finish on top
there since 1996.
But Republicans are
lining up to
challenge Kelly,
encouraged by
Democrats' thin
majority and
historical trends.
The GOP needs to
flip one seat to
recapture the Senate
majority, and the
party that occupies
the White House
usually loses
multiple seats in
Congress in midterm
elections. |
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Lamon is among the
first Republicans to
announce his
campaign. |
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The 65-year-old Army
veteran is the CEO
of DEPCOM Power in
Scottsdale, Arizona,
a solar engineering
corporation. He is a
longtime donor to
Republican
candidates, GOP
causes, and
nonpolitical
charities. According
to his campaign
website, Lamon
recently contributed
$2 million to an
effort to register
more Republican
voters in Arizona —
even though he is
not a regular on the
major donor circuit
that, for instance,
writes seven-figure
checks to GOP super
PACs. |
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"I spent my career
bringing power to
the people," Lamon
said in his
introduction ad.
"But there's another
kind of power.
Political elites use
it to divide,
distract and sell
out our children's
future. But we have
the power to take
their power away." |
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Other potential
candidates include
Arizona Attorney
General Mark
Brnovich; Michael
McGuire, the former
adjutant general of
the Arizona National
Guard; and Blake
Masters, who works
for venture
capitalist Peter
Thiel, a GOP
megadonor. Should
Masters run, Thiel
is expected to back
him financially with
a super PAC that
could spend possibly
tens of millions of
dollars on his
behalf. |
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