On a recent campaign mailer for State Senator Steve Montenegro’s congressional bid touting Montenegro as the "leading national voice for the border wall and against amnesty," Montenegro is pictured talking with two men wearing hard hats — the kind of working-class folks the candidate apparently wants to reach.
There’s just one problem. Those guys wearing hard hats are actually on Montenegro’s campaign team.
Marc Bretz, whose LinkedIn profile says he is the field coordinator for Montenegro’s campaign, is on the right.
Clint Van Wuffen is a political consultant with Grassroots Partners, a firm advising Montenegro’s campaign. He appears on the left. Van Wuffen is a former candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives, and donned a pair of earmuffs to look the part for what must have been a campaign photo shoot.
"Boom. I think Clint and I are the official celebrities of the Montenegro campaign.... you'll see us in your mailbox!" Bretz wrote on Facebook.
The Montenegro campaign and Grassroots Partners did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but we'll update this when we hear from them.
Montenegro represents Litchfield Park in the State Senate. He's competing in a crowded Republican field in the February 27 primary to determine who will move on to the special election to replace former Congressman and alleged sexual harasser Trent Franks. The special election will take place on April 24.
Franks resigned from Congress under a cloud of reports of sexual misconduct, where women who worked in his office described his creepy personal behavior.
Montenegro has received Franks' endorsement, as well as the endorsement of Joe Arpaio, Representative Steve King of Iowa, and Senator Ted Cruz. (The company you keep, and all that.)