Candidates in the race for Phoenix mayor are tapping pockets across the Valley to build their campaign war chests.
The Arizona Guardian reported that one candidate, Wes Gullett, is getting a little help from Arizona Cardinals President and CEO Michael Bidwill and the team's star receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Guardian reporter Dennis Welch wrote that Bidwill hosted a fundraiser for Gullett at his Paradise Valley home -- and Fitzgerald added a little star power to the event.
All told, the Cards prez helped pull in $20,000 for Gullett, a founding
partner of FirstStrategic, Communications and Public Affairs, a
well-known Valley lobbying firm. And not surprisingly, the Arizona
Cardinals are clients.
Clients or not, we wouldn't expect to the
see the Cards exec backing former Deputy Attorney General Greg Stanton,
who is also running for mayor. After all, when Stanton served on the
City Council (prior to becoming deputy AG), he was not a champion of
using city funds to build the team a massive 63,000-seat stadium in
downtown Phoenix.
"I opposed the football stadium, I voted
against it," Stanton told bloomingrock.com in September. "And
the reason is that we had limited resources. We had a choice, either
to get the football stadium or put money into this Bioscience research
center. I was the chair of the committee that oversaw the process and
ultimately said that it was smarter for Phoenix in the long run."
IAs it turns out, it was a good call -- evidently -- because there isn't a local politician alive who doesn't try to get a
little credit for making education the cornerstone of downtown Phoenix.
The
Guardian also reports that Gullett wants to raise about $1 million for
the August election; that council members Claude Mattox and Peggy Neely,
who are contemplating a run for mayors, have raised $300,000 and
$200,000, respectively.
