Treasurer DeWit all but endorses Yee as successor
Amajor award ... Arizona state Treasurer Jeff DeWit all but endorsed state Sen. Kimberly Yee as his chosen successor during an innuendo-laden news conference Thursday afternoon. Ostensibly, DeWit called the presser to hand Yee, R-Phoenix, a proclamation declaring her a “Hero of the Arizona State Treasurer’s Office” — the first ever recognition of its kind.
DeWit said he gave Yee the award for her sponsorship of Senate Bill 1448. He said the bill, which allows the treasurer to invest in more types of short-term debt, will increase Arizona’s returns by the millions.
But the event soon became a quasi-endorsement announcement as DeWit praised Yee, who emphasized that she hasn’t filed to run for the treasurer’s position, but is keeping her options open. She has been rumored to be eyeing the position.
“If Senator Yee were to throw her hat in that ring, I think she would be a fine choice for everybody,” DeWit quipped as Yee grinned. “I can’t endorse. She’s not in the race.”
DeWit, a Republican, has said he doesn’t plan to seek re-election in 2018. He is rumored to be angling for a job in the Trump administration or eyeing a primary run against U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake.
On Thursday, DeWit said he’s still not certain what he plans to do next, despite the rampant speculation.
While DeWit didn’t formally endorse Yee, he made it clear that she’s his favored successor by slamming utility regulator Tom Forese, who is running for treasurer, with a Trump style insult.
“I don’t think sleazy Forese should come anywhere near taxpayer dollars,” DeWit quipped. “I wouldn’t trust him with a dollar of my own, not less $15 billion of taxpayer money.”
Forese fired back at DeWit in a statement to The Arizona Republic. He said he needs a little time to think up an insulting nickname for the outgoing treasurer, whose tenure ends in 2019.
“I didn’t ask his permission to run and I think that’s upset him,” Forese said. “His cute nickname for me is a racist play on my Italian last name. He shouldn’t apologize to me but to my family who are proud of their Italian heritage.”
Playing favorites ... Gabrielle Giffords threw her support Friday to her former congressional colleague Ann Kirkpatrick in the crowded Democratic field for the Tucson-area seat.
Giffords, who represented the area in the U.S. House for five years ending in 2012, made an early endorsement that could be among the most coveted in that race.
Kirkpatrick, who spent three terms representing the northeast Arizona, is seeking the Democratic nomination in the district that covers the state’s southeastern corner. She is battling several Democratic challengers, including former state Rep. Matt Heinz, who lost to U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., last year.
“I know that (Kirkpatrick) will represent me, my family, and the Tucson community with courage and grace. Ann has my vote!” Giffords wrote in her tweet.
The endorsement can only help Kirkpatrick make the case that she is suited to represent a district she only moved into earlier this year.
“I served with Gabby in Congress and together we fought to pass the Affordable Care Act,” Kirkpatrick said in a statement. “I am running to ensure all Arizonans have access to quality health care, good jobs and a secure retirement. As my friend Gabby says, I am ready to ‘get it done’ and take this seat back.”
Whoever emerges from the Democratic field will face McSally, who in her second term has established herself as among the best-funded Republicans in the House of Representatives.
The district is among the most evenly divided in the nation and is expected to again be one of the battlegrounds for control of the House next year. Voters easily re-elected McSally in 2016 even as they collectively sided with Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, in the presidential race.
Giffords resigned her seat a year after she was shot in the head at a 2011 constituent event near Tucson in which six people were killed and 13 others were wounded.
Quote of the week “Absent what happens in court, it is guaranteed to make the ballot.” — State Elections Director Eric Spencer saying last week that Save Our Schools Arizona, a coalition of parents and public-education advocates, had enough valid signatures to put a referendum on the state’s massive school voucher program expansion on the ballot.
“If Senator Yee were to throw her hat in that ring, I think she would be a fine choice for everybody. I can’t endorse. She’s not in the race.” JEFF DEWIT ARIZONA STATE TREASURER