Arizona Guardian
Dennis Welch
East Valley businessman Eric Wnuck will announce today that he's ending his bid for Congress and throwing his support behind Jim Ward in the hotly contested GOP primary battle for the state's 5th Congressional District.
Wnuck's exit leaves at least five candidates, including Ward, who will fight to win the Republican nomination and challenge U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell, a Democrat, in the general election.
Wnuck, who had raised more than $200,000 to wage his campaign, said he's quitting the race to spend more time with his family. He said the negative, attack-style campaigning used by some candidates turned him off and prompted him to endorse Ward.
“Jim’s not one to attack. I’m not interested in watching a re-run of the same movie that played the last time,” Wnuck said, referring to CD5's 2008 primary that was marked by hardball and some would say nasty political tactics.
Both Ward and Wnuck said a mean-spirited primary fight hurts the eventual nominee, who will then have to take on Mitchell, a well-known political figure in the region after serving in local, state and federal office for the past four decades.
Ward, an advertising executive who's worked for Microsoft, Apple and filmmaker George Lucas, has preached civility along the campaign trail, saying, "it's strategically bad business because it hands ammunition to Mitchell's team."
In what appears to be a calculated political tactic, Ward routinely praises Mitchell, whom he calls a dedicated public servant who has served the public honorably. He then goes on to say that Mitchell's no longer the right man for the job.
Before Ward can take on Mitchell directly, he must duke it out in a packed GOP primary that includes some very well-financed and well-known political names. David Schweikert, who won the GOP nomination in CD5 two years ago, and Susan Bitter Smith, president of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, are among those left in the field.
Schweikert, who is former treasurer for Maricopa County, leads all Republicans candidates in fundraising as of the latest federal spending reports. Schweikert had raked in more than $405,000, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Ward was second with roughly $321,000, with about $76,000 of that coming out of his own pocket, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Wnuck followed in third place with $216,000. Bitter Smith, who announced she was running last week, is not listed on the federal election website.
Whoever wins the party's nomination will be taking on a well-financed incumbent. Mitchell, according to the FEC and the Center for Responsive Politics, has raised more than $837,000 for his campaign.
Two years ago there were about 38,000 more registered Republicans in the district than Democrats. Despite the disadvantage, Mitchell won by almost 27,000 votes, according to the Secretary of State's website. And this year the numbers appear be more favorable for Democrats even though Republicans still hold an edge in registration.
The latest voter counts listed on the Secretary of State's website show the GOP's advantage has dropped to 35,700 this year from about 38,400 in 2008. The number of voters not affiliated with a political party has increased to 119,679 from 103,994 two years ago.
