Robert Graham
Could this be the mysterious mighty challenger to Gov. Jan Brewer that Scottsdale politician consultant Jason Rose has been teasing about on Twitter? Robert S. Graham of Phoenix sent out a news release today announcing he’s jumping into the Republican 21010 primary for governor. He’s scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. Wednesday in Scottsdale.
Never heard of Graham? Yeah, I haven’t either. According to his official bio, he knows quite about money as a banking investment consultant and a private wealth manager (I’ve always wondered what those people do). The ability to manage big bundles of cash certainly would be a good job skill for a governor that oversees some $25 billion in state and federal funds. And right now, making those bundles grow would be critical.
But campaigning for governor requires lots of political talent. As near as I can tell, Graham never has run for political office before. He received a couple of awards last year from the Republican National Committee that typically go to hefty fundraisers, although Graham is listed as only personally donating $1,000 in the 2007-08 election cycle, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Still, one business entrepreneur with little prior political experience already has become an Arizona governor in recent memory. Despite Fife Symington’s abrupt departure from office during his second term (a felony conviction that was overturned on appeal and then pardoned), he’s still well-liked today by many Arizona Republicans and would be a credible candidate if he ran again.
I’ve noted before that Brewer has a lot of rank-and-file Republicans hopping mad over her proposed sales tax increase to help balance the state budget. Graham doesn’t say he opposes the temporary tax hike on his campaign Web site, but his previous Twitter posts strongly imply it. So someone like Graham, who lacks public name recognition but has connections inside the Republican Party without ties to the current administration, has a real shot at pulling off an upset next year.
UPDATE: Capitol Media Services has written a story about Graham’s candidacy that includes some more details about his agenda. On the proposed sales tax hike, Graham would seem to be leaning toward the approach advocated by Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa: put it on the ballot so voters can tell state officials to take their own hike and cut the budget deeper instead of raising any taxes.
Twitter