Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on upcoming Arizona elections
The Republic’s broadcast-style news and politics show features Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on upcoming Arizona elections.
For a time it seemed the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol would shake up the business community’s approach to political giving.
Corporations and business groups across the country condemned the violence and pledged to rethink their political donation strategy. Some promised to stop funding candidates who promoted former President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims about the 2020 election or who voted against certifying the election results.
Many of those commitments were short-lived.
Three years later, Arizona’s election-denying candidates running for federal office continue to find financial backers in the business community.
While many companies have shied away from the Arizona politicians linked to the Jan. 6 rally, business groups have warmed to a new generation of candidates who entered politics since 2020 and have stridently promoted false claims about elections.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has supported Abe Hamadeh, a West Valley-area GOP candidate and vocal election denier likely to win in November, despite a 2021 warning against candidates who “push debunked conspiracy theories.”
Likewise a range of business groups are supporting U.S. Rep. Eli Crane, a freshman lawmaker who was not in Congress at the time of the 2020 presidential election but, like Hamadeh, has often pushed unsupported election claims.
The donations illustrate the dilemma facing corporate America as many in the GOP show a willingness to flout the country’s democratic norms. Campaign donations are an important currency on Capitol Hill, and they’re part of relationships that can take years to build. But giving to election deniers can prompt blowback from the media or others in the business community.
Chamber backs Hamadeh despite warning against ‘debunked conspiracy theories’
One reversal is playing out in Arizona’s West Valley-area 8th Congressional District.
In the wake of Jan. 6, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce chose not to suspend donations based on whether or not lawmakers had voted to certify the 2020 presidential election. Still they said they would be wary of “those who engaged and continue to engage in repeated actions that undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institutions.”
“Casting a vote is different than organizing the rally of January 6th or continuing to push debunked conspiracy theories. We will take into consideration actions such as these and future conduct that erodes our democratic institutions,” the Chamber wrote in a statement at the time.
Now, the U.S. Chamber is backing Hamadeh, a candidate who has persistently pushed unsupported elections claims.
Hamadeh ran on election denialism during his 2022 race for Arizona attorney general. He claimed repeatedly that Biden’s win in 2020 was because of rampant election fraud and said he wouldn’t have helped certify that election. He went on to contest his own razor-thin loss in 2022 and, nearly two years and several unsuccessful lawsuits later, continues to insist that Democrat Kris Mayes’ victory was illegitimate.
The U.S. Chamber’s political action committee, or PAC, donated to Hamadeh’s campaign after his victory in a crowded July 30 primary, and Hamadeh has attended their programming in D.C. He’s virtually guaranteed to win the Nov. 5 general election.
Hamadeh’s other industry donors include PACs linked to:
The National Restaurant Association.The National Federation of Independent Business, a small business group.The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers.
The Chamber and most other donor organizations named in this story did not return requests seeking comment.
Repeat donors give to several Arizona election-deniers
Following sustained media pressure, corporate political groups have shied away from giving to two Arizona congressmen who were most involved in the effort to undermine the 2020 election.
U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar have received relatively little from business groups in direct campaign contributions this year. Neither congressman is in dire need of campaign money overall, as they represent safe Republican districts.
Most of their contributions come from industry associations who continue to give to candidates across the board, including to election-deniers.
A handful of PACs have given to at least two of Biggs, Gosar, Hamadeh, and Crane. They are connected to:
The National Association of Realtors.The Associated Builders & Contractors.The National Association of Homebuilders.Community Bank, a Mississippi-based company.
Reached for comment, the National Association of Home Builders defended its decision to give to candidates based on their policy views. The group’s affiliated PAC “has maintained its long-standing bipartisan policies of supporting pro-housing, pro-business candidates to federal office,” NAHB spokesperson Liz Thompson said in a written statement.
Corporate groups give to Crane
If they’ve shied from Biggs and Gosar, however, business groups have spent liberally in support of Crane.
Crane was vocal in his support for the discredited 2020 review of Maricopa County ballots, and he has warned of a “desperate” opposition that will “do whatever it takes to hold on to power” ahead of the 2024 elections.
He is best known as the MAGA congressman who has butted heads with party leadership and taken a hardline tone on the issue of immigration. He’s also distinguished by his business friendly voting record: He is among the few House members who, as of 2023, had a lifetime perfect score of 100% from one of the country’s biggest anti-tax groups.
Crane has received donations from a range of corporate and industry donors this election cycle.
They include PACs connected with the following companies:
The industrial conglomerate Honeywell International.Mining giant Rio Tinto.Pinnacle West Capital Corp., which owns the utility Arizona Public Service Co.Altria, a tobacco company.Oracle, a tech company.Three sugar industry groups.
Those companies did not return requests for comment or distanced themselves from their connected PACs.
A Pinnacle West spokesperson said the company’s PAC is “employee-led” and “is not directed or funded by Pinnacle West or its affiliates.” Likewise, a Rio Tinto spokesperson wrote that their affiliated PAC “is controlled by neither Rio Tinto nor any of its subsidiaries, but instead by a governing board of five employee members on a voluntary basis.”
A corporation can’t put money from its general treasury fund directly towards campaigns, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the PAC operates independently from the company.
Corporate PAC money usually comes from voluntary donations from a company’s employees or stakeholders. It’s common for corporations to point to that fact amid controversies about their political giving.
Still, federal rules allow corporations to pay for their PACs’ overhead costs, and it’s common for corporations to use campaign donations as a way to build influence and nurture relationships on Capitol Hill.
Club for Growth backs Lake, Crane
One of the biggest donors to Arizona’s election-denying federal candidates is the anti-tax group Club for Growth.
The Club for Growth is a political group that favors a business-friendly environment of low taxes and low regulation. It’s backed by billionaires Richard Uihlein and Jeff Yass.
The group has spent around $250,000 to boost Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, a high-profile election denier, and $100,000 in support of Crane as he fended off a GOP primary challenge earlier this year.
The Club for Growth has also spent big in support of the long-serving U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., who is currently facing a tough re-election fight. Schweikert, a dedicated fiscal hawk, voted not to accept Pennsylvania’s electoral college votes in the 2020 presidential election, though unlike many of his GOP peers he has pushed back on other unfounded elections claims.
The Club for Growth is something of a maverick in national Republican circles and frequently picks fights with the party apparatus, often in support of libertarian-minded candidates.
They mounted a short-lived campaign to prevent Trump from obtaining the Republican nomination this year, urging the party to pick a candidate who “will fight for free-market principles.”
It has long been one of the biggest donors to the GOP overall, including to the lawmakers who sought to reverse the 2020 election results.
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Publish date : 2024-10-23 09:06:00
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