U.S. CONGRESS DISTRICT 5
Harry Mitchell “must think your money grows on trees.”
David Schweikert “is a predatory real estate speculator ... who even evicted a homeowner on the verge of saving his house, just to make a buck.”
Mitchell’s “insistence that we punish the American people with more bad government that crowds out real growth is unconscionable.”
Schweikert “as treasurer, had ethics problems and a record of mismanaging our money.”
As the national interest in this important congressional race has ramped up, so have the allegations coming from both sides.
If you can get beyond the mudslinging — most of which is exaggerated — there are things to like about both candidates.
The Republican Schweikert has a solid background in finance — a strong asset given the budget deficit facing the country. We need congressional leaders committed to curtailing the federal government’s free-spending ways.
Mitchell has a strong record serving the District 5 area — as a teacher, a state senator and the longtime mayor of Tempe (the city erected a 35-foot statue of Mitchell in downtown Tempe and renamed the city’s government center the Harry E. Mitchell Government Complex).
Mitchell easily defeated Schweikert in 2008 as he rode the Democratic wave that put Barack Obama in office. This year’s rematch has taken a different turn given the country’s uneasiness after two years of Obama and the Republican surge to take back Congress. Mitchell’s voting record — he backed health-care reform and the $787 billion stimulus — has also made him more vulnerable in this Republican-leaning district.
Given all that, we still like Mitchell in this race.
District 5 is much more moderate than many Republican districts in the state, and Mitchell has represented that trait for years. He has a Republican co-sponsor on every bill he submits, is an advocate for veterans and small business, and is just a genuine person (he has not hid from or tried to couch his support for Obamacare).
After a long and distinguished career, Mitchell deserves to remain in Congress.
U.S. CONGRESS DISTRICT 6
Jeff Flake is a conservative and one of the few Republicans who is an advocate for comprehensive immigration reform.
U.S. SENATE
John McCain’s stock may have fallen, but he is still a powerful voice and a world leader who serves Arizona well.
LoveAZ posted at 9:11 am on Sun, Oct 24, 2010.
Are you kidding? You endorsed liberal Harry Mitchell over David Schweikert??? Even the liberal Arizona Republic endorsed Schweikert! Mitchell voted for Obamacare, TARP bailouts, the stimulus and cardcheck. He votes with Pelosi and the Obama administration and ignores the nonstop Tea Party protests outside his office, he doesn’t represent his Republican-leaning district. He is completely bought and paid for by the unions
(http://epaper.aztrib.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=RVZULzIwMDcvMDMvMTIjQXIwMzgwMQ==&Mode=HTML&L
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This endorsement makes no sense, who paid you off to do it?
snipes posted at 8:14 am on Tue, Oct 26, 2010.
Much of what frustrated me about Mitchell was his moderate stance and willingness to work with Republicans, even the far right nut jobs. But be that as it may..
This campaign turned nasty early on, and that's entirely Schweikert's doing. Despite his friendly smile he's a nasty person inside. He's a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing. When he ran two years ago, he was collegial at the debate with Mitchell, then as soon a the debate was over, and the crowd had thinned, you finally got a sense of who he was. Far right ranting, mixed in with a bit of Libertarian clap-trap, with an unhealthy does of Tea-Party harangue.
Mitchell may not do everything I want, but he's a fair and decent and honest guy. He already received my vote.
ASUfan posted at 3:58 pm on Tue, Oct 26, 2010.
Harry was a good mayor for Tempe but as a Congressman he has demonstrated less than stellar achievements. My wife and I will be voting for his opponent this time.
k33j88 posted at 7:50 am on Sun, Oct 31, 2010.
Shame on me for believing that this newspaper had any semblance of integrity, honesty, and a strict adherance to the principles of our CONSTITUTION. Welcome aboard another left-leaning, liberal, big government, big tax, pro-illegal, drunken-sailor spending mentality. This editorial staff, how do they sleep at night?