Allen spars with Rosati over campaign donations

Sen. Carolyn Allen has built a solid war chest leading into the final two weeks of her increasingly nasty District 8 Republican primary campaign against Rep. Colette Rosati.

Allen, seeking her third Senate term, said the $139,957 in collections on her latest report — including $56,236 left in the bank — shows her broad support and the motivation to keep Rosati out of the Senate.

But Rosati, a publicly funded candidate who has until today to file a report, questioned where that money was coming from, including a $200 donation from Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, a Democrat.

“She also gets money which to me is not clean, like special interests, fire and police unions,” Rosati said. “My campaign is not about money. It’s about grass roots and truth and honesty.”

Allen, who told the Tribune she was 19 percentage points ahead of Rosati in her campaign’s latest internal poll, said Rosati is criticizing her donations because no one wanted to support her.

“It’s a bit of sour grapes. The truth of the matter is she can’t raise money from the community,” Allen said.

The winner of the Allen-Rosati primary election will face Democrat Dan Oseran in the Nov. 7 general election.

In the District 8 House of Representatives race, privately funded candidates Michele Reagan, the incumbent, and Jim Burke have collected nearly twice as much as publicly funded candidate John Kavanagh.

Reagan’s $52,725 in donations comes from a wide range of groups, from business owners to lobbyists to restaurant owners to pest control industry members.

Burke, Scottsdale Healthcare’s senior vice president and chief medical officer, received an overwhelming majority of his $44,411 from medical community members and organizations. Kavanagh has received nearly $25,000 in public Clean Elections funding, while publicly funded candidates Travis Junion and Carolyn Schoenrock have until today to file.

The top two vote-getters will face Democrats Stephanie Rimmer and William Sandberg in November.

In Scottsdale’s Proposition 401 battle, the Yeson401.com committee filed its first campaign finance report this week, showing it collected $6,816 and spent $2,634.50 between June 1 and Aug. 23. The Center for Arizona Policy was the largest contributor at $2,000.

The Scottsdale Small Business Alliance Political Committee Opposed to Proposition 401, which represents Babe’s Cabaret and Skin Cabaret, is expected to file by today’s deadline. To date, the committee has reported $64,000 in contributions from the two clubs.

Finance reports

The deadline to file pre-primary campaign finance reports is today, but some candidates and political committees filed early. The report is for the period June 1-Aug. 23.

DISTRICT 8 REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY Sen. Carolyn Allen Raised: $37,460 this period, $139,957 total Spent: $83,720 total *Rep. Colette Rosati

Yet to file

DISTRICT 8 REPUBLICAN HOUSE PRIMARY Rep. Michele Reagan Raised: $13,922 this period, $52,725 total Spent: $9,157 total James Burke Raised:

$39,998 this period, $44,411 total Spent: $16,521 *John Kavanagh Raised: $24,661 this period, $25,113 total Spent: $17,043 *Travis Junion

Yet to file

*Carolyn Schoenrock

Yet to file

PROPOSITION 401 Raised: $6,816 this period (and total) Spent: $2,634 this period (and total)

Scottsdale Small Business Alliance Opposed to Proposition 401

Yet to file

*Clean Elections candidate