Maricopa County Attorney Race
Posted by: Katie
I have said this before, but it is worth saying again: I believe the Maricopa County Attorney race is one of the most important local elections of this cycle. Andrew Thomas must be stopped! He tramples on human rights and civil liberties and he wants to be Governor. We have to stop him!! That said, we have two great Democrats running for the party’s nomination: Tim Nelson and Gerald Richard. We solicited comments from them to cross-post here and at a democrat’s lament (The Dry Heat may post them as well). Also, county races DO NOT GET CLEAN ELECTIONS FUNDING. Andrew Thomas is very well funded, and these guys will need to be, too. Please send them money if you can.
GERALD RICHARD COMMENTS:
I don’t need to dwell on the reasons we need to defeat Andrew Thomas this fall. As County Attorney, he has diverted resources away from prosecuting violent criminals to persecuting immigrants charged with “smuggling themselves.” His wiretapping of the Serial Shooter suspects without a court order could jeopardize the expected convictions in the case. Thomas has cut training for his staff attorneys by 90-percent, creating the need to spend 11-million dollars hiring outside law firms (that coincidentally helped pay for his election campaign in 2004). He has spent more than two-million dollars on billboards, booklets and TV ads that primarily promote himself. And he has signed off on the arrest of newspaper publishers and invading the privacy of their readers.
So the only question is, who is best qualified Democrat to succeed Thomas?
I have 22 years experience as an attorney in law enforcement. I have prosecuted violent felony criminals before a jury. In my 19 years with Phoenix Police, I have been at the crime scenes at 2:30 in the morning. I have been a credible link between the department and the community. My experience is relevant to the job I am seeking.
The County Attorney’s Office is a multi-million dollar organization with nearly one-thousand employees. With Phoenix Police, I supervised four departmental units with budgets totaling 67-million dollars. I administered federal, state and local grants of another 62-million. Again, my experience is relevant to the job I am seeking.
I ask for your support, your monetary contributions and your vote in the September 2nd Democratic Primary. My name is Gerald Richard, candidate for Maricopa County Attorney.
Gerald’s website is: www.richardforcountyattorney.com.
TIM NELSON COMMENTS:
Hi, this is Tim Nelson, Democratic candidate for Maricopa County Attorney. I want to thank Democratic Divas and A Democrat’s Lament for giving me this opportunity to cross-post on their blogs.
I have been a proud Democrat my entire life. Democratic values — opportunity, justice, and security for everyone willing to work hard and play by the rules – are the core values I was raised with and have embraced throughout my life. I have put those values to work for scores of Democrats at both the state and national level, in both a paid and volunteer capacity.
I have been active in local Democratic politics since the day I arrived in Arizona back in 1994 when my friend, Congressman Sam Coppersmith, was running for the U.S. Senate. Since then I have worked on many Arizona Democratic campaigns.
I am perhaps most proud of my work with Governor Napolitano. I first worked with her in 1987, during a summer internship when I was in law school. When she ran for Attorney General, I was proud to volunteer for her campaign. Two years later, I was honored to join her staff as Special Counsel.
She really epitomizes for me why it is so important to elect Democrats whenever possible. She kept the focus on running the office in a professional manner and working on problems that affect the average citizen trying to pay the bills and raise a family in peace. While I was there, I was responsible for making sure that big tobacco lived up to their promises in the large tobacco settlement of the late 1990s. I sued to force RJ Reynolds remove its Winston brand cigarette advertisements from a racetrack in Arizona. I also held Arthur Andersen accountable for defrauding our senior citizens and secured a settlement of $217 million that recouped much of the money they had lost. Before the Arizona Supreme Court, I won the right for individual citizens to initiate their own antitrust lawsuit, a big victory for consumers.
When Janet Napolitano was elected Governor, she chose me to be her General Counsel and I spent five great years advising her on a wide range of policy and legal issues, writing her veto messages and executive orders.
In February I left that job to take on an important task: defeating Andrew Thomas for Maricopa County Attorney. Andrew Thomas has been a uniquely bad public servant. He has wielded his great powers of issuing subpoenas and convening grand juries in abusive and un-American ways. His office’s attempt to arrest the New Times editors is only the best known example.
He has also corrupted the office by giving millions of dollars in contracts to campaign contributors; using public funds promoting himself; and initiating witch hunts against political opponents like Attorney General Terry Goddard.
The Maricopa County Attorney has several key tasks: issuing legal opinions to guide the actions of county agencies; representing them in court when needed; and most importantly, supervising the prosecution of criminal and civil cases. These are exactly the things I have been doing for the last twenty years at the highest levels of the public and private sectors. I believe that this makes me uniquely qualified to be your next Maricopa County Attorney.
My campaign is off to a tremendous start, I have received a true outpouring of popular support from people throughout the county. I have volunteers phone banking on my behalf, people opening up their homes for fundraisers, citizens telling their family and friends about my campaign.
Again, I thank you for this opportunity to discuss my campaign. You can read more (and contribute to my cause) at www.timnelson2008.com. I hope to have the chance to tell you more about my campaign and my ideas about improving public safety in the months ahead.
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Gerald, while police administrative experience is honorable, I don’t think it’s accurate to call it experience as “an attorney in law enforcement”. How many times during that last 20 years were you in court as an attorney, not a witness? In fact, when was the last time you were in the courtroom in the role of attorney at all? 2 decades ago!?!? As you said, it’s vital to get Andrew Thomas out of office this time. But we need courtroom experience, managerial experience, and experience writing legal opinions in that office. And those are things Tim Nelson has in excess. He has more courtroom experience than everybody in this race combined, he’s managed hundreds of lawyers at one time, and he’s written numerous legal opinions. He has relevant law enforcement experience. That’s why I’m voting for Tim Nelson this fall!
Tim is an exceptional person and attorney. I have had the privilege of working with him in an unpaid position. Because I have seen his incredible work ethic and committment to upholding the law, I have and will continue to support him in becoming our next County Attorney.
I have no doubt he will turn the County Attorney’s office around and that he will bring and attract similarly talented employees back to that office.
It’s shaping up to be a great election year for Democrats, and I look forward to a great race.
I absolutely agree that county attorney is one of the most important elections in the state! It’s so imperative that we unite as a community and stand up to the terrible injustices of Andrew Thomas. He has taken advantage of his position and of our citizens for much too long. I have met and spoken with both democratic candidates, listened to them field questions, and read both of their positions. While Mr. Richard is a solid candidate and a fantastic democrat, It is so exciting to see Tim Nelson in the race. He is a truly gifted attorney with a wonderful background and exactly what we need to beat Andrew Thomas in this election. He will be good for the party, good for the race, and GREAT for the position of county attorney. We deserve an honest, just, and fair county attorney…let’s get Tim Nelson elected, I’m certainly proud to support him!
I am a strong supporter of Tim Nelson. Tim is an excellent lawyer and a family man. I look forward to his leadership as our County Attorney.
Well, I see that Tim’s volunteer blog commenters were quickly directed here to give the usual talking points. Well done, Jackson (my, you are prolific), Fan (may I call you Fan?), Micki and arizona voter.
Now, perhaps we could hear from people who aren’t plants and have real questions for the candidates.
I am eager to support Tim Nelson for county attorney. His experience in both the practice of law and the administration of law enforcement will serve this county well.
Jackson1951 appears to have been fed some faulty information. As a legal advisor over the past 18 1/2 years Gerald has appeared in court numerous times from the Justice Court to the federal district court. That’s because most of the witnesses in criminal cases are police officers. Gerald has been on the prosecution team in several high profile cases. For example, he played an instrumental role in the trial of the undocumented immigrants that killed Officer Marc Atkinson in 1999. Do you want someone to run the County Attorney’s Office who knows the job, what it takes to hire, train and manage attorneys and support staff, successfully handled multi-million dollar budgets, and provided legal advice from the federal level down to the officer on the street; or a civil attorney like Tim Nelson who has never prosecuted those who burglarize homes, sell drugs, commit aggravated assaults and armed robberies?
It’s a tough choice, because I’ve met both candidates personally, and they are equally impressive in their own ways. I’m partial to Gerald because he lives near me, he’s a terrific public speaker and oozes charisma, and he seems to be doing more grassroots outreach than Nelson. He also has far more experience dealing with gangs and drug trafficking, which are big problems in our state. I happen to think his work with the Phoenix PD is a boon, and I can’t understand why the first commenter sees it as a drawback.
That being said, I’m happy to vote for either in the General.
I’ve met both candidates and looked at their records. I like the diversity of experience, education, and administrative capability that Gerald Richard will bring to the county attorney’s office. He is outgoing, likable, and obviously enjoys meeting with and working with different community groups. This seems a good time for a strong community advocate in that position, and I know Tim Nelson will go on to good things, too, in other capacities.