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Candidates in the race for Phoenix mayor are tapping pockets across the Valley to build their campaign war chests.
The Arizona Guardian reported that one candidate, Wes Gullett, is getting a little help from Arizona Cardinals President and CEO Michael Bidwill and the team’s star receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Guardian reporter Dennis Welch wrote that Bidwill hosted a fundraiser for Gullett at his Paradise Valley home — and Fitzgerald added a little star power to the event.
All told, the Cards prez helped pull in $20,000 for Gullett, a founding partner of FirstStrategic, Communications and Public Affairs, a well-known Valley lobbying firm. And not surprisingly, the Arizona Cardinals are clients.
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Clients or not, we wouldn’t expect to the see the Cards exec backing former Deputy Attorney General Greg Stanton, who is also running for mayor. After all, when Stanton served on the City Council (prior to becoming deputy AG), he was not a champion of using city funds to build the team a massive 63,000-seat stadium in downtown Phoenix.
“I opposed the football stadium, I voted against it,” Stanton told bloomingrock.com in September. “And the reason is that we had limited resources. We had a choice, either to get the football stadium or put money into this Bioscience research center. I was the chair of the committee that oversaw the process and ultimately said that it was smarter for Phoenix in the long run.”
IAs it turns out, it was a good call — evidently — because there isn’t a local politician alive who doesn’t try to get a little credit for making education the cornerstone of downtown Phoenix.
The Guardian also reports that Gullett wants to raise about $1 million for the August election; that council members Claude Mattox and Peggy Neely, who are contemplating a run for mayors, have raised $300,000 and $200,000, respectively.
