October 5 - October 11, 1995

Guess Who's Tossing Around Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars On Capitol Hill.

B y  J i m  N i n t z e l

BEST FRIEND OF a politician: legendary land speculator Don Diamond.

If our voluminous Best of Tucson extravaganza featured this category, there's little doubt zillionaire Diamond would win it hands down. During just one recent federal reporting period between January 1993 and September 1994, the 67-year-old Republican donated $21,630 to the campaigns of federal candidates. His wife Joan kicked in another $4,130. Diamond also gave $3,575 to political action committees, including $1,800 to the Desert Caucus, a local PAC. Altogether, during the 21-month period preceding last year's congressional election, the Diamonds contributed $29,335.

These donations give Diamond clout on Capitol Hill--clout we recently saw wielded when Diamond and his Washington lobbyist Marshall Brachman tried to kill the $81 million federal courthouse project planned for downtown Tucson. Diamond, who stands to lose more than $1 million in annual rent when the U.S. attorney's office moves from its current home in a Diamond-owned downtown office complex to the new courthouse, drew the ire of many members of the state's congressional delegation with his intense lobbying effort.

Still, our congressmen can't be too mad at him. Diamond has done a lot for them, with little concern for partisan politics. He and Joan gave $6,760 to retired Sen. Dennis DeConcini, a Democrat, while giving $2,000 to Jon Kyl, DeConcini's Republican successor. The Diamonds were generous with other members of the Arizona delegation, including Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe ($4,000), Democratic Rep. Ed Pastor ($1,000) and Republican Rep. Matt Salmon ($500).

But even more interesting is the amount of money Diamond passed to out-of-state campaigns. His mark can be found throughout the United States: $750 to Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Nebraska), $1,000 to Rep. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), $500 to Sen. Charles Robb (D-Virginia), $500 to Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), $500 to Rep. Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico), $2,000 to Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey), $500 for Rep. David Skaggs (D-Colorado) and $500 to Sen. Connie Mack (R-Florida), to name just a few.

While Diamond's contributions are enormous, he's matched by Paul Baker, Diamond's partner at Old Pueblo Traders and Arizona Mail Order, a company specializing in catalogue sales of southwestern products. Baker and his wife Alice contributed more than $26,000 to federal candidates and PACs during the same 21-month reporting period.

As with the Diamonds, the bulk of the couple's contributions came from the man of the house. Paul Baker contributed $19,550 to candidates and $2,050 to PACs, including $1,800 to the Desert Caucus. Alice contributed $4,440.

In the Arizona delegation, the Bakers gave $1,380 to DeConcini, $3,920 to Kyl, $1,900 to Kolbe and $500 to Ed Pastor.

Like the Diamonds, many of their contributions were to out-of-state candidates, including $1,000 to House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia), $2,000 to Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), $500 to Rep. Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico), $500 to Sen. Chuck Robb (D-Virginia), $2,000 to Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana), $1,000 to Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Indiana) and $1,000 to Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-Connecticut), among many other congressman around the country.

Diamond's employees also turn up on a number of contribution lists. Diamond spokesman Chris Monson gave away $2,250, including $750 to Rep. Jim Kolbe and $500 each to Rep. Ed Pastor, Rep. Matt Salmon and Sen. Jon Kyl. Ken Abrahams, another employee of DRD Associates, contributed $1,000 to Sen. Kyl and $1,800 to the Desert Caucus.

All said, Don Diamond, his wife, his business partner and his employees contributed somewhere in the neighborhood of $64,000 to federal candidates and political action committees over a 21-month period before the 1994 elections.

Of course, these are only the federal contributions from Diamond and his friends. We haven't even started looking into how much money he's poured into state, county and city elections over the last few years--but we will.

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