Supervisor Candidate Vicki Cox-Golder's Growth Lobby Supporters Haul Out Their Big Wallets. By Jim Nintzel WHEN YOU'RE raising money in a campaign, it never hurts to take a shot at your opponents. Case in point: In a recent fundraising letter, Republican Vicki Cox-Golder targets Democrat Sharon Bronson. "In (Bronson's) campaign literature she asks the State Legislature to give her the authority to impose a new home tax on us," Cox-Golder writes. What she doesn't mention is that on the stump, Cox-Golder often expresses her support for impact fees for schools, which would require, well, asking the Legislature for the authority to impose a new home tax. "Tax and spend has never solved any problems facing us," Cox-Golder writes in the same letter--a curious pronouncement from a woman who supports raising both the gas tax (through, again, asking the Legislature for the authority to impose a new tax) and the sales tax (through a ballot measure put to public vote). Indeed, Cox-Golder has a record of raising taxes--while she's been on the Amphi School Board, the tax rate of the school district has risen four of the last five years. For all her internal contradictions, Cox-Golder is doing quite well on the fundraising circuit. Through September 30, according to the most recent campaign finance reports, she'd raised $69,769, far outstripping her opponents; Bronson had raised $39,798 and incumbent Supervisor Ed Moore had raised only $16,851. But Cox-Golder's race has been costly. At the end of the reporting period, she had only $13,399 left in the bank, while Bronson ended with $18,460 and Moore had only $7,131. Cox-Golder continues to pull in contributions from the Growth Lobby. Her most recent list includes contributions from AF Sterling's Peter Aronoff ($270), U.S. Homes' Kirby Brewer ($100) and Steven Craddock ($150), UDC Homes' Michael Enders ($200), Canoa Development's Craig Larson ($100) and Borderland Construction's Morgan North ($200). Auto dealer and banker Jim Click, who co-chairs the Cox-Golder campaign's finance committee, also encouraged his employees to make contributions. Fifteen employees gave Cox-Golder a total on $2,850 on September 5 and 6. Last year, Click's family gave Cox-Golder more than $800. Alan Lurie, executive vice president of the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, also contributed another $100 to the campaign, bringing his total to $150. Earlier this year, Cox-Golder tried to downplay her support within the homebuilding industry, telling The Weekly, "SAHBA is very concerned about my candidacy because they know I have lobbied for years to get impact fees for school districts and they're worried about that." SAHBA is indeed concerned about Cox-Golder's candidacy--so concerned, in fact, that the group appears to be preparing an independent campaign finance committee to boost Cox-Golder. (In 1992, a similar independent campaign finance committee, run out of the county GOP, spent more than $50,000 on a negative campaign against Moore's opponent, Democrat John Kromko.) Last month, SAHBA's political action committee sent a note to members which read, "The winner of the Pima County Board of Supervisors race in the northwest will provide the pivotal vote on the new Board. Vicki Cox-Golder's narrow margin of victory in the September primary dramatically reflects how close the race will be against her opponents, Ed Moore and Sharon Bronson, both of whom view our industry with disdain." SAHBA asked its members to compile lists of employees living in District 3 so SAHBA "could provide information about the candidates directly to your employees and also furnish your employees with applications for absentee ballots...." The SAHBA mailer inspired Joe Murray to file a formal complaint against the homebuilding association with the secretary of state's office. A District 3 Republican who has crossed party lines to support Bronson, Murray alleges the mailer breaks campaign finance law by asking corporations to use company personnel on company time and company computers to compile a targeted voter list. Jack Camper, director of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, confirms the Chamber is also looking at running an independent campaign finance committee on behalf of Cox-Golder. "We've been considering doing that, but nothing's been done on that at this stage of the game," says Camper, who tells The Weekly the Chamber does have a registered political action committee. "I have no formal position on that independent campaign expenditure at this time. We've been kicking around the idea for awhile but there's nothing to it as yet." Camper adds, "We'd like to see Vicki Cox-Golder win. We're endorsing Vicki Cox-Golder." Although Cox-Golder has stolen much of his financial base, incumbent Supervisor Moore continues to find support in pockets of the Growth Lobby. Among his contributors are real estate brokers Don Golos ($100) and developers Roger Giachetti ($270) and R.B. Price ($270) and his wife ($270). Employees of Fairfield Homes were especially generous to Moore, with 10 employees and their family members kicking in a total of $1,700. Moore also received more than $500 from high-ranking executives with the fledgling Arizona Diamondbacks ballclub. Bronson's contributions have come from Democratic Party regulars and neighborhood activists. ELSEWHERE IN THE county board races, District 1 Supervisor Mike Boyd spent almost his entire warchest in his primary against Sally Slosser. Boyd raised a total of $78,718 and had only $7,473 left by September 30. Slosser spent more than $88,000 in her challenge against Boyd, including $65,866 she lent her campaign. Most of the money went to political consultant Mike Crusa. Boyd's Democratic opponent, Wayne Bryant, collected $6,059 in contributions and had less than $1,000 on hand by the end of the reporting period. Republican John Even, who beat incumbent Supervisor Paul Marsh in the Republican primary, raised $68,135 and spent $64,424 through September 30, leaving him with less than $4,000 in the bank. Even won't need much money to win the primarily Republican District 4, since his opponents, Democrat Craig Runyon and Libertarian Ted Glenn, aren't running viable campaigns. Runyon failed to turn in his report, while Glenn has raised only $1,896. With $45,455 in the bank on September 30, Supervisor Dan Eckstrom has a bigger warchest than any other candidate. He faces a token challenge from Republican Ray Clark, who has only raised $655. Democrat Raul Grijalva, who has no opponent in the November 5 general election, raised $50,614 for his primary race against Susan Chambers Casteloes and still had $7,300 left at the close of the reporting period. Casteloes raised only $4,825 in her challenge against the incumbent.

		© 1995-97 Tucson Weekly . Info Booth