The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) has pulled nearly half a million dollars in ads supporting Kris Mayes, the Democratic nominee for attorney general of Arizona. This move comes as one of Mayes’ top staffers has sparked controversy by tweeting messages critical of law enforcement.
A report obtained by Breitbart News reveals that DAGA has reserved $1,422,970 dollars in ad buys in support of Kris Mayes’ campaign, down from an estimated nearly $2 million worth of placements that the organization had previously reserved. In total, $474,280 in ad placements were cut, including $459,340 in Phoenix, $66,160 of which was devoted to Spanish language ads, and $14,940 in Spanish language ads in Tuscon.
AZ AG General WBW Report (9.7) by Breitbart News on Scribd
This comes as Stacey Champion, a top staffer of Mayes’, has drawn criticism for taking aim at law enforcement on Twitter, calling on policymakers to reallocate police funding to “community/social driven services,” remove resource officers from schools, and more aggressively monitor police officers to “keep dirty cops out,” even going so far as to express surprise that Arizona “made it 2 whole days into 2022” without a police shooting.
On September 6, the Federalist detailed Champion’s extensive history of expressing strident anti-police sentiments, noting that she has a habit of “deriding police as ‘racist’ stormtroopers hellbent on killing black people.”
Some observers have inferred a connection between the staffer’s public messaging and DAGA’s decision to pull some of its support for Mayes’ campaign.
Richard Grenell, former director of national intelligence under President Donald Trump, tweeted, “Democrat @krismayestop campaign staffer hates police. She thinks they are all racist. Democrat AG Association pulling ad buys because they know she’s a radical.”
Democrat @krismayes top campaign staffer hates police. She thinks they are all racists.
Democrat AG Association pulling ad buys because they know she’s a radical.
The campaign has said these tweets are old – from 2020.
So let’s do 2022. Turns out she hates police in 2022 too. pic.twitter.com/HSt3gk0am4
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) September 9, 2022
Similarly, Mayes’ Republican opponent, Abe Hamadeh, noted the reduced ad spending and suggested that Champion’s continued relationship with the campaign played into DAGA’s decision, writing, “Guess the rumors were right. DAGA pulled out 25% of its ad spend for Kris Mayes. She’s a terrible candidate with poor judgment – still has that kook Stacey Champion working for her.”
Guess the rumors were right. DAGA pulled out 25% of its ad spend for Kris Mayes. She’s a terrible candidate with poor judgment – still has that kook Stacey Champion working for her. https://t.co/XbUWSDSs3Q
— Abe Hamadeh for Arizona AG (@AbrahamHamadeh) September 8, 2022
The general election will be held on November 8.
You can follow Michael Foster on Twitter at @realmfoster.
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