The Daily Agenda: Endorsement exchange

Santa Cruz vs. Kozachik … Jim Click has finally had enough.

A behind-the-scenes endorsement battle is brewing on the Tucson City Council, and it’s been years in the making.

Two years ago, Ward 1 city council member Lane Santa Cruz endorsed the candidate challenging fellow council member, Steve Kozachik, in the Democratic primary for his seat representing Ward 6.

Miranda Schubert, a University of Arizona staffer and radio host at KXCI, ran on a platform of housing justice, community-centered development, climate change and public safety, amidst what she called a post-pandemic “eviction tsunami.”

In her endorsement, Santa Cruz said that she admired Schubert’s “vision for a more just and equitable city.” 

“Her maturity, humility and fresh take on city issues are qualities we need to change, that must be changed,” Santa Cruz said, applauding Schubert’s “out-of-the-box thinking” and her desire to “achieve collaborative solutions.”

Despite the glowing endorsement, Schubert — who said Santa Cruz inspired her to run for office — ended up losing to Kozachik, who took 56% of the vote compared to Schubert’s 28%, in the primary. Kozachik, who has been on the city council since 2009, went onto win the general election, beating out Republican Val Romero with 66% of the vote.

Two years later, Kozachik finally had a chance to return the favor with his recent endorsement of Santa Cruz’s opponent, Miguel Ortega, in his second run for the Ward 1 seat. While Santa Cruz’s endorsement of Schubert seemed confined to social media and Schubert’s campaign materials, Kozachik’s praise of Ortega was featured in an opinion piece that ran in the Arizona Daily Star.

“Local government is your first and most direct touch with public services. If we don’t answer our phone or respond to your email, your options for getting answers are reduced to you trying to navigate a huge and largely unresponsive bureaucracy on your own,” Kozachik said in the endorsement. “I am supporting Miguel Ortega for the Ward 1 city council seat because I have seen his constituent service work during his time as chief of staff in the Ward 3 council office, and I know he gets it.”

Longtime Tucsonans know that it’s rare for members of the historically Democratic-leaning city council to disagree, it’s even more unheard of for them to engage in such a public — and passive-aggressive — battle.

“Vote for somebody who will represent you, and who has a history of doing exactly that,” Kozachik urged Star readers.

But Kozachik’s piece in the Star wasn’t well-received by all readers. Nate Sigal, a former campaign manager for Mayor Regina Romero and for Raul Grijalva, fired back in a letter to the editor.

“I was discouraged to read in Sunday’s paper that (Kozachik) felt the need to throw not-so-subtle jabs at (Santa Cruz) without having the courage to mention her by name,” Sigal said. “At a time when many politicians are seeking to disenfranchise voters, she is making government more accessible by bringing it to the people.”

Sigal applauded Santa Cruz’s support of “progressive, forward-thinking policies that center the most vulnerable communities,” including her advocacy for affordable housing, safer streets for cyclists and pedestrians and climate action.

Kozachik and Sigal aren’t the only ones weighing in on the race. Former District 20 Democratic now-former Representative Andrés Cano wrote his own letter to the editor in support of Santa Cruz, listing some of her achievements and saying that she’s “exactly the kind of leader that we can be proud of– and she has the track record to prove it.”

Cano went on to say that at a recent community forum, he witnessed Ortega refuse to “campaign with grace and humility about the real issues facing Tucsonans today.”

“We don’t need empty words and nasty rhetoric from divisive candidates like Miguel Ortega,” Cano said in the letter. “We need effective leaders like Lane Santa Cruz who are in public service to do the hard work and make sure there is representation of our barrios, history, and people.”

As Cano said in his letter, Ortega is indeed taking shots at Santa Cruz. A scan of the candidates’ social media pages show that while Santa Cruz focuses mostly on her accomplishments and endorsements, many of Ortega’s posts directly and negatively reference his opponent or “the incumbent.”

As we mentioned yesterday, Ward 1 is one of only two contested primary races in this year’s city election. In 2019, Santa Cruz beat out Ortega in a four-way race for the seat by a vote of 3,745 over 1,744. Will the shade Kozachik threw at Santa Cruz and Ortega’s direct shots be enough to help boost Ortega in the polls? Incumbents rarely lose their races, but with only two Democratic candidates in the race this year compared to four in 2019, Ortega may have a real shot.

Read more: The Arizona Luminaria’s John Washington took a deep dive into the Ward 1 race between Santa Cruz and Ortega, getting into the weeds of some of their policy platforms Washington breaks down their platforms and views on the issues, including housing, climate and police.

What’s with all these chains? National chain restaurants are flocking to town in an effort to capitalize off Tucson’s status as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, the Arizona Daily Star’s Cathalena Burch reports. Since last summer, at least seven national chains opened their first Tucson locations, including four since January — two of which chose Tucson for their first ventures outside the Midwest.

The buck stops here: Longtime Arizona Republican megadonor Jim Click is one of several major contributors who have stopped giving money to their state Republican parties, Reuters’ reports. Donors say they’re shying away from the Arizona and Michigan GOPs because of state leaders’ drives to overturn the 2020 election, their backing of losing candidates who support Trump’s election conspiracy and what they believe are extreme positions on issues like abortion. Click says he’ll give directly to candidates he supports instead. 

“Arizona's Republican Party had less than $50,000 in cash reserves in its state and federal bank accounts as of March 31 to spend on overheads such as rent, payroll and political campaign operations, the filings show. At the same point four years ago, it had nearly $770,000,” Reuters reports.

Looking to 2024: The Pima County Republican Party is readying for the 2024 election and lining up candidates for the board of supervisors races, according to its blog, the Grassroots Gazette. Three candidates– Steve Spain, Beatrice Stephens and John Backer– have already filed 2024 statements of interest to run in District 1 and District 2.

Footing the bill: The University of Arizona has agreed to reimburse the town of Oro Valley up to $284,272 for the “fully loaded personnel costs” for Field Services Commander Chris Olson, who was brought on as interim chief of the UA Police Department, Tucson Local Media’s Dave Perry reports. The agreement, which went into effect in early May and will remain in place until June 2024, after which Olson can return to OVPD.

Salary-wise, one police chief is worth about five reporters. Something to ponder as you click that button.

Braving the heat: Supporters of the most recent effort to change Tucson’s ward-only election system are hitting the pavement to collect signatures, despite a lack of support from any of major parties, institutions or officials, and a history of failed attempts, according to the Arizona Daily Star’s Tim Steller.

New hire for Nogales: The City of Nogales has appointed Maritza Cervantes as its new director of its public housing authority, the Nogales International’s Angela Gervasi reports. Cervantes, a project management consultant with experience in local workforce development, education and grant management, was selected from a pool of more than 20 applicants.

When we read about Tucson megadonor Jim Click’s decision to cut financial ties with the state GOP, we couldn’t help but look up which candidates he has supported in recent years. 

As Reuters put it, Click and others based their decisions on party leaders' “drives to overturn the 2020 election, their backing of losing candidates who support Trump's election conspiracy and what they view as extreme positions on issues like abortion” 

And Click has, in fact, spent a fair amount of money backing middle-of-the-road Republican candidates over the years, including U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and southern Arizona Congressman Juan Ciscomani. 

But one recent contribution caught our eye: Click and his wife Vicki Click contributed more than $10,000 to Kari Lake’s failed gubernatorial campaign.