Congressman Jeff Flake is the Republican establishment anointed candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat of retiring Jon Kyle. He's a blue blood descendent of the Mormon pioneer and colonizing families of Erastus Snow and William Jordan Flake, who founded the town of Snowflake, Arizona, in 1878, where Jeff was born. He was educated at Brigham Young University, and was first elected to Congress in 2000.
When Senator Kyle announced his retirement Flake quickly announced his candidacy. Endorsements quickly poured in and scared off prospective opponents, including fellow Congressman Trent Franks, who had long considered a run for Senate should Kyle or McCain retire. But he didn't scare off a very wealth businessman who had never run for political office before. His name is Wil Cardon, and he may be just the ticket for Arizona to have its very own Sharron Angle or Christine O'Donnell. Or that dude in Alaska whose name I've already forgotten.
That's Wil Cardon with his really big family on the left. I'm sure Jeff Flake also has a really big family, but he thinks he's photogenic and seems to prefer shots of just himself. Cardon is largely self financing his campaign and has already poured millions into introducing himself to Arizona voters. Well, at first. Now he seems more intent on introducing Jeff Flake. I only watch a couple hours of local Tucson TV per day, but even amongst the barrage of Super Pac spending the CD8 Special election I'd see several Cardon ads daily denouncing Jeff Flake as a “career politician”, “world traveler” (at taxpayer expense), pro-amnesty, pro-cap and trade, and even lobbying the ultimate Republican insult: “liberal”. He seems to be getting some bang for his buck – PPP (Public Policy Polling) reports when they first polled the race last February Will Cardon had little name recognition and Flake was trouncing him 56-7. But when they polled again late last month Cardon had shaved 27 points off Flake’s lead, narrowing it to 42-20. Yes, that’s still a pretty sizable lead, but the polling suggest momentum is on Cardon’s side. His name recognition has improved from 17% to 35%, and among those who know Cardon enough to have an opinion of him – either favorable or negative – he trails Flake only by 45-35.
And help may be on the way – both Politicoand RollCallare reporting that Congressman Trent Franks appears set to endorse Cardon over Flake.
EDIT: Thanks to the comment from Christian Dem in NC, it appears Trent Franks endorsed Cardin yesterday -
In front of more than a hundred Arizona voters in Sun City West Tuesday night, Congressman Trent Franks gave his heartfelt endorsement to Wil Cardon in Cardon's bid for the U.S. Senate. "Wil Cardon understands what Arizona needs in Washington," says Franks. "He is committed to getting our economy back on track, upholding our country's rule of law and looking out for Arizona families."
And thanks to the comment from tytalus, I missed that Cardon has also been endorsed by none other than
recalled State Senator Russell "SB1070" Pearce -
Wil Cardon, the Republican Senate candidate, was a guest Monday on recalled Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce's hour-long radio show and appeared to secure the blessing of the controversial immigration hawk and Senate Bill 1070 author.
"Wil, I think you'd do a great job there (in the Senate) -- You're my kind of guy," Pearce said near the end of the broadcast on KFNX (1100 AM). "I hope we get a chance to expose you more to those folks who love this country, that want a champion, a warrior. A warrior! I'm tired of sending wimps to Washington. I want a warrior! I want our country back! I want a guy that doesn't apologize -- an unapologetic American. That's what I want in Washington, D.C., and I think you're the man that fits that."
Yeah, right. Well, whatever sells to the crazies in the Republican base in Arizona. I won't subject you to embeds of Cardon's TV ads, but if you want a look see, here's a list of the TV ads on his YouTube
Wil Cardon for US Senate. But I think my favorite of his web videos is very entertaining: Flake Air:
C'mon, Will - you can DO it! We Arizonans deserve our very own Sharron Angle or I am not a Witch Christine O'Donnell!
Because we Arizona Democrats already have an outstanding candidate - Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona.
Arizona hasn't elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since the 1980s. Against Jeff Flake I think he stands a decent chance, and Wil Cardon's negative ads against Flake will help. But against Wil Cardon? Well, can you say "Jesse Kelly"?