CD3

Calling Bob Lord "well-funded, serious opposition" to Rep. John Shadegg (R-3), Sens. John McCain and John Kyl will host a fundraiser on Shadegg's behalf at the home of attorney Jordan Rose and husband, Rose & Allyn Public Relations partner Jason Rose on Saturday afternoon.

"For most of his career Congressman Shadegg has not had well-funded, serious opposition," reads the invitation. "This year is very different."

A poll commissioned by the Bob Lord campaign shows his rival, Rep. John Shadegg, is underperforming in a district many thought safe for the incumbent at the beginning of the year.

According to the poll, conducted by the Washington, D.C. firm Bennett, Petts & Normington, Shadegg enjoys 75 percent name recognition, but only 31 percent of respondents said they will vote for Shadegg in the upcoming election. This is a drop of eight points from a poll conducted earlier in the year when 39 percent of respondents said they would "definitely" or "probably" vote to re-elect him.

The poll also showed that Sen. John McCain has a slimmer-than-expected margin over newly-crowned Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), capturing 48 percent to 43 percent if the contest were held today. Pres. George W. Bush won the district in 2004 by 58 percent. 

A poll commissioned by the Bob Lord campaign shows his rival, Rep. John Shadegg, is underperforming in a district many thought safe for the incumbent at the beginning of the year.

According to the poll, conducted by the Washington, D.C. firm Bennett, Petts & Normington, Shadegg enjoys 75 percent name recognition, but only 31 percent of respondents said they will vote for Shadegg in the upcoming election. This is a drop of eight points from a poll conducted earlier in the year when 39 percent of respondents said they would "definitely" or "probably" vote to re-elect him.

The poll also showed that Sen. John McCain has a slimmer-than-expected margin over newly-crowned Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), capturing 48 percent to 43 percent if the contest were held today. Pres. George W. Bush won the district in 2004 by 58 percent. 

The Hill is reporting the FBI had recorded at least 50 calls between Rick Renzi and others during the fall of 2006.  Renzi is asking a judge to exclude the wiretapped calls from trial. Renzi’s team is arguing that many of the calls during that time were between Renzi and and his lawyers and should be protected.

Tied to the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching radio advertisements against U.S. Rep. John Shadegg, taking aim at the Congressman for his “present” vote on an Iraq War funding bill last week.

 “Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have said one thing and done another,” U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the chair of the DCCC, said on a conference call today. “We are going to be making sure their constituents know how they voted on this very important piece of legislation.”

The ads, which will begin airing in Shadegg’s Phoenix-area district this weekend, are part of a broader offensive against House Republican incumbents who last Thursday registered “present” votes in a successful effort to prevent the $163 billion bill from moving forward.

According to a report on Politico, the DCCC will be launching a new radio, web ad and robo-call campaign against some Republicans who voted “present” on an Iraq War funding bill last week.  The ads beginning this week will run for one week.  The Democrats are targeting eight Republicans they consider vulnerable in November.  CD3 Republican John Shadegg is on the list of targets.

While Rep. John Shadegg (R-3) painted his vote against the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act today as a strike against tax increases, Bob Lord, his Democratic rival, portrayed it as "breaking a promise" to support renewable energy.

Shadegg contends that the bill increases taxes on some while giving tax breaks to "trial lawyers and Hollywood movie producers," while Lord maintains that the bill is "critical" to the creation of "green-collar jobs" in Arizona.

PolitickerAZ.com has previously reported that Bob Lord, CD3 Democratic candidate, raised eyebrows at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee with his impressive 2007 fouth quarter numbers.

After beating longtime incumbent Rep. John Shadegg in fundraising for the first three months of the year - by $70,000 - Lord has done more than drawn attention from national Dems: He's drawn Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), DCCC Chairman, who will appear at two fundraisers on behalf of Lord on May 29.

John ShadeggAfter declaring his support for a guest worker program yesterday, Rep. John Shadegg (R-3) claims he never supported the guest-worker program that caused a rift among the GOP last year. Today Shadegg's spokeswoman Abby Winter categorically denied that he had backed the controversial immigration reform measure that Sens. John McCain and John Kyl spearheaded, and that a report in the Arizona Republic claiming he did was "false."

Rep. John Shadegg (R-3) may be regretting his brief flirtation with dropping out of the re-election hunt - it cost him almost $60K. PolitickerAZ has learned that during the two weeks Shadegg was not a candidate for his CD3 seat, he was compelled by donors to return a large amount of contributions.

When he filed his FEC report two weeks ago, it included $59,800 in refunds for the first quarter - when in all previous quarters the total was $1,900. The mystery was cleared up by major contributors and the campaign, who revealed the reason to be Shadegg's short - and costly - break from the race.