FOLLOW THE MONEY: Jim Lamon Is Trying to Buy His Way Through the #AZSen Primary

For Immediate Release
Friday, April 22, 2022
Contact: Hannah Goss, hgoss@azdem.org

FOLLOW THE MONEY: Jim Lamon Is Trying to Buy His Way Through the #AZSen Primary 
Money Can Buy Endorsements, But Can It Buy a GOP Nomination?
PHOENIX — Alabama native and Utah resident Jim Lamon may use a phony populist shtick on the campaign trail, but everyone knows he’s banking on his personal wealth (read: $50 million pledge) to buy Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat.

New reporting by the Arizona Republic breaks down Jim Lamon’s habit of buying up endorsements in an effort to break through this wide-open primary:

  • Lamon’s spending during the 2022 cycle is part of an effort to elevate the political profile of a man most people hadn’t heard of six months ago. 
  • On top of the tens of thousands of dollars he has contributed to national congressional candidates and groups this election cycle, Lamon has donated at least $80,000 over the past two years to conservative statewide or legislative candidates from Snowflake to Yuma. The cash makes him a top donor in some of the lower-profile races.
  • In all, he has personally contributed an estimated $100,000 to those statewide candidates and groups since last year, The Republic found. His four GOP opponents have given a combined $7,430 to GOP candidates or groups.

This pattern isn’t new for Lamon, a professional political donor who has long used his wealth to buy influence. Last year, Axios wrote about how Lamon shelled out $40,000 for the CPAC endorsement, among others.

Unfortunately for Lamon, reporting by the Phoenix New Times suggests his self-funding strategy isn’t sitting well with Arizona voters: 

  • While he’s seeing an increase in individual campaign contributors, largely Arizona residents, Lamon’s self-funding strategy isn’t attractive to all registered Republican voters in the state.
  • “If I had millions and millions of dollars, I’d be fighting hunger and poverty,” said Packard, the Republican voter from Prescott. “I wouldn’t be wasting it on politics.”

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