Steller's Friday Notebook: GOP candidate forum excludes broader public

Hearing a recording of Saturday’s GOP Congressional District 2 forum is enough to make you wonder what the big deal was about.

It was, by the questions and answers, a typical GOP congressional candidate forum. They talked about border security, they talked about immigration restrictions, they discussed the economy, they debated whether a pre-emptive military strike on North Korea should be considered.

It sounds pretty normal, all and all.

But the event caused a bit of a stir locally — I think rightfully — because of a couple of the event’s unusual features. Notably, there was an entry fee of $7.50, and no news media representatives were allowed.

I only got to hear what happened because Larry Bodine, a Democrat and blogger, secretly recorded the event, wrote about it, and passed the audio on. Dylan Smith of the Tucson Sentinel was barred from entering despite offering to pay for a ticket.

Having listened to most of the debate, I can tell you that Brandon Martin presented himself as the “constitutional conservative’ committed to getting government out of people’s business.

Marilyn Wiles presented herself as the experienced former federal-government executive who would not “need to ask my way to the ladies room” on her first day in the U.S. Capitol.

Lea Marquez Petersen came off as the political realist focused on building a coalition and raising enough money — “I’ve already raised more than $400,000 to win this race” — to defeat Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats.

Danny Morales repeatedly noted he is a police officer who lives and works on the border in Douglas and also knows the military due to growing up in an Army family and serving in the Navy and reserves.

The man who organized the forum, Pima County GOP Chair David Eppihimer, was mystified about the dissension especially in Tucson’s press corps about the private nature of the forum. He noted the candidates have already been to enough forums that he wasn’t sure whether the county party should even hold one.

The ticket price, he said, was simply to offset the cost of renting the room at the Mountain Oyster Club, where he is a member. The press ban was simply the club’s policy, he said.

“We also know, and it was correct, that the only people who show up to these things are party regulars or Republicans who show up to something like this,” he said. “There was no need for press coverage.”

My point is, that’s exactly why you need press coverage — to get beyond the 60 or so people in the room. With reporters and cameras permitted, on a Saturday, there might have been coverage on a couple of the local TV stations, not to mention Tucson.com and other news websites.

I get that Republicans often feel embattled in Tucson, but walling yourself off isn’t helpful. And Eppihimer seems to understand that too, even though this particular kerfuffle seems overblown to him.

He told me, “Given the reaction from the media to this event, and the points that have been made, I will certainly consider such forums in the future being open to the press.”

McSally says no big-data link

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Martha McSally’s campaign for U.S. Senate is denying one of its consultants — Axiom Strategies founder Jeff Roe — has ever used Cambridge Analytica data for its campaign.

Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign — where Roe served as campaign manager — paid an estimated $5.8 million to the company in order to access the data.

Roe touted the campaign’s heavy reliance on data and analysis to reach voters in 2015 interview with the Washington Post.

However, a spokesperson for the McSally campaign ruled out any possibility that McSally has ever used the data to reach voters in either Congressional District 2 or in her current race to replace Sen. Jeff Flake.

No position on census question

The debate over whether the U.S. Census Bureau should ask a question about the respondent’s citizenship puts Arizona officials, especially Attorney General Mark Brnovich, in an interesting position.

Xavier Becerra, California’s attorney general, and a coalition of attorneys general led by New York’s Eric Schneiderman are planning lawsuits against the bureau’s announced plan to ask everyone in America their citizenship. Their argument: It will discourage some residents from responding, leading to an undercount of states with many foreign-born residents.

States like Arizona.

If all of our residents aren’t counted, that leaves Arizona vulnerable to disproportionately small political representation and financial benefits. But the initiative to add the question came from a GOP administration, and Brnovich is a Republican.

His office did not respond to my request for a comment on the issue.

Voter reg mailers faulty

Thousands of voter registration letters recently sent to Pima County residents may look official, but they are not from the County Recorder’s Office.

The letters are from the Washington, D.C.,-based Voter Participation Center and warn locals they are not registered to vote.

Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez said the information the group put out is flawed and doesn’t reflect current registration records.

In fact, one county resident told Rodriguez they got a letter from the VPC addressed to their dog.