About 45,000 donations from every state in the country — and a handful from outside the United States — brought in $3.8 million to the legal-defense fund Gov. Jan Brewer created in 2010 to defend SB 1070.
So far, the state has spent about $3.4 million of that, mostly in legal fees.
Tucson surpassed Phoenix — which is three times bigger — in the number of donations made and the total amount given. There were 1,062 donations with a Tucson address, totaling $60,700, compared with 853 totaling $45,100 from Phoenix.
“It’s probably a function of people living closer to the border and being more inspired by the fear and rhetoric of Governor Brewer that makes everybody afraid of what’s coming across the border,” said Jason Ground, spokesman for the Pima County Democratic Party.
The numbers aren’t surprising, he said, even though Tucsonans generally opposed the law.
The Pima County Republican Party referred questions to the SaddleBrooke Republican Club, which made a $700 donation. But its president, Dick Alford, hung up the phone on a Star reporter after declining to comment.
Most of the donations came from out of state. Only 15 percent came from Arizona. Large numbers came from California and Texas, and some came from as far away as Malaysia.
The top donor was Timothy Mellon, who contributed $1.5 million, from Wyoming.
He was followed by Joseph Van de Loo of Glendale, who donated $10,000.
And all of the other donors contributing more than $5,000 came from outside Arizona, including Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan.
The average donation from Tucson and Phoenix was about $50.
How the money has been spent:
- $2.9 million to Snell & Wilmer in legal fees.
- $400,000 to Bancroft Associates in legal fees.
- $54,833.91 to Ballard Spahr in legal fees.
- $42,902.59 in credit card fees.
- $22,918.43 in travel and miscellaneous expenses.
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