Political Notebook: Friese drops out of Dems' congressional race

Rep. Randy Friese surprised the Southern Arizona political scene Thursday afternoon by dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination for Congress.

Friese, a trauma surgeon, was the leading fundraiser among three legislators running to represent the district that includes half the Tucson metro area and the entire southeastern corner of Arizona.

While it is known as Congressional District 2 now, after redistricting, its shape and name may be different. Rep. Daniel Hernandez and Sen. Kirsten Engel both remain in the Democratic race. Juan Ciscomani is running for the GOP nomination.

Friese said in a statement that his duties as a doctor have taken priority over his candidacy.

“As the delta variant surges across our region, it has become an increasing challenge to fulfill my obligations to the hospital, my patients, and the campaign amidst a run for Congress. I’ve always loved medicine and patient care, and I’ve come to the realization that I’m not ready to give that up.”

He went on, “Understand that while this campaign is concluding, I remain fully committed to the values and issues at its heart — combating gun violence, ensuring affordable access to high quality healthcare, protecting our democracy, and, of course, ensuring that AZ-02 remains Democratic.”

Friese would not respond to a request for further comment.

Friese entered public life in the Tucson area as the trauma surgeon who treated then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot, along with other victims of the Jan. 8, 2011 attack. He won a seat representing Legislative District 9 in the state Legislature in 2014 and has remained in that chamber since then.

— Tim Steller

Kozachik, rival clash over COVID

As Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik continues his reelection bid, he’s used his city-issued newsletter to criticize his opponent again.

And his opponent, independent Val Romero, has targeted a Kozachik staffer being treated for cancer with anti-vaccine misinformation.

In Kozachik’s Aug. 30 newsletter, the council member interweaves a flurry of anti-vaccination-themed emails and Facebook posts he’s received into commentary on the city’s vaccine mandate for employees, which he supports.

Some of the comments are from his opponent in the general election for Ward 6, Romero, who opposes vaccine and mask mandates.

In his newsletter, Kozachik posted a Facebook comment from Romero responding to the councilman’s chief of staff, Ann Charles. Charles, Kozachik notes, is immune-compromised after having bone-marrow transplants and taking chemotherapy treatments.

Charles’ original comment was deleted from the Facebook post, but Romero’s response addressed to her remains: “You Said ‘I am the person that YOU should be protecting by getting the vaccine’... so If I wear a seat belt,... I will save your life in a car accident, If I get the flue shot, I will save you from getting the flu? If I order and eat the whole family pack from Pats Chile Dogs,...for a month.... you will get Fat??? So please tell me how your science works???”

The vaccine, of course, protects immunocompromised people by limiting the spread of the virus in the community.

In June, a portion of Kozachik’s weekly newsletter was removed after a complaint sent to city officials. The email, from former City Council staffer Katie Maass, contended his commentary on his primary opponents’ positions on zoning issues “spread misinformation” and violated a state statute that says a city can’t use its resource to influence the outcome of an election.

City Attorney Mike Rankin responded to the email saying the portion of the newsletter in question was removed, but disagreed that the “newsletter in its original form violated the legal prohibitions in the relevant state law.”

Kozachik’s latest newsletter detailing Romero’s comments solicited another complaint of the use of city resources for “electioneering” from Amanda Maass, the fiancée of Democrat Miranda Schubert, who lost the primary election against Kozachik in August. Katie Maass is Amanda Maass’s mother.

Although she said she plans to vote for Kozachik in the general election and supports mask and vaccine mandates, Amanda Maass accuses Kozachik of violating state statutes again and says a “previous lack of accountability seems to have emboldened Steve and his campaign to do as they please with City resources.”

Kozachik took Romero’s name out of the newsletter after Rankin informed him of the latest complaint.

“I have left all of the content in the newsletter, but redacted his name,“ Kozachik said. “The facts still stand, though. He’s taking the position that he does not believe in masks, he does not believe in vaccinations and he thinks this whole COVID thing is a hoax.”

Romero said that’s not his position at all.

“I know it’s a real thing. I don’t think it’s a hoax. I’m not against masks, I’m not against getting vaccines,” he said. “What I believe in is individual sovereignty. I don’t think government should tell me as an individual what I should do with my body.”

— Nicole Ludden

LD 10 seats coming open

The three people representing Tucson’s Legislative District 10 are all leaving their positions, meaning the seats will be open if redistricting leaves a similar district intact.

With Sen. Kirsten Engel leaving office to run for the Democratic nomination for Congress, Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, also a Dem, is planning to run for Senate.

Meanwhile, the other House member in the district, Rep. Domingo DeGrazia, said this week that he will not run for reelection. The two-term Democrat said in an announcement that he had been talking with legislative colleagues and his family about the decision for months.

In an interview he said one of the reasons was “in the Legislature, being away from family for four, five, six months out of the year. The other is campaigning, which takes about as much work as being in the Legislature.”

DeGrazia, an attorney, said he plans to continue to be involved in his areas of expertise — foster care and data privacy.

“Now that I know how the Legislature works, I can be a little more of a resource,” said DeGrazia, who was a member of Democratic leadership as minority whip in the last session.

Democrat Morgan Abraham and Republican Rachel Jones have filed to run for the House in LD 10. Republican Sherrylyn Young has filed to run for Senate.

Thiel-backed PAC blasts Brnovich

A political action committee supporting a Tucson-based candidate for U.S. Senate is slamming Attorney General Mark Brnovich in new ads.

The Saving Arizona PAC, founded with money from tech billionaire Peter Thiel, argues in its ad that Brnovich, who is running for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, “is nowhere to be found in the fight against election fraud.”

Thiel is also the key backer of candidate Blake Masters, who is from Tucson originally and returned to town after a long stint at Stanford University and working with Thiel in Silicon Valley.

The ad begins stormily by saying Brnovich should have convened a grand jury or done something else to investigate alleged wrongdoing in the 2020 election, but it turns sunny when it shows former President Donald Trump introducing Masters.

The ad shows what the main fight will be in the Republican Party primary — who can claim the mantle of being closest to Trump.

Brnovich has been staying close to Trump’s positions as he attempts to win the nomination, but as the ad notes, he also certified the election. Although that was his constitutional duty, doing that duty has made him a target of Trump and some Trump loyalists.

— Tim Steller