Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Is Buz Mills a Game-Changer in the AZ Gov Race?

Posted By on Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 7:47 PM

We don't know much about Owen "Buz" Mills, except that he runs a shooting school with an outstanding reputation among firearms enthusiasts. But in the YouTube video we posted earlier today, we'd have to say that he comes across as a common-sense cowboy, which is a good, ol'-fashioned Arizona archetype and a million miles away from Gov. Jan Brewer's career-politician-cursed-by-malaprops and state Treasurer Dean Martin's slick up-and-comer. (And of course you have John Munger's lawyer and Vernon Parker's up-from-the-bootstraps inspirational bio.)

But the money he has dropped into the race may make Mills a contender, as long as he comes across well on the campaign trail. He'll certainly look good in the campaign commercials that we can expect to blanket the airwaves.

That $2 million ante-up has other implications for the race, especially since U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver is expected to rule this week whether matching funds will be available for Clean Elections candidates this year. If there are matching funds, that could put up to $2 million in the pockets of Brewer, Martin and Parker, depending on how much Mills spends in the primary. That kind of money leaves Munger way in the back of the pack.

If there aren't matching funds, that leaves everyone except Mills in the back of the pack.

Either way, Mills makes the race a lot more interesting.

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