The heat is growing under Bundgaard. AP reports:
Two Republican senators say Peoria Republican Scott Bundgaard should step down as majority leader of the Arizona Senate because of an alleged domestic violence incident.
Sen. Ron Gould of Lake Havasu City says Bundgaard’s behavior was unbecoming as a senator and Sen. Rich Crandall of Mesa says Bundgaard should step down as majority leader so he isn’t distracted by his personal situation.
The two Republican senators commented Monday after several Democratic senators called on Bundgaard to resign from the Legislature and said they want an ethics investigation if he doesn’t.
Still, Bungaard remains one of Senate President Russell Pearce’s favorites. Remember, Russell still believes Bungaard—the cad who invoked legislative immunity and went home to work on his statement to the media while his date was hauled off to cool her heels in jail—is the victim in this tawdry tale.
The Arizona GOP is coming to Bundgaard’s defense by dragging Tucson Rep. Daniel Patterson into the story, citing Hank Stephenson’s work in Tucson Weekly:
Tom Morrissey, Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, today chastised Arizona Senate Democrats for hypocritical behavior in their calls for the resignation of Arizona Senate Majority Leader Scott Bundgaard.
“This is partisan politics at its worst,” said Morrissey. “The Democrats should be spending their time trying to add some constructive solutions to Arizona’s problems, such as the budget. Instead, in their mad grasp for relevancy and headlines, they exploit the woes of Senator Bundgaard in a situation that should be treated as a personal and private matter until such time that Senator Bundgaard and Ms. Ballard have their day in court.”
Morrissey continued, “Where were these same elected Democrats over the summer when one in their own ranks, State Representative Daniel Patterson, chose to ‘evade service’ when his estranged wife filed a restraining order against him? It seems that the Democrats only choose to claim the moral high ground when it’s politically convenient. The only ethics that Democrat Senator Leah Landrum and the Senate Democrat caucus should be questioning are their own.”
This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2011.
Well, the AZ Democratic Party and Pima County Democratic Party perhaps ought to consider pressuring Patterson to either resign or at least to comply with court orders to provide financial support to his family.
Daniel Patterson has been living outside of his district with his mistress for months. His wife, a recent cancer patient, has been surviving on donations from Democrats unfazed by Pima County Chair Jeff Rogers’ sleazy attempts to character assasinate her. He has sent emails to Democratic Caucus members urging them to look the other way. The guy is an embarrassment to Tucson.