Arizona: Gerald Richard

We thought hiring Greg Stanton at a $119,000 salary last month was wasteful considering the state is in the worst budget crisis ever. Now we hear that Goddard also hired former County Attorney Democrat candidate Gerald Richard as a “Law Enforcement Advisor” last month. Wonder what salary he was hired at? We know of at least three attorneys who were laid off from the AG’s Office last month. What is Goddard doing hiring political hacks like Richard while letting experienced prosecutors go? Employees at the AG’s Office making over $50,000 received an email Friday instructing them that they would need to take 10 days of furlough this year. Goddard should not be permitted to hire high-priced Democrat crony political hacks to curry favors for his future run for governor, using the office and its employees.

Gerald Richard has called Tim Nelson to congratulate him on his win in the Democratic Maricopa County attorney primary Tuesday night, according to Richard campaign manager Ed Peeples.

"Gerald is excited to work with Tim to defeat [Maricopa County Attorney] Andy Thomas," said Peeples.

After another lackluster fundraising period, Gerald Richard, one of two Democratic primary contenders in the Maricopa County attorney race, had only $8,768 left in his campaign coffers as of Aug. 13. While he still managed to outraise incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, drawing $26,244 in contributions between July 1 and Aug. 13 to Thomas's $9,800, the sitting attorney has a cash on hand total of $204,566.

The campaigns of Tim Nelson and Gerald Richard, the two candidates running for the Democratic nomination in the Maricopa County attorney's race, continue the barrage of accusations, refutations and counter-accusations they've been hurling at each other.

The latest round of elbow throwing comes amidst charges by the Nelson campaign that Richard "inflated his resume" in saying he was "Director of the Phoenix Police Department" in a press release.