By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services via Arizona Capitol Times
Ken Bennett found himself out of the running when he was trounced by incumbent Doug Ducey in the Republican primary in August.
Now he is finding himself out of the money.
The Secretary of State’s Office has concluded that Bennett came up short of the necessary $5 contributions needed to qualify for public funding for his ill-fated gubernatorial bid. And that’s even after a judge gave Bennett four additional hours in August to gather the necessary 4,000 contributions after he complained the online portion of the system had been improperly shut down early.
But Bennett told Capitol Media Services he’s not giving up just yet.
The former secretary of state said he is negotiating with election officials in three counties where a large number of his contributions were declared invalid, often because a signature on a paper form did not match each person’s voter registration file. Bennett said he hopes to convince each county official to accept other evidence, like an affidavit from the donor, that the contribution forms are, in fact, accurate.
Bennett said he already has such a commitment from Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez.
