Andrew Thomas

Andrew Thomas
Candidate for
Governor of Arizona
Party	Republican
Elections and appointments
Next election	November 4, 2014
Term limits	N/A
Prior offices
Maricopa County Attorney
Education
Bachelor's	University of Missouri (1988)
J.D.	Harvard University (1991)
Personal
Birthday	1966
Place of birth	Long Beach, California
Websites
Personal website
Campaign website

Andrew Peyton Thomas (born 1966 in Long Beach, California) was the honorary chairperson of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative (2008) and the former attorney for Maricopa County. He is a Republican candidate for Governor of Arizona in the 2014 elections.

He previously ran for state attorney general in 2010, but lost to Republican Tom Horne in the primary election.

Biography

Upon receiving his law degree, Thomas moved to Arizona where he joined a Phoenix-based private practice law firm as a civil litigation attorney. In 1994, he served as Assistant Attorney General for Arizona before later working for then-Governor Fife Symington III as both deputy counsel and criminal justice policy advisor. Thomas then joined the attorney's office of Maricopa County - first operating as a Deputy County Attorney in 2003 before being elected as the County Attorney the next year.

Education

• Bachelor's degree, University of Missouri (1988) in political science
• Juris Doctorate degree, Harvard University (1991)

Elections

2014

See also: Arizona gubernatorial election, 2014

Thomas is running for election to the office of Governor of Arizona. He is seeking the Republican nomination in the primary election, the date of which has yet to be determined. The general election takes place on November 4, 2014.

2010

See also: Arizona Attorney General election, 2010

Thomas ran for election as attorney general in 2010. Following the primary election, Thomas refused to concede the Republican nomination to ultimate victor Tom Horne until every single vote was counted, a process that continued for a nearly a week after Arizona voters went to the polls on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. Finally, on Tuesday, September 1, he conceded the nomination to his primary opponent when, after all the votes had been recounted, it was determined that Horne had maintained a 899 vote lead over the former attorney.

2010 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	a Tom Horne	50.1%
	Republican Party	Andrew Thomas	49.9%
Total Votes			552,623

2004

2004 Race for Maricopa County Attorney - Republican Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Andrew P. Thomas (R)		29.2%
Andrew Pacheco (R)		24.6%
Jerry G. Landau (R)		15.8%
Mike Bailey (R)		13.9%
Tom McCauley (R)		13.2%
Rick Poster (R)		3.4%
Total votes		196,936

2004 Race for Maricopa County Attorney - General Election
Candidates		Percentage
Andrew P. Thomas (R)		58.5%
Don Harris (D)		41.5%
Total votes		1,008,155

2002

2002 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Andrew P. Thomas (R)		47.4%
Foster Robberson (R)		28.8%
John Greene (R)		23.8%
Total votes		278,192

2002 Race for Attorney General - General Election
Candidates		Percentage
Terry Goddard (D)		51.9%
Andrew P. Thomas (R)		45%
Ed Kahn (Libertarian)		3.1%
Total votes		1,201,343

Campaign contributions

2002 Race for Attorney General - Campaign Contributions
Total Raised		$423,133
Total Raised by Primary Opponent		$221,583
Total Raised by Gen. Election Opponent		$238,203
Top 5 Contributors		Public Fund $402,457 (95.11% of Total)
		Andrew Thomas $1,000 (0.24%)
		Allison Genrich $110 (0.03%)
		Lawrence E. Sifert $110 (0.03%)
		Cathi Herrod $110 (0.03%)
Individuals v. Institutions		$19,586 (4.6%)
		N/A
In v. Outside State		$18,868 (4.5%)
		$1,928 (0.5%)

Controversies

Arizona State Bar investigations

In 2008, the Arizona State Bar launched an official investigation into complaints of alleged misconduct that occurred during Thomas's tenure as Maricopa County Attorney. Shortly thereafter Thomas filed a Petition for Special Action with the Arizona Supreme Court in an effort to halt the proceedings. Thomas argued that the partition against him was politically motivated. He stated that county judges who refused to enforce Proposition 100, a voter approved ballot measure "that ended the right to bail for illegal immigrants accused of serious felonies," encouraged the State Bar to launch the investigation after his office called out those judges for not performing their civic duty. In response, the State Bar requested the court to dismiss the petition calling for a special jurisdiction and called for Thomas to "address his concerns properly within the established disciplinary investigation process." On August 15, 2008, the State Supreme Court official rejected Thomas's petition and called for the State Bar to proceed with its inquiry. The following year, however, Thomas was cleared of all thirteen state bar complaints lodged against him.

A month prior to his announcement that he would launch a campaign to seek the statewide office of attorney general, the Arizona Supreme Court, at the urging of the State Bar, appointed a special investigator to examine accusations of misconduct by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office "after a Pima County judge accused Thomas of misusing his authority to investigate county supervisors, and doing so for political gain." However, Ronald Rotunda, a professor of law at Chapman University School of Law in California and a leading expert in the nation on legal ethics and constitutional law, argued in an affidavit that the inquiry is "illegal and an unconstitutional violation of due process of law." Rotunda concluded that the investigation was illegal based on the fact that John Phelps, Executive Director of the State Bar, misrepresented his authority when he called for a special investigation of Thomas, a power that is reserved exclusively to the Chief Bar Counsel.

RICO spending

Tim Nelson, former general counsel to then Governor Janet Napolitano and a Democratic candidate for Maricopa County Attorney in 2008, held a press conference in late-July to criticize what he argued was Thomas's habit of using Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) funds to bankroll his self-serving agenda. These proceeds gathered "by law enforcement from asset forfeitures" are to be directed toward fighting and preventing drug use and organized crime, according to state and federal statutes. Both Nelson and the left-leaning Phoenix New Times, with its own apparent axe to grind against Thomas, suggested, however, that the Maricopa County Attorney funneled the money toward organizations and individuals that shored up his name recognition. Among the funds earmarked for these groups, as cited by the New Times, was $168,000 directed toward Christian-based organizations the paper claims were engaging in proselytizing, the act of attempting to convert people to another opinion or religion. Though the New Times argues that proselytizing is illegal, there are no laws or statutes, federal or state, deeming it as such. The circulation also chastised Thomas's use of the funds to "finance a conference on illegal immigration in Phoenix in 2005" for the simple reason that it is not "something that the Justice Department allows RICO funding to be used for." This, of course, despite the threat of Mexican drug cartels that have been a source of contention on the Arizona-Mexican border.

Issues

Andrew Thomas for Attorney General Campaign logo

Illegal immigration

It was during his tenure as Maricopa County Attorney that Thomas served as a frequent advisor to the Arizona State Legislature on the formation of the now controversial state immigration measure, Senate Bill 1070 - The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act. In encouraging Governor Jan Brewer to sign the legislation, he argued in favor of its necessity, stating the “law would give state and local law enforcement officials important new tools for the fight against illegal immigration."

After Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law on April 23, 2010, Thomas vowed that if elected state attorney general he would vigorously fight in favor of the legislation. He further noted that of the five candidates running for the statewide governmental position, he is the only one who fully supports the measure.

Contact information

Campaign Address:
Thomas for AG Committee
4757 E. Greenway Rd, #103-233
Phoenix, AZ 85032

Phone: (602) 791.4488
E-mail: Contact@ThomasForArizona.com

See also

• Governor of Arizona
• Arizona gubernatorial election, 2014
• Arizona state executive official elections, 2014
• Jan Brewer, Current Governor of Arizona

External links

Suggest a link

• Andrew Thomas for Attorney General Campaign website
• Andrew Thomas's Facebook profile
• Andrew Thomas's Twitter account
• Project Vote Smart - Andrew Thomas biography