Jim Pederson is writing checks again
October 18th, 2007, 1:14 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Paul Giblin
Bill Clinton and Jim Pederson
It’s payback time for former U.S. Senate candidate Jim Pederson. The shopping center developer and several members of his family each have donated $2,300 to the presidential campaigns of Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
“They both helped me out considerably in my Senate race, so I owe them both,” Pederson told me.
Hillary Clinton hosted a fundraiser for Pederson in Washington, D.C., and former President Bill Clinton campaigned for Pederson in Arizona during his 2006 campaign against Republican incumbent Jon Kyl. Obama also appeared at a rally for Pederson and other Democrats.
Pederson said, “Gosh, I’ll never forget, on Election Day last year, I was out working one of the polling lines and one of our people came up and said, ‘Bill Clinton is on the phone with a talk-show radio host in Tucson promoting our campaign!’ I said, ‘You’re kidding. How can we tap into that?’ He said, ‘Well, I don’t know.’ Then five minutes later, he said, ‘Bill Clinton is on KTAR up here!’ Unsolicited, he went out and called up every talk show on radio in Arizona on Election Day promoting our campaign.”
He said, “And Barack coming out here and helping me out, those are the kind of favors that really mean a lot. And so, you know, I have an allegiance to both of them.”
In the world of politics, that means writing checks. Pederson also has been raising money for Reps. Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords for their 2008 re-election campaigns, but he has no plans to run for public office himself – at least this time around.
“There’s not too much happening on a statewide basis next year, but 2010 is going to be a big year. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
In 2010, Republican Sen. John McCain will be up for re-election to the Senate if he doesn’t win the presidency first. If McCain wins the White House, his Senate successor will have to stand for re-election anyway. Then depending on circumstances, Republican Rep. John Shadegg may have an interest in the Senate, which would open his House seat, if Shadegg gets past his own 2006 House re-election. And who knows who will be running for re-election in the seat now held by Republican Rep. Rick Renzi? Plus, the governor’s seat will be open in 2010.
