The latest national campaign finance reports underscore one of the benefits of incumbency – access to money.

In seven of the eight U.S. House races across the state, the incumbents, regardless of their parties, are far ahead of their challengers in collecting campaign contributions.

In the eighth race, Republican incumbent Rick Renzi is not running for re-election. He’s scheduled to spend the campaign season in court fighting public corruption charges instead.

Consider what’s happening in the 5^th Congressional District race.

First-term Democrat Harry Mitchell has bagged more than twice as much money as any of his Republican opponents. Mitchell had collected nearly $1.4 million and had more than $1.1 million cash on hand on at the end of the first quarter on March 31, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. And he doesn’t even a primary opponent to be concerned about.

Former Maricopa County treasurer David Schweikert was tops among the GOP field in the 1st District. He had collected $681,000 and had $514,000 cash on hand.

Former lobbyist Jim Ogsbury was next with $427,000 in receipts and $353,000 in cash.

Meanwhile, former state Rep. Laura Knaperek had raised $100,000 and had $44,000 in reserve.

State Rep. Mark Anderson had raised $55,000 and curiously had $70,000 cash on hand, according to both the Center for Responsive Politics and the Federal Election Commission. Anderson told me Friday that those figures are somewhat in error. Actually, he had raised $93,000 and had $70,000 in reserve at the end of the quarter. The $55,000 figure was just the dough he had raised during the first quarter, he said.

The top three industry sectors pumping up Mitchell’s campaign were lawyers and lobbyists with $139,000 in combined contributions; finance, insurance and real estate with $130,000 in total collections; and labor at $122,500.

The 5^th District takes in Scottsdale, Tempe, Fountain Hills, Ahwatukee Foothills and west Mesa.

Over in the 6^th District, four-term Republican incumbent Jeff Flake is running practically unopposed. He has raised $891,000 and had $975,000 cash on hand, thanks to spill-over from his previous campaign. His top three industry sectors were finance, insurance and real estate at $149,000 combined; miscellaneous businesses at $110,000; and construction interests at $54,000.

His Democratic opponent, author Richard Grayson hasn’t filed campaign finance reports.

The 6th District takes in parts of Mesa and Chandler, plus all of Gilbert, Queen Creek, and Apache Junction.

Meanwhile, in the 3^rd District, seven-term Republican incumbent John Shadegg had collected more than $1.2 million and had $938,000 in reserve.

Democrat challenger and attorney Bob Lord had raised $833,000 and had $632,000 in cash.

And independent e-magazine publisher Annie Loyd was way back with $34,000 in collections and $7,000 in reserve.

Shadegg’s top industry sectors for contributions were finance, insurance and real estate at $136,000 combined; miscellaneous businesses at $121,000; and lawyers and lobbyists at $77,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Interestingly, two of Shadegg’s top three industry sectors also were among Mitchell’s top three. Shadegg’s a Republican; Mitchell’s a Democrat. Go figure.

Shadegg’s 3rd District covers central and northern Phoenix, plus Paradise Valley, Carefree and Cave Creek.

While over in the wide-open 1^st District, which is Renzi’s district, former state Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick led the Democratic field with $661,000 in collections and $465,0000 in cash.

Next was new candidate and former U.S. House aide Jiff Riley, with $221,000 in collections and $216,000 in cash.

He was followed by former TV reporter Mary Kim Titla with $169,000 in receipts and $48,000 in cash.

Then came attorney Howard Shanker with $138,000 collected and $34,000 in reserve.

On the GOP side, Arizona Mining Association president and former talk radio host Sydney Hay led with $268,000 in collections and $222,000 in cash.

New GOP challenger and Internet businessman Preston Korn entered the fray with $19,000 raised and $10,000 in reserve.

The 1^st District is the 10^th largest district in the country. The district take in vast areas of northern, central and eastern Arizona, including the far East Valley. It stretches from the Utah state line to Casa Grande. The cost of road-side signs alone will be staggering.

Kris Mayes

It’s hard to imagine, but the Republicans are all but abandoning Arizona’s 1st Congressional District to the Democrats this year.

Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes became at least the eighth Republican to consider and reject the idea of running to succeed Republican U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi. She backed out last week.

Of course, Renzi’s pending public corruption trial isn’t doing much to bolster the Republicans’ chances.

Equally important, probable Republican candidates are finding a lack of financial support from federal sources. That’s particularly significant in the sprawling 1^st District, which is larger geographically than the state of Pennsylvania.

At the moment, Arizona Mining Association president and former talk radio host Sydney Hay is the lone Republican candidate. Former state Sen. Ken Bennett, who rejected the idea of running once before, is considering the matter anew.

A potential Mayes-Bennett-Hey primary would split whatever base the Republicans could muster. Both Mayes and Bennett are from Prescott, the epicenter of the district’s GOP network.

“We’ve seen a lot of names of prominent Republicans considering jumping in this race. They’ll float the idea for a few weeks, and then bow out,” said state Democratic Party spokeswoman Emily Bittner.

In contrast, five Democratic candidates are energized about the prospect of winning the seat, Bittner said. “They’ve felt burdened for quite some time with the service, such as it was, of Rick Renzi. I think that’s an incredibly frustrating position to be in, to see a congressman, who at this point, has been indicted on 35 counts related to corruption,” she said.

At the national level, the Democrats are sure to first spend to keep first-term U.S. Reps. Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords in office. The next on the list for federal campaign funding will be the party’s nominee in the 1^st District.

Mayes said she hopes other Republicans will enter the congressional race. “I still think this seat can be won by a Republican; that Republican isn’t going to be me this year, but I still think it’s one that leans right of center. So far, I haven’t seen any Democrats who match the profile of the district,” she said.

Kris Mayes

Republican Kris Mayes announced the formation of an exploratory committee Tuesday as she considers running for the U.S. House in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District.

Republican incumbent Rick Renzi is under federal investigation for possible public corruption and is not seeking re-election. The seat is attracting plenty of attention, from both Republicans and Democrats.

Mayes’ exploratory committee has all the tell-tale signs of a full-fledged campaign. She has the endorsement of former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, help from the GOP-oriented political consulting firm High Ground, and a fully developed campaign Web site, www.krismayes.com. Prescott businessman Malcolm Barrett is her committee’s finance chairman.

Mayes currently is a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, the state agency that regulates utility companies. Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano initially appointed her to fill an open seat in October 2003, and Mayes won election on her own in 2004 and 2006. Mayes previously served as spokeswoman to Napolitano, and before that worked as a political reporter for The Arizona Republic.

She lives in Phoenix, but has history in the 1st District, a mostly rural district that takes in sweeping portions of the northern, central and eastern portions of the state. She was born and raised in Prescott, which is within the district, and served as valedictorian at Prescott High School.

Mayes told me last week that if she runs for the U.S. House, she’ll move back to Prescott, and that if she wins, she’ll maintain her main district office in Prescott. She already holds regular monthly office hours in Prescott in connection to her ACC position.

“It’s where my heart is. It’s where my family is. And it’s the best congressional district in America,” she said.

Really? What makes it the best district in America?

“Oh, 1,000 different things. Do you have time?” Mayes replied.

Certainly enough time for the short list.

“It is an amazingly diverse district geographically, as well as demographically. And it is obviously a large district and one that’s facing a number of issues that I’ve been working with here at the commission,” she said.

Those ACC-related issues have to do with water allocation and energy development.

The district is in political flux. It used to be anchored by Flagstaff and cities and towns along the Mogollon rim. It probably still is anchored by those cities, but not as much these days, though. The 1st District also takes in booming east Pinal County, a developing suburban region that’s tilting the political balance in the district to the desert cities below the rim.

On Tuesday, Mayes started to outline a broader political agenda. The highlights: She supports extending President Bush’s tax cuts; she backs Second Amendment rights (that’s the “right of the people to keep and bear arms” amendment); she opposes abortion; she supports increased federal efforts to secure the U.S.-Mexico border; and she’s in favor of forest thinning and forest restoration efforts.

Mayes, who is single and unattached, has run two previous statewide campaigns and is prepared for the rigors of a congressional campaign. She’s well aware that the entry fee for a competitive race is about $1 million.

“If I move forward, we’ll aggressively fund-raise. Any congressional race is expensive and anyone who gets involved in one of these has to be ready to raise money and campaign hard. This is a district that you’ve got to do both in. You’ve got to be able to really hit the ground running and really campaign hard. You’re doing a lot of parades, a lot of door-to-door, a lot of phone calls, everything,” she said.

She has Toyota 4-Runner with 95,000 miles on the odometer. She expects to rack up the mileage if she decides to runs in the district that’s larger than the state of Illinois. “I assume that at the end of this, it will be double. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to hitting the road talking to people,” she said.

She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Arizona State University, a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University in New York, and a law degree from ASU.

Despite Mayes’ potential entry into the race, the eventual Democratic nominee is likely to win the district, said Emily Bittner, spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party.

 “We have really, really terrifically strong candidates who have strong ties to the district, who have a good sense for the direction that they want to take this country,” Bittner said.

The Democratic field features taxi company employee Jeffrey Brown, former state Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, environmental attorney Howard Shanker, and former TV reporter Mary Kim Titla.

Bittner said, “That district has been represented for so long by a Republican who is inextricably linked to corruption. I think voters in that district are tired of a party that turns its nose away from corruption.”

The lone Republican who has launched a full campaign to succeed Renzi is radio talk show host Sydney Hay.

A report in Tuesday’s edition of Roll Call could be sobering for the Republican challengers seeking to oust Democratic U.S. Reps. Harry Mitchell’s and Gabrielle Giffords in the fall.

Roll Call, a newspaper that covers Congress, reported that Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a huge financial advantage against the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The committees direct political expertise, and more importantly funding, toward selected races nationwide. At least they do that most years.

Roll Call writer Nathan L. Gonzales reported that through 2007, the DCCC had collections of $35.1 million, while the NRCC had $5.4 million.

Gonzales wrote, “Both committees generally give first priority and focus to incumbents, followed by open seats and then challenger races. With a number of vulnerable incumbents and more than two dozen open seats to defend, GOP challengers shouldn’t expect much more than a pat on the back from their campaign committees.”

Using that formula, Arizona’s Republican incumbents Reps. Jeff Flake and Trent Franks will get first-priority funding, though in reality, they won’t need it because they’ll only face token opposition.

The second-priority funding will go to whichever candidates emerge from the GOP primaries for the open seats currently held by outgoing Republican Reps. John Shadegg and Rick Renzi.

The third-priority funding will go to the Republican challengers for Mitchell’s and Giffords seats, which could be competitive. That is, if there’s any funding left.

Political newcomer Jeffrey Brown e-mailed me the other day. He was frustrated that the Tribune hasn’t included him in stories discussing the emerging field of U.S. House candidates in Arizona’s 1^st Congressional District race.

Brown and I spoke briefly by telephone before he hung up on me.

He is one of four Democrats seeking the office. It has been a low-profile campaign so far. The Federal Election Commission has no record of Brown raising or spending any money on the race for the office that Republican incumbent Rep. Rick Renzi is vacating.

According to his campaign Web site, which is still under construction, Brown worked for 13 years at United Airlines before leaving the company in 2004 to work on the John Kerry/John Edwards presidential campaign.

The Web site summarizes Brown’s time since then this way:

In 2005 Jeffrey, suffered a life changing event which found him hospitalized and in a nursing home, temporarily confined to a wheelchair. “This experience provided me with an insight to the potential future of many Americans, and the struggles of quality of life for the elderly and the disabled. This experience has strengthened my resolve to improve the quality of health care in this country, and I hope to give a voice to all of those who are often forgotten and neglected in our society.” 

Jeffrey is currently employed part time for Discount Cab Company, and is currently active in the Dennis Kucinich for President Campaign as the Southwest GLBT coordinator, and is a fervent supporter of equality for all.

The other Democrats in the race are former state Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, environmental attorney Howard Shanker and former TV reporter Mary Kim Titla.

On the Republican side, the lone announced candidate is radio talk show host Sydney Hay. State Rep. Bill Konopnicki widely was expected to enter the race, but he bowed out, which could clear the way for other Republicans enter the race.

The thin GOP field has created a fair amount of intrigue about other potential candidates. And as news reporters and former news reporters know, non-denials are nearly the same thing as admissions. Stay tuned…

Republican state Rep. Andy Tobin is forming an exploratory committee as he considers running for incumbent Republican Rick Renzi’s seat in the U.S. House.

Renzi is under federal investigation for possible public corruption and has announced that he will not seek re-election in Arizona’s 1^st Congressional District. The vast district takes in huge regions northern, central and eastern Arizona, including most of booming Pinal County.Republican state Rep. Bill Konopnicki was widely expected to join the federal race, but last week announced that he’ll take a pass. That left a huge void on the Republican side of that race.

Enter Tobin.

“By the end of the week, we’re going to open an exploratory committee and see what our opportunities are, see if our supporters are there,” Tobin told me.

“It’s a huge district. It’s almost the size of the state of Illinois,” he said.

 Um, not to get all technical and everything, but Illinois is 57,918 square miles in size, while Arizona’s 1^st Congressional District is 58,608 square miles. So, the congressional district that includes Arizona’s portion of Four Corners actually is 690 square miles larger than Illinois, which by the way, ranks as the 25^th largest state in the country.

“It’s bigger? That big?” Tobin asked. “That’s huge.”

The job is huge as well. It would require Tobin to be away in Washington most of the year. That’s a serious consideration. Tobin, 49, has five children – two adult sons, plus two high schoolers and a middle schooler.

“Basically, I’ve got a yellow light from the family, because we’re still in the thought process as well. My business partner gave me a green light. I don’t know if that means he wants to keep me away from my office or not,” he said.

Tobin, a resident of Paulden, has an employee benefits company, TLC Employee Benefits, in the
Prescott area.

Tobin said he has been thinking about entering the race for the past month or so, but considered Konopnicki to be the front-runner.

“When Mr. Konopnicki got out, we thought we had better open an exploratory committee right away. I’m going to guess that we have about 30 days to get a good shot at it, to get our information together. We won’t wait long,” Tobin said.

He likely will make a decision about whether to run by March 1, he said.

Meanwhile, the lone Republican who’s in the race is radio talk show host Sydney Hay.

On the Democrat side, former state Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, environmental attorney Howard Shanker and former TV reporter Mary Kim Titla all are in.

All Arizonans come home eventually.

Sen. Jon Kyl’s chief spokesman Andrew Wilder is transferring from Kyl’s Washington office to his Phoenix office during the next two weeks. Wilder, who has been on the Republican senator’s staff for nearly nine years, will bring his PR duties with him.

Incidentally, Andrew Wilder’s wife Rebecca Wilder is leaving her post in Washington as senior manager of media relations for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to serve as public information officer for the Arizona Corporation Commission.

It’s a small circle really. Two corp commers, Republicans Kris Mayes and Jeff Hatch-Miller, are considering running for the U.S. House. Mayes would be a candidate to succeed retiring-under-FBI-investigation Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, while Hatch-Miller would be a candidate to oppose freshman Democrat Rep. Harry Mitchell.

Andrew Wilder previously served as a talk show producer for KTAR radio in Phoenix and as a staffer for Sen. John McCain. Rebecca Wilder previously served on former Gov. Fife Symington’s staff. They start their new Arizona assignments Nov. 5.

A real fear among aspiring Democrats is that previous party chairman and former Senate candidate Jim Pederson may have an interest in running for the U.S. House in 2008.Pederson, a shopping center developer, has the experience and money available to tilt what’s shaping up to be a crowded race to succeed Rep. Rick Renzi, the Republican who finds himself the subject of an federal investigation.Pederson told the Tribune on Friday that it’s "highly unlikely" he will run for the 1st Congressional District seat, which spans a huge swath of northern, central and eastern Arizona."It’s just not the right time in my life to be doing that right now,"said Pederson, who lives in Phoenix and the 3rd Congressional District."I’m heavily involved back in my work and with my family, so it’s not good timing. Plus, I don’t live in the district, even though I was born there and own property there," he said.Pederson ran an expensive and entertaining, but unsuccessful campaign against Republican Sen. Jon Kyl in 2006.

Former Casa Grande Mayor Bob Mitchell is among a growing list of potential candidates prepared to flood Arizona