The NRCC may have decided to pull all its advertising bucks out of the campaign of GOP House candidate Randy Graf, but Graf is now getting some much-needed ad funding from another group: the Minutemen. The right-wing group of self-appointed vigilante border cops is funding a new ad blasting away at Graf's Dem opponent Gabrielle Giffords as “a liberal extremist who supports Spanish ballots, amnesty and even citizenship for illegals.” Interestingly, the Minutemen may have helped ensure that this seat goes to the Dem: They dropped $40,000 on Graf in the primary -- and the primary victory for the conservative Graf has made a Giffords victory far more likely.

National Republicans appear to have given up on Randy Graf, the GOP House candidate battlling Dem Gabrielle Giffords for the seat of retiring Rep. Jim Kolbe. The National Republican Congressional Committee has decided to drop plans for nonstop TV advertising through election day, the Associated Press reports. Officials in both parties tell the AP that private polling shows Graf well behind Giffords.

Arizona Democrats lobbed a guilt-by-association attack on GOP candidate Randy Graf with a press release Wednesday challenging the former state Representative to "sever his ties" to former Knights of the Ku Klux Klan founder David Duke. The alleged ties are rather tenuous as they stem from a link to Graf's campaign website that Duke placed on his own website. Responding to the charge, Graf campaign manager R.T. Gregg told the Arizona Daily Star, "We have no ties nor have we ever had ties with David Duke or any of his racist crazies."

Though never saying that Graf supports or even agrees with Duke, the Democrats challenge paints Graf's hardline stances as attractive to extremists like Duke, a move that could benefit Dem. candidate Gabrielle Giffords if voters end up associating Graf with Duke. We must point out though that Democrats are misrepresenting the facts when they claim Graf "is associating himself" with Duke as Graf has no control over who links to his website. However, Graf has done himself no favors by refusing to personally call on Duke to remove the link.

As we reported yesterday, retiring 11-term GOP Rep. Jim Kolbe is here.

Dems pleased about facing conservative GOP nominee Randy Graf have just received more good news: Retiring 11-term GOP Rep. Jim Kolbe has just announced that he's refusing to endorse Graf. The backstory here is interesting: Graf ran a nasty primary against Kolbe in 2004, with observers insinuating that Graf was tacitly using the fact that Kolbe is openly gay to whip up right wing support. In that light, Kolbe's statement citing "profound and fundamental differences" with Graf seems to have more resonance. Either way, Kolbe's announcement will make life much tougher for Graf in the coming showdown with Gabrielle Giffords, who romped to the Dem nomination last night.

Four GOP candidates for Congress in Arizona's eighth, including frontrunner Randy Graf, have taken the extraordinary step of releasing a joint statement blasting Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman for breaking his vow to stay out of their race. The statement -- prompted by a recent RNC $122,000 ad buy for candidate Steve Huffman, who the RNC thinks is the only one who can win -- describes a meeting between the candidates and the RNC chair at which Mehlman supposedly promised to keep the national GOP out of the race: "Sadly, the promises that were made have been broken." Full statement here.

"Even more irresponsible than teenagers" -- that's not exactly our idea of a biting political attack. But that's the bizarre charge that's being hurled by a candidate in the GOP primary for the open seat in Arizona's 8th -- considered a "toss-up" seat by experts -- in an effort to tear down frontrunner Randy Graf. Graf's chief rival Steve Huffman sent out a nasty four page mailer accusing him of a bunch of sins in addition to the aforementioned "irresponsible" slur. The nastiest charge concerns Graf's campaign manager, Steve Aiken, who was convicted of having sexual relations with two teenage girls in 1995. Read the mailer's full range of charges after the jump.

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Randy Graf, who's way ahead of his fellow Republican candidates in the polls to replace outgoing Rep. Jim Kolbe (R), was recently asked by a reporter for his views on creationism. How old, the reporter queried, does Graf think the earth is? Graf's answer: "I don't know and I don't care...I've got my Christian faith, and I'm very comfortable with that."

The Tuscon Weekly has come out with the first official poll on the free-for-all to take over the open House seat in Arizona's 8th district. On the Democratic side, Gabrielle Giffords is leading with 45% of the vote. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone but Patty Weiss, who has been suggesting she's the frontrunner. Weiss falls in at 27% here, followed by Jeff Latas with 6%. (Weiss has gone to Latas' home to try and convince him drop out.)

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The campaign treasurer for Steve Huffman, a GOP candidate for Jim Kolbe's seat, has just resigned amid accusations he stalked a local pol. The alleged stalker, Bill Arnold, is accused of taking pictures through her window and posting them online, as part of an apparent effort to prove that she funded a home office with campaign funds. Making things weirder, the pol, State Rep. Toni Hellon, isn't even running against Huffman -- her ex-husband is. So why take the pictures, then? We have no idea. All we know is that he's denying the charge. Go figure.

Dem Congressional candidate Patty Weiss is accusing her GOP opponents of push-polling -- and, interestingly, the company she's claiming is behind the tactic is also the same company which is accused of push-polling against Kirsten Gillibrand, a Dem candidate trying to unseat upstate New York GOP Rep. John Sweeney.

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The alternative Tuscon Weekly endorsed Gabrielle Giffords in the District 8 Democratic primary. But not every local paper loves Giffords: The Arizona Star looks at Giffords' new campaign ad, "Blocked," and finds that it "skirts the truth." Giffords' countered with a release of her own, filled with laudatory quotes from Democratic legislators. An AP story not available online seems to back up Giffords as well.

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There are 303,600 legal immigrant in Arizona, enough to swing a few elections. But Latino immigrants historically participate in elections less than other immigrant groups. Advocates are hoping to change that:

By flooding polls, advocates aim to push the immigration debate away from the enforcement-heavy approach supported by many key lawmakers in favor of comprehensive immigration reform that offers a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and more visas to reunite families.

[Activist Ruben] Villarreal and others will concentrate on voter drives in Republican J.D. Hayworth's District 5, in parts of Mesa, Tempe and Phoenix, and Republican Jim Kolbe's District 8 in southern Arizona. Hayworth, a staunch immigration-control advocate, faces Democrat Harry Mitchell this fall, and a slew of candidates is battling for the seat Kolbe is giving up.

Not such good news for Rep. Hayworth, Randy Graf, or Don Goldwater.

If you run for office in Arizona, tradition dictates that you fill out the Arizona Republic's candidate questionnaires. It's not a bad idea. Voters get to know candidates' positions on the issues, which is kind of useful in deciding who to vote for.

Well, this time some candidates don't appear too eager for voters to know where they stand on things. The top three Republicans running for Jim Kolbe’s (R-08) seat -- Randy Graf, Steve Huffman, and Mike Hellon -- have taken a pass.

Meanwhile, if you want to know where other candidates in Arizona stand -- Who still denies the existence of global warming? Which Republican congressmen are dissatisfied with the Republican-led Congress? Whose immigration plan is based on football? -- then you can find out after the jump.

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Why has Steve Huffman, the moderate Republican in the Arizona 8th race, been skipping candidate forums to do photo-ops with Bush?

Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R), who's facing a serious challenge from Harry Mitchell (D) this fall, just loves the Minutemen Project, that hearty band of patriots who patrol the Mexican border in night-goggles. Last year Hayworth held a press conference insisting that President Bush apologize for maligning the group, which he has called “extraordinary Americans.”

Well, here's something that Hayworth might not find so extraordinary: The group is facing questions about its finances. It looks like some of the border-patrol boys are wondering where the money they collect has been going, and they can't quite fathom how it ended up at a charity controlled by conservative commentator Alan Keyes. How can vigilante border cops do their duty if the money isn't there to pay for radios and night-vision scopes?

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Who says voters can't be legally bought?

Over in Arizona, a novel way of juicing up people's interest in politics and getting them to vote has just landed on the November ballot. If you vote, you qualify to win a million bucks. It's that simple.

Nothing if not creative.

The Arizona 8^th District primary has been nasty on both sides, and last night’s Democratic forum maintained the acrimony. Frontrunners Patty Weiss and Gabrielle Giffords, who sparred over clean elections at a debate in Wilcox last month, clashed again. Weiss seemed eager for another battle. When asked whether she would support the eventual nominee, she called the question “a veiled attempt to say we can’t talk about differences between us.”

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Howard Dean was the star of a Democratic rally in Arizona last night at the Tuscon Temple of Music and Art. He predicted that voters would “split Arizona's congressional delegation in half” and elect four Democratic Representatives and one Democratic senator. He stirred up some speculation about his personal favorites when he announced, “And CD 8 will elect a Democratic congresswoman...I mean, congressperson. I’m neutral.” Three women and three men are competing in the Democratic primary for the open seat. Outside, a small group of conservative protestors yelled “Viva Jon Kyl.”

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Former TV anchor Patty Weiss, who is competing with Gabrielle Giffords in the Democratic primary, has hired a new communications director. Andrew Myers was a speechwriter for Gov. Janet Napolitano and he worked on Barack Obama’s campaign. Before Weiss hired Myers, her old news director at KVOA had been volunteering for her.

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Harry Mitchell, the Democratic candidate for Arizona’s 5^th District, released a list of 13 Republican elected officials, current and former, who support him over Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R) this weekend.

Not to be outdone, Hayworth publicized his own cross-party support: Craig Columbus, his 2002 general election opponent. Columbus will head up “Democrats for J.D.”

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Republican congressional candidate for Arizona’s 8^th District and ex-golf pro Randy Graf (R) fired campaign manager Steve Aiken this weekend when Aiken’s 1996 “corruption of minors” conviction came to light. ABC News’ Brian Ross revealed the conviction on Friday afternoon. Graf told ABC News that he had discussed the matter with Aiken and been assured that "what he did was no more serious than providing a teenager with beer."

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