Andrew Thomas
If you are looking for Andrew Thomas the Los Angeles Unified school board candidate, you can find him at Andrew Thomas (California).
Andrew Peyton Thomas (b. 1966 in Long Beach, California) was the honorary chairperson of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative (2008) and the former attorney for Maricopa County. He ran as a Republican candidate for Governor of Arizona in the 2014 elections.[1]
He previously ran for state attorney general in 2010, but lost to Republican Tom Horne in the primary election.[2]
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 county attorney the next year.
It was during his tenure as Maricopa County Attorney that Thomas served as a frequent adviser to the Arizona State Legislature on the formation of the now controversial state immigration measure, Senate Bill 1070, "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act." In encouraging Republican 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."[3][4]
After Brewer signed the bill 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 was the only one who was fully supportive of the measure.[5]
Thomas was disbarred by the Arizona State Bar Association in 2012.[6]
Education
- B.A., in political science, University of Missouri (1988)
- J.D., Harvard University (1991)
Noteworthy events
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.[7] Thomas argued that the petition 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.[8] In response, the bar requested the court to dismiss the petition calling for a special jurisdiction, and it called for Thomas to "address his concerns properly within the established disciplinary investigation process."[9] On August 15, 2008, the state high court rejected Thomas' petition and called for the bar to proceed with its inquiry. The following year, however, Thomas was cleared of all 13 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."[10] 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 was "illegal and an unconstitutional violation of due process of law."[11] 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.
In 2012, Thomas was disbarred for violating the Rules of Professional Conduct by bringing unfounded and malicious criminal and civil charges against political opponents, including four state judges and the state attorney general.[6]
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 2014 to criticize what he argued was Thomas' habit of using Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) funds to bankroll his personal 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.[12] Both Nelson and the Phoenix New Times 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 reported were engaging in proselytizing, the act of attempting to convert people to another opinion or religion. The circulation also chastised Thomas' 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."[13]
Elections
2014
- See also: Arizona Gubernatorial election, 2014
Thomas ran for election to the office of Governor of Arizona. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in the primary election on August 26, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014..[1][14]
Primary election - August 26, 2014
| Governor of Arizona Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Doug Ducey |
37.2% | 200,607 | ||
| Scott Smith | 22.1% | 119,107 | ||
| Christine Jones | 16.7% | 89,922 | ||
| Ken Bennett | 11.5% | 62,010 | ||
| Andrew Thomas | 8.1% | 43,822 | ||
| Frank Riggs | 4.5% | 24,168 | ||
| Mike Aloisi (Write-in) | 0% | 27 | ||
| Alice Lukasik (Write-in) | 0% | 27 | ||
| Total Votes | 539,690 | |||
| Election results via Arizona Secretary of State. | ||||
Polls
General election
Ducey vs. DuVal vs. Hess
| Arizona Governor - General election match-ups | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Doug Ducey (R) | Fred DuVal (D) | Barry J. Hess (L) | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| American Encore October 20-22, 2014 | 42% | 35% | 7% | 15% | +/-4 | 601 | |||||||||||||
| Moore Information October 7-8, 2014 | 36% | 39% | 3% | 22% | +/-4.9 | 400 | |||||||||||||
| Keating (D-Restore Arizona's Future PAC) September 17-19, 2014 | 41% | 39% | 7% | 13% | +/-4.0 | 600 | |||||||||||||
| Terrance (R-Arizona Free Enterprise Club) September 15-17, 2014 | 44% | 38% | 6% | 11% | +/-4.5 | 505 | |||||||||||||
| The Arizona Republic August 24-25, 2014 | 35% | 35% | 12% | 18% | +/-4.0 | 588 | |||||||||||||
| Garin-Hart-Yang (D) February 3-6, 2014 | 32% | 32% | 6% | 30% | +/-3.5 | 500 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 38.33% | 36.33% | 6.83% | 18.17% | +/-4.15 | 532.33 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected]. | |||||||||||||||||||
Ducey vs. Duval
| Governor of Arizona - Ducey vs. DuVal | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Doug Ducey (R) | Fred DuVal (D) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS/YouGov October 16-23, 2014 | 50% | 40% | 10% | +/-4 | 2,621 | ||||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Reports October 14-16, 2014 | 47% | 42% | 10% | +/-3 | 1,056 | ||||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS/YouGov September 20-October 1, 2014 | 50% | 39% | 11% | +/-3 | 2,808 | ||||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Reports August 27-28, 2014 | 40% | 40% | 13% | +/-4.0 | 850 | ||||||||||||||
| Susquehanna Polling and Research November 2013 | 36% | 33% | 31% | +/-- | 600 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 44.6% | 38.8% | 15% | +/-1.2 | 1,587 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected]. | |||||||||||||||||||
Primary polling
Republican primary
| Arizona Governor - GOP Primary | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Ken Bennett | Doug Ducey | Christine Jones | Frank Riggs | Scott Smith | Andrew Thomas | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||
| Harper Polling August 19-20, 2014 | 14% | 32% | 16% | 2% | 19% | 7% | 10% | +/-3.44 | 812 | ||||||||||
| Arizona Automobile Dealers Association August 15, 2014 | 10% | 31% | 16% | 3% | 23% | 7% | 10% | 1,300 | |||||||||||
| Harper Polling July 16-17, 2014 | 12% | 23% | 21% | 1% | 13% | 7% | 22% | +/-3.29 | 885 | ||||||||||
| Gravis Marketing July 14, 2014 | 7% | 28% | 19% | 1% | 14% | 8% | 24% | +/-4.0 | 691 | ||||||||||
| Magellan Strategies July 9-10, 2014 | 11% | 26% | 22% | 2% | 14% | 6% | 19% | +/-4.02 | 593 | ||||||||||
| Harper Polling June 25-26, 2014 | 12% | 33% | 15% | 2% | 14% | 3% | 22% | +/-3.48 | 791 | ||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 11% | 28.83% | 18.17% | 1.83% | 16.17% | 6.33% | 17.83% | +/-3.04 | 845.33 | ||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected]. | |||||||||||||||||||
Republican primary
| Arizona Governor - GOP primary | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Ken Bennett | Christine Jones | Al Melvin | Andrew Thomas | Doug Ducey | Scott Smith | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||
| Susquehanna Polling and Research (November 2013) | 20% | 4% | 2% | 4% | 8% | 6% | 53% | +/-- | 245 | ||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected]. | |||||||||||||||||||
Race background
Term limits for Gov. Brewer
Incumbent Jan Brewer (R) was term-limited from seeking re-election, which left the seat open for the 2014 election. The race was rated Likely R by The Cook Political Report, meaning Brewer was likely to be succeeded by another Republican according to their assessment.[15] Governing rated the general election race between Doug Ducey (R) and Fred DuVal (D) as a Toss-up.[16]
Brewer was originally appointed to the position in 2009, and she was then elected to it in 2010. Arizona's term limit laws preclude any individual who has occupied the governor's office during two consecutive terms from running for re-election. Brewer asserted that the law did not adequately account for the conditions of her incomplete first term, but she did not pursue a court challenge for an exemption.[17]
Republican primary
Candidates in the GOP primary included outgoing Arizona State Treasurer Doug Ducey, Secretary of State Ken Bennett, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, and former GoDaddy.com Executive Vice President Christine Jones. Ducey won the primary with 37.2 percent of the vote, followed by Smith in second place with 22.1 percent.
Democratic primary
Former Arizona Board of Regents President Fred DuVal won the Democratic nomination by default as the only candidate to file in the primary.[18]
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.[19][20][21] 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.[22]
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary[23] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party |  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[24] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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[25] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
| Terry Goddard (D)
|
51.9% | |||
| Andrew P. Thomas (R) | 45% | |||
| Ed Kahn (Libertarian) | 3.1% | |||
| Total votes | 1,201,343 | |||
Campaign contributions
The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may not represent all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer, and campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
| Andrew Thomas campaign contribution history | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Result | Contributions | |
| 2014 | Governor of Arizona |  |
$763,957 | |
| 2010 | Attorney General of Arizona | |
$224,633 | |
| 2002 | Attorney General of Arizona | |
$423,253 | |
| Grand total raised | $1,411,843 | |||
| Source: [[26][27] Follow the Money] | ||||
2014
Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. See the table below for more information about the campaign donors who supported Andrew Thomas.[28] Click [show] for more information.
| Andrew Thomas Campaign Contributions | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Governor of Arizona | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total raised | $763,957 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total raised by opponents | $8,081,966 (Republican primary) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Top 5 contributors | Public Fund | $753,616 | |||||||||||||||||
| Thomas, Andrew P. | $585 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thomas, Andrew P. | $500 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Haney, Robert B | $160 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Haney, Mary A | $160 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Individuals | $755,137 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Institutions | $8,820 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In-state donations | $763,672 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Out-of-state donations | $285 | ||||||||||||||||||
2002
| 2002 Race for Attorney General - Campaign Contributions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Raised | $423,253 | |||
| 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%) | ||||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Andrew + Thomas + Arizona + Governor'"
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- Governor of Arizona
- Arizona Gubernatorial election, 2014
- Arizona state executive official elections, 2014
- Jan Brewer, Current Governor of Arizona
- Attorney General of Arizona
- Arizona Attorney General election, 2010
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Arizona Republic, "Disbarred former Maricopa County Attorney Thomas to run for governor," April 26, 2013
- ↑ Seeing Red Arizona, "Thomas makes it official: Leaving office April 6 to run for AG" 1 April, 2010
- ↑ , "AZ Anti-Illegal Immigration Leader Andrew Thomas Encourages Governor Brewer to Sign Controversial Senate Bill 1070," accessed January 30, 2016
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Arizona's Immigration Enforcement Laws," accessed January 30, 2016
- ↑ Sonoran Alliance, "Thomas Faults 4 Democrat AG Opponents For Opposing SB1070; Pledges Aggressive Defense In Court" 27 April, 2010
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Huffington Post, "Andrew Thomas, Phoenix Prosecutor, Disbarred For 'Defiled' Public Trust," April 11, 2012
- ↑ Justia - Arizona Revised Statutes §23-483 Petition for special action to review lawfulness of decision, order or decision upon review; procedure
- ↑ Intellectual Conservative, "Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas takes on liberal AZ State Bar" 28 May, 2008
- ↑ State Bar of Arizona, "State Bar of Arizona Files Response to Maricopa County Attorney’s Special Action Request" 18 June, 2008
- ↑ KPHO Phoenix, "Special Investigator To Probe Andrew Thomas" 9 March, 2010
- ↑ Sonoran Alliance, "State Bar Inquiry Of Thomas Illegal, Unconstitutional Expert Says" 21 June, 2010
- ↑ AZ Central, "RICO funds cover range of MCSO expenses" 29 April, 2009
- ↑ Phoenix New Times, "Tim Nelson Takes on Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas' RICO Spending" 30 July, 2008
- ↑ East Valley Tribune, State treasurer Doug Ducey files paperwork to explore Ariz governor run, July 23, 2013
- ↑ The Cook Political Report, "Governors Race Ratings 2014," September 15, 2014
- ↑ Governing, "2014 Governors Races," September 10, 2014
- ↑ USA Today, "Facing term limit, Ariz. Gov. Brewer won't run again," March 12, 2014
- ↑ AZCentral, "Fred DuVal sees pros, cons of no primary challenger," May 8, 2014
- ↑ Phoenix New Times, "Andrew Thomas Set To Concede, Sources Claim; Will Make Statement This Afternoon" 27 Aug. 2010
- ↑ Tucson Citizen, "Andrew Thomas prepares to concede to Tom Horne" 27 Aug. 2010
- ↑ The Arizona Republic, "Horne's lead over Thomas in AG race down to 536 votes" 27 Aug. 2010
- ↑ Arizona Daily Star, "Thomas concedes, backs Horne for AG" 1 Sept. 2010
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State - 2010 Primary Election Results
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State - Official Results 2002 Primary Election
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State - Official Results 2002 General Election
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Career fundraising for Thomas, Andrew P," accessed July 29, 2015
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Career fundraising for Thomas, Andrew P," accessed July 29, 2015
- ↑ Follow the Money.org, "Home," accessed May 7, 2021
