Craig Brittain
Craig Brittain (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Arizona. He did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on August 2, 2022.
Brittain completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Brittain was a 2018 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. Senate from Arizona. He didn't appear on the primary election candidate list.[1] He didn't appear on the primary election candidate list.[2]
Biography
Craig Brittain was born in Fairbanks, Alaska.[3] He is a technology entrepreneur. He received an associate's degree from Pikes Peak Community College.[4]
Elections
2020
See also: United States Senate special election in Arizona, 2020
United States Senate election in Arizona, 2020 (August 4 Republican primary)
United States Senate election in Arizona, 2020 (August 4 Democratic primary)
General election
Special general election for U.S. Senate Arizona
The following candidates ran in the special general election for U.S. Senate Arizona on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mark Kelly (D) | 51.2 | 1,716,467 |
 | Martha McSally (R) | 48.8 | 1,637,661 | |
 | Matthew Dorchester (L) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 379 | |
 | Nicholas Glenn (Independent Republican Party) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 152 | |
| Debbie Simmons (R) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 98 | |
 | John Schiess (R) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 92 | |
| Christopher Beckett (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 69 | |
 | Joshua Rodriguez (Unity Party) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 69 | |
 | Mohammad Arif (D) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 68 | |
 | Perry Kapadia (D) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 58 | |
| Mathew Haupt (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 37 | |
| Patrick Thomas (R) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 29 | |
 | Edward Davida (R) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 28 | |
| Jim Stevens (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 23 | |
| Buzz Stewart (D) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 22 | |
| William Decker (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 21 | |
| Adam Chilton (D) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 19 | |
| Benjamin Rodriguez (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 17 | |
| Frank Saenz (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 8 | |
| Total votes: 3,355,317 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Special Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Arizona
Mark Kelly defeated Bo Garcia in the special Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Arizona on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Kelly | 99.9 | 665,620 |
| Bo Garcia (Write-in) | 0.1 | 451 | |
| Total votes: 666,071 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Mohammad Arif (D)
- Sheila Bilyeu (D)
- Juan Angel Vasquez (D)
Republican primary election
Special Republican primary for U.S. Senate Arizona
Incumbent Martha McSally defeated Daniel McCarthy and Sean Lyons in the special Republican primary for U.S. Senate Arizona on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Martha McSally | 75.2 | 551,119 |
 | Daniel McCarthy | 24.8 | 181,511 | |
| Sean Lyons (Write-in) | 0.0 | 210 | |
| Total votes: 732,840 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Josue Larose (R)
- Craig Brittain (R)
- Paul Burton (R)
- Floyd Getchell (R)
- Mark Cavener (R)
Libertarian primary election
Barry Hess and Alan White ran as write-in candidates in the race. Hess received 329 votes and White received 101 votes. Libertarian write-in candidates were required to receive at least 3,335 votes to make the general election ballot.
2018
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Arizona
Kyrsten Sinema defeated Martha McSally and Angela Green in the general election for U.S. Senate Arizona on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kyrsten Sinema (D) | 50.0 | 1,191,100 |
| Martha McSally (R) | 47.6 | 1,135,200 | |
 | Angela Green (G) | 2.4 | 57,442 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 566 | ||
| Total votes: 2,384,308 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Arizona
Kyrsten Sinema defeated Deedra Abboud in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Arizona on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kyrsten Sinema | 79.3 | 404,170 |
 | Deedra Abboud | 20.7 | 105,800 | |
| Total votes: 509,970 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- David Ruben (D)
- Bob Bishop (D)
- Cheryl Fowler (D)
- Richard Sherzan (D)
- Chris Russell (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Arizona
Martha McSally defeated Kelli Ward and Joe Arpaio in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Arizona on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Martha McSally | 54.6 | 357,626 |
 | Kelli Ward | 27.6 | 180,926 | |
 | Joe Arpaio | 17.8 | 116,555 | |
| Total votes: 655,107 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Craig Brittain (R)
- Nicholas Tutora (R)
- Christian Diegel (R)
- Michelle Griffin (R)
Green primary election
No Green candidates ran in the primary.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Libertarian primary election
No Libertarian candidates ran in the primary.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Doug Marks (L)
Polling
| U.S. Senate election in Arizona, General election: Sinema vs. McSally | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Poll sponsor |  Sinema |
 McSally | Other/Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| ABC 15/OH Predictive Insights November 2-3, 2018 | N/A | 48% | 49% | 3% | +/-3.9 | 631 | |||||||||||||
| Trafalgar Group October 30-November 1, 2018 | N/A | 50% | 47% | 3% | +/-2.1 | 2,166 | |||||||||||||
| Vox Populi Polling October 27-30, 2018 | N/A | 52% | 48% | 0% | +/-3.7 | 677 | |||||||||||||
| Fox News October 27-29, 2018 | N/A | 46% | 46% | 8% | +/-3.5 | 643 | |||||||||||||
| CNN/SSRS October 24-29, 2018 | N/A | 51% | 47% | 2% | +/-4.4 | 702 | |||||||||||||
| HighGround Public Affairs October 26-28, 2018 | N/A | 45% | 47% | 9% | +/-4.9 | 400 | |||||||||||||
| NBC News/Marist October 23-27, 2018 | N/A | 50% | 44% | 6% | +/-5.4 | 506 | |||||||||||||
| Reuters/Ipsos/UVA Center for Politics September 17-26, 2018 | N/A | 46% | 48% | 6% | +/-4.0 | 799 | |||||||||||||
| ABC 15/OH Predictive Insights October 22-23, 2018 | N/A | 45% | 52% | 3% | +/-4.0 | 600 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 48.11% | 47.56% | 4.44% | +/-3.99 | 791.56 | ||||||||||||||
| 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]. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Craig Brittain completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Brittain's responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
Ending the Federal Reserve, Fixing Immigration/Border Security, Exiting the United Nations.
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
Public policy is my life. I don't play Golf - my focus is legislation and policy almost exclusively. While everyone else is doing whatever it is they're doing, I'll be working.
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?
I like the classical American writers like John Locke, Patrick Henry and Lysander Spooner who shaped our nation with their ideas, I've read a wide range of history and philosophy books, even those by a great many authors that I disagree with.
Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?
Man, Economy and State by Murray Rothbard, for explicitly financial policy, The Mystery of Banking by Murray Rothbard
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
Work ethic is the key to any field. Just show up a lot more often, dig your heels in and fight. With enough sheer willpower, you can eventually move mountains no matter where you began in life. Never give up no matter what people say about you.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
I'm tough, smart, good at policy and writing. I'm awake working when others are sleeping.
What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?
The job of a US Senator is to write and vote on policy measures, and participate in committees that facilitate the process. The secondary job, the outside job, is to keep an open door and listen to constituents. Both jobs are very important, but most candidates are either good at one or the other.
What legacy would you like to leave?
I could care less about something like "legacy." Legacy is the most vapid word in the human language. It appeals to people who are self-obsessed and vain. My goal is to contribute to the people, I am interested in their liberty, not creating some sort of personal legacy for myself.
What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?
I was born into the fall of the Berlin Wall. On my 5th birthday, November 9th of 1989, the monument to Socialism was removed, and at Midnight the people were free to reunite under the new banners of liberty and capitalism. My entire life is about defeating socialism in all forms - that is why my campaign is to Defeat Socialism Again.
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
I was a rough youth, so I began cleaning construction bins as part of a youth crew around the time I was 9-10 years old. During my teenage years I was a farm-hand on an equestrian farm, a kennel hand for dogs and cats, a call center employee, a supervisor, a canvasser, a landscaper, a grocery store worker. As an adult I became a bartender, a DJ, a musician, and I finally settled into technology, while also working in freelance journalism as a secondary source of income. I represent the overworked and the underpaid, the most dedicated people in our society, the survivors.
What happened on your most awkward date?
I've never had an awkward date.
What is your favorite holiday? Why?
July 4th. My primary focus is Liberty, so I deeply believe in Independence Day. I also like the end of year cycle (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, etc.) because it's a great time to spend with friends and family.
What is your favorite book? Why?
In terms of fictional books, I really like Tom Clancy novels, I grew up reading them. I'm not deeply religious, but I think the Bible is an incredible book and I've read it quite a bit as well.
If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?
I like The Punisher and Batman.
What is your favorite thing in your home or apartment? Why?
My computer. I'm committed to minimalism, so I don't own a lot of things - my computer is the most useful.
What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
The Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone, from the film "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."
What is something that has been a struggle in your life?
I've been working class for my entire life. My dream has always been to simply get the same opportunities that everyone else did - my friends and family have watched me fight and struggle my whole life through. Now, here is my opportunity to finally liberate myself from the things that have weighed me down for so long. In exchange for dedicating my life to public service and focusing on my contributions to The People and our nation, I get a pretty good salary and the chance to finally claim what should have been mine a long time ago. It's about overcoming adversity. I've been censored, cast out, lied about, I've had to fight for so long. But here when I win, my victory becomes permanent. In exchange for giving everything I have, I claim my life, I get the prize of being myself, I get to finally make large scale change in the world, I get to spread my ideas, my goals, my dreams. I get to fight for the portion of society that isn't controlled by the donor class, the rich establishment, the in-crowd.
What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?
The United Nations has destabilized and weakened us, the Federal Reserve has imperiled our domestic monetary policy, and our international fiscal policy is mired by bad and unnecessary trade policy. We've essentially re-authorized the bad provisions of previous bad trade deals as part of our current trade policy as a stop-gap measure, and that's not going to work in the long run. We need to immediately balance our budget - even if that means I have to personally filibuster every excessive spending bill that comes through - both of our political parties are insistent upon passing fiscally irresponsible legislation like our annual NDAA and the previously signed Omnibus, and our Federal Budget has grown to $5T annually, with our debt growing to $24T. That's not free, we're playing for that as it lowers the value of our dollar. When you go to the store and milk is $6 a gallon, that's the result of refusing to balance the budget. So I'll make budget balance happen - we're going to stop pretending that the US Treasury and Federal Reserve can print unlimited money without consequence. There are very real consequences and our working and middle class are paying for them now. If I had more rich donor friends, like my primary opponents, I'd have already won this election - as it stands now it's a monetary footrace, and many people in the donor class are deliberately sabotaging our Federal Budget, to deliberately cripple the dollar and the opportunity of the working and middle class to have class mobility, to move upwards based on their merits. The answer is not Socialism, The People don't need "new powers" appointed to them - they just need their original money back. Moneyprinting is counterfeiting, taxation is theft, and the people need a full restoration of the purchasing power and earned money that the Federal Government has stolen from them during their lifetimes. We're going to get all of that back, and it's going to be spectacular.
What qualities does the U.S. Senate possess that makes it unique as an institution?
The US Senate has the 17th Amendment, which is popular voting for the election of Senators by States. The 17th Amendment was established to prevent elections from being "bought and sold" in the hopes of defeating electoral corruption, with the premise being based on the skill and competency of candidates rather than their prosperity or the will of the donor class. Historically, this has eroded over time, along with our other Constitutional Rights, but the premise is still uniquely that of the Senate - that the Senators of the United States should be the most competent and merited people in all of the legislature. However, over time, the Seventeenth Amendment became leverage for the appointment of exiting Senators to Executive Positions without penalty - thus giving way to the very "bought and sold" mentality the Amendment was written to defeat. A level of nepotism now exists within our government that gives way to the 17-25% approval rating of our Congress - and that is why the uniquely intelligent and merited must reclaim our Senate from the insider class.
Do you believe that it’s beneficial for senators to have previous experience in government or politics?
Career politicians are generally terrible. Political education is more important than having won previous elections - the career politicians don't win on merit, they win on what is essentially political welfare. The lobbyists give them taxpayer dollars, like my opponent in this primary, the RNC and NRSC have already leapt to her aid, giving her millions of dollars in taxpayer money, even though Martha McSally lost the previous election and isn't the true incumbent in this election. Likewise, the Democrats similarly incubated Kyrsten Sinema, giving her the opportunity to win based on insider status. The Parties and the system are supposed to help all candidates, so that The People can pick the winners - but 1 or 2 debates is hardly enough for anyone to decide, and the candidates are often reading from a script presented to them by their donors. That is why the Sinema/McSally "debate" of 2018 was so terrible, both of them were simply reading donor talking points, there was no actual debate happening, it was only televised on a local level, when it should have been televised on a national level. The People want real debates, not scripted talking points. And the news media, they really went out of their way to suppress my campaign, right now I'm on a Fox News blacklist, I'm on a CNN blacklist and an MSNBC blacklist, a lot of the local stations won't even talk to me, there's a suppression of debate and information happening, which really hurts The People and their ability to vote. So in turn the only organizations that wrote about my campaign were Far Left donor shacks, like the Daily Beast where Chelsea Clinton sits on the board. There's a genuine fear of open information in both parties, and they've gone out of their way to censor candidates - especially those who are good at debates, there is no way that Martha McSally, Kyrsten Sinema, Mark Kelly or anyone else can beat me at any form of debate. It's not possible for them, the Press is aware of that.
What do you think of the filibuster?
I think the filibuster is incredible. This is one of the areas where the President - I deeply like him but he's wrong here - if the Republicans start bringing in their new energetic and tough base like me that can stand on our feet for days on end, we could gridlock the entire process of the other Party. Filibusters measure will and physical strength. I can see why the older establishment folks and RINOs don't like it, they can barely get through a 15 minute session without help from their congressional aides. I would absolutely love to gridlock the Democrats until they come to the table, until they start wanting to have real discussions about border security and making deals. Until we can fix our immigration process - it takes 12 years for our Federal Government to know if someone is legal or not on average - gridlocks should happen. If we're not going to negotiate, why not just shut down the whole mess? The establishment will learn to respect the will of The People, and the filibuster is a tool of the people. I intend to start filibustering stupid bills and bad ideas the moment I'm elected. And believe me, there are many stupid bills and bad ideas, and I will take them on and defeat them.
What criteria would you apply when deciding whether to confirm presidential appointees?
The biggest problem with Court Appointees is lifetime appointments. We need to do away with lifetime appointments, they lead to sloth and bench-ruling behavior, plus corruption. I support Term Limits - not only for elected officials but for Judges too. An ideal for a Supreme Court Judge would be 2-8 years, and likewise for the lesser Courts. This also gives more good justices the chance to leave their mark on the High Courts, and reduces the weight and burden of confirmations - at most, a Justice should have a relatively short time on the Court, to narrow their scope and ability to hijack the Laws of the Land, and subsequently to narrow the ability of any given Executive Branch to taper the field. The key to Checks and Balances is that they are just that - Checks and Balances. A lifetime appointment is neither a check nor a balance.
Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other senators?
Absolutely, it's beneficial to work with as many people as possible. A key part of defeating the gridlock will be identifying those who won't play ball. The donor class tells people to make nice. But when I win, I don't have to make nice, I can call out the people who aren't doing their jobs and make them play ball. It's going to be non-stop negotiating - and those who won't deal, I'll make sure they don't get re-elected. We're going to have a united, aggressive Republican Party under my future leadership, a Party that creates negotiations and deals, and I will lead by example. I will get a lot of people in and we're going to work it out no matter how long it takes.
If you are not a current senator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?
As many as possible. In particular, I want to be part of the Budget Committee, they desperately need someone there who isn't a tax-and-spend blank check advocate, and likewise for Banking/Housing/Urban Affairs, Appropriations, Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Energy and Natural Resources, Foreign Relations, Indian Affairs, Intelligence, Rules and Administration, and Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the U.S. Senate, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?
In time, I want to be the Republican Senate Leader.
Is there a particular senator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?
Barry Goldwater.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2018
The following issues were listed on Brittain's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes and policy priorities, click here.
| “ |
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| —Craig Brittain for U.S. Senate, Arizona | ||
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Craig Brittain for Senate, "Home," accessed September 18, 2017
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "2018 Primary Election Candidates and Information," accessed June 18, 2018
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 8, 2021.
- ↑ Craig R. Bittain for Senate, "Bio," accessed March 14, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
