For months, Scottsdale residents watched a deep-pocketed group push around three council candidates. Now someone with a badge is paying attention. According to The Arizona Republic, the Attorney General’s Office is reviewing a complaint that Better Together, a PAC with close ties to Axon, failed to properly disclose its donors on signs and ads. As we asked back in July, voters deserve to know whose money is behind the mailers.
What the State Is Reviewing
The Secretary of State’s Office found this month that the PAC likely broke campaign finance rules. It then referred the case to the Attorney General. The complaint came from Tempe resident Alex Logvin, who runs a website tracking political spending.
He alleges that the roadside signs said only “Paid for by Better Together.” The disclaimer was reportedly half an inch tall when it should have been nearly five. State rules also require naming the biggest donors and disclosing the share of out-of-state money. Better Together’s entire $335,000 came from National Horizon Inc., a Virginia super PAC.
The Defense
Better Together’s attorney calls the size discrepancy negligible and says the Clean Elections Commission, not the Secretary of State, has jurisdiction. Moreover, the Attorney General’s spokesperson says no determination has been made about wrongdoing.
Its Treasurer has maintained that Axon was not directly involved. Campaign finance reports have not directly linked the PAC’s funding to the company. However, they do show executives’ money moving through a pattern of payments between PACs.
Why It Still Matters
The PAC spent that money to defeat Barry Graham, Michelle Ugenti-Rita, and Bob Littlefield. All three ran against overdevelopment, including Axon’s planned 1,200-unit apartments. The candidates accused Axon executives of trying to buy the election.
Axon Rendering
Yes, this is a narrow dispute about sign size. Yet even a schoolyard referee starts with the small infraction. In the meantime, Better Together has gone quiet since the primary, and Leibowitz declined to say why.
What Comes Next
The Nov. 3 runoff will decide the final two council seats. Graham, Ugenti-Rita, and Raoul Zubia are competing, after Littlefield stepped aside. Voters, not PACs, will have the last word.
The bully has not been punished. It has simply been slowed down. In any schoolyard, that is often where accountability begins.
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