Yellow Sheet
Sources keep telling our reporter that Jim Ward has cultivated homegrown conservative muscle to immediately disarm carpetbag shouters and eventually help him win the CD-5 primary and return that congressional seat to the GOP.
"They're already out there," said Ward of accusations he's a carpetbagger.
"Ward is getting strong support," a supporter told YS. "[He's] basically sucking the oxygen out of the room on Schweikert." The source said look for names such as Eric Crown, Bob Hobbs and John Norton to provide a strong conservative base for Ward. "There is high interest in him from both local politicos/business guys and the national politicos," the source wrote. Ward and his family, which includes two Chinese girls he and his wife (daughter of John Cotton) adopted, moved back from California to Arizona last year, where he went to Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Now involved in a venture capital business, Ward has held executive positions with LucasArts, LucasFilm and rolled out global ad campaigns for Nike and Microsoft. It's his business experience and skills that separate him from other candidates, he told YS today, adding his resume is better to deal with today's economic challenges than are Schweikert's and Mitchell's portfolios. "What people will know me as and what people know me as now is a businessman - a person that's coming to the table with a different skill set than the other folks in the arena," he said. "I'm not a professional politician. Dave [Schweikert] is a professional politician." Ward says he has the utmost respect for Mitchell and Schweikert, but in three critical areas, he is the best candidate because he represents the diversity of people who have moved into CD-5, he has the skills to bring about change in Washington and he can win. "I have to say, I actually better represent the district than maybe someone who hasn't got that life experience out there,"
Ward said. From start to finish, the CD-5 contest will be a $3.5 million race, Ward envisions, adding the RNCCC seemed encouraging about his race when he met with officials in D.C. "The RNCCC is going to focus on races they can win." Another source said Ward will be a much stronger Republican challenger than a 2008 candidate who also had no name recognition. "This guy isn't Jim Ogbsury." Ward would not comment on the state's budget battle.
