The Arizona Green Party (AZGP) accused Democrats of running Mike Norton as a sham candidate in their primary race for the U.S. Senate. The AZGP said a detailed thread posted on X earlier this month, that the scheme by the state Democratic Party was to have Norton drop out at the last minute before ballots were printed and endorse the Democratic candidate, Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03). The third party group noted that a candidate did that in the 2018 U.S. Senate race to allegedly benefit then-Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema – who later switched to an independent and is not running for reelection.
The AZGP denounced the tactic, “They’re willing to fight dirty and do everything they can to sabotage the competition,” pointing out that two SuperPACs who maxed out contributions to Norton had already endorsed Gallego.
AZGP said Norton is not a registered Green Party voter. Looking at voter data from the Maricopa County Elections Department, they discovered on August 17, 2023, he registered as an independent.
On March 17, 2024, Norton registered to run as a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate, “a mere two weeks before the deadline to submit a sufficient number of candidate nomination petitions.” AZGP said. Norton “had no prior involvement or contact with the AZGP whatsoever before this.”
Beginning on March 18, 2024, the first of seven out-of-state paid petition signature circulators, working for Wells Marketing LLC, registered with the Secretary of State’s office as petition circulators for his campaign, AZGP found. Norton filed a Statement of Organization with the FEC for his candidate committee, “Mike Norton for Arizona.”
Next, AZGP posted, “On March 21st, the ‘Save Democracy PAC’ a super-PAC with ties to the Democratic Party, donates the max contribution of $5K to Norton’s candidate committee. Reminder: anybody who knows anything about the #GreenParty knows that we DO NOT EVER accept contributions from super-PACs.”
The Save Democracy PAC states on its website that it is “running a nationwide effort to confront and defeat Republican extremism up and down the ballot.” Its list of endorsements contains all Democrats; there are no Green Party endorsements.
AZGP pointed out two other Democratic-associated SuperPACs that contributed. “On March 27th, two more Democratic Party linked super-PACs (‘End Citizens United’ and ‘Defend The Vote’) max out donations to Norton’s campaign, contributing $5K each. Both these super-PACs have already officially endorsed @RubenGallego for the 2024 U.S. Senate race in #Arizona.”
End Citizens United includes a scorecard of members of Congress on its website, giving Fs to Republicans and As to Democrats.
Defend the Vote states on its website that one of its goals is “Red to blue,” “Work in as many as 15 Red to Blue races.” Another goal is “Win,” “Work with other Democratic organizations to stimulate a multiplier effect in key races.”
AZGP listed five Democrats who also maxed out with maximum contributions allowed for individuals of $3,000. The first was Michael D. Smith, a Principal/Director at Cornerstone Government Affairs, a “member of the @dscc Majority Trust Legacy Circle since 2008, and a formerly appointed member of the @DNC Credentials Committee.”
The second was Paul Bernon, “a Managing Partner at PMB Ventures, a Co-Chair of the @emilyslist Creative Council, and a member of the @DNC Finance Committee.” The third was Devin Rhinerson, “a Partner at Pace LLP and a former senior policy advisor to the (now deceased) Democratic Senator from the State of California, Diane Feinstein.”
The fourth was David Steinglass, “a semi-retired Co-Founder/Partner at Northlane Capital Partners LLC (a venture capital firm) … [who] has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to the @dccc, @dscc, @HouseMajPAC, @emilyslist, & the @JoeBiden Victory Fund.” The fifth was Elizabeth E. Steinglass (David’s wife), “a Harvard graduate, a poet/author, a Research Fellow at NYU School of Law, and- like her husband- a frequent big money donor to Democratic campaigns.”
“Timothy Webster, an Associate Professor of Law at @WNEUniversity,“ contributed $1,000. The AZGP could not confirm he was a Democrat, but found the contribution “suspicious” due to the timing.
Norton is “a CEO, Senior Executive, and Legal Counsel to 3 major transportation companies,” the AZGP observed, and received $5,000 from the Amalgamated Transit Union. Those countries specialize in transporting “weapons, ammunition, explosives, and radioactive materials,” which the AZGP sarcastically said was “[a] decidedly un-Green career.”
The AZGP explained the motive of Norton. “And if you’re wondering, as some of you surely would be, ‘what do the Democrats gain from heavily funding a fake Green Party candidate?’” the AZGP asked. “[C]onsider the case of ‘18 Senate candidate Angela Green, who dropped out and endorsed Sinema at the very last minute against McSally.”
The thread went on, “And what better way is there to stop any possible *real* competition for Gallego from our party than by implanting an operative in our primary, funding him so heavily he easily wins, and then immediately having him drop out in the general to endorse the Democratic candidate?”
The AZGP concluded, “[H]e’s trying to fool the #GreenParty voters of #Arizona.” The final post tagged Norton and denounced him. “Well @ROSS_SUSD, you may be a smart man, and you may be well-funded by the corrupt DNC, but you can’t fool us, and you won’t get away with your lies and dirty tricks,” the AZGP said. “We know a true #GreenParty candidate from a fake like you. And now, Arizona knows you’re a fraud too.”
Norton’s shell campaign website contains a link to contribute, a link to sign his petition, and two paragraphs of text. He qualified for the ballot and has not been challenged. The AZGP challenged another candidate which it claims is a sham candidate run by Republicans, Arturo Hernandez, but appears to have not challenged Norton. A judge ruled this past week that Hernandez can stay on the ballot. The controversy has received almost no media coverage.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mike Norton” by Mike Norton.
