NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday March 14, 2008

Electoral landscape looks difficult for Republicans in Arizona

The political climate for Arizona Republicans continues to worsen, as potential Congressional candidate Jeff Hatch-Miller acknowledged in his remarks about dropping out the race. Low poll numbers, woeful fundraising and serious losses in hallmark races point to Republican defeat in November.

“It’s going to be a tough year, no doubt about it,” Hatch-Miller told PolitickerAZ.com, when explaining his reasons for dropping out. “The Illinois loss (of Congressional District 14) stings.” (http://politickeraz.com/hatch-miller-reflects-decision-exit-cd5-race)
National Republicans lost the Illinois stronghold on Saturday, when former House Speaker Denny Hastert’s place went to a Democratic political newcomer.

A recent NBC poll showed that voters nationally prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress to a Republican-controlled Congress by a margin of 14 points. (http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/WSJ-20080312-poll.pdf)
And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has more than six times as much money in the bank as its Republican counterpart. (http://cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002688665)

“Voters really want a new direction for this country, and they are lining up behind Democrats as the party that will deliver for them,” said Maria Weeg, executive director of the Arizona Democratic Party. “We believe we’ll have a very strong year up and down the ballot in Arizona.”