He could face tough task to beat Gov. Napolitano

PHOENIX – Len Munsil, former head of an advocacy group for Christian conservatives, defeated Republican Party activist Don Goldwater in Tuesday’s primary for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano.

With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Munsil had 121,844 votes, or 50 percent, to 99,309 or 41 percent, for Goldwater, a nephew of the late U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater and a member of the Minutemen border-watch group.

The other two candidates, businessman Mike Harris and contractor Gary Tupper, trailed.

Munsil did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday night.

The 42-year-old Scottsdale attorney was able to mobilize a grassroots base of support for his candidacy and net dozens of endorsements from GOP officeholders, including U.S. Sen. John McCain, through his longtime leadership of the Center for Arizona Policy.

While at the Scottsdale-based group’s helm, Munsil lobbied at the Legislature for measures to place new restrictions on abortion rights and sexually oriented businesses. He also helped draft a proposed constitutional amendment on marriage that will be on the state’s Nov. 7 ballot.

The winner of the GOP primary could face a daunting task to unseat Napolitano, who was unopposed in her party’s primary in her bid for re-election to a second four-year term.

Napolitano, a former state attorney general and ex-U.S. attorney for Arizona, held commanding leads over each of the GOP hopefuls in hypothetical general-election matchups in polls conducted before the primary.

Goldwater said he conceded to Munsil shortly before 10 p.m.

“I congratulated Len on a really well-run campaign, a really spirited campaign. I told him if he needed my help in defeating Janet Napolitano, just ask,” he said. “If the party does band together and come under his banner … he can beat her.”

However, both Harris and Tupper said they regarded Munsil as too extreme and said they would not support his candidacy.

“I don’t believe the moderates will support Len Munsil,” Tupper said. “Until the ultraconservatives realize they need the moderate vote, the Republican party will lose general elections.”

Goldwater did not qualify for public funding until Sept. 1, and he said that apparently was a crippling blow. He also said the low voter turnout helped Munsil. “They got out their vote. We didn’t get out our vote.”

Goldwater, who made illegal immigration and border security the main focus of his campaign, saw his campaign struggle for months to qualify for public financing. He finally qualified on Sept. 1 and received his nearly $494,000 last week, enabling him to launch a last-minute ad blitz before the primary.

Munsil and Napolitano each qualified for public funding months earlier. Harris and Tupper ran with relatively small amounts of private financing.

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