Tom Horne bizarrely claims Mark Brnovich is not qualified to be Attorney General

I couldn't believe I was reading this in the Yellow Sheet (great Arizona political tipsheet, worth the money). Horne spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham told the Yellow Sheet that she questioned how Brnovich’s role as state gaming director qualified him to take over Horne’s job. “If he decides to run, we look forward to seeing how his job at the Department of Gaming has prepared Mark Brnovich for the role of top law enforcement officer in the state – and always welcome a sparring partner to help prepare us for the general election,” she said. 

Are you kidding me? Brnovich is the most uber-qualified candidate to ever run for Attorney General, and as the Yellow Sheet points out, has far more experience than Horne did when he ran for the office. Brnovich was a prosecutor for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for several years, including prosecuting felonies in the major crimes unit if my memory serves me correctly. He then transferred to the Attorney General's Office, where he was counsel to the Gaming Department for several years. Most people may not know this about the Attorney General's Office, but the majority of it is civil law, representing government agencies, not prosecution. When I left there in 2003 there were only a couple of criminal units but numerous civil units. Brnovich is extremely qualified to head it having practiced both civil and criminal law at government agencies.

He also worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office for several years prosecuting public crimes. Only in recent years did he become head of the Gaming Agency under Governor Brewer.  

If this is the way Horne is going to run his campaign, is that someone you want to return to office? I'm sure we can expect more mudslinging like this, how low will he go? We need someone in office who is ethical, honest and can be trusted. With the ongoing investigation into Horne over multiple campaign violations, and the sudden resignations of his top-level employees as the whistle-blowing scandal gets deeper, it's time for someone new.