Former congressman J.D. Hayworth has quit his radio show and may be ready to challenge Sen. John McCain in this year's GOP primary.

Hayworth teases:

It has been a joy to spend weekday afternoons on KFYI. Now, another chapter begins. The call to public service remains, and again it may very well lead to pursuit of public office.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen Reports reveals that Hayworth's numbers are falling against McCain:

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely 2010 Republican Primary voters in Arizona finds the longtime incumbent leading former Congressman J.D. Hayworth by a 53% to 31% margin. In November, the two candidates were virtually even.

Former Minuteman leader Chris Simcox gets four percent (4%) support, while three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate and eight percent (8%) are undecided.

UPDATE: AP reports it's on!

All along Stephen Phinny's neighbors, who are in the midst of suing the Saguaro Ranch developer and the town of Marana over an easement Phinny denies exists and Marana officials formally abandoned, (don't forget about the federal civil rights lawsuit filed by two of the four neighbors involved in litigation), always knew there was something odd about the relationship between town officials, council members and the developer.

For years, there have been rumors that Phinny had invited council members and staff to the development's restaurant, McClintock's, for meals and libations, and possibly other bones tossed - but no one had any proof - until possibly now.
On Jan. 7, Phinny's neighbors (Tracy Chamberlain, Steven Blomquist, Sharyl Cummings and Tim Blowers) through their attorney Stephen Weeks, deposed McClintock's former manager, Denis Boaro - who could just be the smoking gun neighbors have been looking for.

In the deposition, Boaro pointed out that officials and council members allegedly met to discuss the development and easement and were given free meals and drinks at each meeting. On Jan. 19, neighbors filed a motion to amend their lawsuit against the town to disclose Boaro's testimony that they hope shows Pima County Superior Court Judge Ted Borek that a judgment in their favor is justified regarding the town abandoning the disputed easement. You can view the amendment document here.

The charges in the amendment, however, are serious. The neighbors claim the town's actions are in violation of the state law's gift clause, which prohibits "the giving of special perks and benefits to developers like Phinny." The actions also violate Arizona's open meetings laws, which prohibits the town council "from discussing public issues behind closed doors with a developer."

"The case challenges whether the Town of Marana's actions in attempting to abandon a public easement, which is partially within the town limits, is valid or void," according to the amendment. "The area the Town has attempted to give away rests entirely within a development known as Saguaro Ranch. The attempted give-away was at the request of, and solely for the benefit of, the Saguaro Ranch entities and its developer, Stephen Phinny."

In the deposition, Boaro testified that Phinny met consistently with some council members and staff "likely exceeding 50 hours of meeting time, with ... Mayor Ed Honea, Vice Mayor Herb Kai," and council members Jon Post, Patti Commerford, Carol McGorray and Roxanne Ziegler, as well as Town Manager Gilbert Davidson and Town Attorney Frank Cassidy. Phinny allegedly provided unrestricted alcohol and food to during the meetings at McClintock's.

The amendment questions if these drinks and meals were provided in return for the council members' votes. It also raises questions about Ziegler, who abstained in the council's May 21 vote to abandon the easement, but has been at times unusually vocal in raising concerns against the neighbors and their allegations raised before her during council meetings.

At the end of Boaro's deposition, he provided all of his personal e-mail correspondence between him and Phinny during his employment at McClintocks, which ended in September 2009. From these e-mails, the amendment points out one in particular in which Phinny e-mailed Boaro on May 15, 2009 to tell him, "... A week from today the 'protesters' go away!" And, while the protesters (Phinny's neighbors) didn't go away, the council voted to abandon the easement on May 21.

"In other words, by May 15, 2009, Stephen Phinny had received confirmation from his elected public servants that the Easement had been abandoned as a gift to him," according to the amendment.

Neighbors told The Range that they have just scratched the surface of Boaro's e-mails. More updates to follow, as well as more in next week's issue of the Tucson Weekly.

It's starting to get late in the 2010 election cycle for recruiting, but the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) says Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts has yielded more interest and commitments from potential GOP House candidates to run for Congress in the midterms this year.

On a conference call with reporters yesterday, an NRCC official said that the Massachusetts victory had encouraged "a number of folks that we were talking to about getting into races throughout the country...

"A number of people who were thinking about it...have called us and told us they're going to run," the official said.

The Brown victory should give Republicans momentum going into 2010, as it will likely spur Republican political donations and conservative activism, as well as preventing Democrats from passing much of their agenda and putting President Obama and congressional Democratic leaders into a defensive mode. An influx of Republican House candidates would be an added boon.

Illustration by Rand Carlson.

Capitol Media Services' Howie Fischer and I appeared on KJZZ's Here and Now earlier today to discuss the upcoming political season. Listen to the show after the jump.

Chef Miciah Beard - of Bob's Steak and Chop House at Omni Tucson National Resort - beat Chef Ramiro Scavo of Zona 78 and Harvest Restaurant to take home the title of Iron Chef Tucson 2010.

The competition took place on Sunday, January 17, at Desert Diamond Casino.

Beard said the competition's secret ingredient was pork bratwurst. He used it to prepare Pacific Rim-inspired dishes - which he described as a fusion of Asian and French cuisine - in an attempt to set himself apart from his competitor.

"Scavo doesn’t do Asian," he said. "And pork is a staple of island food, so it wasn’t hard to incorporate it in that style of cuisine."

He started off with an island-style sweet, hot and sour soup with a light broth, fresh vegetables and bratwurst, followed by shrimp mousse with bratwurst that was skewered with lemon grass, crusted with macademia nuts and served with a sauce made from ginger, pineapple and Stella Artois beer (Stella Artois beer, an event sponsor, had to be incorporated into one of the dishes).

Next were egg roll wrappers stuffed with purple Peruvian potatoes, sweet potatoes and bratwurst and served with an Asian-style brown sauce made from reduced veal stock, soy sauce and garlic. The grand finale was a roasted onion stuffed with rice, mixed vegetables and bratwurst, with a honey-tomato-chili gastrique on the side.

This was Beard's first cooking competition. He said some of the dishes he created at the competition will be worked into the menus of banquets catered by Bob's Steak and Chop House, and that some items may also show up from time to time at the restaurant.

Of winning the competition, Beard had this to say: “I was overwhelmed. I almost wanted to cry. I was very happy. I’ve been cooking for 18 years and as a kid I always wanted to be on Iron Chef and I was very proud to do it in Tucson, because I am native (to Tucson)."

Tucson Citizen alumnus Dylan Smith has launched the Tucson Sentinel, which aims to be a non-profit, online journalism venture.

Martha Menocal, an administrative specialist with El Güero Canelo's corporate office, said this morning that the Travel Channel is sending a film crew to El Güero Canelo's original location at 5201 S. 12th Ave. on Friday, Jan. 29. All fans of the eatery are invited to show up to show their support, and possibly get their face on national television.

Then, on Saturday, Jan. 30, El Güero Canelo will challenge BK Carne Asada and Hot Dogs at 5118 S. 12th Ave. to a Sonoran hot dog challenge while the Travel Channel cameras roll. Tucsonans are invited to attend the taping.

Menocal said the Travel Channel decided to return to Tucson after they taped an episode of Man v. Food here that featured Lindy's on Fourth, Mi Nidito and El Güero Canelo. She didn't know what the name of the new Travel Channel show being taped for was, or what time the tapings would take place. She said flyers with information about the event would be distributed in the coming days.

Also worthy of note: Adam Richman, the host of Man v. Food, tops his list of best places to eat in the country with Elvira's, the Nogales, Mexico, eatery that relocated to Tubac some time ago.

Fans of Arizona Illustrated's Friday Roundtable will want to tune in at 5:30 tonight instead of 6:30 p.m. on Channel 6. The newshour will follow at 6 p.m. so the station can air a Haiti relief telethon at 7 p.m.

That means McLaughlin Group viewers will get me instead of Monica Crowley.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department has responded to the Inspector General report related to Macho B, the last known living jaguar in the United States:

Late this afternoon, the Arizona Game and Fish Department received from the media a redacted copy of the U.S. Department of Interior Inspector General (IG) report about events related to the jaguar known as Macho B. The Department would note that, to the extent the document received is a true and accurate version of the report, it still represents a redacted and therefore incomplete version that gives no useful indication of what additional clarity or context the redacted material might add to the public’s understanding of it. Regardless, the Department has the following comment:

1. The Department stands by its previous statements that the Department did not direct any Department employee or any other person associated with the initial capture to intentionally capture a jaguar. Should the outcome of the ongoing Federal criminal or Department administrative investigations demonstrate that individuals employed by the Department acted contrary to the Department’s understanding of the facts or contrary to Department direction, the Department remains committed to its previous assurance that it will take or pursue appropriate action.

2. The Department is disappointed that it was at no time contacted during the IG’s investigation

The Associated Press notes that today's Supreme Court ruling lifting restrictions on campaign funding will have a big effect on Arizona races:

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling Thursday apparently means companies and labor unions can spend to influence Arizona elections for public offices, a state official said.

Arizona law now prohibits business and corporate spending in state candidate races. But it seems those prohibitions cannot now be enforced because the Supreme Court ruling said similar federal prohibitions violate the Constitution's free speech protections, Election Director Amy Bjelland said.

"The First Amendment covers us no matter where we are. It trumps state law," agreed Nick Nyhart, president of Public Campaign, a Washington-based public campaign funding advocacy group. "There are some big kahunas that now can be active in your campaigns."

This has an even bigger impact now if the courts uphold U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver's ruling forbidding matching funds for Clean Elections candidates. If that's the case, running as a Clean Elections candidate, at least for statewide office, would be political suicide.