Dozens of paid operatives registered with the Arizona secretary of state’s office Sunday to collect signatures on behalf of left-wing presidential candidate Cornel West, listing their employer as a Republican-leaning firm that recently worked for GOP House candidate Blake Masters.
Arizona, unlike most states, requires paid or out-of-state filing collectors to be registered with the state. On them state registrationsSome circulators working to help get West on the ballot in Arizona had trouble listing his name as “Carnel West” or “Cornelle West.”
All checked boxes indicating they are out of state and paid. All listed Wells Marketing LLC – or some variation, with a few typos – as the company they work for.
It is not clear who paid them. West’s campaign and Wells Marketing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NBC News recently exposed operatives linked to Republicans secretly collecting signatures Another important state for the West in North Carolina. Last week, the North Carolina State Board of Elections was dominated by Democrats voted against Citing the NBC News report and other concerns, a new political party has launched a primary ballot on West’s behalf.
West will need to gather tens of thousands of signatures to get on the ballot in Arizona, but it’s unlikely that West’s campaign will pay circulators. The campaign is essentially broken, its latest report says campaign finance report that he owes more money than he has. The campaign said it was ideologically committed to using volunteers instead of paid canvassers.
Wells Marketing collected signatures for several Arizona Republican candidates earlier this year, including majors, state Rep. Justin Heap and GOP Senate candidate Elizabeth Jean Reye. according to to the records of the Secretary of State. He also reported working on behalf of Green Party Senate candidate Mike Norton, who owns the Arizona Green Party. dismissed as one of the two plants works on behalf of the main parties.
Some prominent Republicans have nominated West’s leftist candidacy.Take away Joe Biden’s votes.” West is a prominent black academic and racial justice activist who has made the plight of Gazans suffering during Israel’s war against Hamas a central focus of his campaign.
Republicans looking to shore up the West have said they are focusing on general election states like Arizona, where a few thousand votes could decide whether President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump wins in November.