D.C. to welcome Bee

Republican Party leaders will be on hand to raise funds for the congressional campaign of state Sen. Tim Bee (R-Tucson) Thursday in Washington, D.C. The reception, which will cost contributors $500/person (or $1,000 for a PAC contribution), is set to feature the top two Republicans in the house, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), as well as nine other Republican House members.

The three Republican representatives in the Arizona delegation who are seeking re-election will be appearing: Reps. Jeff Flake, Trent Franks and John Shadegg, as well as Jim Kolbe, who held the 8th Congressional District seat Bee is trying to take away from Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Kolbe's successor.

In order to appear at the fundraiser at 5:30 EDT, Bee will not be able to preside over the Arizona Senate or participate in ongoing budget negotiations. Bee has been criticized by Democrats for campaigning while a constitutional deadline to settle the budget looms. Last week, Bee called the Senate out of session to greet Pres. George W. Bush as he arrived in Arizona to attend a fundraiser on behalf of Sen. John McCain.

However, Gov. Janet Napolitano has previously said she has no problem with Bee tending to his campaign during the leglislative session - with good reason. As the Bee campaign pointed out in response to his moment with the president, "Gov. Napolitano went off to campaign with [Sen. Barack] Obama. That was during the session too."