Bill Connor

David Schweikert is hammering back against an attack by his 5th Congressional District Republican primary rival, Susan Bitter Smith, after Bitter Smith put out a mailer attacking Schweikert's record as Maricopa County treasurer.

Tuesday morning, a hit piece from the Bitter Smith campaign showed up in mailboxes across the district saying Schweikert mismanaged the county's funds during his tenure as treasurer. Later that day, the Schweikert camp put out a robo-call refuting the charges and slamming Bitter Smith's "negative" tactics.

Brian Hummell, Bitter Smith's campaign manager, pointed to an audit of the treasurer's office from April 2007 to support his claim. The report stated that "some Treasurer’s Office actions conflict with uniform accounting practices and with State Statutes" by allowing its servicing bank "to extend credit beyond line of credit limits."

Congressional candidate David Schweikert: Campaign photoDavid Schweikert, candidate in the 5th Congressional District Republican primary, is taking heat from the Arizona Democratic Party over his latest Federal Election Commissions report, which the campaign filed late. While Democrats claim it's part of a "disturbing" pattern, the Schweikert campaign blamed a technical error.

"Congressional candidate David Schweikert violated commonly understood Federal Elections Commissions rules this week by failing to meet the July 15 filing deadline for the second quarter," read an Arizona Democratic Party release. "Schweikert was the only District Five candidate to break the rules, and now faces thousands of dollars in potential fines."