Brett Mecum

Less than five weeks from election day, both the Arizona Democratic Party and Arizona Republican Party are anticipating pick ups in state House and Senate races.

Brett Mecum, the political director of the Arizona Republican Party, told PolitickerAZ.com that the party's doubts about making gains in the Arizona Legislature have disappeared with the addition of Gov. Sarah Palin to the Republican presidential ticket.

Mecum said that while "as little as a month ago" the AZ GOP had fretted they might not net seats in the Legislature, Palin has "energized the Republican base across Arizona, and, quite frankly, across the nation," and that new energy will translate into down ticket victories.

Mecum predicted his Party would gain one Senate seat and two to four House seats, though he didn't say which he thought were likeliest to switch.

Not surprisingly, Emily DeRose, spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party, had a different take.

As of today, Tony Reinhard is the former communications manager for the Arizona Republican Party, and the new executive director of the Maricopa County Republican Party. The move comes after only five months as being spokesman for the Arizona GOP.

"My sincere thanks go out to the AZGOP and the staff here," said Reinhard in an email. "The past five months have been a great learning experience and I look forward to working in conjunction with them to keep Arizona a solidly 'Red State.'"

Sean McCaffrey, executive director of the Arizona Republican Party, will be acting as interim spokesman until a replacement can be found.

"We're very happy Tony has the opportunity to work with the county party," said Brett Mecum, who is the state party's political director.