Arizona secretary of state candidate Beau Lane a political outsider with business ties

Beau Lane finds himself in an unusual position. Not only is he running his first-ever campaign for public office, but the longtime advertising executive is also the product the campaign is selling.

As he seeks the Republican nomination for Arizona secretary of state, Lane said he is listening to the campaign professionals he has hired. But it's hard to tamp down 40 years of advertising experience.

“I’m probably an interesting client because I know a lot about the marketing aspects of it,” he said about pitching a product. The basic principles are the same, he said: persuasion and getting out a message people can understand.

Lane's message is restoration of faith in elections. It's not a novel position: His three opponents all have versions of this theme.

But Lane stands out because he's both an outsider and an insider. While he claims the "outsider" label because he has never run for office, he's got insider cred given the support he's garnered from establishment politicians and major business leaders.

Whether either of those roles will help him in a four-way primary amid the ongoing atmosphere of election denial will play out in the coming month.

Before you vote: What's on your August 2022 primary ballot for Arizona?

An appeal to run from AZ luminaries

Lane, 60, said he's always wanted to run for public office. But he shelved those aspirations as his advertising business — E.B. Lane & Associates —  and his family grew.

Now, with his youngest child heading to college this fall, the opportunity seemed ripe. And if he needed any encouragement, he got that 13 months ago.

A letter signed by business and community leaders urged him to get into the race.

"The lack of confidence in our elections is an existential threat to our democracy, and that is why it is so important to have someone of your background, knowledge and experience serving as our next secretary of state," the letter stated.

"It is time for real and principled leadership in that office, and we hope that you will answer the challenge and enter the arena."

The list of signers was longer than the letter itself. It reads like a who's who of Arizona's version of a Forbes business listing: John Graham of Sunbelt Holdings, a major real estate and land development firm; Jerry Colangelo, who brought the Phoenix Suns and the Arizona Diamondbacks to Arizona; Bill Post, retired CEO of Pinnacle West, the holding company of Arizona Public Service.

Lane eagerly complied.

“I think they wanted somebody who could be a fair dealer and represent the office with integrity," Lane said of the letter.

Jay Heiler, CEO of Great Hearts, a charter-school network, was among the many co-signers. Lane had reached out to him long before the GOP field had formed, he said.

Heiler cited Lane's business and community work and said running for office is a way to give back.

"I still think this is what the American system was designed for," Heiler said, harking to the notion of everyday citizens "leaving the plow" and turning their talents to a limited stint of public service.

He sees Lane as a candidate in that mold.

Who else is running? These are the major candidates in the race for Arizona secretary of state?

Taking over the family business

Lane is the executive chairman of Lane|Terralever, a company that grew from E.B. Lane, an advertising firm his father started in 1962 from an office on Grand Avenue.

Beau — a nickname derived from his given name of Edward Boyd — grew up in central Phoenix and graduated from Central High School. He earned his bachelor's degree in journalism and history from the University of Denver and entered the advertising world in Colorado.

In the late 1980s, he joined the family business in Phoenix and in 1994, bought the company from his father.

The firm has handled contracts large and small, including marquee clients such as the Arizona Cardinals, the Super Bowl Committee and Toyota.

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Jeff Hatch-Miller was state lottery director when E.B. Lane won back the lottery contract in 2010, having lost it five years earlier. He remembered Lane as a straight-shooter and the administrative muscle of the firm, leaving the creative work to others.

Lane's agency rebranded the lottery, moving away from the longtime iconography of the Arizona miner kicking up his heels while brandishing a pickaxe. The new look, introduced in 2014, included updated fonts and color.

“The results were pretty good,” Hatch-Miller said. “The logo is still in use today.”

In 2013, Lane merged his company with the digital marketing firm Terralever.

Lane and his wife Donna are parents of four: three adult sons and their college-bound daughter, who was adopted from a Chinese orphanage.

Election guide: 2022 primaries

U.S. Senate | Governor |Secretary of state|Legislature | Treasurer | County attorney |Attorney general| Superintendent | Corporation Commission | District 1 | District 3 | District 4| District 5| District 6|District 8| District 9 | City council

Rejects election deniers

Lane has run as an outsider, pointing to his business background as a contrast with his opponents, who are all state lawmakers with anywhere from four to 12 years' experience at the state Capitol.

Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, one of the contenders for the party's nomination, mocked the "outsider" label, noting he has support from insiders such as former governors Fife Symington and Jan Brewer. Lane has raised nearly $900,000, much it in $5,300 increments from donors who gave the maximum allowed by law.

He readily acknowledged Joe Biden won the presidency and has defended Arizona's early voting system, which the state Republican Party argues is unconstitutional.

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He did an about-face in June when he praised a law that will purge voters from the Permanent Early Voting List if they don't vote steadily every cycle. A year earlier, he and other business leaders had protested the legislation.

Republican groups have treated Lane, a lifelong party member, as an outsider: He was not included in several forums, including — he and his staff insist — a June debate hosted by state Republican Party chairwoman Kelli Ward. Party officials say he was notified.

Lane has centered his campaign on a promise to improve the secretary of state's customer service. The agency's duties include such mundane but important tasks as partnership registration, maintaining the universal commercial code and registering trademarks and trade names.

As for election oversight, he says the best way to instill confidence in election returns is to be transparent.

Lane said he has nothing disparaging to say about the other candidates, except that “they represent the dysfunction that’s going on now. We need a new voice there.”

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona secretary of state primary 2022 candidate: Beau Lane