The political consultant behind a new group formed in support of Democratic candidate for Arizona governor Fred DuVal is an enemy of animal rights groups and is being threatened with legal action for a six-figure debt that his company has failed to pay.
Tim Riester, who is CEO and founder of the Phoenix advertising agency named after him, launched Get Ahead with Fred last Thursday in an attempt to help DuVal rebound after a tough primary that has the race leaning Republican.
"I’m not one who can sit back and watch any longer," Riester told the Arizona Capitol Reporters regarding his new group. "We’ve got to jump in and help him out."
Riester said that although he plans to put his own money towards the Get Ahead with Fred ad campaign, he is also confident he will be able to raise six figures for the campaign from others.
Riester will likely run into fundraising problems if he tries to get money from dog and cat lovers, as he became an enemy of animal rights watchdog PETA for a series of ads created by his company.
PETA asked Riester to stop doing advertising work for pet food company Iams Co. due to accusations that the company abuses the animals used in its testing. Riester refused to adhere to PETA’s demands, and continued to work with Iams.
Riester’s political work has also gotten him into legal problems, as he was threatened with a lawsuit for failure to pay a signature gathering firm $250,000 for work done for Riester in 2013. The firm, Petition Partners, said it already paid its subcontractors to do work that Riester never paid for.