By ,
Published December 23, 2015
Ben Quayle, in his bid for an open seat in Congress, has stolen the spotlight from his nine GOP opponents vying for the chance to succeed retiring Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz. But the son of former Vice President Dan Quayle seems to be drawing attention lately for all the wrong reasons.
Quayle is fighting allegations that he posted items under an alias for a racy social website a few years ago. At the same time, he unveiled a TV campaign ad in which he calls President Obama "the worst president in history" and tells Arizona voters that he wants to "knock the hell" out of Washington.
The negative attention may not do Quayle any favors since Shadegg is one of the most conservative members of the House, and the wealthy Phoenix and Scottsdale areas that make up much of the 3rd Congressional District prefer their candidates be versed in tax and immigration policy over women's body parts.
The GOP primary is Aug. 24.
Quayle, who is a lawyer and managing director of a Scottsdale investment firm, has never held elected office. But he has emerged as the top fundraiser in the crowded field of 10 and profits from name recognition that comes with being the son of Dan Quayle, the former Indiana senator and vice president under George H.W. Bush.
Yet Quayle is not resting on his laurels and he has tried to burnish his conservative credentials in the campaign ad.
"Barack Obama is the worst president in history," the 33-year-old Quayle says, facing the camera directly, adding that his generation will "inherit a weakened country."
He goes on to urge voters to send him to Congress.
"I love Arizona. I was raised right," he says. "Somebody has to go to Washington and knock the hell out of the place."
Quayle told Fox News that his ad is getting a lot of attention.
"With a crowded race like this, I wanted to write something down that was concise, that showed my feelings and that's the message I came up with."
Quayle explained his comment that he was raised right meant his parents taught him to "actually cherish this country, cherish the freedoms we have and look at the American dream and try to make America more prosperous for everybody."
Quayle also dismissed accusations that he helped found TheDirty.com, a site dedicated to pictures of scantily dressed women and nasty comments about them. The site's founder, Nik Richie, claims Quayle even wrote for the site under the fake name Brock Landers, an apparent reference to a character in the film "Boogie Nights," which focuses on the porn industry.
"The website that is smearing me right now is absolutely a despicable website and it's an offensive website," Quayle said. "And I've had nothing to do with and no association with that website. It's a smear campaign that's being pushed by one of my opponents who has direct ties with the person who runs that website."
Quayle has admitted that he knew Richie and once referred him to a lawyer. He has also admitted in an Associated Press interview to writing "a couple of satirical and fictional pieces for a satirical website" but that he quit doing so once the website shifted its editorial direction away from satire.
He told the Arizona Republic he did write occasionally in the early days: "I just posted comments to try to drive some traffic," he is quoted as saying.
Quayle has said he can't recall what his posts involved or when he made them.
Richie said Quayle contributed items to TheDirty.com in 2007.
"He was the guy, that, you know, people would send pictures to of hot chicks, and he would put together who he thought was that hottest girl and why," said Richie, whose legal name is Hooman Karamian.
The campaign suggested the allegations, first reported by Politico, might have come from a publicist for one of Quayle's competitors.
Steve Moak, one of the top competitors in the race, told FoxNews.com that the controversies involving Quayle in recent days have been like "watching a car wreck"
"You can't help but to look," he said, adding that he's trying to stay out of it.
Moak said he wasn't sure if the controversies would affect the primary but added that they would likely raise concerns that "he's changed his story three times in two days."
Voters, he said, will make their own determination based on the facts.
"What I've been saying from the beginning is the best way to determine what somebody is going to do in the future is look at what they've done in the past," he said, touting his record as a businessman creating jobs and giving back to the community through his nonprofit."
"My business background is well suited to solve the problems," he said, saying Quayle is a nice young man. "But he doesn't have the experience and maturity to deal with the issues we're facing as a nation."
Moak said voters are looking for results and accountability.
"What I hear a lot is we're not going to change Washington until we change the people we send to Washington," Moak said, adding that will start in 12 days. "We need more businessmen, engineers, scientists, doctors…a wide range, not just politicians and attorneys."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/82-days-to-decide-quayles-congressional-bid-draws-scrutiny-controversy