Laurie Roberts

opinion columnist

I knew the election was over Tuesday when Doug Ducey called Fred DuVal a "fine man."

For months, DuVal's been the "slick lobbyist" who careened around town with a suspended driver's license and an I Love Saddam bumper sticker. By Tuesday evening, he was "a fine man."

And so we bid goodbye to Election 2014 – a year when triumphant elephants thundered and dazed donkeys plodded through the debris field to mount a search and rescue operation for their future in Arizona politics.

So what have we learned?

--That Republicans may not dominate the state but unlike Democrats and independents, they vote. Republican political dominance will continue in Arizona, as the party continues to control every statewide office and the state Legislature. Democrats, meanwhile, continue to bumble and stumble, unable to attract the all-important outside money or even to get their voters to cast ballots.

--That money talks. And these days, it drowns out everything else. Outside interests, many of them standing in the shadows, dug deep to get their candidates elected this year and most of those candidates were Republicans. In every case but one, the candidate bolstered by the most outside spending was the one cracking open the champagne on Tuesday night. The Republican sweep may have been prompted by unhappiness with Barack Obama, but it was propelled by forces outside of Arizona, many of them anonymous.

Republican Doug Ducey had a 6-1 edge in outside spending, with nearly $8 million spent on independent campaigns aimed at propelling him into the governor's office. Republican Michele Reagan enjoyed an 8-1 advantage over Democrat Terry Goddard in the secretary of state's race. Republican Mark Brnovich (attorney general), Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little (Corporation Commission) also enjoyed multi-million-dollar outside support.

--That you can forget about any hope that the Legislature will tackle dark money in an effort to open up the blackout curtains and let us see who is calling the shots in Arizona politics. Why would Republicans want to bite the invisible (to us, at least) hand that feeds them? If Arizona is ever to demand dark money disclosure, it'll come via voter initiative.

--That the more outrageous the ad, the better. Despite what our esteemed candidates said – that this was a campaign about issues – it was really a campaign about character assassination. Both sides did it. Republicans just did it better because they had the money to make that all that mud stick.

If Election 2014 was really a vote about issues, we'd know precisely how Doug Ducey plans to improve public education, boost jobs and cut income taxes while bridging a $1 billion deficit. If it was really a vote about issues, we'd know precisely how DuVal planned to improve education while pledging never to raise taxes. Instead, we know that Ducey is that questionable ice cream guy and that DuVal is that questionable lobbyist guy.

-- That Arizona Public Service is not just an electric company. It's widely believed that APS was behind the multi-million independent drive to get Republicans Doug Little and Tom Forese onto the Corporation Commission that regulates utilities. Or put another way, that multi-million dollar independent drive to make sure that Republican and Democratic candidates willing to cross APS and support rooftop solar were not elected. Politicos have speculated all year that APS also was pumping big money into other statewide races. Whether true or not, APS has now powered its message in giant flashing lights: cross us at your political peril.

--That the Democratic Party is an endangered species in Arizona. If Diane Douglas wins the state superintendent's race, then truly the Democrats are headed the way of the dodo bird.

Douglas is a Tea Party candidate who has one issue: the federal conspiracy to poison the minds of our children via Common Core.

She won the Republican nomination because Superintendent John Huppenthal – a k a the masked blogger -- self destructed.

She had no endorsements to speak of. Actually, she had no real campaign to speak of. She hid from reporters and most everyone else, preferring to preach only to the Tea Party choir. During the one debate she was required to attend, Douglas likened tracking students via Common Core standards to life in communist China.

She's the only Republican running for statewide office who managed to score less support from independent committees than her opponent. Democrat David Garcia got roughly twice the support from independent expenditure groups, along with endorsements from business and three previous state superintendents, both Republican and Democrat. Even the traditionally conservative Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry found Douglas' views too extreme.

Given all that, she should have lost, right?

I mean, really, right?