Republican denies taking 11-minute private plane flight — instead of 9-minute drive: report

Karrin Taylor Robson’s campaign says the Republican candidate for governor didn’t hop on a private plane for an 11-minute flight from one Valley suburb to another to attend a campaign event Friday, despite claims from Democrats that she did exactly that.

“Neither Karrin nor any other participants in today’s campaign event in Peoria were on the plane that traveled from Scottsdale to Glendale,” Robson campaign spokesman Matthew Benson said in an emailed statement to the Arizona Mirror. Benson would not comment on the aircraft or answer questions about Robson’s travel to and from the campaign events.

Democratic operatives on Twitter criticized Robson for the use of the private jet, which is registered to the address of her husband’s company. They compared it to the recent controversy over celebrity Kylie Jenner’s use of a private jet to fly 17 minutes from Van Nuys, a Los Angeles suburb, to the nearby town of Camarillo.

“Accelerated climate change sponsored by the ultra-rich,” said Lauren Kuby, a Democratic candidate for Corporation Commission.

One of the many criticisms of the use of private jets is the environmental impact private jets have on climate change. One private jet can emit two tons of CO2 in just one hour, and a 2016 study found that private jets alone produce 33.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Robson, a former university regent, is married to wealthy 92-year-old developer Ed Robson, whose company has built many popular active-adult communities across the state.

On Friday, she held two campaign events with former Vice President Mike Pence and Gov. Doug Ducey. The first was at TYR Tactical in Peoria at 11:45 a.m., while the second was at the National Border Patrol Council’s Office in Tucson at 2 p.m.

The aircraft in question left Scottsdale Municipal Airport at 10:33 a.m. and landed at Glendale Municipal Airport — a nine-minute drive from TYR Tactical — at 10:44 a.m. Shortly before 1 p.m., the plane took off from Glendale and flew to Marana Regional Airport — a 19-minute drive from the National Border Patrol Council’s Office — and landed at 2:10 p.m. .

The jet Robson flew on usually costs at least $11 million costs on average around $600,000 a year to maintain, according to Guardian Jet.

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