Sarah Palin's endorsees are a colorful bunch, with numerous skeletons in their closets. But Arizona's Doug Ducey may take the cake.

So as we all know Palin endorsed former Cold Stone CEO and current Arizona State Treasurer, Doug Ducey, for Governor and lo and behold he actually won.

Not only that but the polls show that Ducey has a substantial lead on his Democratic challenger.

And that is important because Palin's win/loss record has been rather underwhelming.

It really does look like smooth sailing for Ducey. I mean I cannot imagine what might trip him up at this point.

I'm sorry, did you say his family has ties to organized crime?

Courtesy of Phoenix New Times: 

According to newspaper accounts and public records from various court and congressional hearings, four of Ducey's relatives in an Italian-American family called Scott (anglicized from Scotti) were involved in illegal gambling in Ohio. 

Family members ran after-hours gambling clubs and participated in bookmaking, numbers-running, extortion, loan-sharking, and other lucrative illicit activities from the 1920s through the 1980s. 

The candidate's maternal grandfather, William Scott (a.k.a. Bill Scotti), was a convicted bookmaker who partnered with members of the Detroit mob. 

His son Billy Scott, Ducey's uncle, was a high-profile sports bookmaker in Toledo who did time in federal prison in Arizona before fleeing to the Caribbean island of Antigua, where he became an online gambling kingpin. 

Uncle Billy returned to the United States in 2012 to plead guilty in federal court to international money laundering and illegal Internet wagering. 

Ducey's great uncle Tony Paul Scott (a.k.a. Neufio Scott), his grandfather's brother, was among Toledo's "most legendary racketeers" and one of the "elders of the loosely knit Toledo crime family," according to the Toledo Blade, the city's daily newspaper. 

During his long life, Tony Paul was arrested numerous times, incarcerated for illegal gambling and highway robbery, and eventually stripped of his U.S. citizenship, though he was allowed to remain in this country until his death in 1993. 

These sins of the state treasurer's fascinating bloodline have remained unknown to the general public. Until now.

Okay, now that might leave a mark.

But then again which Republican politician is NOT in some way connected with organized crime?

P.S. The Ducey campaign has now addressed these allegations:  

Ducey's campaign forwarded this statement, from his spokeswoman who asked that I use her full Italian-American name, Melissa Mazzella DeLaney: 

"In the United States of America and in the State of Arizona, people know you and judge you based on your life, the way you have lived it and your accomplishments, not on the actions of relatives from previous generations. The New Times correctly reported that the information about past family members does not touch Doug Ducey's life or career. This has been a tough campaign where both candidates have had their careers vetted, which is entirely appropriate when seeking a very high office. Doug trusts the voters of Arizona to make decisions based on the life he has led and his vision to create greater opportunities as the next governor." 

I asked DeLaney whether Ducey got any of his start-up funds from any of the four relatives mentioned in the article or as a result of criminal activity. Her answer: "No, absolutely not."

So as you see Ducey did not deny that the connections exist, but simply stated that they have nothing to do with his life, or his success in business. 

In other words, "Fugeddabout it."

You know as I was reading thorough all of this I have to admit that I once again flashed on my past conversations with Shailey Tripp, who was the one who first mentioned Todd's connection to gambling and prostitution.

Two enterprises, by the way, that also often have ties to organized crime.

I'm just saying.