Author: rraz-admin22

Up on the Hill
A bold new agenda. Maybe, if we can elect a Speaker of the House. Choosing a new speaker is the first matter of business that lawmakers must take up even before newly elected representatives are sworn in. The vote will be an alphabetical roll-call vote by the House Clerk. This year the stage has been set for what could be the most dramatic election for a speaker in a century.  For the first time in exactly 100 years, the U.S. House of Representatives may need more than one round of voting to elect a speaker. In 1923, it took nine ballots to select the speaker. There have only been 14 instances in which the process required multiple ballots. Lets see if Tuesday will be #15.

To be nominated, you do not have to be a member of the House of Representatives. In 2019, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Joseph Biden, and Stacey Abrams received votes. Who knows who might receive votes this year!

Back at the White House
A bold new agenda — enacted. Joe Biden and the congressional Democrats imposed a long list of tax increases as part of their “Inflation Reduction Act” passed in 2022. Yesterday (January 1, 2023), the following Democrat tax hikes took effect:

• $6.5 Billion Natural Gas Tax Hike.  You can estimate this will amount to a 17% increase on your natural gas bill.
• $12 Billion Crude Oil Tax Hike. This is a 16.4 cents-per-barrel tax on crude oil and imported petroleum products that will be passed on to you.
• $1.2 Billion Coal Tax Hike. You will see this one in your electricity bill.
• $74 Billion Stock Tax Hike. There goes your nest egg. This one will harm the 58 percent of Americans who own stock and the 60 million workers invested in a 401(k) as well as the 14.83 million Americans invested in 529 education savings accounts. Union retirement plans will be hit too. A little something for everyone–who works and saves!
• $225 Billion Corporate Income Tax Hike.  You will see this in higher prices, fewer jobs, and lower wages; 49.7 percent of this tax will be borne by the manufacturing industry at a time when they are already struggling.

May not seem like a very good way to start the new year, but remember that elections have consequences and these are just five of them. Keep in mind, the Republicans will have the majority in the House, the Democrats in the Senate, and a Democrat in the White House. Time to follow the money.

Speaking of Money
In the November 21 E-Tracks, I mentioned the Iranian drones that have targeted Kiev and the 2,400 SHAHED-136 suicide drones that Moscow ordered. I mentioned the conscription of 82,000 soldiers, the 218,000 that are already in training in Russia. And here in America, 70% of people between 17-24 are unqualified for military service. Seventeen percent (17%) of our Active Component Soldiers are obese, and the Army missed its recruiting goals by 15,000 soldiers. It costs a lot of money to recruit, assess, select, and train our military, and our talent pool is limited.

In the 2022 Market Gains reports out this week, we see Northrop Grumman is up 41%, Lockheed Martin is up 37% and Raytheon is up 16%. Big money in war. The big winner in the last minute omnibus budget was Defense and it looks like they are passing the bucks around the beltway.

And, Back Here in our Arizona Schools
Speaking of following the money, now is a good time to take a look at the school funding in Arizona. The Arizona Auditor General has published “Arizona schools districts’ and charter schools’, and ADE’s discretionary, COVID-19 federal relief spending — in fiscal year 2022 and in total through June 30, 2022” here. There are several dashboards that allow you to see the spending in your Legislative Districts and by category. Be sure and read the Findings and Recommendations; lots of money to spend in a short period of time. Keep your eyes on the money.

It will be an interesting week, and I am sure that Tuesday will be a must-see TV event.

Happy New Year!

Remember the saying “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me”? As we sat back and watched Mitch McConnel pull money from Arizona leaving the astronaut floating in the halls of Congress for the next six years, we got fooled. Now here we are with a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill with a 10% increase in defense spending and a 6% increase in discretionary spending—much of which will continue to fund the invasion on the southern border by providing immigrant transportation costs, cell phones, spending money, vocational education, and funding the NGOs that have realized their new revenue streams—shame on me.

The Winners
The big appropriation winners are Defense and Health and Human Services. With billions of dollars in increased funding, the key is to follow the money. The Department of Defense got more money than they asked for, and trust me, they asked for more money than they needed! As the defense contractors around the beltway continue to grow green with funding, it gives new meaning to the new green deal! Within HHS, the Administration of Children and Families and the Office of Refugee Resettlement have steadily increased since FY 2011 when Congress first realized the incoming surge on our southern border.

As I stated in a 2014 Breitbart article, “according to federal data, about $168 million was spent on benefits for unaccompanied alien children (UACs) in fiscal year (FY) 2012. Each subsequent year, that figure increased substantially. $376 million was spent in FY 2013 and then almost double that amount, $868 million, was spent in FY 2014.” In the FY 2023 budget that was passed, the funding requested by HHS/ACF/UC is $6,715,080,750. Let that sink in.  Six billion, seven hundred and fifteen million, eighty thousand and seven hundred and fifty dollars—a 674% increase. Here I can say, I warned you.

The Electoral Count
The Electoral Count Act clarifies the vice president cannot overturn election results when Congress counts Electoral College votes and raises the number of members necessary to raise objections to a state’s electors. Eighteen GOP senators voted with Democrats to pass the bill as part of the larger funding package. Even Senator Rand Paul endorsed the bill in an op-ed in fear that calls to abolish the Electoral College might succeed.  “In 2021, the theater act went too far and culminated in a mob disrupting the joint session of Congress to certify the presidential election,” wrote Senator Paul. No longer can the one representative you send to Washington voice his objection—he needs a team.

In what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said is “one of the most significant appropriations packages we’ve done in a really long time”, the 2023 Republicans in the House of Representatives have been calf roped when there was still time on the clock, and they didn’t even try to get up.

Calf-Roped and Tied with Pigging String
This is not how I want to start 2023, but once again in 2022, the Republicans have been played. As we send two new Representatives from Arizona to Washington, we hope you can help the Republicans get back on their feet.  Stay standing, don’t go down ‘cause it looks like the Democrats are pretty good with the six-foot pigging string.

Happy New Year
Join me. Support our 2023 Arizona Republican Congressional Caucus.

‘Twas the week before Christmas, as 2023 draws near;
Republicans continue to fight for the values we hold dear.
We showed up on election day and voted with care,
We were so sure that the 2022 elections would finally be fair.
We counted and recounted, filed suits, and stayed in the fight,
Only to find out there is no longer such a thing as “election night”.

The red and yellow rays on our Arizona flag glow like the sun,
The thirteen original colonies, and the fight for liberty that they won.
The blue bottom half, the same blue as Old Glory,
The copper star brightly shining tells part of Arizona’s story.
Our State motto, Ditat Deus, above the Arizona State Seal we see,
Arizona, Arizona, you’re the lifeblood in me!
 
Standing under our flag, Arizonans fight to be free,
Leading the way for all America to see.
Arizona’s not new to the fight in our process of elections,
Seems we have problems; we can’t determine voter’s selections.
As many elections before, off to court we will go
No matter the outcome, there’s one thing we have come to know.
 
We will stand united, behind our candidates all the way
Hoping to see real legislation in Arizona someday.
As the season is upon us with joy, hope, peace, and love
We remember the reason and the symbol of the dove,
As we put first our faith, our family, and our fight for what’s right,
Let us wish one another Merry Christmas, and to all a good night!
 
Merry Christmas,

Shelley Kais

What a weekend! The Northwest Republican Association, the Pima County Republican Women’s Club, and the Rincon Republicans all welcomed the holidays with very special gatherings and very special guests. We are so grateful in Pima County for the leadership of our clubs and the many, many members who join to make Pima County strong. We are especially grateful for our Congressman-elect Juan Ciscomani and his Chief-of-Staff Becky Freeman for spending time with our Republican club members to update us on his time in Washington DC. That’s the good news.

Tell Us What to Do
At the Pima County Republican Women’s Club Silver Tea on Sunday, one of the members said to me “You need to tell us what to do when we know this Democrat Governor is going to veto all the good legislation our Representatives put on her desk”.
 
What Do We Want? What Do They Want?
If you have ever been in a relationship, you know the answer to this question. There’s several of them. (1) Come up with a solution and make them believe it’s their idea. (2) Find out what they want and how much they are willing to give to get it. (3) Tell them what you are willing to give to get what you want. (4) Lie and maybe through fear people will follow you. (5) Keep fighting and get nothing accomplished. (6) Do nothing and hope the session is over before your constituents realize it.
 
Here’s the missing piece. It’s up to us to tell them what we want. If we send our representatives to Phoenix/Washington DC and don’t let them know what we are thinking, then we can’t hold them responsible for not moving our issues forward.

Expect Results
Many of the elected officials never showed up for forums, debates, townhalls—you know, the cellar campaigners. Now that they are in office, they don’t really care what you think. Biden pulled it off, Fetterman did it, Hobbs did too. Now more than ever, we need to watch every piece of legislation, every speaking engagement, every social media post, every television spot; they move, we report it.
 
The AZGOP just put out a Resolution asking for the resignation of Ronna McDaniel. I voted YES for the original resolution ONLY AFTER three (3) changes were made. Our three members of the RNC:  Chairwoman Kelli Ward, National Committeewoman Lori Corbin-Klein, and National Committeeman Tyler Bowyer all assured the AZRP Executive Committee that they were not voting for Ronna McDaniel. By passing this Resolution, we expect that they will not change their vote.

What Really Matters
After all this dribble in the Republican Party asking for resignations, resolutions, recalls, and remedies, Joe Biden devoted $36 Billion to Save Union Workers’ Pensions. Yes, that’s right, while we were calling for Ronna McDaniel’s resignation, Joe Biden was investing $36 billion in federal funds (your money) to save the pensions of more than 350,000 union workers and retirees—a commitment to labor. On Thursday, Joe Biden said, “Thanks to today’s announcement, hundreds of thousands of Americans can feel that sense of dignity again knowing that they’ve provided for their families and their future, and it’s secure.” The AZRP said “Ronna McDaniel must resign”.

Pima County Republicans, feel that dignity? Joe Biden just used your tax dollars to fund people to collect signatures, walk neighborhoods, put up signs, and win elections in 2024. That’s how unions help their Democrat candidates. We don’t have those “funded-roots” and that’s why we lose elections. 

Here’s your answer. Politics is a numbers game. Democrats know how to get the numbers ($36B). Democrats know how to organize the numbers. Democrats have the tools to manage the numbers. Democrats have the discipline to move the numbers to win. Democrats minimize those who try to divide the numbers (think AOC/Omar/Pressley/Tlaib).

Democrats are regimented and unified; Republicans are undisciplined and fractured.

Join me as we look toward 2024 with numbers.

Did We Leave Ballots on the Table?
I received a call from an investigative reporter last week. He posed this question: Do you think by encouraging people to not mail in their ballots—to walk them into the voting centers—that it may have discouraged people from voting?

Voter Turnout
Voter turnout across all counties in Arizona was down. What we don’t know yet is whether it was Democrats or Republicans who did not show up. In the primary election (2022), 86% of the ballots were cast early in Pima County; this was a significant increase in early voting. Historically, the Republican party begins right after the early ballot drops to “chase ballots”. We receive data every day on who has turned in their ballots, and we contact those who have not turned them in yet. We did that this year as well but were told by the voters that they were going to walk them into the vote center on election day. As I traveled from vote center to vote center on Election Day, I did see many people going into vote centers with their yellow envelopes in hand. But the question remains, how many people did not show up on Election Day with their mail-in ballot?

We will be able to answer that question when we receive the voter database in January—we will be able to see who received a mail ballot and did not vote it on Election Day and how many ballots we left on the table that could have propelled our candidates to victory.

How Did Republicans Do in Pima County?
In 2018, Pima County had roughly 540,000 voters. In 2022, we had roughly 640,000. Voter turnout in 2022 was 63.07% in Pima County, down from 70.55% in 2018—again, we don’t know if it was Republicans or Democrats who didn’t show up. But let’s hypothesize that it was Republicans who did not show up because of the emphasis on election security and mail-in ballots. Statistically, our statewide candidates did as well in Pima County in 2022 as the statewide candidates did in 2018 except for the Governor’s race.

Race	2018	2022
Governor	47.45%	39.4%
Secretary of State	40.70%	38.1%
Attorney General	41.49%	40.0%
Treasurer	45.31%	45.1%
Supt of Instruction	40.15%	40.5%

           Note: Doug Ducey was the incumbent Governor in 2018
Overall, voter turnout was down 2.59% in the state of Arizona. If those are Republican voters, could that have translated into enough votes for us to have won the Governor’s, Secretary of State election? And with the Attorney General’s race down just 500 votes, would that have been a significant win for the Republicans?

Was the Election Day Strategy Successful?
There are still a lot of “ifs” out there regarding the voter turnout that will be answered soon.

• Was it Republicans, Democrats, or Independents who didn’t show up?
• If it was Republicans, was it because they didn’t mail in their ballot, or did they not show up on Election Day?
• How many votes would ‘Republican no returns’ translate to?
• Did the Republican primary opponent and their supporters show up for the Nominee—or did they undervote?

And the fundamental question is was the strategy of telling people to drop their mail-in ballots off at the voting centers the right strategy? Should we have encouraged those who mail in their ballots to do so early and track their ballot?

We are going to have to game this out before 2024. We will have an opportunity with the 2023 all mail city election to model the returns and apply it to a 2024 model. We have a lot of work to do across the state.

Let’s figure this out. Join me.

“Where’s the PIMA GOP on this election and the debacle in Maricopa County?”

Strategy. Time. Execution. The County Chairmen throughout Arizona have been working together (strategy) with the State Chairwoman and the AZ Attorney General and Governor campaigns and their legal plans (timing) to determine how we could have the greatest impact (execution) in stopping the certification of the election in Maricopa County.

There are a lot of moving pieces in a political strategy, and they don’t begin with flame-throwing and emotional responses. Fortunately, our State Chairwoman and County Chairmen had the foresight to coordinate with the Lake and Hamadeh campaigns, give the Maricopa County Chairwoman the opportunity to witness the Logic and Accuracy testing—and NOT sign off on it, get expert advice from attorneys and our State 3rd Vice Chairwoman Gina Swoboda, and prepare a rationale for NOT certifying the Maricopa County election today.

Strategy
The strategy was to statistically demonstrate the Maricopa County Department of Elections failed to administer fair and transparent election day voting. The letter can be read here. We identified nine (9) systemic failures on election day. Any one of the failures individually would have caused the election day voting to be a failure for Maricopa County, but corporately they disenfranchise the voters of the entire state of Arizona. Maricopa County has 58.7% of the registered voters in Arizona. By most voters residing in Maricopa County, their failure results in a systemic failure for the state. Sixty percent (60%) of the votes cast in the General Election 2022 came from Maricopa County; on Election Day as many as 70% or more votes cast were Republican voters.

Strategic Point:  Voters outside Maricopa County are disenfranchised. Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz, Mohave, Navajo, Pinal, Yavapai, and Yuma all cast more votes for Lake than Hobbs, therefore, sixty-seven percent (67%) of Arizona counties voted for Lake/Hamadeh. Forty-nine percent (49%) of those in Maricopa County voted for Lake/Hamadeh.
 
Strategic Point: We don’t know what happened in Maricopa County on Election Day to cause such widespread failures, but we do know the AG Election Integrity Unit, RNC Hotline, and ABC/Washington Post reporting corroborates the County Chairmen’s thinking:  the scope and cause of the election day failures in Maricopa County are unknown and must be investigated before the election is certified.

Time
The L & A had not been completed in Maricopa County when the County Chairmen first convened. We could not say we stood in solidarity with the Maricopa County Republican Committee as they had not yet completed their testing and assessment, but we knew we could stand together and point out the failures. Additionally, we were notified that Abe Hamadeh had received his court date/time (November 28 @ 2:00 pm) so we knew we could move ahead without impacting his future actions and we knew we had to respond before Maricopa certified and Mr. Hamadeh’s hearing. The Lake campaign would be filing a lawsuit, and we did not want to interfere with her filing, which we did not. Timing was everything.

Strategic Point:  Get the statement out so it doesn’t get lost in the Thanksgiving weekend news before Mr. Hamadeh’s hearing, after Ms. Lake’s filing and before the Maricopa County BOS meeting. Additionally, at a time that will get it on the 5:00 news cycle, ideally before 2:00 Friday.

Execution
Issuing a letter that 16 people can all agree to the strategy, timing, issuance, and wording is no small feat. We began with asking one person to write the letter as a starting point. The letter was then shared with the other 14 County Chairmen and State Chairwoman for comment. After comments were received, the final draft was composed, agreement reached, and the letter published.

Strategic Point:  The County Chairmen worked together to ensure that the Lake and Hamadeh campaigns were not harmed by any statements made or letters issued. No individual county went rogue with statements that could have resulted in harm to current or future lawsuits, the Arizona Republican Party is united in its purpose, and we continue to fight for election integrity in Arizona and Pima County.

We have many new Precinct Committeemen in Pima County and many of them are asking “Where’s the Pima GOP on this election and the debacle in Maricopa County?” I can assure all of you that we have been working very hard with Republican leaders in the state. Call your county leaders, ask questions, be in the know. Keep your powder dry, you are going to need it.

Join me. Email the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and tell them to NOT certify the election and more importantly, DO NOT disenfranchise your vote in Pima County.

Read:  Arizona County Republican Chairs Send Letter Calling on Maricopa County Not To Certify Corrupt Midterm Election in The Gateway Pundit, November 26, 2022, at 4:40 pm

In a letter dated November 19, 2022, addressed to Mr. Thomas Liddy, Civil Division Chief, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Jennifer Wright, Assistant Attorney General, Arizona Attorney General’s Office is requesting Maricopa formally respond to and address concerns that have been raised regarding the General Election of 2022. This must be completed on or before November 28, 2022, the date Maricopa County is required to submit its official canvass to the Secretary of State.

Assistant Attorney General Wright clearly identifies three areas of concern:

1. Election Day Ballot-on-Demand Printer Configuration Settings
2. Election Day “Check-out” Procedures
3. Ballots Deposited in Door 3 and Statutorily Required Election Board Close Out Duties

The fourth largest county in the United States can’t/won’t get voting right. Can’t equals performance, won’t equals conduct. Which do you think it is, are they incompetent, or are they complicit? There is a human resource theory by Dr. Sidney Fine that says all jobs come down to three components:  things, people, or data.

Things:  Equipment did not work
Election Day Ballot-on-Demand Printer Configuration Settings

• Sixty (60) voting locations had issues related to some ballot-on-demand (BOD) printers
• Tabulators couldn’t read the ballots printed by the BOD printers
• Ultimately, ballots went into ‘Door 3’

People:  Poll Workers stated they were not trained on the procedures
A.R.S. 16-584(D)

If the voter’s name is not signed on the roster and if there is no indication that the voter voted an early ballot, the provisional ballot envelope shall be opened and the ballot shall be counted. If there is information showing the person did vote, the provisional ballot shall remain unopened and shall not be counted.

Data:  Ballots Deposited in Door 3
What’s behind ‘Door 3’? Data. Lots of it. Maricopa’s response to malfunctioning things (equipment) and poorly trained employees (people) is to mess up the votes (data). Many people were unable to tabulate their ballots on Election Day using on-site tabulators. Instead, voters were instructed to deposit their ballot in “Door 3”. Door 3 ballots were transported to Maricopa County Tabulation Center to be tabulated there. And….., once again Maricopa County appeared to have failed to adhere to statutory guidelines.
In the end, it appears that Maricopa County did not comply with Arizona Revised Statutes. It is the recommendation of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (and many Arizona County Chairmen) that the election is not certified.

No big surprises here; it comes down to Things-People-Data. Dr. Fine knew it in 1940 and Arizona knows it in 2022.

But, Don’t Lose Site of Everything Else Going On

• Congress needs to pass a budget by December 16, issue another Continuing Resolution, or shut down the government
• Since 2010, 47 Continuing Resolutions have been enacted
• The average length of a Continuing Resolution is about 3 months
• FY 2023 Appropriation bills passed by the lower house
  • Commerce-Justice-Science – Increase $7.6B
  • Interior-Environment – Increase 17%
  • Transportation – Increase 12%
  • Labor-HHS-Education – Increase 14%

• Debt Ceiling – Currently set at $31.40 trillion (right now at $31.27 trillion)
• Over the past two years (2020 – 2021), federal pay has averaged $99,622 with benefits of $44,021 that gives the average federal employee compensation of $143,543
• Roughly .5% of federal employees are fired annually for performance and/or conduct
• Roughly .1% of the Senior Executive Service employees are fired annually in federal government
• Moscow’s most important war partner is IRAN.
• 300 Deadly IRANIAN drones have targeted Kiev; the Iranian drone program said to be one of the most successful in the world
• SHAHED-136 is a suicide drone carrying an explosive warhead. It flies at 115 mph with a range of over 1,500 miles, about 12 feet long/8 feet at its widest.  Moscow has ordered no less than 2,400 of them
• Russia has conscripted 82,000 soldiers; 218,000 are in training—double the total troop figures massed on the Ukraine border at the start of the war
• China is seeded as the number one military threat to the United States over the next decades
• The Marines have unveiled “Force Design 30” to redesign Marines for naval expeditionary warfare
• North Korea has issued a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons

While we have been very involved in our elections, there has been a great deal of activity in our government. Whether it is things (drones), people (salary, fire rates), or Data (federal pay and compensation), the government has continued to work while we continue to vote and count.

There will be a recount in the Attorney General’s race. What does that mean for Pima County? We will likely have the Logic and Accuracy testing December 7-8; begin tabulating December 12-15, and a hand count the week of December 18. That means we will have a need for observers the week of December 12-15 and people to participate in the hand count the week of December 18. We are not done yet.

Join me to ensure a fair and transparent election; there’s more work to do.

Whispering Hope
Have you ever gone to church, listened to a lecture or a podcast, and thought the speaker was talking to you? As we were driving to breakfast Sunday morning, we had Fox News/Maria Bartiromo on the radio, and she was interviewing Kari Lake. Kari said God was teaching us the ‘lesson of patience’ as we were awaiting the final ballot count. I am not a patient person, but I agreed with Kari. After breakfast we headed to church and the choir sang Whispering Hope written by Septimus Winner (1827-1902). He composed the song under the pseudonym of Alice Hawthorne. It wasn’t intended to be a religious song, but it was certainly appropriate for today. I think the second verse probably speaks to what Kari Lake was saying:

Wait ’til the darkness is over
Wait ’til the tempest is done
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow
After the darkness is gone

That song really resonated with me. Our candidates have asked us to wait for the final count. We have a system that allows our voters to drop off their early ballots on election day. They did. This system requires signature verifications, ballot processing, some required duplication, and then tabulation. This takes time. Our process is tedious and needs to be corrected by the legislature. That’s a discussion for the next legislative session, and another Chairman’s Journal.

Red Wave of Expectation
Our candidates, their teams, our RNC/AZGOP team and our Pima County Republican Party worked to turn out the vote for the 2022 midterms. In Pima County, our numbers since January 1, 2022, were:

• 124 Campaign Sidekick Trainings
• 280,160 phone calls were made
• 42,387 doors knocked
• 100,000 Golden Tickets mailed/distributed

Our enthusiasm and excitement for a “new” Republican Party was exhilarating! President Trump’s endorsements and rallies brought in thousands of people ready for change. It was such a fun time to be a Republican, we knew we had this one. Our gubernatorial candidate is a national rock star! Our federal and state candidates represented us; they represented who we are.

And then, Tuesday happened. We all have our opinions as to why the Red Wave turned out to be a Red Trickle. We watch as the pundits filter through the news shows with their rationale as to why six days after the election, we still don’t have control of the house. Senator Josh Hawley wrote “The old party is dead. Time to bury it. Build something new”. Several Senate Republicans called for the Senate GOP’s leadership election to be postponed after news emerged that Sen. Rick Scott is considering a bid to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Already, Republicans are circling the wagon. But this time, with guns facing inward.

What Happens Next? Keep Reading!
Pima County, we have a future. At the Pima County Executive Committee Meeting last Thursday evening, Anna Clark made a motion to allocate all the Lincoln Day Dinner profits (and they were large) to a ballot initiative for Ward Only Voting in the City of Tucson. We will make this happen in 2023. Now you may be concerned that we are letting our strategy out, but we have many Democrats who also believe in Ward Only Voting and want to join us in this initiative.

For the past ten years, Pima County Republicans have watched while the Democrats held the Legislative seats in Phoenix. Today, Pima County will be represented by more Republican representatives in the Senate and House in AZ than they have in 10 years. We will hopefully have a 6-3 Congressional caucus from Arizona. Most important of all, we will work together to build the infrastructure which will gain us seats on the Tucson City Council, more seats on the Board of Supervisors, leadership roles in Pima County and adding to the judicial roles and school board roles in the county.

Join me. Whisper hope; look to the future.

November 8, 2022, seemed so far away and then suddenly, it’s here. We have knocked on tens of thousands of doors, we have made hundreds of thousands of phone calls. Over a hundred thousand Golden Tickets have been given out in Pima County and signs have withstood the winds, monsoons, and ‘destroyers’ throughout the desert landscape. The Victory Bus will be finishing its three-day tour of Arizona today and our candidates will prepare to work one more day to get their message out at the Vote Centers.

Now it’s all up to you. Did you vote, will you vote?

Early Voting
Early Vote Centers have been operational since October 12. As we move forward to the 2024 election, this is going to be one of our top priorities. The County Recorder has refused to allow Observers in the Early Vote Centers (EVC). While there was no credible legal challenge which could be made in 2022, we will work with the newly elected Secretary of State (vote MARK FINCHEM) and the Legislature to correct this for 2024. The organization and training of the EVC staff is also an issue that must be addressed.

We have staffed the Signature Verification, Duplication, and Tabulation rooms and will continue to staff them while any ballots are being verified, duplicated, or tabulated—that looks like through November 14 right now.

Election Day Vote Centers
There are 129 Vote Centers in Pima County. As a registered voter in Pima County, you can vote in any of the Vote Centers. The Pima County Elections Department is required by Statute to staff the Vote Centers with Republicans and Democrats. There must be equal numbers of Rs and Ds in the positions of Inspector, Marshal, Judge of the Same Party, and Judge of the Opposite Party. In other words, they can’t all be Republicans or Democrats. Other positions—Clerk, Equipment Operators—can be Republicans, Democrats, Independents, or PNDs. It is difficult to find Republicans in Ajo, San Miguel, Arivaca, but we have been able to do so. The Observers are the political party’s responsibility.

The Pima County Republican Party has verified (1) that we have about 670 vetted Republicans working in the Vote Centers with Pima County Elections, (2) we have staffed the Vote Center shifts. No Vote Center will be without an Observer. This is historic. The Pima County Republican Party has NEVER staffed the Vote Centers at this level. The team continues to receive calls from Observers who have conflicts now with their shift, but we will work even on Election Day to get those Observers replaced. We received a call on Saturday from an Observer who had been offered a position with Elections and so she wanted to do that. We replaced her two shifts with another Observer.

Support Staff and Process
We have also provided Credentials for several Attorneys who will be in Pima County to address any issues that we have. Our Observers have received information on what to look for and who to contact if there are any issues. We will have teams traveling throughout the county checking the Vote Centers to make sure the lines are not exceeding 30 minutes. We have Credentialed our Logic and Accuracy Tabulation Machine Lead with credentials to observe throughout the county. The Arizona Republican Party will be staffing hotlines to address issues across the state.

The Pima County Republican Party will staff a ‘war room’ and are asking voters who see something they think is suspicious to contact us at 520-800-4053.

On November 12, the Pima County Republican Party in collaboration with the Department of Elections will conduct a HAND COUNT of a statistically valid sample to determine the accuracy.

It’s All Up to You
If you had a mail ballot and you held it to vote on Election Day, it’s time. Tomorrow is the day. Take your ballot into the Vote Center and ask for a same day ballot. They will ‘spoil’ your ballot and print a ballot for you to vote.

No matter what you hear about a ‘red wave’ or a ‘red tsunami,’ it can only happen with your vote. November 8 is Election Day. Please share this message with all your friends. We are ready, we have our eyes on the process, we will continue to watch as they count ballots.

Join me. Vote November 8, 2022, for our Republican candidates.

Violence is Never Acceptable
On behalf of the Pima County Republican Party, we send well wishes to Paul Pelosi, husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for a full and speedy recovery. The threats and attacks on political figures, their families, and those who work in politics have doubled from 2020 to 2021 according to the Department of Homeland Security. The violent attack from the lone gunman who was said to be distraught over President Trump’s election and opened fire on members of the Republican congressional baseball team in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2017 using a rifle to shower the field with bullets that struck four people, to the knife assault of Rep. Lee Zeldin, Republican candidate in the New York gubernatorial race, to this most recent assault of Speaker Pelosi’s husband is not who Americans are or who we want to be seen as on the world stage.

The National Terrorism Advisory System issued a bulletin on June 7, 2022, Summary of Terrorism Threat to the United States which highlights “… continued proliferation of false or misleading narratives regarding current events could reinforce existing personal grievances or ideologies, and in combination with other factors, could inspire individuals to mobilize to violence.” As the rhetoric heats up before the midterm elections, DHS has assessed that “calls for violence by domestic violent extremists directed at democratic institutions, political candidates, party offices, election events, and election workers will increase. “While the government has assessed that this is likely, it nonetheless makes it unacceptable.

They Have Hidden Agendas
Mobilizing to violence and creating narratives that are false and misleading are the foundation of the problem. An E-Tracks reader shared with me a statement he received from someone regarding voter intimidation and voter suppression:
“Shelley has been part of training these people how to intimidate voters. I used to get her newsletter which clearly stated what they were doing. They had certain people who led the trainings and it was to specifically intimidate voters…it was clearly stated in her newsletters.”

As all newsletters are posted on our website, I can say with confidence that not only is this statement false, but it is an attempt to proliferate a false or misleading narrative. Statements such as this are the foundation that those who want to mobilize to violence use while remaining outside the fringe and appearing innocent of wrongdoing. The Pima County Republican Party does not participate in creating this threat environment nor will we tolerate those who do.

Eight More Days
The next eight days are going to be busier than ever as we work to make sure our Republican voters are getting their ballots turned in or able to vote in person on election day. The campaigns will be working to get their message to the voters. The Elections Department will be scheduling Poll Workers at the 129 Vote Centers in Pima County. Some voters may just now be considering who they might vote for in these midterms!

For those of us who participate in the political process, these are exciting times. We are excited for our candidates, proud of the American voting process, pleased with the changes in the process that have been put in place to ensure a fair and transparent election, and eager for the outcome. Let’s stay focused on what we need to do to win elections and make November 8, 2022, a night to remember.

Join me. Let’s elect Republicans down the ticket!