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.