Replace Silly Censures with Real Reform

Censured by a Club I Don't Belong To. Funny, not Funny

This week the Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) issued an announcement “censured” 40 community leaders many of who are not Republicans. Imagine a meat packers union censuring its vegetarian members. Complete nonsense.

Making pronouncements regarding people who are not even members of their club demonstrates their oversized view of their self-importance. The two-party system has created platforms for individuals to feel good about themselves and their proclamations.

MCRC has done this before and claims its censured list of 2023 as an “achievement”. This is just another example of the self-importance of a political class where gestures like announcements are viewed as achievements.

The 2023 list includes six people I know to have good character.

• County Recorder Stephen Richer

• County Attorney Rachel Mitchell

• Maricopa County Board of Supervisors - Bill Gates, Thomas Galvin, Clint Hickman, and Jack Sellers.

MCRC Gets More Wrong than Right

Yesterday MCRC’s statement can be listed as a 2024 “achievement” by expanding its Censure List to include 40 former Republicans, Democrats and Independents. Revealing the inability to alphabetize as well as to identify accurate party affiliations, the MCRC published this list of individuals who are officially censured.

Censure Statements for Non-Members but Silent for the shameful Shelby Bush.

MCRC confuses activity with achievement. What would be more impressive is if they would condemn the actual conduct of its actual members. Example number one is Shelby Bush whose videotaped lynching statement was condemned by The Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix.

The shame on the GOP is that no one had the courage or common sense to Censure Bush, but this is the same group of people that recognized her as the 2023 "volunteer of the year."

Stop Paying for the Elections of two Private Organizations

The MCRC’s conduct is another reminder of why Arizona should not be using taxpayer funds to pay for private party-controlled primary elections. The rent-seekers who lead these parties and sit together designing pronouncements while remaining silent when colleagues suggest lynching as acceptable must be neutered.

Party leaders are like modern-day social media influencers, the only difference is that instead of relying on Instagram or TicTock, they rely on tax-payer-funded elections for their private organizations.

To be clear, using public funding for partisan elections is a problem because Independent and unaffiliated taxpayers are not granted the same privilege to participate in the primary elections.

Independent voters are treated unfairly

There are more Independent voters than either Republicans or Democrats, yet Independent voters are not treated fairly in the primary and there are very few independent elected officials. All taxpayers contribute to funding primary elections but Independent/unaffiliated voters must take an extra step to participate. 

• Independent/unaffiliated voters are required to compromise their principle of non-affiliation and must select a party ballot to participate in the primary election.

• Independent voters lack resources that historically support voter turnout, leaving many of these voters unaware of their eligibility to participate in primaries. Only about 10% of unaffiliated voters choose a partisan ballot.

• Independent/unaffiliated candidates must collect up to 6 times the number of signatures compared to partisan candidates. 

Replace Censure Statements with Real Competition

What Arizona needs is competitive primary elections where the voice of Independents is restored.

Every industry has welcomed innovation and improvements as a result of competition… except one. The absence of competition has led to a limited range of choices for voters, often perpetuating the status quo and stifling innovative approaches to improving our state.

It's time for a new, fair, and competitive system that serves the interests of the people, not just a select few GOP committee members who lack the courage to condemn the unbecoming and hateful misconduct of their peers yet issue statements to censure people who are mostly no longer if ever, registered Republicans.

Restore Election Integrity by Making Arizona Elections Fair

Our Declaration of Independence states that “all men are created equal.” It is a fundamental American value that not every Arizonan is afforded. 

As a fellow censured Arizonan Chuck Coughlin asks: “Are all voters and all candidates treated equally under Arizona law today?” 

“You know the answer to that question is an unequivocal no.  For an independent candidate to run, they must collect up to six times as many signatures to get on the ballot.  Even then, they cannot appear on the Primary Election ballot, which their taxpayer dollars pay for.  Moreover, an independent voter must request either a Republican or Democratic ballot to vote in a Primary Election, in which they themselves cannot run.  Requesting a ballot permits you to vote for one party or the other, to be forced to vote for a straight ticket of a party you are not even a member of.  None of that is fair.  None of that is right.”

My request is to ignore these grandiose partisan voices who censure others and look for opportunities to support the change we need in our election system.