On January 20 1961 President John F. Kennedy asked all Americans in this quote
“Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country.”
Now sixty-one years later the Republican Party of the United States has decided that this quote is outdated. The Republican Party by their paranoid and extremist view of the election result from 2020 has turned President Kennedy’s “what you can do for your Country, to What you can do for the Republican Party.” All across America Republican extremists (including here in Arizona) have decided on their own, what election result they will accept and what ones they will claim were rigged. Republicans have no proof that this is accruing but they want it stopped especially if the election results are not to their liking.
In Nevada, Jim Marchant a Republic running for Sec. of State “insisted there hadn’t been a legitimate election in his state in more than a decade.” All of Nevada’s election winners since 2006, he said on a recent podcast, “were installed by a deep state cabal.” But when Marchant won the Republican nomination for Nevada secretary of state this week, he immediately celebrated the victory as legitimate. In New Mexico the Supreme Court ordered three county commissioners in rural Otero County to do their jobs and certify election results, two days after they refused, citing unsubstantiated concerns about fraud. The court granted the emergency motion by the New Mexico Secretary of State. The court claimed that the move had potentially disenfranchised “every Otero County voter who legally and securely cast a ballot.”
Four Republicans are running for the office of Sec. of State in Arizona. Three are members of the Arizona Legislature, Representatives Shawnna Bolick (20) House, Mark Finchem (11) House, and Michelle Ugenti-Rita (23) Senate and Beau Lane.
Since Arizona has no Lieutenant Governor the Secretary of State is first in line to succeed the governor in the event of death, resignation, or removal from office. One of the goals of the Sec. of State is to register more voters and encourage them to become engaged in their elections. The office also certifies voting devices, election results, candidates, and measures on the ballot, as well as the results of statewide elections. In addition, they are the filing office for campaign finance.
Three of the Republicans running appeared recently in Phoenix in a debate (Finchem) declined to appear. Here are some remarks all three made at the debate including their financial reporting to the Sec. of State.
- Rep. Shawnna Bolick (is the wife of Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick) said of the 2020 Presidential election “In my opinion, I would not have certified it at the time” she was speaking of the official canvass of the 2020 election. But said the law compels the Sec. of State to certify the election results, absent of an injunction. On her website, her priorities are listed as Secure our Borders, De-politicize the office of Sec. of State, and Secure AZ businesses. Her financial report from April 17 reported she collected more than $213,000.
- Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita and Beau Lane both criticized Bolick for her sponsorship of a bill in 2021 that would have given the Legislature the power to reject the presidential electors chosen by the voters and replace them with a slate of its own. “It is one of the worst election ideas ever Ugenti-Rita said while addressing Bolick.” Ugenti-Rita raised $104,834.45 and has a cash balance of $30,391.
- Beau Lane’s campaign website states “We need a citizen and a leader, not a career politician, to restore faith and trust in our democratic institutions.” In a response to Bolick not certifying the 2020 election he claimed, “anything that overturns the will of the people is wrong.” s Beau Lane has raised $862,514.00 and has left $630,543.
- Rep. Mark Finchem has called for an end to early voting. The three Republicans running disagree with Finchem’s attempt to get a federal court to ban the use of ballot-counting machines for the Aug 2 election. Finchem is a member of the Oath Keepers an American far-right anti-government militia whose members claim to be defending the Constitution of the United States. It encourages its members to disobey orders that they believe would violate the U.S. Constitution. Finchem was at the insurrection on Jan 6 2020 according to the AZ Mirror https://www.azmirror.com/2021/06/02/mark-finchem-was-much-closer-to-the-jan-6-insurrection-than-he-claimed/ shows Finchem walking directly in front of the east steps at the Capitol after pro-Trump rioters had already broken through a series of barricades and police lines, and then smashed their way into the Capitol building. Finchem is leading the pack on the Republican side has collected $939,944.00. After expenditures, he has about $587,000 on hand.
He also has more than $1,717,627 million in independent expenditures against him. No other Republican candidate for Sec. of State has any independent money against them.
Since Arizona has no Lieutenant Governor if Finchem were to be elected Sec. of State and something happens to the Governor would Arizonians want someone as Governor who doesn’t believe in Free and Fair Elections? I hope not.
