Club Updates & Latest News
April Meeting Recap
IN CASE YOU MISSED THE APRIL 18, 2023 MEETING
Shortly after the meeting was called to order, our favorite County Sheriff, Mark Lamb appeared in the doorway of our meeting room. President Kaye Feller asked Sheriff Lamb to come in and say a few words which he graciously did. Sheriff Lamb spoke of the journey he and his family took in making the decision for him to run for U.S. Senator from Arizona. After much prayer and discussion, they made the decision for Mark to throw his hat in the race. As with every candidate, Mark needs voters to sign his petition for office. You can go online to sign Mark's petition at sherifflambforsenate.com, click on the nominate button near the top of the site and complete the petition. You are also able to donate through the donate button which is next to the nominate button. Mark received a warm welcome and members gave him a rousing round of applause as he concluded with his words.
President Kaye shared information provided by George Khalaf from Resolute, at the monthly PCRC meeting. George is a well-known political analyst and speaks frequently at AzFRW conferences. George shared two pivotable findings coming out of the 2022 Arizona elections. The first finding is that three prominent rural Arizona counties had low Republican voter turnout. The three counties are Pinal, Mohave, and Yavapai. The Republican turnout was about 75% of the 2020 turnout which was lower than the 2018 turnout. The margins of loss in each of the three counties were enough to have provided wins for Abe Hamadeh as Attorney General and most likely Kari Lake as Governor.
George's second issue was our messaging particularly related to social issues related to abortion. In Maricopa County, 15% of registered Republicans voted for the Democrat candidates in 2022. The message isn't "do not talk about abortion" which is what some Republicans did but to soften your message by sharing facts rather than emotions.
Recommendations were obviously to get our Republican registered voters to vote. And to use the current laws as the Democrats do to get our voters out. We need to encourage our members and all Republican voters to vote early either in person or through the mail-in ballot process. Deliver your ballot to one of the nine-county drop boxes. Do not use the Post Office and do not wait until election day to bring in your ballot.
Increasing the Republican vote in Pinal County will be one of our priorities in 2024.
We must come together after the Primary even if your favorite candidate didn't win the primary.
MONEY does Matter in elections. Lots of money doesn't mean a candidate will win but not having money almost ensures that a candidate will NOT win. Donate to your candidate as often as you can. It does not have to be a large amount. It all counts.
Our Membership VP, Arlene shared her "Why I am a Republican" which was so heartwarming and touched everyone present.
Nancy Cottle is currently the 1st VP – Programs on the AzFRW Board. She is nearly at the end of her second two-year term. Nancy shared that Arizona currently has the second-largest state FRW membership behind California. That is quite a feat, and we should all be proud to be part of this. Especially when you think that means we have a larger state membership than Texas and Florida.
As state Program VP, Nancy plans and invites each of the speakers for the AzFRW conferences and conventions, held once every two years. The program for the May 18-20 state conference includes a panel of experts on Rank Choice Voting on Friday afternoon. On Saturday, Congressman Eli Crane will be speaking. There will also be a breakout session on running for School Boards. Nancy also mentioned that they are planning a panel on the benefits of attending both NFRW and AzFRW conferences and conventions. Your President has been invited to participate in the panel.
Nancy was elected as one of three Members at Large for CD5 (which included portions of Pinal County.) Nancy was also an alternate elector for Trump in 2020. She has been an active member of the Republican Women for several years. Her home club is Mesa Republican Women.
Our second speaker was Steve Smith from Maricopa City. Steve was one of the youngest state senators in Arizona history and became the first Republican Senator in his district since 1912 when AZ became a state. He was ranked the #1 legislator in AZ while serving. He authored the original build the border fence legislation in 2012. He also has been a long-time advocate for school choice and is a leading national figure in the effort to secure the border.
Steve currently serves as the Director for the American Federation for Children which is the largest school choice organization in the country. He advocates for parents to have the power to decide what K-12 education is best for their children.
In 2022, Arizona became the first state in the nation to vote for a Universal ESA offering $7000 +/-.75% of Arizonians and nationwide approved of ESAs. All elected Democrats and school unions voted against universal ESA's. Black and Hispanic parents poll at 78% approval.
For more information on ESA's text ESA 73218.
Steve Smith, one of our two speakers, drew the winning ticket for our first Club "26" drawing. The winner was Joan Carr of Florence.Congratulations Joan.
Hope to see you on Tuesday, May 16, at our next meeting. We have three terrific speakers as we open the 23 – 24 campaign season.
