Club Updates & Latest News
December President's Message
I would like to wish all our members and associates a blessed and very Happy Thanksgiving. I am hopeful that we all will take time to think about the first Thanksgiving celebrated in America. When we reflect on the first Thanksgiving, we realize how much we owe to those brave souls who left the known to sail across the Atlantic to the complete unknown so they might find a new home where they could practice their faith freely.
As I write this month's message, we are two weeks post the November 8 general election. I still do not have a good grasp on what happened to the Red Wave that Republicans were supposed to see across the country. Why did it not materialize outside of Florida, Texas, and Ohio? There were a few other bright spots but nothing like what we had been told for months would happen.
In Arizona, I believe that Maricopa County and the underhanded, possibly illegal, management of their election disenfranchised the remaining 14 counties and their voters. We know they also disenfranchised the voters of every county in the Presidential election of 2020 and now again we are victims of Maricopa County which represents about 65% of all votes in Arizona. We know that approximately 70% of voters on election day were Republicans and 17% were Democrats. So how does this translate to 50%/50% results for Republicans and Democrats from election day voters?
There were a few bright spots on election day.
- Kimberly Yee won her race to serve a second term as AZ state treasurer.
- Nick Myers and Kevin Thompson both won their seats on the AZ state Corporation Commission. Their victories give the Republicans a 4-1 seat control of the Commission.
- Republican Tom Horne won the Superintendent of Public Instruction office in a very close race.
- Arizona now has six Congressional representatives compared to four Congressional seats prior to the election.
- We also prevailed on a few of the ballot initiatives.
- Going forward ballot initiatives will be limited to one subject,
- Will require a 60% yes vote on tax initiatives and
- We will have a Lt Governor
- We lost the big one, 309, requiring voter ID for vote by mail voters. I am hopeful this issue will be put up again for the 2024 election.
Also thank you to Attorney General Brnovich for demanding answers from Maricopa County on the printer issues. The AG's office has to certify the election before it is final and at this time they are unable to certify. Also four of the 15 AZ counties have refused to certify the election.
If we do not get a handle on the fraud that has polluted Arizona's elections for at least the last two elections and possibly back even further, then we will never have another election where we are able to trust the results.
Kudos to Pinal County supervisors for the immediate changes they made following the August 2nd primary in firing the Supervisor of Elections. They then appointed Virginia Ross to that position and QC – STV RWF member, Dana Lewis, as the Pinal County Recorder filling the role Virginia Ross stepped down from to move the Elections. These two women were able to upgrade the training for Poll Workers, provide detailed lists of what materials were provided to each polling place, and implemented continuous monitoring of the exterior poll drop boxes throughout the county during the week prior to the election by utilizing volunteers at a central location They also had a county employee at each of the polling locations throughout the county to assist the Inspectors and fill in for poll workers when they needed to take a break. They also made sure that Inspectors were able to reach a person for immediate assistance when questions came up at the polling locations. The improvements were many and made for a much smoother process for poll workers and in turn for Pinal County voters on election day.
There are a couple of races that require a recount because the total number of votes are less than ½ of 1% apart. One of those is the Attorney Race separated by about 500 votes. The Superintendent of Public Instruction race also is less than ½ of 1% apart even though Kathy Hoffman has conceded to Tom Horne. The recount should begin on or about December 6, 2022.
Our January speaker will tell us about the Request to Speak (RTS) system and assist each member gain access to the system. RTS is an incredibly important and powerful tool to have at our fingertips. We will partner with Free AZ to send messages to the governor and all legislators asking or telling them to support a bill or to vote against a bill and/or bills during the legislative session. Be sure to attend this meeting. The meeting will be on Wednesday, January 18 at our new location at the San Tan Valley Government Complex.
In February we will meet on Tuesday, February 7 at our usual time. We will meet at the San Tan Civic Center for a very special Guest Speaker, Nick Adams. Nick is the author of several books, including at least two about President Trump and he is President Trump's favorite author. He also speaks around the country at RWF clubs and got his start through his organization, FLAG, Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness.
Nick contacted me and said that he was going to be in Arizona in early February and that he very much wanted to speak to our Club on either the 6th or 7th of February. We were able to reserve our room on the 7th. I am sure you will enjoy Nick as much as I do.
We plan to have many good and exciting speakers for you, our members, throughout 2023.
God Bless you and your Family,
Kaye Feller, President
