Photos taken by Barbara Medal at the MCRC Lincoln Day Luncheon at El-Zaribah Shriner Hall on 2/21/12

Please join us for our next district meeting on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at the Grace Community Church, Lamp Chapel at 1200 E Southern Ave, Tempe 85282 (map to the church - map of the church). Sign-in begins at 6:30 pm. Call to Order is at 7:00 pm. We will have our regular business meeting followed by GOTV (Get Out The Vote) presentations by Julie Lind for Michael Monti for Tempe Mayor, Rachel Naylor for Dick Foreman for Tempe City Council, and Dan Schultz for GOTV by precinct. PCs, please see the Call to Meeting (login required).

Congratulations to Marc Jeremiason, Matthew Papke, David Peterson, Eli Rothrock and Andrew Slater, our first appointed PCs of 2012! (from the PC list at recorder.maricopa.gov – updated 1/18)

Congratulations to LD17's own Dan Schultz and Andrew Costanzo, 2 of 5 Members-At-Large to the Executive Guidance Committee of the Maricopa County Republican Committee elected at Saturday's mandatory meeting!

(photo courtesy of trugop.org)

The Arizona Republican Party State Mandatory Meeting is Saturday, January 28, 2012 at the Church For The Nations  at 6225 N Central Ave in Phoenix. Registration opens at 8:00 am. The meeting begins at 9:00 am.  All State Committeemen elected prior to the 2011 County Statutory Meeting are required to attend. If you are unable to attend this meeting, please arrange for any registered Republican in Legislative District 17 to carry your proxy. Forms are available here (second-to-last page).

The Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) Mandatory Meeting is Saturday January 14, 2012 at the Church For The Nations at 6225 N Central Ave in Phoenix. Registration opens at 7:30 am. The meeting begins at 9:00 am. All Precinct Committeemen (PCs) elected or appointed prior to November 16, 2011 are eligible to vote or run for office at this meeting. Five members-at-large (MAL) will be elected to the Executive Guidance Committee (EGC).

If you are unable to attend this meeting, please arrange for any registered Republican in your precinct to carry your proxy. Forms are available here (third-to-last page).

Candidates running for Member-at-Large:

Elbert ‘Bick’ Bicknell - LD12

Frank Carroll - LD4 - withdrawn

Andrew Costanzo - LD17

Donna Duggins - LD10

Daniel Grimm* - LD19

Wes Harris - LD6

Joseph Hobbs* - LD12

Raymond Johnson - LD9

John Lyon - LD12

Nancy Palmer - LD4

Bernard Paluch - LD4

Daniel Schultz* - LD17

Ray Sweeney - LD11

*Incumbent

                    

I support Governor Brewer and the Arizona Legislature in calling for a special session to refer to the ballot a referendum to repeal the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission and thus end the manipulation of election boundaries by a majority of three. By restoring that authority to 90 elected and accountable individuals instead of five un-elected and un-accountable individuals Arizona will stop the redistribution of votes and restore representative democracy to Arizona!

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We were privileged to hear from three candidates running for the US Senate and one for Tempe City Council at our last district meeting.

      

         Clair Van Steenwyk                        Bryan Hackbarth                       Douglas McKee

                                                                           Joe Pospicil

May we all please stick to the facts regarding Governor Brewer, the state senate, and Arizona's Independent Redistricting commission (IRC)? In clearly written language, the voters of Arizona specifically charged the governor and state senate with the obligation to watch over the IRC. Here’s what the Arizona Constitution says:  "After having been served written notice and provided with an opportunity for a response, a member of the Independent Redistricting Commission may be removed by the governor, with the concurrence of two-thirds of the [state] senate, for substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office, or inability to discharge the duties of office." The Arizona Constitution prohibits the IRC from gerrymandering the districts—yet that’s exactly what the IRC did. The AZ Constitution requires the districts to 1) be compact, 2) respect communities of interest, and 3) respect natural boundaries.  ONLY ONCE THESE REQUIREMENTS ARE MET FIRST, can the IRC then make the districts competitive. However in this case, the IRC sacrificed those requirements in order to first create competitive districts.  No one denies that the districts were gerrymandered. Just one example: Newly- drawn Congressional District 1 has Kingman down to Yuma swinging over to include Prescott and Payson down to Queen Creek - - all in the same district.  This is quite literally by definition, "unconstitutional".  Thus, what has occurred is a clear violation of the constitutional requirements.

(via Wendy Rogers)