Bouie, who also had his hat in the ring for that senate appointment, has previously run for the legislature in Legislative Districts 4 and 6, losing both races. He is best known for registering as a Republican after being a lifelong Democrat, and then opportunistically lying about it, when running in the GOP heavy District 6. He brazenly filed his intent to run within FIVE short days of changing his registration status. Then the newly-minted Republican had the temerity to refer to himself as a “conservative candidate.” He even sent out a press release saying that he “became a Republican” earlier but neglected to reregister — with the new party that meant so much to him.  In fact, the deception was on such a grand scale that he lied to the editorial board of the Arizona Republic and to The Capitol Times. Here’s how Mary Jo Pitzl characterized his deceit.

Those familiar with Tony Bouie will also remember that he gained the support of the pro-illegal labor crowd. Still, he was so disconnected from the issues, not even aware of what the much publicized Employer Sanctions law referred to, that he didn’t even bother to show up for the requisite Citizens Clean Election debate.

Bouie has a history of major financial irresponsibility and vehicular infractions, including Criminal Felony Speeding and driving on a suspended driver’s license, that would have been revealed with proper vetting by his political recruiters. For those with time on their hands, there is more to read here.

The LD 4 Precinct Committeemen meeting Wednesday evening should remember this charlatan and look elsewhere as they forward three names to fill their district’s House seat. If by some misstep his name is sent to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, they should run, not walk, from this exceedingly flawed and opportunistic applicant.

Rep. Judy Burges deserves to have her former seat filled by an actual conservative, at best — an actual Republican, at least.

Count on his forthcoming announcement that he will be running for Congress in the new 9th Congressional District — which includes parts of Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe. Former State Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has resigned to run in this same district.

Who is Andrei Cherny? He’s a radical liberal who proudly declares he has “provided policy and strategic advice to Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Bill Richardson, Cabinet members, Governors and national labor unions.”

You get the picture.

Cherny lost his 2010 bid for Arizona State Treasurer to Republican Doug Ducey. Watch him replicate that misadventure in 2012.

As we reported Saturday, the Arizona Republican Party elected its officers for the next two years.  Elected state committeemen from districts statewide, traveled to Phoenix to meet, mingle, hear from their GOP officeholders and cast their ballots for leadership officers. It’s a big deal. The attendees, facing a major 2012 election cycle, are very aware of the impact of their mission.

Nearly all of the elected Republicans addressed the large crowd.  Sen. Jon Kyl, the entire GOP congressional contingent (U.S. Reps. Flake, Franks, Gosar, Quayle and Schweikert), state officials from Governor Jan Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne, through State Legislators, Corporation Commissioners and County officers such as Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Bill Montgomery took their turns addressing the eager assembly. Conspicuously absent, as usual, was John McCain.

All told, nearly 700 state committeemen cast ballots — including proxies — representing 1,158 individuals.

And by a wide margin of over 60 percent, state Republicans elected former Sen. President Russell Pearce the party’s 1st Vice Chairman. How’s that for poking their finger in the eye of the swaggering antagonists?

Without question,  this election sticks in the craw of the leftist newspaper, which begins its online report with the word “ousted’ in describing the popular Pearce. Try as we might to locate it, the article was nowhere to be seen in the Sunday edition.

The editorial crew must be mystified.  After all, they believe it was by virtue of their efforts, in conjunction with radical extremists and illegal alien promoters, that Sen. Pearce was removed from his state senate position.  They neglected to inform their readers that the election was not a intra-party primary as many thought, but a skewed effort, open to Democrats and registered Independents.

Russell Pearce doesn’t need the newspaper to give him authority.  He gets it from the people who know him best and respect him most: Arizona’s statewide Republican activists who assembled on Saturday and gave him their unqualified support.

His video announcement can be seen here.

Jesse Kelly, a conservative who nearly overtook Giffords in 2010, has released the results of a poll showing a strong lead among likely voters. Visit Kelly‘s website here.

Both men are military veterans.

A special primary election to fill the vacancy will be held April 17, with the special general election scheduled for June 12.

First Vice-Chair: Russell Pearce (668), Diane Ortiz-Parsons (441)

Second Vice-Chair: Parralee Schneider (644), Stephen Viramontes (463)

Third Vice-Chair: Chad Palmer (550),  John Duane Rhodes (547)

Assistant Treasurer: Andrew Stevens (730), John Stevens (275)

The following candidates were unopposed and were elected by acclamation:

Assistant Secretary: Deborrah Miller

Sergeant-At-Arms: Alberto Gutier

Assistant Sergeant-At-Arms: Chris Campbell

Congratulations are in order to all of the new officers!

UPDATE:

These are the results of the AZ GOP Unofficial Straw poll:

Newt Gingrich:   20 votes

Ron Paul:          256 votes

Rick Santorum:    8 votes

Mitt Romney:      17 votes

To view these numbers in perspective, balance them against the fact that the ballots were sold as a party fundraiser at $10 apiece. The poll is called “unofficial” for a reason.

Ron Paul enthusiasts are all about appearances. Today they were out in force, although many of them are not state committeemen and were unable to vote in the election of party officers. That did not preclude them from purchasing ballots, which no doubt made the AZ GOP very happy.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has announced the arrests of 14 of 15 suspected members of a large-scale marijuana and cocaine trafficking organization. This organization has smuggled over 19.1 kilograms of cocaine and 2,952 pounds of marijuana into the United States since December of 2010 with a Tucson street value estimated to be between $2,631,600 and $2,126,400.

This criminal enterprise has been active for more than ten years in smuggling large amounts of marijuana and cocaine into the United States through the Nogales Port of Entry.

“This is yet another in a growing list of examples why the Arizona border with Mexico is not secure,” Horne said. “For this criminal operation to exist for the better part of a decade trafficking millions of dollars worth of poison into Arizona is outrageous and helps to define the critical nature of this problem. The level of violent criminal activity near the border and throughout much of Arizona at large is a direct result of the drug trade, and it simply cannot continue. In the meantime, the policy of the federal government remains to peddle the fiction that the border is as secure as it has ever been. It clearly is not, and I reiterate my call to the administration to do more to address this crisis.”

Agencies working in cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Strike Force are the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Marshal’s Service, Nogales Police Department, Tucson Police Department, Department of Public Safety, and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

Read more, including the multiple charges included in the indictment here.

Mug shots of those arrested in connection with this organized criminal ring linked to a Mexican drug cartel can be seen here

In the race for AZ GOP 3^rd Vice-Chair there are two candidates offering a clear choice. Chad Palmer, an LD-1 State Committeeman from Prescott is the strong conservative who presents a robust contrast to Graham County GOP Chairman John “J. Duane” Rhodes.

Rhodes, an establishment cohort, endorsed John McCain over conservative JD Hayworth in the 2010 U.S. Senate race. Rhodes and fellow moderate — former state Rep. Bill Konopnicki — are Co-Chairmen of Jeff Flake’s campaign in Graham County.

The energetic Chad Palmer is the well qualified and dependable conservative choice for the Third Vice-Chair position. Based on his values and dedication, he has won the endorsement of Sen. Ron Gould. We also urge his support.

The choice is clear. Vote for the conservative. Vote for Chad Palmer.

The Arizona Capitol Times is reporting that House Speaker Andy Tobin has introduced a host of measures that would set a special election enabling voters to decide whether to use legislative and congressional maps drawn by elected legislators representing constituencies — as was the practice prior to the passage of Prop. 106 in 2000. Democrats and Republicans worked together to draw the lines.

Arizonans are currently faced with oddly configured and decidedly partisan maps approved last month by Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission.

As we have noted, the Commission is hardly “Independent” but actually leans left. Read our previous post to reacquaint yourself with the sham that masquerades as being impartial committee of volunteers.

Colleen Coyle Mathis, the problematic “Independent” chairwoman the commission is a case in point. Mathis’ husband, Christopher, a Democrat lawyer, served as treasurer for a Democrat legislative candidate in 2010 and the duo donated to other Democrat candidates. As chair, Mathis’ tie-breaking vote with the commission’s Democrat members resulted in the hiring of Strategic Telemetry – a company with strong ties to high-profile Democrats as the mapping consultant. Registering as an Independent served as a cloak to conceal her actual bent.

Mathis would have us believe it was sheer coincidence that Ken Strasma, the national target director of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign is president of Washington D.C. based Strategic Telemetry.

In a survey of likely Arizona Congressional District 8 primary voters released this week, Jesse Kelly holds a strong lead over the other prospective Republican candidates.

Kelly’s lead far surpasses that of both State Senator Frank Antenori (R-Dist. 30) and Tucson sports broadcaster Dave Sitton. Kelly, a conservative, has a combined 35% of definite and leaning voters. The same measure for Antenori is 15%, while Sitton holds 7%.

Primary voters support Kelly over Antenori by a ratio of 2.4 to 1.

In response to the results, Kelly stated, “We are humbled by the strong support from the people of Southern Arizona. I have heard from many families who are ready for Congress to focus on improving the economy and helping the private sector create good paying jobs in Arizona.”

The TelOpinion Research poll was conducted on the 24th and 25th of January, 2012 and sampled 300 likely primary voters from throughout the current Congressional District 8 in Arizona. 

Jesse Kelly works in the private sector as a project manager for a construction firm. He and his wife live in Pima County, where they are raising their two sons.

Where: University of North Florida, Jacksonville

Live Stream: CNN.com

Sponsors: Republican Party of Florida, CNN and the Hispanic Leadership Network

Participants: Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

This is the high stakes debate preceding the Florida primary. The latest public opinion polls show that the battle for Florida’s 50 winner-take-all delegates — the largest prize so far this primary and caucus season — is becoming a two-man race between Romney and Gingrich. According to a CNN/Time/ORC International survey released Wednesday, 36% of people likely to vote in Tuesday’s Republican primary in Florida say they are backing Romney as the party’s nominee, with 34% supporting Gingrich. Romney’s 2-point margin over Gingrich is well within the survey’s margin of error. The other two candidates lag far behind, with Rick Santorum polling at 11% and Ron Paul at 9% –  7% still remain unsure.  With their low numbers, the time is ripe for Santorum and Paul  to bow out and endorse the candidate who can beat Barack Obama – Mitt Romney.

Check out all of the latest Florida polling here courtesy of Real Clear Politics.