RESULTS: Florida 2012 Presidential Preference Primary

We’ve got what you’re looking for

The results of Florida’s winner-take-all Republican primary tonight will be defining, with the state’s 50 delegate prize up for grabs. The delegates are needed to ultimately nominate the national party’s candidate at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa this August.

Mitt Romney is heavily favored in tonight’s balloting in this final and possibly pivotal contest in this high-stakes month.

Although popular Florida Sen. Marco Rubio hasn’t endorsed a candidate or even predicted a winner, he told CNN today: “The winner of Florida is in all likelihood going to be the nominee of our party.”

Full of bravado, Newt Gingrich was reported to have said the race wouldn’t be decided until June or July — “unless Romney drops out earlier.”

Neither Ron Paul nor Rick Santorum are campaigning in the delegate rich state.

Watch the Florida election results HERE, courtesy of the Florida Elections Department.

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Why the AZ Republic is irrelevant

Effect of recommendation is zero

This foolish headline appears on the front page of the Valley & State section:

Phoenix commission votes 13-0 for Arpaio to resign

The Phoenix Human Relations Commission is the commission in question. According to its own website, it‘s a group of 17 volunteers appointed by the mayor and City Council, to advise on….human relations issues. Three of the dedicated members were absent and one abstained in this headline grabbing vote.

Surely the newspaper, which retains a legal staff to address just such matters, knows that a commission of volunteers has no say whatsoever in removing a duly elected sheriff from his post. 

Republican Sheriff Joe Arpaio might not be the cup of tea for a left-wing association of meddlers and their enthusiastic media ally, but the popular sheriff has won an unprecedented five four-year terms. Immensely admired, he elicits standing ovations and cheers when he speaks before citizen groups.

With a decades-long career in law enforcement, his service includes heading the DEA, where he served as a top drug agent in various countries for 25 years — culminating as head of the agency’s Phoenix field office. Arpaio was first elected Maricopa County Sheriff in 1992, and has been re-elected by wide margins in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008, often winning more than 65 percent of the vote.

Arpaio’s fundraising prowess is the envy of congressional candidates.  Regardless of the recommendation of this commission of simpletons  he’ll be well positioned for his upcoming election.

Redistricting woes: AZ not alone

Listen to this interview with Florida Congressman Allen West as constitutional law scholar Mark Levin discusses the decimation of U.S. Rep. West’s district.

A retired Lt. Col., West is a conservative, tea party-backed congressman whose district has been the victim of a hostile carving knife and virtually redistricted out of existence.

Levin is eminently familiar with the Voting Rights Act and doesn’t buy the argument that this was happenstance. West has been an outspoken critic of Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, it’s being reported today that the federal budget deficit will top $1 trillion again this year. In the clearest of terms that means there is a $1.1 trillion gap between government spending and tax collections for 2012. The massive gap has not impacted the non-stop Obama spending machine.

American citizens in every state benefit from keeping the extraordinary U.S. Rep. Allen West in Congress. He casts well-reasoned votes that impact us all.

Listen to the Levin interview here.

Tony Bouie: Problematic candidate is baaack

Problem-plagued perennial candidate Tony Bouie is once again in quest of a legislative seat. This time he’s seeking an appointment rather than going through that revealing information spill that accompanies an actual campaign.  Bouie is now looking to be named as a replacement to fill the AZ House seat in Legislative District 4, currently open as a result of Rep. Judy Burges being appointed to the senate after Scott Bundgaard’s resignation.

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.

AZ Dem chair takes a hike: Readying for CD 9 race

Andrei Cherny, whose name more resembles that of a Soviet Politburo chief than the chair of the state Democrat Party, has announced that he is leaving his post after just a year. He uses his self-congratulatory farewell letter to Arizona Dems to take credit for removing Senate President Pearce while hoisting himself by blasting individual Republican elected officials for what he terms “political extremism.” For a little guy, he has awfully long arms. They reach all the way around his back as he gives himself countless pats for deeds that essentially exist in his own mind.

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.

Fit of pique: AZ Republic ignores Pearce victory

Statewide triumph repudiates negative assault on SB 1070 author

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.

Antenori says “It’s Official!”

Another Republican — state Sen. Frank Antenori — has set his sights on the vacant congressional seat now open since the recent retirement of Democrat U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

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.

AZ GOP elects officers today: Pearce wins decisive victory

The Honorable Russell Pearce elected by wide margin in state-wide race!

Arizona’s Republican elected state committeemen — assembled from all of the state’s fifteen counties — met today to elect their State GOP officers for the next two years. The results of the election and the vote totals are:

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.

AZ AG Horne: $ multi-million Mexican drug ring bust

Further evidence of Arizona’s unsecured southern border

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

Chad Palmer offers sharp contrast in 3rd VC race

The State Committee of the Arizona Republican Party will hold its mandatory meeting tomorrow — Saturday, January 28 — where elected state committeemen will choose their officers for the next two years. This is an important election, setting the stage for the AZ GOP as it enters the crucial 2012 election.

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.