Proxy data shows AZGOP attack on grassroots

Not everything was as it appeared to be at the Statutory Meeting of the State Committee of the Arizona Republican Party held at Grace Community Church in Tempe earlier this month. According to data, a proxy war was being waged against the grassroots of the Party by the Senator John McCain political machine.

National headlines focused on the bizarre choreographed appearance by members of the Vietnamese community, brought in to show support for McCain. Few noticed the behind-the-scene machinations that the McCain camp performed due to his loss of support in the greater Republican community.

According to the Arizona Freedom Alliance, AZGOP Chair Robert Graham, who was facing re-election himself, refused to provide the contact information for newly elected state committeemen to his challenger, Lori Urban, and her fellow grassroots activists who were challenging the Graham/McCain slate.

In turn, Graham’s operatives collected hundreds of proxies from across the state, using the very same Party resources the challengers were denied.

As noted by the Arizona Freedom Alliance (AFA), proxies are important “because some candidates or advocates will always have an advantage in collecting proxies. Many of these important issues are settled by “Proxy wars.” One side will do a better job in the proxy war than the other. Remember, it’s precisely BECAUSE of the proxies that McCain spent so much money to purge conservatives from the party voting system and replaced them with Proxy PCs who would give their proxy to a McCain guy to vote on their behalf.”

AFA admits that it is “not realistic to believe it will ever be one person/one vote,” they alleged that what Graham/ McCain, did “no different from voter fraud or stuffing the ballot box.” They conclude, “The candidates are responsible for rounding up their votes. When one candidate stacks the deck, it’s hardly a vote representative of the body politic.”

Based on the cool reception given to Graham, and the bitter reception given to McCain, who was greeted by committeemen with back turned against him, attendees were not shocked by the final vote counts for the state offices.

As AFA notes, “ONLY Graham had the access to get the kind of proxy collection,” that could overcome the opposition displayed by the vast majority of most active Party members in attendance that day.

While the McCain camp many might chalk up the allegations as the bitter fruit of tin foil hat conservatives, the data shows their allegations are not baseless.

Anecdotal information provided by attendees supports the allegations as well. One woman, a McCain operative known as the Proxy Queen, was pictured smiling broadly with layers of lanyards draped around her neck like trophies. Each one of those lanyards represented a Republican voting that day by proxy.

Another photo shows a younger McCain operative with a stack of envelopes representing Republicans voting by proxy.

The vote is final, and as a result of the fractures it widened, the future health of the Republican Party is in jeopardy. To ensure that the grassroots are completely disaffected before the 2016 election, activists are taking steps to change the rules. SB1309, Amending Sections 16-822, 16-823, 16-824, 16-826 And 16-828, Arizona Revised Statutes; Relating To Political Party Organization And Governmen, will curtail the proxy war.

While McCain has fractured the Party, and under Graham voter registration declined by 32,830 registered Republicans, popular grassroots leaders like A.J. LaFaro are pushing the legislation to ensure that all Republicans have a seat at the Party’s table.

LaFaro, who lost his bid for the Party’s First Vice-Chair position in the proxy war, told supporters this week, “They couldn’t afford to have someone as outspoken and passionate as I am about my conservative values and beliefs be in an AZGOP leadership position – especially as John McCain prepares to run for office. I entered the race expecting they would do whatever they had to do to defeat me. Their proxy abuse and fraud clearly shows they have no ethics, integrity or respect for the bylaws.”

So, as Robert Graham and RNC Chair Reince Prebius are visiting Israel this week as the guests of the American Family Association, an “anti-LGBT, anti-Mormon, nativist, religious supremacist” group, members of the grassroots are organizing support for their proposed legislation to ensure that those with ethics win in the future.

FINAL CREDENTIALS REPORT

DISTRICT /COUNTY # PC COUNT PROXY COUNT TOTAL COUNT MAX Count (Actual PCs)
Apache 5 5 5 X
Cochise 14 7 21 23 X
Coconino 14 6 20 20 X
Gila 18 18 18 x
Graham 6 21 27 28 x
Greenlee 1 0 1 4 x
La Paz 0 0
MC LD 1 1 24 13 37 39 X
MC LD 4 4 4 1 5 6 X
MC LD 12 12 32 35 67 69 x
MC LD 13 13 7 19 26 30 X
MC LD 15 15 35 11 46 51 x
MC LD 16 16 24 7 31 36 x
MC LD 17 17 39 31 70 70 x
MC LD 18 18 45 14 59 60 x
MC LD 19 19 3 6 9 9 x
MC LD 20 20 35 1 36 38 x
MC LD 21 21 21 12 33 34 X
MC LD 22 22 37 8 45 53 x
MC LD 23 23 79 28 107 112 x
MC LD 24 24 19 7 26 42 x
MC LD 25 25 40 63 103 108 x
MC LD 26 26 23 2 25 25 x
MC LD 27 27 10 1 11 11 X
MC LD 28 28 43 49 92 105 x
MC LD 29 29 8 2 10 10 X
MC LD 30 30 9 4 13 16 x
Mohave 19 13 32 33 x
Navajo 12 9 21 21 X
PM LD 2 13 2 15 15 X
PM LD 3/4 11 2 13 15 x
PM LD 4 0 2
PM LD 9 14 3 17 18 x
PM LD 10 26 6 32 34 x
PM LD 11 8 3 11 16 x
PM LD 14 4 0 4 6 x
Pinal 28 8 36 41 x
Santa Cruz 3 2 5 5 x
Yavapai 45 17 62 62 x
Yuma 8 22 30 31
Total 1,321
Total 786 435 1221

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McCain censured before, censured again

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