As if Regina Romero’s ascendancy was a fluke, graduates of the Grijalva Gang’s PimaCo political incubator continue to blitzkrieg the clueless good-old-boys in Metro Tucson.
Let’s take a stroll around the post-election crater, assess the realities, and look for some good news.
First off, were the completely predictable results in PimaCo BOS District #1. It’s the one demographic with the greatest wealth, education, and non-governmental accomplishments. It’s also the main $$$ milk-cow for the rest of PimaCo’s redistributed booty. Even the massive injection of a near 6-figure $$$ campaign sum failed to elect Rhonda Pina to this NorthWest & Catalina Foothills BOS seat, now being vacated by Ally Miller.
Ditto the same clueless naiveté about the Hard-Left’s power in BOS District #2. Here, 17 year political switch-hitter, Democrat Ramon Valadez, lost his seat to battle hardened, proud gay, Hard Left ideologue Matt Heinz.
The Pima County Attorney’s Office flipped into the Grijalva column, with Laura Conover’s win over establishment-backed candidate Jonathan Mosher. Team Conover’s endorsement page reads like a Who’s Who of Metro Tucson Hard Left. Better start tracking those crime stats.
With the sole exception of Ally Miller’s BOS #1 seat going to her protégé, Steve Spain, it was not a good night for the forces of rationalism, economic growth, and good governance.
As for the perennial “money-talks” gang—one would think these clueless big donors, i.e. Bill Assenmacher, Jim Click, The Diamond Group, Kai Family, et al, would stop buying their Tucson political advice in Phoenix, huh? (hey guys, it’s not working) You clearly need a different strategic vision.
Moreover, anyone dumb enough, especially at elitist outfits like SALC, Sun Corridor, and the various boo-hoo foundations—to think this doesn’t augur very badly for the Tucson Metro, is smoking rope. What has occurred is exactly what happened to Albuquerque at the end of the 1980’s. I was there, I witnessed it; that metro entered a long dark period from which it’s yet to recover.
But unlike Albuquerque, the Tucson Metro does have some hidden advantages & opportunities, if leadership is decisive enough. The first action should be to stop the colossal cognitive fiction that having PimaCo govern nearly 40% [unincorporated] of a 1.1 million Metro ….is even close to good governance in the Internet Age.
The second action is to understand the nature of raw political power; the Hard Left certainly does. And yes, your flakey naiveté will kill you.
Thirdly, you need a working strategy with a proven track record (that works everywhere it’s used), just like the ones I referred to in my previous pieces; Tucson Pays a Terrible Price to be the “Anti-Phoenix”; Pima County’s 12 Sad “Tax Milkcows”; 3 Municipal Combos Will End Pima Co’s Corrupt Reign.
You guys have been warned.
Sellers is a South Park Republican who lives in incorporated Oro Valley. His background is federal tech-transfer commercialization. He is on Facebook.
