AZGOP Should Censure Ignorant Fools

Foolish Radicals Are Targeting Republicans in the Arizona Legislature, Turn the Guns on Them Instead

By Sam Stone

Brian Ference, member at large of the Maricopa GOP, is an idiot. Too harsh? Nope. He’s a living caricature of the left’s portrayal of Republicans. In recent months, Ference has led efforts to censure numerous Republican state legislators – basically for no better reason than they don’t have the votes to overcome a veto by Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs, and therefore cannot do the things he and his cohort are demanding of them. For the record, Republicans in the Arizona House and Senate have one vote majorities in each body. Literally, those two votes are all that stand between Arizona Republicans and Democrats taking complete control of the state. People can quibble about specific outcomes all they want, but the fact is this: given our razor-thin majorities Republicans managing to hold the line, even advance a number of conservative priorities, should be widely celebrated.

But that’s not good enough for Brian Ference and his cohort. Here are some of Ference’s demands:

1.     Seize all election machines under the authority of a letter sent by Republican Legislator Sonny Borrelli to the various counties

REALITY: It was a letter, and a worthy gambit to push elections integrity, but a letter from a single legislator doesn’t have the force of law, only laws have the force of law, and laws require passage – something that isn’t happening with a Democrat governor and a majority that can’t override her vetoes.

2.     Weekly prayer for each other and our state

REALITY: Prayer is a fantastic idea, but – of course – there are tons of Republicans in that state of Arizona who aren’t Christian. Brian’s ideas of inclusion are a bit limited.

3.     Recruit MAGA PCs and Fundraise

REALITY: Brian isn’t raising any money, and his antics are driving out many longtime activists. This is a legit objective, but not one that can be achieved with division. We need ALL Republicans in the State of Arizona to unite. 2024 is not 1984, we don’t have the majority needed to subdivide our Party and still win races. We can fight it out in primary elections – where the battle is supposed to be – but unless we put aside labels and all unite in general elections, Arizona is a Blue State.

4.     Exit ERIC database

REALITY: Again, a good idea, but it’s not realistic until we win more elections. Withdrawal requires either the cooperation of the Secretary of State, or a vote of the legislature that doesn’t get vetoed. Withdrawal isn’t on the table with Democrats in both positions.

5.     Increase legal penalties for ballot harvesting

REALITY: Governor will veto

6.     Clean Voter Rolls (Note to Brian: it’s not voter ‘roles’, they’re not playing a part)

REALITY: Need cooperation of Secretary of State, or a vote of the legislature that doesn’t get vetoed. As above, not our current reality.

7.     One-day, in-person voting with paper ballots and hand count

REALITY: Governor will veto

8.     Prepare for food, water, electrical shortages

REALITY: The government does have preparations in place for these things, and those preparations will be inadequate. Self-sufficiency and preparedness are core Republican values, and people need to take additional steps to protect their families in an emergency. Mormons get this right; everyone should follow their lead and not rely on government in that situation.

9.     Resist the New World Order, World Economic Forum, and Communism

REALITY: Absolutely agree. Of course, again, there are serious limitations as to what the Arizona legislature can do given that much of the interaction with these bodies is done through state and local executive agencies, and they can’t override a veto to change those decisions.

10.  Door knock to tell voters about the censures he is pushing through

REALITY: Some of those knocks would end up being in the district of Rep. Michelle Pena, the one Republican who won a blue seat last year. Others would be in the handful of swing districts won by Republicans. Literally Ference wants to throw away our single vote advantage and hand the House to Democrats as quickly as he can. There is a mechanism to censure elected officials: primary elections.

11.  Schoolboard Team to Attend & Comment

REALITY: Great idea that’s been happening, led by actual Republican parents. They’re owed a great deal of credit for the work they’ve done and are doing, not sniping from childless sideliners like myself of Brian who might disagree with them on the margins.

12.  Continue to Investigate Voter Fraud

REALITY: Keep attacking, absolutely, but stop pretending Republicans are going to be able to make major changes, or that courts are suddenly going to have a change of heart. Yes, this is the right thing to do, but it can’t be our focus between now and November 2024, because if it is the Party won’t be focused on building the mechanisms to drive turnout that might actually overcome any cheating and give us the power to make the type of changes Ference is demanding.

13.  Remove Precinct Committee Members who aren’t meeting “certain” criteria of “expected / required” participation.

REALITY: Quotes his. This is gibberish. If an LD has an overload of potential PCs (not actually a problem, but whatever) they need to work it out internally. Everywhere else: this is just cover for people to divide and tear the Party apart for no reason.

14.  Update Bylaws with needed changes

REALITY: ‘Needed changes?’ Which changes? No specificity here to judge what he’s actually saying.

15.  He wrote a lengthy screed about better PC organization. And, yes, this is a huge issue. Many of our LDs are little more than social clubs for like-minded individuals. They need to be refocused on productive action, however….

REALITY: As a PC and Party leader, this is basically Ference’s own failing. Focusing PCs on attacking each other and their own elected officials doesn’t accomplish any Party building whatsoever. It has the opposite effect. Ference and people following his lead aren’t building anything.

16.  Register Voters / Spanish Outreach

REALITY: Yes, these are actual, productive uses of PC time and effort. But Ference and his followers aren’t doing either of them, just standing around tearing down people who actually do

Folks, I get it. Many of the things Brian Ference and others like him are saying are things most of us agree with. But his arrogant, divisive, and ignorant approach doesn’t accomplish any of them, and beating up fellow Republicans for not falling in line with his personal demands is very…Progressive Democrat. Which is what Brian Ference might well be, because he’s certainly serving their interests far better than those of Republicans.

And, again, let me make this clear: even if you believe 2020 was stolen from Donald Trump and 2022 was stolen from Kari Lake, Blake Master, and Abe Hamadeh, there is proof we can overcome Democrats and keep this state red when – and only when – Republicans are united. Does anyone really think Democrats wanted to leave the AZ dept of ed in the hands of Tom Horne, the Treasury in the hands of Kim Yee, or hand the Corporation Commission to Republicans? They did not. Republicans can win in Arizona, but we cannot and will not do it by attacking and censuring our own, we can only do it by agreeing that our differences must be settled in primaries and that we have a duty to unite immediately after to fight the real battles against Democrats. And, yes, establishment Republicans failed this test in 2022. I don’t want to let them off the hook for that. I understand wanting to push as hard as we can as far as we can – just as our opposition does – on every single issue. But if we continue tearing down Republican elected officials, the only outcome is a Blue Arizona. Arizona Republicans need to stop letting intra-party squabbles that are best settled at the ballot box derail efforts to plan for and prepare to win the next election. 

Note: the opinions expressed herein are those of Sam Stone only and not his co-host Chuck Warren or Breaking Battlegrounds’ staff.