Richard Grayson, Registered Member of Arizona Green Party Since 2008, Wins Green Primary for Congress, Then Sued for Being "Sham" Candidate

Two apparent developments in this electoral comedy caused by the lack of due diligence on the part of the Arizona Green Party, in which I have been a registered voter in Apache Junction, Pinal County, since 2008 (longer than some of the candidates "endorsed" by the party):

(1) I've apparently "won" the primary for the Sixth Congressional District Green nomination with six write-in votes (more than any other congressional or legislative Green write-in candidate, including those "endorsed" by the Arizona Green Party).

See the official state canvass of the primary, released a few hours ago.

(2) I am apparently being targeted in an Arizona Green Party lawsuit against "sham" Green party candidates along with those who registered just before filing their write-in candidacies in July. (See this Arizona Republic article by Mary Jo Pitzl.)

This despite my two-year membership in the Arizona Green Party, my public adherence to the Green Party Ten Key Values, and the Arizona Green Party's vetting me and interviewing me at a party meeting over a phone conference on Sunday, August 22 (at which time they allowed me to vote on the endorsement of other candidates) and the AZGP's statement the following day that, unlike in the cases of the other candidates, they were not "opposing" me, just "not endorsing" me and they would reconsider endorsing me pending the results of the primary.

I was called at my house and told a subpoena is on its way. I still represent the Green Party's values and platforms, whatever anyone else thinks.

Make of this what you will. Stay tuned for more.

Richard Grayson Green Party AZ-06 Campaign for Congress Endorsed by Pinal County Greens

As we wait to hear if we have made the November ballot, we are happy to accept the support of the Pinal County Greens, who today endorsed our candidacy for Congress against Rep. Jeff Flake in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District. We will always stand by the Ten Key Values of the Arizona Green Party and we will try to do our best to live up to the Pinal County Greens' faith in our campaign.

A Sane Voice on Immigration from Pinal County

For Pinal County's sensible voters and residents, it was heartening to see this letter in today's New York Times:

To the Editor:

Re “Judge Blocks Arizona’s Law on Immigrants” (front page, July 29):

Americans should applaud Judge Susan Bolton’s rejection of the more inflammatory parts of Arizona’s immigration enforcement law and the racist undertones it represents.

Gov. Jan Brewer’s groundless generalizations about the undocumented population foment fear of the unknown among her constituents, making for good politics but bad policy. The sudden surge in scapegoating of undocumented immigrants diverts attention from the real, well-documented problems currently facing the nation.

Rather than using money and sound bites to take aim at a demographic that boosts economic development and has no correlation with criminal activity, Ms. Brewer and other governors should be rallying support to address issues that actually pose a threat to the stability of American democracy: an eroding public education system, unprecedented global climate change and, perhaps most important, a broken political system that prizes sensationalism over sensible reasoning.

Jeffrey D. Stein
Florence, Ariz., July 29, 2010

Congratulations to Mr. Stein on his articulate, intelligent letter.