Senate President Russell Pearce filed a statement Friday with the Secretary of State's office to be included on the Nov. 8 ballot as he fights to keep his seat representing west Mesa.
Pearce is entitled to have a statement on the ballot because opponents gathered enough certified petition signatures to force a recall election.
Pearce's statement reads: "I have devoted my entire life to public service - first as a Maricopa County deputy sheriff who was shot in the line of duty, then as the North Mesa Justice of the Peace and now as a member of the legislature. I was born in Mesa and I share and promote the values of our great community: freedom, excelling schools, vibrant economic growth, job creation, balanced budgets, strong law enforcement and secure borders.
"I am proud of my legislative record of limited government and living within our means. As the President of the Senate, I ushered through the first truly balanced budget in five years - no gimmicks and no new borrowing. I have been named ‘Champion of the Taxpayer' by Americans for Prosperity and ‘Hero of the Taxpayer' by the American Tax Reform.
"Together with Governor Jan Brewer, we enacted the innovative ‘Arizona Competitiveness Package' that is our roadmap for putting Arizonans back to work. I continue to fight for education excellence and choice because our children deserve no less.
"I have always done what I have promised you I would do. I am honored to serve our community and you. I respectfully ask for your vote."
County and state officials determined that there were at least the 7,756 valid signatures required to force Pearce to defend his office, and Brewer formally called for a Nov. 8 recall election.
Elected to the state House in 2000, Pearce moved to the Senate after the 2008 election. The Republican majority chose him as Senate president after last year's election.
Those who want to run against Pearce have until Sept. 9 to gather at least 621 petition signatures. There is no primary, so whoever gets the most votes on Nov. 8 will fill out the balance of the term through 2012.
A possible challenger emerged Friday.
West Mesa resident Jerry Lewis said he is considering a run against Pearce and will announce his plans next week. Lewis is assistant superintendent for Sequoia Schools, a Mesa-based charter school chain, and a former certified accountant.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 4:17 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
A better man than Russell Pearce wont be found, but I'm sure there will be plenty of want-to-be candidates try to fill his shoes. Good luck to you Senator Pearce.
bimbo posted at 4:19 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
Pearce, you have said enough sweet words but you have destroyed lots of families...sorry...your time is up...
NothingButTheTruth posted at 4:24 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
Will be interesting to see who gets the support from the republican party if a republican runs against Pearce. Can a republican challenger beat Pearce without the support of the republican party? Maybe if the national liberal groups are pouring thousands of dollars into the effort to remove Senator Russell Pearce from office. Interesting thing to see if a fellow republican gets his support from pro illegal libertard groups. lol
Leon Ceniceros posted at 4:27 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
The City of Gilbert just celebrated "Operation Welcome Home" for one of it's American Hero Soldiers.
THE CITY OF GILBERT SHOULD BE PROUD OF THEMSELVES. IN WELCOMING HOME THEIR HOME-GROWN HERO AND PROUD OF ITSELF...A TRUE "AMERICAN" CITY.
The City of Mesa "Power-Brokers" and the Mormon Church organize a "RECALL" of an American Hero who's ...SB1070... has done more to protect the Borders of Arizona (and in doing so has raised the 'PROTECTION LEVEL" of all Americans against the invasion from....ILLEGAL ALIENS) than the President of the United States, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General of the United States.
THE CITY OF MESA AND THE MORMON CHURCH SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES ACTING IN THIS.........UN-AMERICAN WAY.
AmericanPatriot posted at 4:41 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
bimbo is defined as a beautiful but unintelligent and often promiscuous woman. Perhaps you can tell us all which families you say Pearce destroyed.
Poorman posted at 4:47 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
The only families Pearce destroyed are the illegalls who did it to themselves in the first place.
American posted at 4:52 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
@Leon: The Mormon Church did not sponsor Pearce's recall vote. I am Mormon and I will stand by Pearce and work hard to keep him in office. I think the recall is ridiculous. I applaud him for all he has done for our state. Though I don't agree with everything in the SB1070 bill, I am proud that he and the other legislators have acted while the federal govt refuses to do their duty of protecting our borders. Again, don't blame this on the Mormons; I'm sure there are some who disprove of him and maybe organized to get him ousted but they do not, by any means, represent all of us or the official stance of the Mormon church.
AmericanPatriot posted at 5:12 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
Oh look what crawled out of the desert. It's dave the resident Nazi hunter come to set the record crooked again. Dang we sure do love it when he pompostulates ignoramously out his blow hole. lol
devils66 posted at 5:37 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
LEON which end did you pull out that the mormon church organized the recall. Get your facts straight, the mormon church or the mormons didn't organize the recall. You have no clue what your talking about. And Gilbert is the laughing stock of politics and your police force is another story. So I'd get off your high horse about your joke of a town. Pearce has nothing to worry about with this recall.
victoria posted at 5:37 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
"..limited government and living within our means...."
You've GOT to be kidding!
If anyone actually believes that line of bullcrap, then they're as stupid as he hopes they are and will continue to elect him.
AmericanPatriot posted at 5:57 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
Well victoria, Pearce did balance the budget, and he did reduce spending in a few government offices, so YES that is correct for him to say, "I am proud of my legislative record of limited government and living within our means."
I hope you're right devis66 when you say Pearce has nothing to worry about, but I'm not so sure about what the Mormon churches involvement is in the recall.
LinMesa posted at 9:36 pm on Fri, Jul 15, 2011.
"Pearce's statement reads: "I have devoted my entire life to public service - first as a Maricopa County deputy sheriff who was shot in the line of duty, then as the North Mesa Justice of the Peace and now as a member of the legislature."
Gosh, he seems to have forgotten about the time he worked for the MVD. Oh, that's right, he got fired from that one. I'll bet he would like to forget.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 1:25 am on Sat, Jul 16, 2011.
In 1995 Pearce became the Director of the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division. One notable accomplishment during his tenure was bringing in IBM to create the first version of servicearizona.com, an online resource for Arizonans to update their Motor Vehicle Department information.
Pearce was discharged from the position of Director of the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division in August 1999 by Governor Jane Hull, who held him responsible for the actions of two subordinates who had irregularly altered the state driving record of a woman to remove a DUI conviction which they had been told was invalid, and which would have (in conjunction with another DUI conviction on her part) led to a mandatory license suspension. The two employees subsequently found that the record of conviction had not been in error, and informed Pearce of this fact in a meeting, following which Hull felt Pearce did not take appropriate action. Nobody's perfect LinMesa.
manini posted at 9:17 am on Sat, Jul 16, 2011.
Ummm, minor blip by the liberals in his district...AZ Senator Pearce will be re-elected by a landslide & continue his good work for the great state of AZ!!!!
TruthSeeker posted at 11:35 am on Sat, Jul 16, 2011.
Hey, lady! Why isn't Jerry Lewis declaring what party he is associated with? Too embarrassed or ashamed?
AmericanPatriot posted at 1:12 pm on Sat, Jul 16, 2011.
Jerry Lewis is a republican and a Mormon. An integral part of the circumvention of the democratic process of a recall is that no qualified candidate needs to either run in a primary nor have their political party affiliation on the ballot.
samkat posted at 5:08 pm on Sat, Jul 16, 2011.
Where is Dale? I am surprised he has not weighed in on this article. :-)
In_God_We_Trust posted at 7:53 pm on Sat, Jul 16, 2011.
Please help a national and Arizona American Hero by donating to hid recall election campaign. Senator Russell Pearce the author of Senate Bill 1070 is under attack from the liberal left for giving the state the authority to enforce the laws President Obama and Secretary Napolitano refuse to enforce.
These liberal leaders, who support Amnesty for those who broke our laws, are recalling Senator Pearce because of his leadership to secure our border.
Stand with him today and send President Obama, Secretary Napolitano and their liberal friends a message that we will never give up the fight to secure our borders.
National liberal groups are pouring thousands of dollars into the effort to remove Senator Russell Pearce from office. He needs your immediate financial support. Please donate as much as you can to support a true American Patriot, the author of SB 1070, and a leading voice to secure our borders.
http://protectanamericanpatriot.com/