Foes of state Senate President Russell Pearce will get a second chance this week to try to bounce Olivia Cortes from the recall ballot.
Attorney Tom Ryan said he has found new witnesses who he said will prove that Cortes knew from the start that she was a “sham” candidate, being put in the race solely to draw votes away from Jerry Lewis, the other challenger to Pearce. That would contradict Cortes’ own testimony last week that she decided to run after hearing an inspiring talk about the Constitution given by Greg Western in the Mormon church they both attend.
Ryan also said he will present evidence that those involved in Pearce’s own campaign were involved in helping Cortes. There were no such links presented last week.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Edward Burke agreed to hear Ryan’s arguments on Friday. But it remains unclear whether the judge can be persuaded to change his mind, even if Ryan can get his witnesses to say what he believes they will say.
Ryan refused to name the witnesses, at least at this point, or exactly what he believes they will say.
“Some of them are very reluctant,” he said, and might try to avoid being served with a subpoena.
“Others are going to be hostile witnesses,” Ryan continued. “I don’t want them thinking, ‘I’ve been warned and I’m going to get the heck out of Dodge.’ ”
In his ruling earlier this week, Burke said there was clear evidence that the only reason Cortes got on the ballot is because she got help from Western, who is chairman of the East Valley Tea Party. The judge also said that he did not believe Western’s contention that he has no idea who hired and paid people to circulate nominating petitions for Cortes and has been erecting signs urging her election, calling that testimony “too improbable to be believed.”
But Burke said that, at least from what he heard last week, “no one impugned Cortes’ honesty or integrity.”
He said while she has waged a non-traditional campaign — turning away volunteers and refusing most media interviews — that did not mean she was not a serious candidate, at least in her mind. And Burke believed her testimony that she is “genuinely opposed to what she believes is Pearce’s harsh legislative treatment of and comments about illegal Hispanic immigrants.”
Ryan said Tuesday that one byproduct of last week’s hearing was that others have come forward with information. And one of those pieces, he said, is about Cortes.
“I’m alleging that she knew what her role was, that was to be a shill and not to be a serious candidate, contrary to what she said,” Ryan said. And Ryan said he will undermine Cortes’ own description of how she got into the race.
“If you think that this whole process started with Olivia Cortes and going to Greg (Western) and saying, ‘I listened to you speak and I want to run against the most powerful man in Arizona,’ I’ve got a London Bridge I want to sell you up in Lake Havasu City,’ ” he said.
Ryan said witnesses also will show direct links between the Pearce campaign and the push for Cortes.
Evidence was presented last week that paid petition circulators told people that by signing papers to help get Cortes on the Nov. 8 ballot they would, in fact, be helping Pearce.
That is based on the premise that a certain number of people in the east Mesa legislative district will vote against anyone running against Pearce. Having two foes would split the vote, increasing Pearce’s chances of retaining his seat.
And at least one Pearce supporter said he and others wanted Cortes on the ballot for exactly that reason.
But there was never any direct link to Pearce or anyone on his campaign.
Pearce has repeatedly said he never pushed Cortes to run, saying he has never even met the woman. Ryan said, though, he does not have to prove that Pearce himself was involved in any plan to dilute the vote against him.
The ballots for the election already have been printed. But Ryan said he believes Burke has the power to declare her candidacy void, with notices placed in polling places and inserted into absentee ballots informing voters that she is no longer a candidate and that any votes for her will not be counted.
That, however, will not affect the 102 ballots already mailed to military and overseas voters. County officials testified last week that two of those already have been voted and mailed back.
davidflucier posted at 4:51 pm on Tue, Oct 4, 2011.
Judge Burke on Greg Western's testimony, “too improbable to be believed” should be the probable cause for an investigation.
But, beyond that, is this the kind of behavior that we should be tolerating from our "elected officials"?
Ask yourself, "Is this the kind of behavior and ethics we should be teaching our children in our schools? Is this the ethical standard we should use as an example for our children to follow? Is this the kind of behavior you will teach your children in your churches? Would you hold this up as an example of how to behave as a member of a little league team?
So while folks can debate the legal hair splitting, the short answer is this kind of behavior "Stinks". It's unethical, it's unseemly, and it's wrong!
TheChef posted at 5:21 pm on Tue, Oct 4, 2011.
If convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud can Cortes be deported?
commonsenseaintcommon posted at 9:22 pm on Tue, Oct 4, 2011.
TheChef, Um,ah, NO. She is a citizen. If you need further clarification you will nee to pull your head out of that tight dark place.
Diogenes Lantern posted at 7:58 am on Wed, Oct 5, 2011.
The media leaves the impression that this type of gamesmanship is unusual;however, the Dems use this tactic twice last year and the old time media ignores it.
The AZ Democrats "Gamesmanship" Just for Year 2010:
1) Republican Schweikert successfully ran against incumbent Dem Mitchell in CD5 last year. The Dems sent out brochures in support of another party Libertarian candidate (believe Nick Coons)to take votes away from Schweikert from his conservative/libertarian base. The media was silent because they support playing dirty tricks to help a candidate they love-Mitchell.
2) When Republican Kelly almost bet Dem Giffords (lost by 4000 votes) it was due to 11,174 votes going to the Libertarian candidate, Steven Stoltz, Who paid for and distributed the direct mail for Stolz? You guessed it-the AZ Democratic party. The Dems put on Stoltz' brochures that Stoltz was "The Real Conservative"knowing that war hero Jesse Kelly was the conservative/tea party favorite? Hum! Where was the old media then?
And the Stoltz hit piece by the Dems didn't even have the required "paid by" on the brochures until Bivens admitted to it. Where was the Az Rep's indignation? What wasn't Don Bivens asked to resign as Dem State party Chair (believe he has now since Cheney in office)? (Mesa took down Olivia's signs because they didn't say "paid for". ( Mesa's employees are unionized?).
In the Cortes case, the media are in full frenzy. This poor Hispanic patriot is called "ignorant". "sham" (check out Lewis' puppet master-Randy Parraz for the definition of Sham), and the ultimate bigotry from AZ Republico/Roberts that Cortes does not know how to say "incumbent". Now the AZ Rep is calling Cortes stupid because a group they despise (conservatives) engaged in a trick to support a candidate the media hates.
The out of date media is silent on the dirty tricks of their left wing brethern. For supporting documents on above, go to Expresso Pundit.
Arizona Willie posted at 8:33 am on Wed, Oct 5, 2011.
There is one thing that hasn't been mentioned by the people calling Cortez a " sham " candidate ---- MOTIVE!
She is an immigrant who became a naturalized citizen and states she doesn't like Pearce and his positions on illegal immigration --- SO WHY WOULD SHE AGREE TO BE A SHILL FOR HIM?
They are saying Pearce people are behind her, so why would she agree to that. And, if she doesn't like Pearce, why wouldn't she blow the whistle herself if someone unknown to her was paying for signature collectors and campaign signs?
It doesn't pass the smell test.
I suspect if one could dig down deep enough you would find Lewis people behind her and they have taken advantage of her for a " dirty tricks " operation to make people think Pearce did something wrong.
Someone paid for those signs and those people. Let Lewis produce copies of the bills or the signs and copies of the checks.
I'm sure the people against Pearce have the power that they have already checked the bank accounts of Cortez and her entire family looking for illegal payments from Pearce people.
The Lewis campaign has not produced a MOTIVE why Cortez would do why they claim she has done.
And the whole thing is nothing but a publicity thing anyway.
There is no law that specifies what a person's motive must be in order to run for office. If there was most of the current Congresscritters ( from both parties ) would be facing prison sentences because they didn't run with pure hearts.
Sham candidates are routine. Palin was a good example. They didn't want to win so they ran someone who guaranteed a lose so they didn't have to deal with the mess they had made and could blame Democrats for failing to fix it.
Again this election, the good possible candidates are staying out of it on the Republican side and they will run someone they don't think can win. Again because they don't want to take over and have to explain why THEY can't miraculously cure the countries problems in 9 months like they demanded Obama should have. The get much more political mileage from standing back and criticizing Obama while doing everything they can to keep anything he tries to do from succeeding.
Once again --- SOMEONE PRODUCE A MOTIVE FOR CORTEZ.
Banphotoradar posted at 8:55 am on Wed, Oct 5, 2011.
The GOP did this same thing last year with green party candidates. Rep. Jim Weiers' family was caught in that scandal. The judge in that case said they were sham candidates but left them on the ballott. Go to youtube and check it out.
mopcambm posted at 9:21 am on Wed, Oct 5, 2011.
Why bring Lewis into this? There is no proof or indication that anyone in his campaign has anything to do with this; however, there are many links to Pearce's campaign. If Lewis had the backing of all these people he is supposed to be associated with, he would have twice as many posters. For every Lewis poster, there are 2 Pearce posters, one Randy Parraz, and one Olivia Cortes poster. The Pearce and Parraz posters are from the same place, and from the evidence, the Cortes posters are likely also from the same people who seem to have a lot more money to throw around. Big business? Outside sources? It seems to apply more to Pearce's campaign than to Lewis.
Cortes was probably brought in to split the vote when it was rumored that Parraz was going to run, Afterwards, she stayed to try and dilute the vote against Lewis. She didn't blow the whistle on her mysterious signatures and unknown posters; that came out as a result of the lawsuit against her. She probably would never have said anything otherwise. Perhaps she honestly is delusional enough to think of herself as a serious candidate, but her campaign manager, Greg Western--a known Pearce supporter, knows exactly what he is doing. If he truly wanted someone to run against Pearce, he would have chosen an educated, articulate immigration success story who is not afraid to speak to the press about the issues and can actually head a campaign. There are plenty of those people around. The choice of Cortes as someone to take the Hispanic vote away is laughable and insulting. Do they really think that simply putting a Hispanic person on the ballot--no matter how unqualified-- will actually sway the Hispanic vote? Is that really what the Pearce/Western planners think of the intelligence of the Hispanic voters? We all know that Western isn't even going to vote for Cortes; he is going to vote for Pearce. You want a motive? What is her motivation for running? What is Western's motivation for backing her? It is obvious that she will not win; she doesn't even know anything other than one issue. Nobody in their right mind runs for Senate as unprepared as she is. That in itself speaks volumes against her and those who support her.
I live in Mesa posted at 11:44 am on Wed, Oct 5, 2011.
Arizona Willie
Cortes cannot remember if she voted for Pearce. She said she went to a meeting where Greg Western was speaking and was impressed. Greg Western Chairman of the East Valley Tea Party. SHE SAID that she registered for a Tea Party website, out of curiosity. The Tea Party has been a strong Russell Pearce supporter. Her petition (court document) show the ties to the Tea Party. I suspect if you read the vast amount of press on this, or even just the court document from Monday you would find your argument not only has no merit but has already been PROVEN wrong.
Next - whoever you say did the same thing is such a weak excuse - also basically says we know Pearce, Tea Party and camp have no ethics and morals but neither do others. Great - but would you cast a vote for someone who has shown they have no ethics or morals? Again, supporters who gave up their virtues, turn around and tell the story to your children then come back and post if you still feel you were right.
I live in Mesa posted at 11:59 am on Wed, Oct 5, 2011.
There's no argument on what they did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrHDlUNomLY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch9X5f8eYMg&feature=watch_response
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=admlRk23J6c&feature=watch_response
Here you can read the court document:
http://media.phoenixnewtimes.com/7318879.0.pdf
Anxiously awaiting the court documents from 10/7/2011 hearing!
Diogenes Lantern posted at 12:56 pm on Wed, Oct 5, 2011.
Interesting that Cortez should not run and keep quiet since she has no political expertise. Apparently, a total uknown politically and a "fake' Republican (no top GOP leader supports him) like Lewis is okay to run?
Apparently, Jerry Lewis, who has gained support from such Democrats as former Arizona governor Janet Napolitano, Congressman Raul Grijalva, and union organizer Randy Parraz (to name a few) needs no expertise, and the only Democrat in the race has backed out. (Things that make you go hmmm?)
Citizens for a Better Arizona's, a group started by union organizer Randy Parraz, attorney Tom Ryan has stood up in defense of the signatures that were questionably obtained in Mesa, and is also spearheading the lawsuit filed against Ms. Cortes questioning the validity of her eligibility in this race. All to the benefit of Jerry Lewis. She collected signatures just like Lewis did, maybe not in the same fashion (there has been speculation that the signatures collected in support of the recall were paid for by Progressive Democrats in Arizona), and when the complaint was filed with the Secretary of State’s office they found no error in her signatures and squashed the complaint. So, attorney Tom Ryan, is including the Secretary of State, Ken Bennett in the suit as well.
So the real question here is not who Olivia Cortes’ friends are, but who are Jerry Lewis’ friends? And why is he so intimidated ?
As Lewis says he is not interested in campaigning to the public ("hide"s) but just uses social media. Hum??? Afraid to be associated with Parraz, former president for 9 years of the IAF. IAF was founded by Saul Alinsky as a commie training camp to "develop warriors in class warfare". Successful alums include Fidel Castro, Ceasar Chavez, Hugo Chavez (dictator Ven), President Obama, and Randy Parraz. Parraz claims to be helping the little guy while he pulls off a $117K salary for a mob-controlled union (unioncheck.com).
Lewis' other pals are Chad Snow, a Glendale immigration attorney frothing at the mouth over more illegal business. Snow, a so-called Republican paid $7800 to Parraz-just as far left as one can go. Google the internet for all the "solidarity" photos of Parraz and Snow at various rallies/anti-Arpaio meetings with buddies Raul Grijalva and Ed Pastor, La Raz (kill whites) and Salvador Reze, Aztlan (return AZ and Tex to Mexico). Still not sick to your stomach?
Besides Parraz/Snow/Grijalva, Lewis' other backer is Kysten Sinema. See Lewis' Facebook page-don't log in or you will get your friends.. if scrubbed go to Sonoran Alliance for screen savers.
Sinema, an AZ legislator, is the major reason for the Redistricting mess (State lawsuits against Commission and federal lawsuit Voting rights Act). Napolitano developed this new commission and required (Wash Post, Daily Kros) the Commission to give Sinema, her favorite"girlfriend", a protected district with no incumbents. So now Maricopa has this highly gerrmandered map with three Republican incumbents "packed" into one district so Big Sis could give Sinema and their LBTJ (whatever) buddies a safe district. Sinema is so far left that she is PROUD of her Lenin Award for advancing Marxist causes and her violent hatred of all things Mormon.
Lewis must be scared out of his freakin' mind. Greed and revenge and now he is paying the price. These out-of-state (not Mesa) transplants play hardball and are the same folks from the Wisconsin/Walker recall attempts. They are now fueling the fire for the OccupyWallStreet crowd. Time to fight back for our beautiful Republic and say no more to Lewis' marxist retreads/friends/supporters.
Accuracy posted at 4:36 pm on Wed, Oct 5, 2011.
In July, when Republican Jerry Lewis announced that he would run, he already was the third to signal a run against Russell Pearce. The others were Independent Tommy Cattey and Republican Olivia Cortes.
Now, Lewis is going along with the protest that Olivia Cortes, a Latina candidate running against Pearce is actually involved in a conspiracy with Pearce's campaign to steal votes away from him.
A sham candidate set up even before Lewis filed his paperwork with the Secretary of State’s Office to enter LD-18 Senate GOP recall race??
Senate President Russell Pearce and recall election Republican candidates Jerry Lewis and Olivia Cortes will debate for the first — and possibly the only time — tomorrow, Oct. 6 at a public forum presented by the Mesa Chamber of Commerce.
Diogenes Lantern posted at 9:34 pm on Thu, Oct 6, 2011.
Teacher(s) at Jerry Lewis' charter school filed a lawsuit charging Lewis with theft from the Homeless Children donations.Go to Sonoran Alliance and check out the legal documents.The legal documents also shows the Facebook entry made by the teacher friend in which she discloses that she obtained nearly $1,000 from the sale of the donated items Lewis gave her.
Negative Comments (3) from Lewis' Fellow Teachers:
Jerry Lewis made himself principal of the school (even though he did not have the training or state certificate to be one) while he was also the assistant superintendent. The morale and academics plummeted under him
In the two years I worked while Jerry was principal I saw favoritism, heavy-handed tactics, and a decline in academics. The behavior of Jerry is far worse than Dr. Dowling was accused of.
Crazy thing is that through her contacts she brought in more funds for the school than what they paid her. Jerry did not like her constantly catching him spending donated funds incorrectly
mopcambm posted at 9:30 am on Fri, Oct 7, 2011.
For Immediate Release: October 5, 2011
Contact: John Giles
In response, to accusation made by anonymous bloggers and by Sunday Square Off contributor Greg Patterson, the Lewis campaign is releasing a statement by Ron Neil the superintendent named in a lawsuit. Mr. Neil sets the record straight on the false claims being made about Jerry Lewis.
“Choice Education and Development Corporation and Edkey, Inc., have been named defendants in a lawsuit in which the plaintiff’s main arguments are that she was wrongfully terminated. While the case will be debated in the legal realm, where we will assert the merits of what we believe to be a sound position, it appears that a tangent to the case is the plaintiff’s inclusion of Jerry Lewis’s name. At the time the events described in the suit occurred, Jerry Lewis was employed by Choice Education and Development Corporation. Jerry Lewis is NOT a named defendant in the lawsuit. He had nothing to do with her termination and in fact offered some creative options to save her job. It was my sole decision to terminate the plaintiff and eliminate her position due to budgetary issues. The plaintiff’s claims that Jerry Lewis misappropriated donated items are absolutely not true. In the process of collecting donations for the school, we routinely receive a large number of unusable items of little or no value, which are normally discarded or donated to other charitable organizations such as Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, etc. In the instance the plaintiff cites in her lawsuit, the items in question were not sold at any yard sale and most were donated to a local thrift store. Contrary to the plaintiff’s assertion, not even 1 cent was raised from any yard sale of items donated to our school. We find it disingenuous that someone would try to use this incident to harm Jerry Lewis’s reputation. We feel the need to set the record straight. In our experience, Jerry Lewis displays the highest degree of integrity in carrying out his duties and we have faith and confidence in his character.
“Choice Education and Development Corporation is quite concerned that untrue, irresponsible, and vengeful comments directed at Jerry Lewis could harm the wonderful students at our schools. The majority of the students at the school in question are homeless. They depend greatly on the generous donations of food, clothing and school supplies from a number of individuals. It is sad that people who make such irresponsible comments do not think how their words and accusations could harm children who are most in need.â€
Ron Neil
Superintendent,
Choice Education & Development Corporation
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2011/10/06/20111006mesa-pearce-lewis-split-on-immigration-enforcement.html#comments#ixzz1a72WSUA3