Six years ago Russell Pearce famously complained to a reporter, "It's not the Mesa I was raised in."
Last week's recall election proved him right.
In 1960 when Pearce reached the age of 13, Mesa had reached a population of 33,772.
For Pearce to take back the Mesa he was raised in, 400,000 of us would have to beat it out of town.
That wasn't going to happen, but sometime after that 2005 story on Pearce and what was called Mesaico, Pearce left Mesa.
Oh, his residence was still here, but he disconnected and rode to a bigger stage, leaving Mesa in his rearview mirror.
Never was that more apparent than in Pearce's guest commentary carried by the Tribune on Sunday.
Glaring in their absence in the commentary are references to his district and to Mesa.
In his 1,000-word commentary, Mesa is mentioned only once. And not by Pearce.
The reference to Mesa was contained in a quote made by what Pearce described as a "pro-amnesty lobbying organization."
He didn't talk about his city. He didn't mention service to his district or to his constituents. He didn't thank those who had put him in public office in the first place.
So what did he talk about?
You know the answer.
In contrast to the word "Mesa," the word "nation" pops up five times as Pearce lists his achievements in the Arizona Senate.
"We have changed the national debate," Pearce thumped.
"One state Senate race would not be national news were it not for the fact that for the last several years, I have led the successful battle against illegal immigration...."
His reach was to a national audience.
But it wasn't a national audience that sent him packing.
Only a Mesa audience could do that-a West Mesa audience.
Could it be that Pearce just didn't pay enough attention to Mesa and his constituents and that he tried to make their complex interests fit into a single, simple bucket-the illegal immigration bucket?
"The left" got its own paragraph and four mentions as Pearce once again tried to reduce his defeat to a simple paradigm: The evil left had done him in.
"The left have said terrible things," he wrote. "I proudly take the arrows of the left and consider it a badge of honor....
"Left-wing groups...all supported Lewis."
Here's the thing, you don't lose an election by nearly 12 points in a conservative, predominantly Republican district and blame it on the left.
You don't get beat by a conservative Republican with a phalanx of Republican supporters -- Mormon and non -- and blame it on the left. Unless, that is, you are in denial.
Pearce also repeated the argument that he would have won had he been running in a "normal election," not in a referendum.
In last year's "normal election," Pearce said he was elected with nearly two-thirds of the vote.
I'm not sure what makes one constitutionally authorized election normal and another not.
But a close look at last year's "normal election" hints at Pearce's vulnerability.
Among the 30 winning state senators in last year's state senate elections, Pearce was the 28th lowest vote getter. Only two winning senators had lower winning vote totals and they were unopposed.
Pearce also placed 28th in the percentage of his winning vote when measured against the most recent list of registered voters, according to my analysis of Secretary of State online records.
Pearce received 17,552 votes from a district with a registration of 71,168. He won with 24.663 percent of the registered vote to win.
In other words, more than 75 percent of the registered voters didn't participate in his election.
If that's what "normal" looks like, I wouldn't brag about it.
I've read thousands of words of analysis on the recall. Some of it tried to hang the outcome on the illegal immigration issue. But much of it acknowledged that a host of factors were at play.
Little of what I have read actually involved talking with real voters.
In an effort to make a connection with a few real voters, I tracked down five Lewis voters.
Among them were Debby and Mike Elliott who hosted a reception in September where I first met Pearce opponent Jerry Lewis.
Of the five, Debby Elliott is the least political. She's lived in Mesa all of her 60 years, graduated from Westwood High School, and has served her community through the arts.
"I was hoping people would rise up and make statement to the rest of Arizona and rest of country that we are thinking people," she said.
Senate Bill "1070 was well-intentioned at the beginning," she continued. But "with Russell enough was not enough."
"They (state politicians) need to find a way to build consensus instead of dynamiting everything. They have to get back to the greater good," she said.
Husband Mike Elliott had a similar assessment.
Elliott, who is a businessman, said he asked Pearce about his experience in the private sector.
"It was very limited," Elliott said. "Just about every paycheck he's ever gotten has been funded by the taxpayers."
"His single-issue focus and stridency was seen very badly around the country," Mike Elliott added. "We're not Alabama in the 60s, but that's the image we were projecting."
I also talked to Mesa City Councilman Dave Richins, whose district includes West Mesa.
Richins got my attention before the election when he told the Arizona Republic: "The attitude that Russell Pearce takes toward cities is absolutely one of confrontation, not one of working together."
Reflecting in the aftermath of the recall, Richins said, Pearce "got distracted from serving his constituents."
He didn't attend community events, church bazaars, park openings, neighborhood gatherings.
Rather, Richins said Pearce surrounded himself with like minded people in District 18.
"If you don't participate (in community life) anymore, if you are not around, you're just in an echo chamber," Richins said.
• Jim Ripley is the former executive editor of the East Valley Tribune. Contact him at jimripleyaz@gmail.com.
ram1009 posted at 10:54 am on Tue, Nov 15, 2011.
Pearce lost because he pissed off somebody in the Mormon "church".
DESERTHAWK posted at 11:22 am on Tue, Nov 15, 2011.
Pearce lost for several reasons. 1. He ignored the voices of many of his constituent supporters. 2. He did not support the Mormon Church "Utah Compact", a document drummed up by the Mormon Bishop's, Church Leaders, the chamber of commerce and the business leaders and politicians of Salt lake city and Utah....also supported by Mayor Scott Smith, a Mormon and several Mesa City Council members - also Mormons. The Utah Compact is, by definition, the continuation of the Mormon churches attempt to subvert the Rule of Law for the purpose of amnetizing illegal aliens. Such a document is not an extra-ordinary event for the Mormon Church, as its history is replete with such "side" agreements that have and still do....divert Mormon Loyalty from allegiance and loyalty to our constitutional Republic. 3. The recall election was akin to an OPEN PRIMARY where political considerations were cast aside and anyone and everyone was allowed to vote. LEWIS, a more than moderate RINO, won because of the influence of the democrat voters in the District. Had this been a Primary type election, Pearce would have won easily.
Likewise, the money being poured into the election by outside groups, RINO politicians and pro-illegal alien organizations, either directly or indirectly, i.e. LA RAZA, et al....against Pearce, cannot be discounted as a force to be dealt with.
Should Pearce decide to run in 2012, he will be a lot more wiser when evaluating the support of his base and should easily win in a political "fair fight.
commonsenseaintcommon posted at 11:38 am on Tue, Nov 15, 2011.
Every day since the election those who worked against Pearce have continued to deride and disparage him. What's the matter? Now that he has national attention and can run for an office that includes voters outside of Mesa are you afraid that he will gain a larger stage and get elected to a level beyond what the Pearce haters can run a recall for? You supporters of illegals can't even be gracious winners. You need to continue your attack. This reaction on your part shows that you are frightened. You now realize that you only won a small battle but not the war. The Utah Compact is an attack on American workers because the acceptance of illegals who work for lower wages depresses wages for legal workers. Make up your minds that you are either a patriot or a traitor. There is no middle ground.
TeaPartyPatriot posted at 12:29 pm on Tue, Nov 15, 2011.
WASHINGTON - Service Employees Secretary-Treasurer Eliseo Medina, a skilled organizer and one of the most influential Hispanic Americans in the labor movement, predicts Latino voters will have heightened activism in next year's election.
Medina's forecast was in a telephone press conference after a key win for Latinos on Nov. 8: Recall election ouster of Arizona State Senate President Russell Pearce (R), author and instigator of that state's infamous anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic SB1070.
Pearce's law, now held up in federal courts, lets local law enforcement officials stop anyone they suspect of not being a legal resident and demand on-the-spot proof of residency. If it's not forthcoming, immediate arrest, detention and deportation follow.
But Pearce lost his seat to a moderate Republican, who campaigned against SB1070 and the racist image it gave to Arizona as part of his effort. SEIU, the Communications Workers, and the state AFL-CIO all aided the moderate, who beat Pearce in a strongly conservative suburban Phoenix district, 53-45 percent.
"It's important that Latinos turned out and made the critical difference" in a state senate district that is now 30 percent+ Latino, Medina said. "But their message is that [Pearce] has been recalled by all voters, including non-Latinos.
"And that's a big, big message to candidates in 2012," he said. It also applies to both the Republicans - who have adopted anti-Hispanic legislation - and to Democrats, who have not fought hard for immigration reform, Medina warned.
"If they believe an anti-immigrant message would lead them to victory, they need to heed the message of Mesa," where Pearce lost, Medina said.
We know by who and why Pearce lost the recall election
schatzi5 posted at 3:37 pm on Tue, Nov 15, 2011.
THANK YOU JIM RIPLEY. You hit the nail right on the head.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 5:12 pm on Tue, Nov 15, 2011.
Jim Ripley, his bio says it all = "former executive editor of the East Valley Tribune".
What's that old saying that I am thinking of....has to do with a ...."grain of salt".
Masterrogue666 posted at 7:09 pm on Tue, Nov 15, 2011.
@ Jim: I've live in Mesa for over 20 years, and I've seen first hand how Mesa has DECLINED from the city it once was. Most of it has to do with the ILLEGAL ALIEN FLOOD that has been going on for decades. Why do government papers need to be in English and Spanish? LEGAL IMMIGRANTS are required to READ, WRITE, AND SPEAK English. Why should we foot the bill? ENTITLEMENT MINDED ILLEGAL ALIENS take much more than they give...
LenWilliams posted at 10:05 pm on Tue, Nov 15, 2011.
Pearce is a STATE Senator, not a Mesa City Council member. He lost for one reason: the efforts of Randy Parraz, a Progressive Democrat/Activist/Community Organizer/AFL-CIO leader from California who hates SB1070. Also, hundreds of thousands of dollars from Leftist organizations all over the country were spent on hit mailers and tv ads distorting Pearce's record.
SB1070 allows police officers to verify the immigration status of any person after a valid stop or arrest if there “is a reasonable suspicion that the person is unlawfully present in the United States.”
“Reasonable suspicion” has been a part of our due process jurisprudence for many years. It means that a police officer can question on suspicion that is less than probable cause; reasonable suspicion, of course, must be something more than a hunch or a guess or an intuition—it must be based on articulable facts. In addition, the Supreme Court in 1975 ruled that ethnicity could be one of the factors determining reasonable suspicion. SB1070, in contrast, disallows any use of ethnicity in determining whether a person can be asked about his immigration status.
The law is going to the Supreme Court to determine if it conflicts with the federal government’s exclusive power to regulate immigration. Basically, does Arizona have the right to defend itself from illegal immigration if the federal government fails to enforce its own law?
http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2011&month=09
LenWilliams posted at 11:20 pm on Tue, Nov 15, 2011.
Russell Pearce is correct that Leftists played a big role in the election. The Left knows that if you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it.
Campaign Money Watch spent about $40,000 on mailers that distorted Pearce's record. Campaign Money Watch receives money from the Public Campaign Action Fund. This group is bankrolled by SEIU, NEA, moveon.org, Working Assets (this group supports Planned Parenthood, Media Matters, etc.), and many other Leftist groups. A major benefactor of Media Matters, moveon.org, Planned Parenthood and others is George Soros.
Here's a link to the Campaign Finance Report for Campaign Money Watch;
http://www.azsos.gov/cfs/FilerDetail.aspx?id=201200232
Here's information about the Public Campaign Action Fund. http://www.campaignmoney.org/about/funders
There were plenty of other Leftist groups that poured money into Pearce's deafeat.
Another one is PAZ en accion! You might have seen them around town registering voters, and then going back to pick up their ballots. This group is headed by Raquel Teran. She's a Leftist, open borders activist who has joined Randy Parraz many times in trying to defeat SB1070, or any legislation that targets ILLEGAL immigration.
ILLEGAL immigrants drain our economy in many ways. It isn't an issue that exists in a vacuum. It affects jobs, healthcare, the prison population, education....
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:00 am on Thu, Nov 17, 2011.
More..........Liberal-Progressive-Socialist-Democrat ranting.
Wouldn't you folks like to see who is writing these "comments" ?
Wouldn't you folks like to see the person hiding behind the cutesy..."computer nic-name" ?
I guess I was brought up with "old time values"..that if a man or woman has an opinion that they want to express in public that they have the "intestinal fortitude" to put their name and reputation to their remarks.
But, sadly, times of personal responsibility are a thing of the past. Just look at the Penn State Child Abuse Scandal and Coverup. A 6'2" ex-Penn State football player who sees his ex-coach attacking a 10 year old boy and doesn't beat the u-know-what out of the coach and take the 10 year old boy to the hospital......instead....he tells the ex-coach to "stop" raping the 10 year old boy then leaves the 10 year old boy with his attacker and goes crying to his daddy and tells Paterno, his icon, the next day. How many of you out there man or woman would have done the same as this 6'2" ex-football player..........leave a 10 year old boy alone, naked, raped, in the clutches of a 56yo ex-coach.
Well, this just shows along with "anonymous comments" what pesonal responsibility has come to in America today.
catskinner posted at 5:51 am on Fri, Nov 18, 2011.
Pearce lost because subversive elements and supporters of open borders have found a sneaky way around Democratic elections. Now they're trying to recall the governor of Wisconsin.
The threshold for pulling off a recall election needs to be raised. It's in the toilet now.