Without a doubt, there has been TONS of chatter about the 2020 election. Instead of talking about things that happened on the federal level, I wanted to unpack and analyze what happened closest to home. Believe it or not, local elections are the true foundation for ensuring our values and lifestyles are protected; the way the Founding Fathers intended. Throughout communities in rural Arizona many of the decisions that directly impact our lives, like various "emergency" powers we have seen recently, are decided largely at the state and local level. This is why we need to have a serious talk about what happened in our local and state elections, but more importantly, what we need to do moving forward as a team.
Let's take a gander at the state and local elections and analyze what happened in Coconino County. At the local level, we lost the Mayoral race, all County Board of Supervisor races, and all three Flagstaff City Council seats. All told, we dramatically underperformed in local races. Looking at the state level, we faired slightly better. LD 6 candidates, Walt Blackman and Brenda Barton, mobilized intense groups of canvassers that secured their wins. At the State Senate position, candidate Wendy Rogers, was able to utilize critical advertising strategies to finally secure a position in public office. Moving to LD 7, Republican bids were not as successful, but there is still much for us to learn from key races. Candidate David Peelman was amazing at being present everywhere, seemingly all at once, but his opponent prevailed just slightly. As for candidate Jim Parks, he and his wife Vickie, uniquely targeted the Navajo Reservation which helped bring many voters to our side of the aisle, pushing the envelope for what we can do in the county and district come 2022. By comparing LD 6 and LD 7, we see the imbalance of our support throughout the county. Tapping into the unique talents and strengths of each person above, the party can grow and become too formidable for the "blue wave" to overcome. Looking at this, it becomes clear we must expand outreach throughout the county via continued work alongside our influential Coconino Republicans: Jim and Vickie Parks, Larry and Cheryl Schug, Mayor John Moore, and our local conservative youth groups.
There is no better analogy than that of football. We are a team and each teammate has a specific role benefitting the team. When each teammate fulfills their role to the fullest of their abilities, WE WIN championships (aka elections).
Our performance in local and state elections this year does not indicate that voters have rejected conservative ideals, or that there is some irreversible trend of the county being left. We need to adapt our strategies to the ever-changing political landscape to ensure that we match the right candidates for the constituency of today to overcome the challenges of tomorrow. Of course, as conservatives we must always be mindful that we adapt in a way that stays true to the roots of our ideals while also expanding our message. President Trump knew that, like the Constitution is a living document, we are a living party that must adapt from the establishment while also keeping with our traditions: fiscal responsibility, free enterprise, and limited government. We must not forget that the fundamentals of faith and family are not concepts lost on the next generation of voters; despite what the leftist want you to believe. As the political landscape changes in uncontrollable ways, as it always does, the Republican Party can control how it adapts to these changes by honoring the core principles of faith and family; core principles that resonate with every American. Our success in Coconino County hinges on running strong candidates that wholeheartedly embody these values mentioned above. Ultimately, the responsibility of ensuring support for these types of candidates falls on all of us. Each and every one of us must hold each other accountable. Tell your friends, tell your family, and tell anyone that needs to hear what you read today. Its up to us to ensure that a blue wave will NEVER wash over our red rock state.