The AZ
Republic has endorsed my campaign for Secretary of State. In fact, they said
“it was an easy call”. Please read their endorsement here.
Reagan
has acted like secretary of state for years
Editorial
board, The Republic | azcentral.com
Our
View: State Sen. Michele Reagan has a long track record of election-law reform,
which best prepares her for this office.
The
traditional duties of an Arizona secretary of state, such as keeping essential
records and overseeing elections, seem so quaint these days. So
anachronistic.
Election-related
duties are more tied now to hot-button political issues pitting the interests of
the parties against each other.
Keeping
a list of voters who automatically receive early ballots, for example, once may
have been an apolitical housekeeping matter.
But
don't tell that to the Republicans and Democrats fighting over whether to
cleanse the list of people who don't vote early.
Likewise,
the secretary of state is at the center of the debate over "dark money," the
money spent by all-but-anonymous organizations.
The
office should be an honest broker for developing policies to bring transparency
to such groups. Again, that has become a fierce partisan battle that can
compromise the office if the elected secretary of state lets
it.
And then
there is a history of Arizona secretaries of state ascending unexpectedly to the
governor's office. That is a consideration when weighing whom voters should
favor.
In the
Republican primary race for secretary of state, one candidate is well suited for
the job under these modern-day qualifications. Another may have the intellectual
chops to grow into the job. A third does not belong in the
race.
The
top-rung candidate of the three Republicans vying to be secretary of state is
Michele Reagan.
As a
state senator from Scottsdale, Reagan made reform of campaign-finance disclosure
laws and election law a top priority.
In 2013,
Reagan put together a sensible, serious-minded package of election-law reforms
with the help of all 15 Arizona county election directors, Democrats and
Republicans alike.
That
those reforms were scuttled because of partisan overreach by Republican
legislative leaders is no reflection on Reagan. She demonstrated she knows what
the state needs to do to wrest elections away from partisan
manipulation.
We are
confident that as secretary of state she will use the office's bully pulpit to
get those reforms done.
Reagan
also wants to open the curtains hiding dark-money contributors. She appears
committed to the long, hard task of peeling away their cloaks, a noble
task.
Reagan's
principle opponent is Justin Pierce, a state lawmaker from Mesa. Pierce would
target many of the same reforms Reagan has championed.
He also
is the sole beneficiary in this primary of an independent-expenditure campaign
group. From a dark-money
source, in other words. He defends the secrecy in which it
operates.
In any
other race, that modern-day election reality may not give reason for concern. In
this race, it does.
The
third candidate, Mesa businessman Wil Cardon, has troubles beyond this race to
which he should attend.
Cardon
is being
sued by six of his siblings for using more than $6 million they contend was
not his to spend in his unsuccessful 2012 race for U.S. Senate. Cardon does not
seem well suited for this office.
Michele
Reagan is. The Arizona Republic strongly recommends Reagan for the
Republican nomination for secretary of state.
