Jack Sellers ran and won as a Republican. He was ousted in the primary by fellow Republican Mark Stewart. For the general on Nov 5, Sellers is endorsing Stewart's Dem opponent Navarro.
County supervisors in Maricopa act as legislative and executive branch for the whole county, having significant power not only over unincorporated areas, but also over cities and towns.
Sellers - defeated in the Republican primary, now endorsing a Democrat
We have reached out to Sellers asking him why is endorsing the Democrat Navarro over his fellow Republican Stewart. We received no response. We assume his reasons are a combination of personal bitterness over having been ousted in the Republican primary, and perhaps better ideological alignment with the Democrat Jose Navarro. Sellers has, for example, alluded to "protecting democracy", a dog whistle for election cheating and essentially a pledge to destroy the United States in its current form, which is a Republic.
A brief civics review
In a Republic the individual is protected from the majority via individual rights on the one hand, and federalism on the other. This means that the majority does not always get what it wants. Life, freedom, property, free speech are fundamental individual rights in a republic, beyond the reach of a majority vote. Federalism guarantees certain localities, e.g. states, representation, e.g. Senators, even if these localities have fewer people than others. This is very important for a free society because without those protections, 51% could vote to have the other 49% disowned and killed. Pure democracies usually devolve into authoritarian systems. The People's Republic of China, Democratic Republic of North Korea or the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) are/were examples of this.
Navarro
Joel Navarro is running on his personality and life story. Similar to many other Democrats running locally and federally, he comes from a middle class family, his family struggled to buy a house, but he made it and now wants an opportunity economy. Something like that... Kamala Harris and Joe Biden on the federal level and OD Harris on the local level in Chandler are other examples. Radical leftists, dressing up as everyday moderates that just have the best intentions. Make no mistake, Navarro is a far left radical/progressive.
Protect democracy - a dog whistle for letting illegal aliens vote for Democrats. In particular he wants to: Invest in efforts to fight mis-, dis-, and mal-information regarding our elections (an asinine dog whistle for censorship) and expand the use of secure ballot drop boxes to make voting early easier.
Public Safety - a lot of hot air, nothing on lowering crime and securing the border
Public health - tax payer funded government grants, possibly handed out on a racial basis
Early Childhood Education - use Tempe as a role model for the whole county, taxing you in order pay for little children being indoctrinated in critical race theory/DEI by the government
Stewart
Unfortunately for Republicans and the human race, Mark Stewart isn't a particularly good candidate either. As City Council member in Chandler he once spent taxpayer money on a mock vote-by-smart-phone election (original link here). While his intentions may have been good, i.e. faster results, auditable, it's obvious that what can't be audited is who is operating the phone, meaning vote by phone is an obvious no go for anyone interested in election integrity. If the government could manage to have no more than 10 minute waiting times for a 1 day in person vote, where polls are open for 24 hours on election day, then most people likely would want to vote in person. It's just because (bread)lines on election day can get so long and the experience can be so stressful that so many people choose vote by mail or vote early. Stewart is also one of the Republicans in the Chandler City Council that approved section 8 housing and other "growth" policies which led to the voter demographics changing so much that Chandler has fallen into the hands of Democrats and/or far left radicals. Worst of all perhaps, Stewart has posted an interview with the leftist Chandler Chamber of Commerce on his campaign website. He's the type of Republican who still lives in the pre-amnesty 80s when California was a red state. The Chamber pushed for amnesty of course and even the venerable Ronald Reagan tried to outdo the awful H.W. Bush in their 1980 primary debate. Unlike Bush pushing for amnesty, at least Reagan talked only about work permits, but without saying the word "temporary" and the phrase "no path to citizenship". California is now deep blue, but there are still many Republicans who have no, or pretend to have no clue that their own actions caused their loss of political power. Stewart seems that type, clueless.
Innovation and Opportunity - The government as benign facilitator, not regulator; which sound awfully close to "I'm from the government and I'm here to help"...
Trust, Transparency and Accountability - Laudable goals but the fact that people even run on this is a bad sign because this should be a baseline requirement of government entities
Pubic safety - More cops and more pay for cops. Smarter politicians would ensure to keep bad people out of their communities. Less smart people like Stewart invite them in, e.g. via section 8 housing he voted for, and then want to spend more taxpayer money on more cops to deal with the completely predictable rise in crime. However, it's a better platform than building section 8 housing and then reducing the number of cops. Note: nothing on border security, e.g. no pledge to cooperate with deportations.
Fight inflation: Stewart says he will keep taxes low (but not lower them) and save money.
If this article has a sarcastic tone, the reader is to be congratulated on his or her acute perception. Stewart is the better choice. But it's not because he is great, but rather because Navarro would be a downright awful socialist authoritarian.
So vote for the Bozo over the Bolchevik and pray that Bozo wins.
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