A Letter From LD-6 Chairman DAVID BRASWELL

Changing the Way We Do Business

I would like to begin by saying, “May God Bless Chuck Hammerslag, Shelly and their family.” May all LD 6 members ask GOD to comfort Shelly and feel his presence as she grieves the lost of her best friend, husband and our fellow precinct committeeman. When we think about the legacy that Chuck leaves behind it is a tribute to the spirit of a dedicated American and Republican. Thank-you Chuck for all you have done for our country. We will miss you and your leadership.

As many of you probably have not heard, on August 7th the Maricopa County Republican Party Executive Guidance Committee met at it’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting and passed a resolution to endorse one of the two non-incumbent Legislative District 6 candidate’s. This resolution was presented despite the fact that your Chairman was not in attendance nor was our 1st Vice Chair. The resolution was not listed on the EGC agenda and I was never consulted in advance of the vote. I protest this action and consider it to be disrespectful and changes the way we do business during a primary.

I was not in attendance due to weather preventing my Phoenix bound plane from landing at Sky Harbor airport. Your 1st Vice Chair, Carrie Rauch, was attending the Arizona national convention delegation meeting downtown. I spoke with Maricopa County Chairman Tom Husband, an individual I have great respect for, on three different occasions that day, explaining to him that I was planning on attending the meeting but weather was playing havoc with flight schedules throughout the nation. He assured me that he had added nothing else to the agenda of great importance and not to worry if my plane was delayed. I have reason to believe that what Chairman Husband did not know was that another district Chairman took it upon himself to script a resolution endorsing his pick on behalf of the Maricopa County Republican Committee. I can only conjecture what this Chairman will recommend to further support his pick for our district's vacant seat at next months MCRC EGC meeting while I and other Chairman are attending the National Convention?

This unsolicited interference into our district’s business is not
only unprecedented during a primary, while the affected district representation is absent from the vote, but also a blatant attempt to influence the outcome of our district’s primary election without regard for representation of our membership. To my amazement, outsiders continue to manipulate the political playbook protocol pertaining to how we do business during this critical election
year. This is not how professional GOP politicos should do business with one another on behalf of our Party. I trust our county and state Party leadership will take appropriate action preventing this behavior from occurring again without the consent of the affected district leadership appointed to represent its membership.

As your Chairman, I have promised to lead our District’s business in a fair and reasonable manner. I have refused to take a position endorsing either of the non-incumbent challenger’s vying for the vacant LD 6 seat in order to be fair to both and, to respect your wishes that we not attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election.

Moreover, like a silent majority of you, your Executive Board and I remain focused on the task of electing Republicans. I stand firm with this decision in order to avoid promoting a divisive primary that will make it difficult for our membership to come together and elect our GOP primary winner in the general election. Furthermore, the LD 6 Executive Board and I are unanimous in our support and endorsement for re-election of our incumbent Representative Sam Crump and our State Senator Pamela Gorman. We are grateful for their dedication and the sacrifice they have made and continue to make on our behalf.

So, while change is never easy, and certainly change for some is harder than for others, I believe you, the membership of the GOP in LD 6, expect your Chairman and Executive Board to keep building a network that you will be proud to be a member of as an elected precinct committeeman. Consequently, I say respectfully to MCRC outsiders that voted to endorse one of our non-incumbent candidates without allowing us to be represented, No Thank-You! We are capable of assigning our own endorsements should we decide to do so during a primary.

I have spoken with the campaign leadership of both the Bouie and Seel camps. Their leadership has agreed to my request not to have their candidate’s attend our next meeting. They do not want their presence to trigger a disruption by any of their supporters. As Chairman, I believe it serves no purpose to subject these gentlemen or you to any further debate during our meeting. We all know what their positions are and any further debate will only deepen the wounds that have occurred up to this point. Therefore, I will not allow any discussion or comments from any individual or candidate regarding these two challengers during the meeting. This includes any comments that might be made by incumbent candidates in attendance and permitted to address the membership.

May GOD bless Mr. Bouie and Mr. Seel and good luck to them both. May the best man win. May GOD provide every Republican voter of LD 6 the wisdom to vote for the right individual to represent our district in the general election. I ask GOD to allow a calm to spread across our district as we prepare to select one of these two gentlemen to represent our interest.

As I close, I hope and pray we can turn to the important work at hand, electing Republicans. The current tone of this non-incumbent campaign serves no purpose other than to hurt our fellow man in a personal way. I know a silent majority of you agree that we must work to ensure that the non-incumbent candidate primary winner, regardless of who it is, wins election in November. I pray that we work diligently for the re-election of Representative Sam Crump, Senator Pamela Gorman, Congressman John Shadegg, and the election of the next president of the United States, Senator John McCain. Not only must they win but they need to win by huge margins.

The stakes have never been higher for each of us as conservatives. If we fail to come together as a working team and allow the election of the single most liberal, socialist Democrat presidential candidate to occupy the White House and to allow his representatives to take control of our state house, I fear the moral fiber of our great nation will be in jeopardy not only for us but our children. There simply is no more time for continued political infighting.

As your Chairman, I am committed to professionally working with all Republican factions in LD 6. I believe that is what the majority of the members expect of their Chairman. And, we're doing this amid what history will likely recall as one of the most dire political seasons of our time as a Party. Please join me and the Executive Board in rejecting the disrespectful business as usual politics of the past and stand with me as a mature, truthful, caring and respectful group of GOP team members looking out for the best interest of our Legislative District 6, our state and nation.

On behalf of 140 LD 6 precinct committee members and growing, I find comfort in knowing that you will stand with me by supporting my decision in order to prevent any disruption at our upcoming meeting. Let us look forward to a great evening at our next regularly scheduled meeting this Monday, August 25, at the Deer Valley Airport restaurant, beginning at 7:00 PM. We have booked a special group singing GOD Bless America and other songs. Also in attendance will be the Executive Director of the Arizona Republican Party, Sean McCaffrey. He will say a few words on behalf of the state Party. Our very own Amylin Gordon, from the state Party will give us an update on the happenings taking place at the National Convention. Pascal Kropf, state party Phone Banking Manager, will share ideas on how LD 6 can help elect Republicans in November.

Thank-you for your support by allowing me the honor to serve you. In LD 6 we are Changing the Way We Do Business, after all, our business is to elect Republicans that support strong family values, lower taxes and less government. See you at the meeting!

DAVID BRASWELL - CHAIRMAN LD-6 REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE

David Braswell is an award-winning educator, leading researcher, devoted husband, and, most importantly, the father of three teen-age daughters - each of which is the reason for his longstanding commitment to the national education goal of Leaving No Child Behind. As the former founder and president of TeachMaster Technologies, Inc., and Vice-President of Education for PLATO Learning, Braswell has more than 26 years of experience in education and related research.

He has spent over two decades designing and producing curriculum management software that has helped educators plan, design, and focus on standards-driven curriculum management and sound instructional decision-making, including the multi-product Standards ToolKit™ suite, Standards Record Keeping & Reporting™, and PLATO Polaris®.

Educated at Western Carolina University, Braswell received a Bachelor of Science in Education with a K-12 Reading Certification in 1978, followed by a Master of Education in Administration in 1986. He has held teaching, building level and district level administrative positions in Georgia, North Carolina, South Dakota, and New Mexico.