Randy Pullen

For Immediate Release: January 7, 2009
Contact: Brett Mecum, 602.957.7770

PULLEN NAMES MECUM INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Phoenix, AZ – Randy Pullen, chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, today named Brett Mecum as interim executive director of the Arizona Republican Party.

“Brett’s background, work ethic, and dedication have earned him my complete confidence,” said Pullen. “Brett knows the personalities, the operations, and what it takes to win. He is the clear choice for the job.”

“I look forward to continuing the work that we started two years ago,” said Mecum. “I have thoroughly enjoyed working for this state Republican Party as both communications and political director. It is truly an exciting time to be an Arizona Republican and I’m ready to continue to grow the Party and get Republicans elected to office.

Arizona Republican Party political director Brett Mecum will take the party's reins as executive director - temporarily, at least.
Mecum, who joined the state party in early 2007, takes over for Sean McCaffrey, who announced his resignation in recent weeks.
"Brett's background, work ethic and dedication have earned him my complete confidence," said state GOP Chairman Randy Pullen. "Brett knows the personalities, the operations and what it takes to win. He is the clear choice for the job."
Jeez, an endorsement like that makes it sound like Mecum may be more than just the "interim" pick.
A lot figures to depend on the outcome ...

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Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen kicked-off his run Tuesday for a second term leading the state party.
Pullen's announcement should surprise no one. It has been known for a few weeks in political circles that the 2009 race for the GOP chairmanship will be a repeat of 2007: Pullen vs. Republican political consultant Lisa James.
In announcing his bid for a second two-year term, Pullen issued a statement in which he pointed to the party's election-year wins in Arizona, as well as his goals for the coming term.
“In 2008, we cast aside internal politics and made our Republican candidates our party’s top priority. ...

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 5, 2009

Pullen kicks off bid for re-election: Let’s build on our successes, says Chairman

Phoenix, AZ—Randy Pullen today officially kicked-off his bid for re-election as Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, calling on the state’s 1,018 State Committeemen and State Committeewomen to join him in building on the successes of 2008 in the coming election cycle.

“In 2008, we cast aside internal politics and made our Republican candidates our party’s top priority,” Pullen said.  “As a result, we won larger majorities in both the State House and State Senate despite what the media, the pundits and our opposition both inside and outside the party seemed to think would happen.

The guys over at Sonoran Alliance have a long (over 1200 words!) defense of Randy Pullen from an attack by lobbyist and blogger Farrell Quinlan. They start the post with a declaration of the purpose of blogs:

But blogs also play a similarly vital role: Correcting other blogs. Every blog makes errors and the more authors and posts, the more likely that errors will be made. Certainly Sonoran Alliance has made its share.

Yep, they make their share. In fact, they made one only two paragraphs later:

Quinlan praises Sen. Jim Waring for trying to crack down on elected public officials who use taxpayer dollars to fund communications to the public that do more to promote themselves than anything else.

Blogs have gained national prominence for their ability to scoop the national press, or even make news from the mainstream media’s errors or fabrications — who can forget Rathergate? But blogs also play a similarly vital role:  Correcting other blogs.  Every blog makes errors and the more authors and posts, the more likely that errors will be made. Certainly Sonoran Alliance has made its share.  But innocent errors are different from undisclosed bias or hypocrisy.  This is a conservative, pro-life blog, and it says so, plainly. As such, readers know what they are getting before they read a single post.  It is unfortunate that other blogs do not disclose their bias in such plain language.

Former Legislative District 11 Republican Chairman Rob Haney is auto-dialing for support in his race to lead the Maricopa County Republican Party. After announcing Saturday that he is seeking to lead the largest of Arizona's county parties, his drive to secure the position is already underway.

"We're calling every PC [precinct committeeman] we identify" as potential supporters, Haney told PolitickerAZ.com. "We're not going to be sending them to Wes Gullett or any of those people. Only to people we consider conservative Republicans."

He was referring to the former U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Phoenix) advisor and political operative, who is one of the people Haney identifies as among the culprits of steering the Republican Party off course.

Haney expects to face Jerry Brooks, the former mayor of Chandler and someone Haney calls a "McCain guy."

"It's going to be the same type of battle as LD11," said Haney.

Sean McCaffrey

Sean McCaffrey, executive director of the Arizona Republican Party, is leaving his post at the end of January 2009 and will likely take a job with a political consultancy firm, he announced Wednesday.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of Chairman Pullen’s team here at the Arizona Republican Party and I’m very proud of the accomplishments we’ve achieved,” McCaffrey said in a press release. “I look forward to working closely with Chairman Pullen and Republicans across the state to build on those victories in the future. We clearly have the opportunity to expand these majorities and that’s very exciting."

McCaffrey told PolitickerAZ.com that he feels it is the right time to leave, after Republicans increased their majorities in the Arizona House and Senate on Nov. 4.

"It's better to go out on top," said McCaffrey.

Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen offered his congratulations to both Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, and Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer, the Republican who is set to be her replacement, in a statement Monday following Napolitano's nomination to head the Department of Homeland Security.

"One of the few areas where Governor Napolitano and I have agreed is that Washington has not done its job when it comes to securing our borders and protecting our nation,” said Pullen.  “Now the governor will get the opportunity to either fix a bad situation or become part of the problem.  I honestly wish her well.”

Rob Haney is out and Steve Tully is in as chairman of the Legislative District 11 Republican Committee, after a tempestuous meeting Tuesday night that saw passions flare and intra-party division on display.

Prominent figures in the Arizona Republican Party, past and present, turned up alongside LD11 precinct committeemen and curious rank-and-file Republicans from outside the district for a meeting that promised to be memorable and did not disappoint. Among those on hand Tuesday night were former Gov. Jane Hull, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, former legislator and Arizona Corporation Commissioner Barry Wong, a number of sitting and former state legislators and U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix). Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell was there with ballot counting machines from the county to handle the votes.

Seen as more than a vote on the 11th district's leadership, the meeting was in spirit and actuality a battle between competing ideologies within the Republican Party as a whole. One Republican activist from outside the district who showed up to witness the proceedings told PolitickerAZ.com, "I came to see the bloodbath."