Disgraced Arizona Politician Disgraced Once Again
Poor Russell Pearce. He just can鈥檛 keep a job.
Pearce, the former far-right lawmaker who helped push Arizona鈥檚 draconian anti-immigrant law a few years ago, resigned this fall as a top official in the state鈥檚 Republican Party after making remarks about sterilizing poor women.
He resigned, with mid-term elections just weeks away, as the state GOP鈥檚 first vice president after being roundly criticized, including by fellow Arizona Republicans, for saying on his radio show that if he were put in 鈥渃harge of Medicaid, the first thing I鈥檇 do is get Norplant, birth-control implants, or tubal ligations.鈥�
鈥淭hen we鈥檒l test recipients for drugs and alcohol,鈥� he continued, 鈥渁nd if you want to [reproduce] or use drugs or alcohol, then get a job.鈥�
The Arizona Republic called Pearce 鈥渢he reckless cowboy鈥� and quoted an angry tweet from Michele Reagan, GOP candidate for secretary of state.
鈥淭he obnoxious comments made by Russell Pearce were both disgusting and offensive,鈥� Reagan wrote. 鈥淟et it be known, he is NOT the voice of my GOP. #Resign!鈥�
In a statement released by the Arizona GOP, Pearce, according to Politico, blamed the media and 鈥渢he progressive left鈥� for the controversy and said he was resigning to protect 鈥淩epublican candidates.鈥�
Pearce said that during a discussion on his radio show about the alleged abuses of the state鈥檚 public assistance system, he 鈥渟hared comments written by someone else and failed to attribute them to the author.鈥�
鈥淚 do not want the progressive left and the media to try and take a misstatement from my show and use it to attack our candidates,鈥� Pearce said. 鈥淚 care about the Republican Party and its conservative platform too much to let them do that.鈥�
This isn鈥檛 the first time Pearce has been forced out of a job in politics.
In 2011, when he was the president of the Arizona state Senate, he became the first state senator in Arizona鈥檚 history to be recalled and then ousted in a special election.
He got the boot largely because of his harsh and controversial so-called 鈥減apers, please鈥� anti-immigration legislation, but 鈥渁n ethics issue and under-handed campaign tactics also played a role,鈥� The Washington Post reported at the time.
Eight years ago, according to the Republic, Pearce proposed 鈥渁 deranged idea to bring back the Eisenhower-era program 鈥極peration W------鈥� to deport all undocumented migrants.鈥�
鈥淥peration W------,鈥� the paper said recently, 鈥渟hould have been Russell Pearce鈥檚 last rodeo. He lived on to bring us Operation Sterilization.鈥�
