LAURIE ROBERTS' COLUMNS & BLOG

Laurie Roberts is a columnist for The Arizona Republic.

Olivia Cortes: a political newbie and already a legend

We are living in legendary times No, really, we in Arizona are bearing witness to a fanciful era, when fables fairly spring to life right before our astonished eyes. Think Loch Ness Monster. Think Bigfoot. Think Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Think Olivia Cortes, candidate for the Arizona Senate. Much like her fellow mythical beings, Cortes is often talked about but rarely, if ever, sighted as she doggedly campaigns to defeat Russell Pearce in the coming recall election. And I use the word campaign lightly. Generally speaking, candidates for public office actually emerge into public view. Generally speaking, candidates are unavoidable for comment, anxious to spread their name far and wide. Cortes, however, ducks reporters, doesn't answer her door and won't respond to e-mails or phone messages. All we really know about Cortes is that she's a Tea Party plant, a diversion aimed at siphoning minority voters from Pearce's opponent, Jerry Lewis, so that Pearce is assured of a win. On Thursday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Edward Burke will hold a hearing on a request to toss Cortes off the ballot. Attorney Thomas Ryan says both Cortes and her handlers are violating the law by attempting to mislead Spanish speaking voters into supporting a sham candidate support that would actually propel Pearce back into office. ARS 16-1006 says it's illegal to either directly or indirectlydefraud an elector by deceiving and causing him to vote for a different person for an office or a different measure than he intended or desired to vote for. It's insulting to all of Arizona, Ryan said. For a guy (Russell Pearce) who said I'm not afraid, everything he's done to date shows he is very afraid. Pearce has denied any involvement in Cortes' candidacy. We had nothing to do with it," said Chad Willems, who is running Pearce's campaign. "Russell doesn't know her. We've never met her, never seen her, never talked to her. Maybe not, but the fingerprints of Pearce's supporters and even his relatives are all over this thing. Several Republican strategists told me they don't see a problem, noting that Cortes turned in the required number of signatures to qualify for the ballot. Constantin Querard, who is running an independent campaign in support of Pearce, says the Republicans' involvement with Cortes is no different than Democrats' involvement with Lewis yet the media never said a word about it. "When the Democrats were going to find a white older LDS Republican male to run against Russell Pearce, I missed the outrage, said Querard, who denies any involvement in the Cortes campaign. The difference, of course, is that Lewis, though supported by Democrats, is a lifelong Republican, a Mormon who is actually running a Republican campaign. Cortes seems to be running a diversion.

Consider:

-She, too, is a Mormon and a Republican, yet her campaign signs say
S, Se Puede! the rallying call of the United Farm Workers. --Her official statement of candidacy lists a phone number for Greg Western, the chairman of the East Valley Tea Party and the guy who turned in her petitions. Meanwhile, the group he chairs recently invited Pearce to speak and urged members to bring as guests as possible, to show our support for Senator Pearce during this recall election. --Her two press releases were written by somebody using the moniker, Paul Revere. --Two of Pearce's nieces circulated Cortes' nominating petitions. --So did Franklin Bruce Ross, who sued to stop the recall. And Pat Oldroyd, a precinct committeewoman who Ryan says recently presented a resolution in support of Peace. And Suzanne Dreher, who was caught on tape telling Pearce supporters to sign a Cortes petition because he might lose a one-on-one matchup. Cortes appears to have no real campaign other than her Si Se Puede! signs and a barebones website (oliviacortes.com). She's announced no positions, other than being for the dignity of work, the harmony of the family and compliance with the law. We'll see on Thursday whether that last one is true. Cortes, who emigrated from Mexico 44 years ago, said this week in a press release -- entitled Racism is Alive and Well in Mesa -- that she will not be intimidated by Lewis supporters who question the legitimacy of her campaign. I earned the right to be on the ballot and I intend to win, she said. Latinos everywhere should be outraged. They should be outraged, that Pearce's people would think them so easily fooled. (Column published Sept. 28, 2011, The Arizona Republic) Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 07:39 PM Topics:
AZTALK, PLUGGED IN, PLUGGED IN - SOUTHEAST VALLEY, REPUBLIC COLUMNISTS, AZ POLITICS

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