Andrea Nill Sanchez
+ FollowArizona After Russell Pearce
Earlier this month, SB-1070 sponsor and Arizona state Senator Russell Pearce (R) was voted out of office in a historic recall election. Last week, the fallen lawmaker proclaimed that his political demise “had nothing to do with my positions on illegal immigration.”
It was a delusional statement made by a self-proclaimed defender of the rule of law who has built his entire career on fighting an “invasion” of brown-skinned people crossing the border. Yet, even though his loss had a lot to do with immigration, his exit won’t transform the politics of the issue overnight.
In the end, Pearce lost because it became increasingly clear that he needed his hardline immigration cause more than the state needed him. Pearce built quite a name for himself after having authored dozens of anti-immigrant bills over the last decade. Although Arizonans prioritize immigration, in the end, his obsessive dedication to the issue came at the expense of much more important things like job creation and economic recovery. The last straw was likely a defeated legislative package that he relentlessly pushed earlier this year which would have required hospitals and public schools to conduct immigration checks.
“In his fanatic obsession of one issue, he’s willing to throw our economy, our education, healthcare, all these issues, under the bus,” stated Chad Snow, a Republican attorney and one of the chief organizers of the recall drive.
Pearce also underestimated the political power of outraged Latinos in his district. Polls show that Latino voters supported Pearce’s opponent, Jerry Lewis, by a three-to-one margin. They accounted for 13 percent of the recall electorate, which is significant considering Lewis won by a margin of 8 percent. While Pearce antagonized the population with his policies, Lewis spoke to them directly in Spanish and described them as “honest, hard-working people.”
Finally, many of Pearce’s fellow Mormons turned their backs on him. “The Mormon church clearly percolated below the surface to make sure that its members knew that Russell Pearce was making their missionary efforts in Central and South America more difficult,” Nathan Sproul, Republican strategist, told the Washington Post.
Yet, as much as the recall election was about immigration, several formidable threats related to the issue abound.
Arizona’s harsh immigration law, SB-1070, remains on the books and probably will be until the U.S. Supreme Court says otherwise.
Jan Brewer, who signed SB-1070 into law, is still governor of the state. Brewer supported Pearce in this November’s election and denounced the recall effort. She just released an entire book concerned with defending the law and is fighting a redistricting battle to make sure politicians like her continue to get reelected.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio continues to terrorize the immigrant community in Maricopa County.
Pearce didn’t pass SB-1070 on his own and many of his allies continue to run the state legislature. Republican State Sen. Ron Gould sand Republican State Rep. John Kavanagh were staunch supporters of SB-1070 and led the fight to deny the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigration citizenship in Arizona. Steve Pierce, the new state Senate president who was elected to succeed Pearce vowed “to continue the good things that Russell started.” “He did a wonderful job. He did not deserve what happened to him,” stated Pierce, who is not replacing any of the majority staff.
Meanwhile, there will be an empty U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in 2012. Current Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) is leading the Republican primary and has already renounced the commonsense immigration proposals he once supported.
The powerful private prison lobby still has a strong interest in policies that put more people — particular low-risk, low-cost immigrants — behind their bars. Thirty of the 36 SB-1070′s co-sponsors received campaign contributions from private prison lobbyists or companies. Two of Brewer’s top aides have lobbied for a private prison giant, Corrections Corporation of America.
Finally, Pearce himself has made clear that he isn’t going anywhere. “I promise you though, that I will not retreat from this fight,” he wrote last week.
None of this should be taken to diminish the incredible feat that recall organizers achieved. A powerful and symbolic anti-immigrant zealot was replaced by a self-described immigration moderate. His loss sends a strong message to the many lawmakers in Arizona who have exploited immigration for political gain.
Pearce’s ouster shows that there’s only so much that at least one district in Arizona can stomach. The folks who led the recall recognize that there is still a long way to go and have set their sights on Brewer and Arpaio.
Where Arizonans will decide to draw a line in the sand on immigration remains uncertain. For those of us who have been nervously observing the state over the past few years, the fact that now there even is a line is progress in and of itself.
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