Is Turning Point’s pull in the West Valley elections eroding?

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What are your thoughts on Turning Point USA’s influence on West Valley elections? Tell us in 300 words or less at yourvalley.net/letters, or email your comments, name, address and contact number to AzOpinions@iniusa.org.

OPINION — A recent Valley news report indicated that candidates and voters are pushing back against Turning Point USA’s growing influence in Arizona elections. As West Valley voters, we should understand its involvement in our own races.
Turning Point Action has endorsed all three Legislative District 28 legislators — Sen. Frank Carroll and Reps. Beverly Pingerelli and David Livingston — as well as Congressional District 8 Congressman Abe Hamadeh and candidates for the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board.

Turning Point USA is the better-known conservative nonprofit. Its affiliated political arm, Turning Point Action, can endorse candidates and participate directly in elections. It recruits precinct leaders, registers voters, gathers petition signatures, knocks on doors and works to influence Republican Party leadership.

Turning Point’s influence affects every West Valley voter, regardless of party. Republican Congressional District 1 Rep. David Schweikert has criticized Turning Point for supporting “unelectable candidates” and has warned that it is pulling the GOP toward “the fringe of the fringe of the fringe.”

The records of its endorsed candidates deserve scrutiny. Carroll, Pingerelli and Livingston all voted against repealing Arizona’s 1864 near-total abortion ban, which contained no exceptions for rape or incest. Months later, approximately 62% of Arizona voters approved Proposition 139, rejecting that approach. Turning Point endorsed candidates’ support of a near-total ban, which was rejected by nearly two-thirds of Arizona voters, is an extreme position far outside the mainstream.

Do these candidates reflect our interests as constituents or the political agenda of the organization supporting them?

We are entitled to know who is shaping our elections. Does Turning Point have too much influence over who represents our West Valley communities?

This writer is using a pen name. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.