The former recorder for Maricopa County, Stephen Richer, is again headlining a “Principles First” summit this weekend.
Principles First, the nonprofit behind the annual D.C.-based summit, proposes a medley of libertarian and progressive values as the true basis of conservatism.
In his panel, Richer will host a “keynote conversation” with former Congressman Adam Kinzinger on the last day of the conference. Kinzinger now works as a commentator for CNN.
Richer also participated in panels during last year’s Principles First summit, themed around defending elections. Richer’s panel focused on improving voter sentiments concerning election integrity.
“We can’t cede the territory [in politics]. We can’t just have it be people who don’t believe in democracy and Democrats, because that’s not a healthy system,” said Richer.
Principles First advocated for the election of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race.
Like others frequently involved with Principles First, Richer voted for Harris last year.
Principles First launched in 2019 as an alternative to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), founded by corporate lawyer Heath Mayo. Mayo voted for former President Joe Biden in 2020 and independent candidate Evan McMullin in 2016. Mayo planned on voting for Biden again prior to the former president dropping out of the race last year.
“Donald Trump represents an existential threat not just to the Republican Party, but to the constitutional principles that shape our country,” said Mayo in a Washington Examiner interview last June. “So, I personally would be voting for Biden.”
Other headliners for the summit this year can be classified as Democrats, centrist or left-leaning Republicans, or Republicans-turned-Democrats: entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, lawyer John Conway, former Fifth Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig, former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia Geoff Duncan, former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland Michael Steele, former Defense Press Secretary Alyssa Farah, chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, former congressman and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former United Nations ambassador and National Security advisor John Bolton, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, political commentator and The Bulwark publisher Sarah Longwell, author and political candidate Harry Dunn, political commentator and former consultant Tim Miller, political analyst Michael Fanone, and journalist Steve Hayes.
Participant organizations include Unite America, The Bulwark, The Dispatch, Protect Democracy, Afghan American Veterans Alliance, American Values Coalition, Grumpy Combat Veteran, Veterans for All Voters, ESC, Country First, Leaving MAGA, Nate Gowdy Photography, Rank the Vote, Ranked Choice Voting Maryland, UpVote Virginia, The Concord Coalition, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, An Accountable America, Welcome Democracy Institute, Bright America, and Center for Collaborative Democracy Grand Bargain Project.
Past donors to Principles First included Defending Democracy Together, which gave the nonprofit over $600,000 per 2023 tax records.
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In a letter sent on August 15th, the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC Foundation, told Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Attorney General Kris Mayes that they wish to conduct conversations with both of them to establish guidelines for volunteers to monitor ballot drop boxes for the 2024 election. The reception to the overture from CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp and Vice Chairman Bill Walton was described as “frosty” by AZCentral on Friday.
In the letter from CPAC, Schlapp and Walton wrote, “The purpose of our letter is not to relitigate the 2020 elections. Rather we hope to work with you to reduce voter concerns regarding election fraud and the fair and transparent administration of elections.”
They added, “The goal is to establish standards for drop box observation that our organization as well as any other interested parties on the right or left, can rely upon and reassure the public in Arizona that drop boxes are not being fraudulently used.”
“Failure to do so risks that the results of the November elections will be questioned by those who did not support the winning candidate,” they warned.
As AZCentral reports, the response from Mayes and Fontes, both Democrats and both controversially involved in the 2020 and 2022 contested elections, was unmistakably negative. The outlet reported that the two elected officials claimed the CPAC letter was not sent in good faith and accused CPAC of fueling public skepticism in the security of Arizona’s elections.
Aaron Thacker, communications director for the Fontes, told reporters, “To come out and pretend like you recognize the problem and that you want to help is so disingenuous when you’re a part of the problem.” Thacker even added that CPAC should have started by asking for forgiveness from the Democrats saying, “They need to lead with a mea culpa, not pointing fingers.”
In a statement to the Arizona Republic, Mayes indicated she would be open to working with CPAC, provided that the group made a statement conceding the Democrat talking point that it is an “indisputable fact” that the 2020 and 2022 elections in Arizona were fairly conducted.
She further indicated that she would not allow CPAC to utilize open-source data to verify the identity of people ballot monitors suspect of committing voter fraud. “I want to be extremely clear that I will not stand for any voter intimidation, and that includes using ‘open-source’ information to identify individuals using a drop box to vote,” she told AZCentral.
“With the election less than 90 days away, we have reached out to state officials in both parties. Our goal is to ensure voters have confidence in the fairness in the system. That means the voting procedures must be transparent, with checks and balances in place so that Americans can have great confidence in the actual winner.
As a part of this process, we have identified unmonitored boxes as one area that undermines people’s faith in fair elections. Hence, we have been planning on a program like this for an extended period of time for states that have failed to establish robust protocols for monitoring drop boxes. Unfortunately, many states still have not detailed a clear, transparent and effective process to address the vulnerabilities of unmonitored drop boxes.”
Speaking to WaPo, Fontes claimed, “The whole thing is an absurd sham to cover up direct efforts to intimidate voters by a bunch of CPAC-recruited vigilantes to intimidate voters — and we absolutely will not be cooperating with them.”
Schlapp concluded, “We hope every person who has a lawful right to vote will have confidence their vote will be counted and protected. Every illegitimate vote – unlawful for a myriad of reasons including voting more than once, voting by those in the U.S. illegally, or votes of deceased persons somehow making it to the ballot box – violates the principle of one person, one legal vote. CPAC is committed to playing a responsible role in making certain all legal citizens have the chance to vote — no matter who they want to vote for – and have it count equally.”
As previously reported by AZ Free News, Democrats have expressed concerns after the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) prevailed in court with Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Ryan-Touhill ruling the 2023 Elections Procedures Manual unconstitutional. The ruling has effectively cleared the way for CPAC’s monitoring efforts, constrained only by the existing 75ft. exclusion area in Arizona statute.
