Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward addressed a full house at the May 15 Fountain Hills Republican Club meeting.

In a press release to The Times, the club reported that Ward discussed the evolution of the GOP and talked about the dangers of going back instead of forward. She reminded attendees of former President Donald Trump’s accomplishments before the pandemic hit.

The press release stated that “due to tax cuts and the removal of bureaucratic Washington regulations, the unemployment for African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and women hadn’t been vastly lower than they had been for generations.”

The release said Ward also talked about some of President Joe Biden’s executive actions after he took office. She talked about Biden stopping pipeline construction and not doing anything about a Russian pipeline to Germany.

She told the audience Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill contained “vast sums of extra spending that was not earmarked for the general populace.”

She also touched on immigration and that “illegal immigration has become an acceptable crisis by the Biden administration just by one of the many strokes of President Biden’s pens.”

She said there is a need to recruit candidates for public office who would be unafraid to fight against “the threats to our sovereignty and to our rule of law.”

Election integrity also was discussed. According to the press release, “because many voters had lost faith in the system, it was right to hold America’s audit here in Maricopa County. She stated that Arizona is at the tip of the spear, and she personally is not backing down. She will not be intimidated by Democrats, the media or the old guard of the party.”

The release detailed Ward’s remarks on the recent rejuvenation of Young Republicans.

“(This) is so important to the future of the party and the nation,” the release said. “At their first organization meeting, when Young Republicans had hoped for about 50 participants to show up, they were … delighted to see over 100 individuals ready to get down to work.”

In the release, Ward also commented on the number of Republican Precinct Committee members who have been recruited since January, particularly in the Fountain Hills, Rio Verde and Scottsdale Legislative District 23.

The release also covered how Ward discussed her own position as something of a thankless task, “even though it is a voluntary position, it does not protect her from being criticized from all quarters.” Ward announced she would not be running for U.S. Senate in 2022.

Ward appealed to the audience to help in the cause, listing three specific areas:

*Continue to volunteer for and recruit precinct committeemen.

*Help raise money for the party.

*Strongly encourage friends, family members and new neighbors to register to vote.

Upcoming club speakers include Rich Rutkowski, LD 23 chair, and Maricopa County Republican Party Chair Mickie Niland (June 19), and County Assessor Eddie Cook (Aug. 21). Gov. Doug Ducey has been invited to speak at the July 17 meeting.