Leadership of Arizona Americans Elect Party Resigns En Masse, Disbands Party, and Leaves for Real World

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz., Aug. 28 - The leadership of the Arizona Americans Elect Party today voted to disband the party, resign en masse, and leave the state to take up residence in the real world. 

"We have decided to bow to reality and get the hell out of this shithole," said former party leader Trey Young. "But as we all leave for the real world, we are leaving the party in the capable hands of Americans Elect of Arizona, and the party's 2014 candidate for governor, J.L. Mealer." 

"All of us wish Americans Elect of Arizona the best of luck," said Buffy Lehman Auchincloss, ex-first vice-chair of the defunct organization, as she boarded her private jet for her estate in Palm Beach, Florida, giving other former members of the party leadership lifts to their new homes in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Boston, Miami, Paris and Dubai. 

"Don't cry for us, Arizona!" said Dr. Irina Tereshkova, former treasurer of the party as she left carrying a bag filled with the party's financial records and assets. "Because we won't miss you at all!"

 

Arizona Americans Elect Party Passes Resolution Calling on Arizona Legislature to Name Cronuts the Official State Pastry

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz., July 8 --

Today the Supreme Leader and Council of Guardians of Arizona's fastest-growing political party, the Arizona Americans Elect Party, passed a resolution calling on the state legislature to name cronuts as the official state pastry of Arizona.

"This sugar-rolled, cream-filled, glaze-topped doughnut-croissant hybrid has been taking America by storm," said Buffy Lehman Auchincloss, the party's first vice president.  "So feverish has the craving for cronuts become that customers reportedly have been known to pull up in their cars and buy the pastries from line-waiters at a $30 markup."

"That's why cronuts represent the best of Arizona's free-market, entrepreneurial spirit," said party treasurer Dr. Irina Tereshkova.  "The passion for cronuts that leads people to spend hours on line waiting for these delicious pastries is akin to the passion of the pioneer women and men who built Arizona after they stole it from the land's indigenous people and the government of Mexico."

"The Arizona Americans Elect Party calls on the legislature to name cronuts the official state pastry at the start of the next legislative session," said Trey Young, the party's leader.  "We hope that even our state representative and state senators will be able to accomplish this commonsense act despite their utter lack of common sense."

Michael Bloomberg Named Honorary National Interim Chairman of Arizona Americans Elect Party at National Convention of State Americans Elect Parties in New York

NEW YORK, June 2 --

Following his thoughtful and passionate keynote address to the first-ever national Convention of State Americans Elect Parties, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed to accept the position of Honorary National Interim Chairman of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, state party leaders today announced.

"We're absolutely delighted that Mayor Bloomberg has decided to support the Arizona Americans Elect Party in this fashion," said the party's first vice-chairwoman, Buffy Lehman Auchincloss.  "Michael has a big following among Arizona voters, and indeed, among people of good will throughout the United States, and we are privileged to have prevailed upon him to join our efforts to provide an electoral alternative in Arizona."

Speaking to the gathering of representatives from the dozen states, including Arizona, in which the Americans Elect Party will be on the ballot again in 2014, Mr. Bloomberg said, "The last time I checked, the Constitution said nothing about there being only two political parties; in fact, it doesn't have any mention of political parties in it whatsoever."

"It stands to reason," Mr. Bloomberg told the convention delegates, "that in a three-way or four-way election, the public has more choice than if it's a two-way race, just as it has more choice in a two-way race than a one-way race."

"Michael Bloomberg's positions on gun control, immigration, marriage equality, reproductive rights, climate change and other issues are in perfect sync with the positions held by most of us in Arizona's fastest-growing political party," said Arizona Americans Elect Party leader Trey Young.  "Plus it never hurts, in politics as in life, to have friends with money."

"Mayor Bloomberg has courageously criticized our backward state laws on gun violence and immigration," said the state party treasurer, Dr. Irina Tereshkova.  "We are hoping that our new Honorary National Interim Chairman will help us select and support Arizona Americans Elect Party candidates in next year's state and federal elections so we can make Arizona more like New York City."

At National Convention of State Americans Elect Parties, Bestselling Authors/Activists Sister Souljah and Tao Lin Meet with Arizona Americans Elect Party Leaders, Hail Party as "America's Hipster/Hip-Hop Party"

NEW YORK, June 1 --

The national Convention of State Americans Elect Parties continued today, with speeches by Americans Elect Corporation leaders Peter Ackerman and Khalil Byrd, and addresses by bestselling author/activists Sister Souljah and Tao Lin, who afterward met with leaders of the Arizona Americans Elect Party and proclaimed the state party "America's Hipster/Hip-Hop Party."

The convention is the first organized meeting of leaders of the Americans Elect Party in the dozen states where the political party will be on the ballot in 2014 -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin -- along with representatives of other unofficial Americans Elect state political parties.

The morning's events featured a talk by Peter Ackerman and Khalil Byrd on the future of the Americans Elect movement and the political parties spawned by their 2012 effort to find a presidential candidate through an online primary, which ended inconclusively.  Tomorrow New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent who has been suggested as a past and future presidential candidate of Americans Elect, will give the keynote address.

In the afternoon, leaders of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, as delegates to the national convention, took part in various workshops.  Rabbi Elana de Carvajal, Pima County co-chair, moderated a panel discussion entitled "Poverty, Property and Immigration," and Maricopa County co-chair Jaden Parascandola led a workshop, "Paths Toward Utopia," exploring how the Americans Elect Party can organize at the polls and in the streets in order to work toward a society free of all forms of social domination.

After inspiring speeches by Sister Souljah, author of such best-selling novels as Midnight: A Gangster's Love Story, The Coldest Winter Ever, and A Deeper Love Inside: the Porsche Santiaga Story, and by Tao Lin, author of the acclaimed novels Eeeee Eee Eeee, Richard Yates and the just-published Taipei, the two writer/activists met with Arizona Americans Elect Party leaders Trey Young, Irina Tereshkova and Buffy Lehman Auchincloss and called the state party, the one Americans Elect group to run candidates for Congress in 2012, "America's Hipster/Hip-Hop Party."

"This convention has been an exciting time for all of us in the Arizona Americans Elect Party as we prepare to run candidates for state and federal office in 2014," said party leader Trey Young.  "We're proud to accept the high praise and to learn from such brilliant thinkers as Sister Souljah and Tao Lin."

The Convention of State Americans Elect Parties will tonight host a party at the Westway nightclub in the far West Village and return for its final session tomorrow.

Arizona Americans Elect Party Leaders Travel to New York for Convention of State Americans Elect Parties

NEW YORK, May 31 --

The leaders of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, the state's fastest-growing ballot-qualified party, today traveled to New York City for the first Convention of State Americans Elect Parties, meeting their counterparts in the eleven other states where the Americans Elect Party will be on the ballot in 2014: California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Speakers at the gathering will include Peter Ackerman, chairman of the Americans Elect Corporation, a nonprofit corporate entity, and chairman of Rockport Capital Inc.; outgoing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent; the best-selling authors and activists Sister Souljah and Tao Lin; and officials and directors of the D.C.-based Americans Elect Corporation, including Kahlil Byrd, Chief Executive Officer; Elliot L. Ackerman, Chief Operating Officer; Joshua S. Levine, Chief Technology Officer; and Sarah Malm, Chief Communications Officer.

Issues to be discussed are the relationships between the state Americans Elect political parties, such as the one in Arizona, which ran two candidates for Congress in 2012 and which is running candidates for other federal and state political offices in 2014, and the national Americans Elect Corporation; state and national leadership of any coalition of state Americans Elect political parties; and federal and state campaign rules and funding.

The Arizona Americans Elect Party delegation consists of party leader Trey Young; treasurer Irina Tereshkova; first vice-chairwoman Buffy Lehman Auchincloss; artistic director Richard Grayson; Maricopa County co-chair Jaden Parascandola; and Pima County co-chair Elana de Carvajal.

"We're quite excited to meet people from the national Americans Elect movement and those in other states like California and New Mexico where individuals and groups also hope to be running Americans Elect candidates for public office next year," said Dr. Tereshkova.

The Convention of State Americans Elect Parties takes place today, May 31, and this weekend, June 1 and 2, at the Hotel Gansevoort in Manhattan's Meatpacking District.

Arizona Americans Elect Party Supreme Leader and Council of Guardians Endorse J.L. Mealer of Mesa as Party's 2014 Candidate for Governor: "He'll Make Arizona Cool Again"

PHOENIX, May 24 -

In its semi-annual meeting at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix today, the Supreme Leader and Council of Guardians of the Arizona Americans Elect Party strongly and unanimously endorsed business leader J.L. Mealer of Mesa as the party's 2014 candidate for governor of Arizona.  

"We are grateful that Mr. Mealer has decided to run on the Americans Elect Party banner," said Trey Young, Supreme Leader of Arizona's fastest-growing political party.  "He'll make Arizona cool again."

"Although Mr. Mealer is a conservative and holds views different from the party leadership and most of the party's enrolled voters," said Dr. Irina Tereshkova, treasurer of the state party, "we are a political party that is open to everyone, and people of different views are welcome to join."

"We urge Mr. Mealer to make a strong race for governor and lead our party to victory in 2014, when we are assured of ballot access," said Buffy Lehman Auchincloss, the party's first vice-chairwoman.  "If he can get just five percent of the vote, the Arizona Americans Elect Party will achieve permanent ballot access without having to get petitions for 2016, when we can nominate our presidential candidate."

Jaden Parascandola, co-chair of the Maricopa County Americans Elect Party and speaker for the state party's Council of Guardians, said, "We are hoping other candidates of all political persuasions join J.L. Mealer in rounding out the Arizona Americans Elect Party ballot as our standard bearers for Congress, the state legislature, the corporation commission, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, and state mine inspector."

Trey Young emphasized that Mr. Mealer will run a campaign independent of the party apparatus:  "For now, we are just happy that the Arizona Americans Elect Party has found our candidate for governor in 2014." 

Arizona Americans Elect Party Leader Trey Young Joins New La Paz County Co-Chairs, Peace Activists Todd Trump & Blair Wojciechowski, to Call for an End to U.S.-Funded Wars & Occupations

QUARTZSITE, Ariz., May 22 -

Arizona Americans Elect Party leader Trey Young today joined the newly-appointed party co-chairs for La Paz County, peace activists Todd Trump and Blair Wojciechowski, to call for ending U.S.- funded wars and occupations, challenging militarism globally, and redirecting our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities.  

Introducing the new party leaders, Mr. Young declared the Arizona Americans Elect Party "the state's premier antiwar, anti-violence political group."  He said he was proud of "the accomplishments and activism of our cool young leaders in the county of La Paz, whose name, of course, means 'the peace' en español."

Mr. Trump, from the town of Parker, is a graduate student and teaching assistant in American history at the University of Southern California, from which he earlier received a bachelor's degree in American Studies and Ethnicity.  The author of  such scholarly articles as "'Keep Our Black Warriors out of the Draft': The Vietnam Antiwar Movement at Southern University, 1968-1973," he worked summers in the Washington, D.C., office of ANSWER, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, and in nearby northern Virginia at the International Journal for Peace Studies at George Mason University.

Ms. Wojciechowski, a native of Quartzsite, received her B.S. degree in mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and is currently working toward her Ph.D. in mathematics at Claremont Graduate University's Institute of Mathematical Sciences.  She has worked for peace at CODEPINK Los Angeles, Occupy the Military Industrial Complex, and V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.  Earlier this year, she was a Los Angeles organizer for a global day of action on February 14, 2013 to strike, dance, and rise to end rape and gender violence.

The two new La Paz County leaders both joined the Arizona Americans Elect Party in 2012 and met while working for the party's antiwar candidate for Congress, Richard Grayson.  More recently, both Ms. Mason and Mr. Trump have been working in the ongoing campaign against  sexual harassment and assault in the armed services.

"I joined Americans Elect," said Ms. Wojciechowski, "because it's the one Arizona political party which will make sure that  power will no longer serve as a cover to oppress or injure people."

"Our party will work hard to establish the equal rights of all people to life, liberty, security of person, equal protection of the law and freedom from torture, arbitrary detention or forced exile, as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," said Mr. Trump.

"The Arizona Americans Elect Party is the state's fastest-growing political party," said party leader Mr. Young.  "We are on the ballot in 2014 and will field of slate of candidates committed to nonviolence activism." 

Hip-Hop Producer & Venture Capitalist Flash Amarasiriwardena and Conceptual Art History Scholar & Gallery Owner Remedios Gomez Named New Cochise County Co-Chairs of Arizona Americans Elect Party; Vow to Support Radical Transformation of State's Educational Priorities

BISBEE, Ariz., May 20 -

Trey Young, leader of Arizona's fastest-growing political party, the Americans Elect Party, today came to the steps of the elegant Cochise County Courthouse for a press conference at which he introduced the party's new county co-chairs, Remedios Gomez, a scholar of conceptual art and owner of a Bisbee art gallery, and Flash Amarasiriwardena of Bisbee and Austin, Texas, a hip-hop producer and principal of the venture capital firm Sandhill 128 Associates.  

The new county leaders pledged to make their focus the Arizona Americans Elect Party's goals of reforming what Ms. Gomez called "some of the nation's shittiest and most underfunded schools" and increasing what Mr. Amarasiriwardena termed "Arizona's abysmally low educational attainment rate."

Ms. Gomez is the owner of Arthropologie, an art gallery on Main Street featuring the work of local artists and nationally-known established artists such as Helen Berggruen, Joe Zucker, Johannes Atli Hinriksson, Yuko Shimizu, and Sadie Benning.  She has a Ph.D. in Art History from Princeton University and was chair of the Art Department at Wellesley College.  Ms. Gomez is the author of well-received critical biographies of the conceptual artists Chris Burden, Vito Acconci, and Yoko Ono, and she has served as a panelist on the interdisciplinary arts panel of the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Mr. Amarasiriwardena was in the early 2000s best known as Lil Flash, a driving force as a hip-hop producer in the party-oriented Atlanta style known as "crunk."  A native of Mumbai with degrees in music and business administration from Emory University, Mr. Amarasiriwardena signed such classic acts as Xscape, Dem Bonez Boyz, FYM, Shawty Boi, and Lucidly Ghetto.  In recent years, as a venture capitalist in Austin, he has funded such successful tech startups as Marketic, Bizmondo, K Cube, and  TrueMooc; he and his wife, the actress Heidi Palover, own a ranch outside their second home in Bisbee.

Arizona Americans Elect Party Leader Trey Young hailed the accomplishments of the new Cochise County party officials and stressed that they would be the point persons for the party's drive to improve Arizona's failing education system.  "To support our children's learning is the most patriotic thing we can do," he said, stripping off his shirt in the 100-degree heat as the crowd of party members at the courthouse steps applauded.  "Our party pledges its support for education."

"Unfortunately," Mr. Young continued, "the influence of the assholes at the family-hating, unpatriotic Goldwater Institute and other crackpot right-wing agenda groups has made Arizona perhaps the stupidest, most ignorant state in the U.S."

"All that will change under the Arizona Americans Elect Party," said Ms. Gomez.  "We're going to kick conservative ass and institute a truly equitably funded system that will educate all Arizonans, regardless of income, location, race or ethnicity."

"The Arizona Americans Elect Party calls for a radical restructuring of learning in this state," added Mr. Amarasiriwardena, "which until now has not been able to train people for the high-paying jobs today's skilled knowledge workers get in other places, like my other home Austin or in Silicon Valley or Research Triangle or lower Manhattan or the suburbs of Boston and D.C."

"As our party motto states, let's make Arizona less of a shithole," Mr. Young concluded.  "That starts with mandatory, government-funded pre-K education and goes all the way to making Arizona's higher education system an innovative fount of lifelong learning.  We'll work with visionary leaders like past and present ASU presidents Lattie Coor and Michael Crow to implement their ideas for transforming one of the worst-performing states into one of the best."

Arizona Americans Elect Party Leader Trey Young Introduces Yavapai County Co-Chairs Nina O'Neill von Stauffenberg & Dr. Alexander von Stauffenberg, Food Movement Activists, Who Will Fight to Reform Agriculture & the Food Industry

PRESCOTT, Ariz., May 15 -

Last evening Arizona Americans Elect Party leader Trey Young announced at a Prescott fundraiser and dinner party that food movement activists Nina O’Neill von Stauffenberg and Dr. Alexander von Stauffenberg would be the party’s new co-chairs in Yavapai County and would lead the party's vision for reforming agriculture and the food industry and providing Arizonans with safe, healthy and humanely-produced meals, locally sourced whenever possible.

The von Stauffenbergs live in Prescott, where they own Mekong Delta, a fusion Asian restaurant; Cookies and Scream, a vegan bakery; Artisan du Chocolat, an artisanal chocolate shop; and Top of the Hops, a tasting bar and culture center for craft and imported beers. 

Ms. O'Neill von Stauffenberg is also on the board of Arizona Meals on Wheels.  A native of Chicago, she graduated from Loyola University Chicago and received an associate degree in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America. 
 
Dr. von Stauffenberg is a former staff associate at the International Food Policy Research Institute, an organization in Washington that focuses on environmentally sound policies to alleviate hunger and poverty.  He received a doctorate in cultural studies at the graduate school of North American studies at the Free University of Berlin.  

Both Dr. and Ms. von Stauffenberg were major contributors last year in the effort to pass California's Prop 37, a measure that would have required most foods made with genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled.

"People by the millions have begun, as the slogan goes, to vote with their forks in favor of more sustainably and humanely produced food, and against agribusiness," said Mr. Young, leader of Arizona's fastest-growing political party, which has appeared on the ballot since 2012 with a slate of progressive candidates for state and local offices.  

"Dynamic young Arizona Americans Elect Party leaders like the von Stauffenbergs have revitalized local farming and urban communities," Mr. Young said, in introducing the couple.  "At the same time they have raised the bar on the food industry, which now must pay attention to things like sustainable farming and the humane treatment of animals."

Arizona Americans Elect Party's New Mohave County Co-Chairs Brooke Epstein and Razvan Codrescu Promise to Work for Party Goal of Protecting Women's Reproductive Rights, Supporting Planned Parenthood

KINGMAN, Ariz., May 10 -

Trey Young, leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, traveled to Kingman today to introduce the party's new Mohave County Co-Chairs, Brooke Epstein and Razvan Codrescu, who said they would build party membership and concentrate efforts on achieving the party's goal of working for women's reproductive rights and supporting the work of Planned Parenthood in the county and state. 

Ms. Epstein, 28, is a coordinator with the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in Kingman, where she administers health insurance benefits for the organization’s staff members and for those of its affiliated congregations.  She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University and received a Master of Public Health degree in global health from Harvard University.  Ms. Epstein's mother, Claire Katz-Ngandé, a  retired obstetrician and gynecologist who specialized in obstetric fistula repair, ran a clinic in Sierra Leone where Ms. Epstein served as a volunteer.

Mr. Codrescu, 27,  is the chief executive of Andover Brand Econometrics, a consultancy in Lake Havasu City that advises pharmaceutical companies on market decisions. He was a White House Fellow in 2009 and 2010 in the office of the Secretary of Commerce.  After studying with the Rumanian School of Ballet and working as a performer with the Zurich Ballet, he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in economics from Vassar College.

The Mohave County Co-Chairs agreed that, given their backgrounds in public health and in order to build party membership in the county, they would concentrate on the Arizona Americans Elect Party's support of women's reproductive rights.

"Unfortunately, recent legislation signed into law in Arizona has reduced access to abortion care, a development that particularly hit low-income and rural women of the state the hardest," said Ms. Epstein.  "The Arizona Americans Elect Party's 2014 candidates will work toward repealing these draconian laws and return quality and safety-oriented reproductive care to all women in Mohave County and elsewhere."

"We must restore and increase state funding of Planned Parenthood," Mr. Codrescu said, "which is committed to providing every woman with the full range of quality, affordable reproductive health care with a strong focus on preventive care."

"Women have a friend in these dynamic new Americans Elect Party leaders," said the state party leader, Mr. Young.  "The feminists of the  Arizona Americans Elect Party, female and male, will end the war against women in this state and throw the troglodytes out of the state legislature and Congress." 

New Arizona Americans Elect Party Coconino County Co-Chairs Holden Pham and Randa Hamid Commit Themselves to Party Platform Advocating Economic Justice

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., May 9 -

Arizona Americans Elect Party leader Trey Young today appeared at a press conference at Northern Arizona University to introduce the party's new Coconino County co-chairs Holden Pham and Randa Hamid and highlight the Arizona Americans Elect Party's commitment to economic justice.

Mr. Pham, 24, is a graduate student at NAU, working on his M.A. degree in Social Responsibility and Sustainable Communities in Flagstaff.  Ms. Hamid, 30, who received her undergraduate and law degrees from Yale University, also lives in Flagstaff, where she is a staff attorney in social policy with the Global Economic Justice Center.

"Both of these amazing young people will be an important part in our 2014 campaign not just for public offices from Governor on down in Arizona but also for our party's commitment to economic justice and to ending the scourge of income inequality and wealth disparity in our state and nation," said Mr. Young as he introduced the new county leaders.

The Arizona Americans Elect Party is the fastest-growing political party in the state.  Committed to social responsibility and economic justice, the party's first candidates, Richard Grayson and Stephen Dolgos, ran for Congress in 2012, and the party plans to run candidates in federal and state races in 2014.  Social activist J.L. Meader of Mesa has already filed to run as a candidate in the Americans Elect Party primary for Governor.

"We're going to get a lot of support in our fight for economic justice in 2014 as a continuation and adjunct to the Occupy movement," said Mr. Pham.  "With the rich getting richer, middle class wages are frozen in carbonite, and more of us are out of work or working harder and longer for less money, it's time to make a concerted effort to turn things around in Arizona."

Ms. Hamid agreed.  "We are living in difficult times, "she said. "As the same time we’re told that we can no longer afford the programs that have kept so many of us from falling into abject poverty, massive tax breaks are being given to millionaires and their corporations.  The Arizona Americans Elect Party understands that our country isn’t broke, the money is just in the wrong pockets."  

New Americans Elect Party Pinal County Co-Chairs Erica Núñez and Hoyt Schermerhorn IV Pledge to Fight Global Warming to Protect Arizona's Future

APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz., May 8 -

Trey Young, leader of Arizona's fastest growing political party, the Americans Elect Party, which will be on the state's ballots again in 2014 after a successful debut in the 2012 election, traveled to Apache Junction today to introduce the party's new co-chairs in Pinal County, Erica Núñez and Hoyt Schermerhorn IV, both climate change activists, who pledged to build the growing party's base in Pinal County.

Dr. Núñez, who lives with her boyfriend and daughter in Apache Junction, is a graduate of Columbia University, from which she earned an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering  and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and plasma physics.  She said her decision to become a climate scientist was “a marriage of convenience and deep conviction.”  As a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, established by the United Nations in 1988, Dr. Núñez helped write papers that were influential in framing the climate-change discussion.  She joined the Arizona Americans Elect Party in 2012 to work for its candidate Richard Grayson, also of Apache Junction, who received 1% of the vote in the race for Arizona's Fourth Congressional District seat.

Rev. Schermerhorn, ordained as a pastor in the Metropolitan Community Church, lives in Gold Canyon with his husband and son.  He studied at Duke University, where he earned an undergraduate degree in geology and a Master of Environmental Management (M.E.M.) degree, and he also holds the Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary.  Also an active member of the Arizona Americans Elect Party from Grayson's 2012 congressional campaign, Rev. Schermerhorn is on the board of directors of Interfaith Moral Action on Climate, which has urged state legislatures and Congress to enact legislation to combat global warming.

Both of the Pinal County Americans Elect Party leaders vowed to elect candidates in 2014 who will protect the environment.  "As most Arizona voters know, climate change is very real," said Dr. Núñez, "and we have a limited time to produce legislation and regulation to protect our environment from the dangers of global warming."

"Although the Arizona Americans Elect Party is active on many fronts," Rev. Schermerhorn said, "climate change may be the defining issue of our generation, and we need to make public support for environmental protections as widespread as support for gay marriage and immigration reform.  Of course, there are a lot of backward-thinking, ignorant people in Pinal County and the state, and we need to show them the error of their ways -- or destroy them before they destroy the beauty of Arizona."

"We are proud to have these accomplished young leaders representing the Americans Elect Party in Pinal County, a crucial area, as we move into next year's Arizona state and federal elections," said Mr. Young, the party's leader. 

J.L. Mealer of Mesa is the First Arizona Americans Elect Party Candidate to File for Governor, Party Leader Trey Young Announces

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz., May 3 -

Arizona Americans Elect Party leader Trey Young today called a press conference to announce that the party's first gubernatorial candidate has filed.  

J.L. Mealer, a Mesa business leader and sportsman, is one of three candidates to have filed formal declarations of candidacy for Governor in 2014 with the Arizona Secretary of State's office, along with former Arizona Board of Regents Chairman Fred DuVal, a Democrat, and ex-Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman, a Republican.

"We in the Americans Elect Party are proud to have one of the first candidates for Governor of any party to be in our 2014 primary," said Mr. Young, flanked by other party leaders, including First Vice-Chairwoman Buffy Lehman Auchincloss, his aunt, and party Treasurer Dr. Irina Tereshkova, his girlfriend.  "We are expecting Mr. Mealer to run a dynamic, progressive race and we're looking forward to hearing the ways he will protect the rights and fortunes of Arizona's silent majority who've been ignored by our current right-wing Republican governor and legislature."

"We're confident he'll help the Americans Elect Party fight the Tea Party scum who've turned Arizona into a shithole," Dr. Tereshkova added.  "Mr. Mealer will appeal to those Arizonans who own catheters, colostomy bags, authentic replicas of Obama’s original Kenyan birth certificate, adult diapers, bomb shelters, survivalist manuals, Ayn Rand coloring books and souvenir Krugerrands -- and in this state, that's a majority of the voters."

Dr. Frank Fukuda and Dr. Spring Waterston, Noted Sex Therapists, Named City of Sedona Americans Elect Party Co-Chairs by Arizona Party Leader Trey Young

SEDONA, Ariz., May 2 -

Arizona Americans Elect Party leader Trey Young traveled to Sedona today to name the noted sex therapists Frank Fukuda and Spring Waterston as the City of Sedona Co-Chairs of the Arizona Americans Elect Party.

"I'm excited that wonderful Sedona is the first city to have an active group of Americans Elect Party members," said Mr. Young at a press conference at the Tantric Foundation in West Sedona.  "And our party is privileged indeed to have such distinguished residents as Dr. Fukuda and Dr. Waterston as our representative in the community."

"We hope to bring a more spiritual side to the political party," said Dr. Waterston, who is in private practice in Sedona, where she volunteers as a children's story reader at the Sedona Public Library.  She received her Ph.D. from Maimonides University and is an ABS certified sex therapist who specializes in sexual dysfunctions, gender identity, and geriatric issues.

"Spring and I will work hard but have fun in our attempt to gain new Americans Elect Party members in Sedona," Dr. Fukuda said.  He received his Ed.D. from Florida State University and is an ABS certified sex counselor as well as a longtime volunteer at the Nicodemus Wilderness Project.

The Arizona Americans Elect Party is the state's fastest-growing political party; its first candidates for Congress first appeared on the 2012 ballot and the party is already qualified for the ballot in 2014, when it hopes to run candidates for most federal and state offices.

Rabbi Elana de Carvajal and Dr. Noor Rizvi Named Pima County Americans Elect Party Co-Chairs; Vow to Fight Anti-Immigrant 'Haters', Join May 1 March & Rally for Immigrant & Worker Rights

 

TUCSON, May 1 -

Continuing the revitalization of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, party leader Trey Young came to Tucson today to install Elana de Carvajal and Noor Rizvi as the party's new Pima County co-chairs.

Rabbi de Carvajal, 27, is a native of Mexico City who received her bachelor's degree from Barnard College and did her graduate work at Jewish Theological Seminary, where she was ordained as a Conservative rabbi.  Married to a University of Arizona sociology professor, Mark Rubin, she is the mother of twins and spiritual leader of Congregation Shaare Zion in Tucson, where she lives. 

Dr. Rizvi, 33, is a native of Lahore, Pakistan, and received undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of California at Los Angeles and its David Geffen School of Medicine.  He lives in Oro Valley with his wife, Dr. Tina Singh, and is in a private practice in plastic surgery in Tucson and  Oro Valley.

"We're proud of our new Pima County Americans Elect Party leaders, who are accomplished and talented individuals in the community," said Mr. Young, who became party leader last week.  "We're sure they'll attract new members in Tucson and elsewhere."

Both Rabbi de Carvajal and Dr. Rizvi, both immigrants, have been active in support of the Arizona Dreamers and the Coalición de Derechos Humanos.

Following their press conference, Mr. Young and the new Pima County party leaders joined the May 1 Coalition march and rally in support of International Workers Day for Justice and Dignity.

"It's time to fight the haters in Arizona," said Rabbi de Carvajal.  "The Americans Elect Party will stand up for our immigrant community. Both Noor and I have pledged to continue our efforts as party leaders on their behalf."

Dr. Rizvi agreed: "We call for immigration reform for 11 million, ending the militarization of our borders and communities, ending the criminalization of migrants, and resisting and repealing the hateful SB 1070."

"The Americans Elect Party respects the rights of all workers," added Mr. Young, "and we will be looking for candidates in 2014 who will represent that view.  Fuck all the haters in Arizona."

Newly-Elected Arizona Americans Elect Party Yuma County Co-Chairs Rain Halligan and Elijah Sanchez Pledge to Make Arizona Less of a Shithole

YUMA, Ariz., Apr. 30 -

Rain Halligan and Elijah Sanchez, both of Yuma, were today elected co-chairs of the Yuma County chapter of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, and pledged themselves to "make Arizona less of a shithole."

Ms. Halligan, 28, a Yuma visual artist and LGBT activist, and Mr. Sanchez, bassist in a Yuma band, were elected at a meeting of party members led by state party leader Trey Young, and including party treasurer Dr. Irina Tereshkova, artistic director Richard Grayson, and first vice-chairwoman Buffy Lehman Auchincloss.

"Arizona as we know it is, like, totally fucked up," said Ms. Halligan.

Mr. Sanchez agreed, noting that the recent signing of a bill to forbid the destruction of weapons received in municipal gun buybacks is just the latest example of how "Arizona is seen as a laughingstock filled with right-wing assholes."

"Most Republican male legislators like guns because they're concerned about their small penis size," said Ms. Halligan.  "Jan Brewer must have a similar problem or something."

"The Arizona Americans Elect Party will change all that in the 2014 elections," said party leader Trey Young.  "We're looking for cool people to join us and for cool people to run as candidates.  Hopefully, we'll get some more of Yuma's 'natural aristocrats' like Rain and Elijah to become a part of Arizona's fastest-growing political party."

Jaden Parascandola and Myrtle Willoughby Named Co-Chairs of Maricopa County Americans Elect Party

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz., Apr. 29 -

Jaden Parascandola and Myrtle Willoughby have been named as co-chairs of the Maricopa County Americans Elect Party by Trey Young, Supreme Leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, the state's fastest-growing 2014-ballot-qualified political party.

"The party is now big enough so that we can have county affiliates," Mr. Young, 26, a Scottsdale entrepreneur, said at a press conference today in Paradise Valley at the party's new headquarters, which coincidentally is also the home of Mr. Parascandola, stepbrother to Mr. Young, and his girlfriend Ms. Willoughby.

Mr. Parascandola is a lacrosse player, blogger and art collector who holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College.  Ms. Willoughby is an attorney who serves as staff counsel to the Très Jeune corporation, the holding company for Mr. Young's media, restaurant, and related business interests.

"We are excited to have Jaden and Myrtle heading our Maricopa County local party," said Mr. Young.  "They'll do a great job and are already planning a gala party for our party, putting it well on its way to becoming the cool political party for the Valley of the Sun's elite voters." 

Both Mr. Parascandola and Ms. Willoughby are active members of the Arizona Campaign to End Gun Violence. They hope to use their positions to support the Arizona Americans Elect Party's goal of achieving legislation to regulate dangerous firearms so as to prevent future mass shootings such as those at Sandy Hook, Tucson, Aurora, and elsewhere.

Buffy Lehman Auchincloss Elected First Vice-Chairwoman of the Arizona Americans Elect Party

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz., Apr. 28 -

Buffy Lehman Auchincloss, 93, the philanthropist and longtime social activist, today was elected First Vice-Chairwoman of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, the state's fastest-growing political party which will be on the ballot in 2014.

Ms. Auchincloss, a former fashion designer and airplane pilot who created scholarships for graduate students interested in studying feminist and environmental issues, lives in Paradise Valley, and also maintains homes in Palm Springs, Manhattan and Bermuda.  She has agreed to help raise substantial funds for the Arizona Americans Elect Party, according to Trey Young, the party's leader and her great-grandnephew, who announced her election.

"Aunt Buffy taught me so much about progressive politics, fashion and haute cuisine when I was growing up," Mr. Young said in a statement.  "I'm going to keep learning from her.  It is fabulous to have her at my side as we lead the Arizona Americans Elect Party into the next election."

Dr. Irina Tereshkova Selected as New State Treasurer of the Arizona Americans Elect Party

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz., Apr. 27, 2013 - 

Dr. Irina Tereshkova was today named Treasurer of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, one of Arizona's ballot-qualified political parties, and since its electoral debut last year, the fastest-growing party in the state. 

Dr. Tereshkova, 27, of Phoenix, was selected by the party's new Supreme Leader, Trey Young, who took office last night after winning a a leadership fight. She is also the Chief Financial Officer of Très Jeune, the holding company for various restaurant, media and financial enterprises of Mr. Young, who is also her fiancé. She graduated magna cum laude from Sarah Lawrence College and received her Ph.D. in art history from Stanford University. 

Mr. Young, 26, of Scottsdale, said he intends to make changes in the structure of the Arizona Americans Elect Party and part of that was bringing in someone versed in finance to be the group's first Treasurer.   Dr. Tereshkova also serves on the Board of Directors of The Buzzgawk Fund, the hedge fund where Mr. Young is managing partner.

"I'm sure Irina will do a magnificent job in terms of fundraising for Arizona Americans Elect," said Mr. Young. "Previously, the party was getting off the ground and we didn't pay much attention to money. But Dr. Tershkova can start the ball rolling in getting more high-powered donors to contribute to the party's coffers for the coming 2014 state and congressional elections." 

Richard Grayson, the party's Artistic Director, also praised Dr. Tereshkova from his hospital room at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, where he is being treated for a concussion. "Irina is filled with new ideas about how to raise money for the party," Grayson said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what she has mind to make the Arizona Americans Elect Party more effective."

In another change for Arizona Americans Elect, the party headquarters was moved during the night from Mesa to Paradise Valley and is temporarily being housed at the home of Jaden Parascandola, Mr. Young's stepbrother. 

Trey Young, 26, of Scottsdale, Named New Supreme Leader of Arizona Americans Elect Party After Defeating Incumbent in Leadership Fight

CHANDLER, Ariz., Apr. 26, 2013 – 

Trey Young of Scottsdale was installed as the new Supreme Leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party tonight.  His installation followed a mixed martial arts bout with the party’s former Supreme Leader, Richard Grayson, that took place as an exhibition match of a card put on by local promotion World Fighting Federation MMA at Wild Horse Pass Casino in Chandler.

The Arizona Americans Elect Party is Arizona’s fifth ballot-qualified political party, currently with 266 registered voters.  Its first candidates appeared on the 2012 ballot: Grayson, of Apache Junction, as the candidate in the Fourth Congressional District, and Stephen Dolgos of New River was the candidate in the Eighth Congressional District. 

The Americans Elect Party candidates for Congress from Arizona garnered the fourth highest number of votes in 2012, finishing ahead of the long-established Arizona Green Party. 

By party tradition and its by-rules, the new Supreme Leader has to be selected from among party members who declare their candidacy and who then defeat the old Supreme Leader in the combat of his choice.

Young, 26, of Scottsdale, won the party leadership decisively when he stopped the 61-year-old Grayson one minute into the second round after five minutes of a slugfest to open the fight. 

Grayson, 5’6” and 152 pounds, came forward 20 seconds in with a step-in right elbow. But Young, 6’1” and 165 pounds, had no qualms firing back and landed a good left hook. Young chased Grayson down and landed punches and a head kick. Then he gestured for the party’s founding leader to come forward – and he did, landing a good shot of his own, then a solid left jab.

Young kept coming forward with a relentless pace, and the two traded big bombs in tight before Young clinched Grayson up and looked to land elbows. Moments later, Grayson had Young backing up with a left hand, then several shots to the body that put the challenger on the canvas.

Grayson got on top and went to work with the ground and pound with Young going into survival mode from his guard. Young expertly locked in a triangle choke that was deep and appeared to have Grayson in trouble. But Grayson escaped and with the fight back on the feet for the last 20 seconds of the round, Young had Grayson backing up eating punches.

The two traded punches early in the second, and Young quickly got in and landed some giant knees that cut opened up a cut below Grayson’s eye. Young kept the pressure on and landed big punches on the ground, and with Grayson's knee on the canvas, he landed big elbows to the body as Grayson covered up. From there, the referee had seen enough and ended the match.

"I think Richard did a good job as the Arizona American Elect party’s founder, but I think I proved it’s time for a younger, more dynamic leader to take over," Young said. "He hurt me really bad with that body shot. I was really close to being incapacitated and unable to defend myself, but I know that in political fights, you need to come back with everything you’ve got. I look forward to being the Supreme Leader of Arizona’s fastest-growing political party."

Grayson congratulated the new Americans Elect Party Supreme Leader on his win and pledged his loyalty.  “Trey has proven he has what it takes to run an impressive and aggressive campaign for the Arizona Americans Elect party,” Grayson said.  “He’ll be a strong leader.  He was obviously stronger than I was tonight.” 

Young asked Grayson to stay on as the party’s Artistic Director, and Grayson agreed, saying he would help the new Supreme Leader recruit candidates for Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Education Commissioner, Corporation Commissioner, and for all the seats in the Arizona State Legislature and U.S. House Congressional delegation that are up in 2014.  But according to party by-laws, the outgoing Supreme Leader must go into exile from the state and at the end of the month, Grayson will leave Arizona and return to his native Brooklyn. 

Anyone interested in running for office should contact the party’s new Supreme Leader.  According to the party’s by-laws, Trey Young can be challenged for the party leadership only after the 2014 election.  Grayson has ruled out a rematch.

"It's a new day for the Arizona Americans Elect Party, and we party members look forward to a more collective form of leadership going into the 2014 election," said Irina Tereshkova, a registered Americans Elect party voter and a spectator at the Wild Horse Pass Casino who embraced the victor following the bout as the crowd cheered wildly.

Trey Young of Scottsdale Announces Bid to Become Supreme Leader of Arizona Americans Elect Party

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Apr. 24 —

Trey Young, 26, of Scottsdale, a member of the Arizona Americans Elect Party since February 2013, has announced a bid to become the new Supreme Leader of the party.   Mr. Young, a hedge fund manager, fashion model, and restaurant owner, said he hopes to bring "fresh leadership" to Arizona's fastest-growing political party, which is ballot-qualified in state and federal elections for 2014.

"It's time to turn the Arizona Americans Elect Party in a new direction, with more dynamic leadership," Mr. Young said in a statement.  "It's disgraceful that we had only two candidates running in the 2012 election when we could have made the differences in numerous races for the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the state legislature."

The leadership of the party became vacant when Richard Grayson, 61,now the party's Artistic Director, announced that he was stepping down as Supreme Leader.  However, by party by-rules, the new Supreme Leader has to be selected from among party members -- currently numbering 266 -- who defeat the old Supreme Leader in the combat of his choice.

A mixed-martial arts bout between Grayson and Young will held on a date to be announced as an exhibition match of a card put on by local promotion World Fighting Federation MMA at Wild Horse Pass Casino in Chandler.  

Both Arizona Americans Elect Party members said they looked forward to their contest.  

"If the Democrats and Republicans in Arizona held their leadership battles in this fresh and exciting way, they might actually be relevant to voters," said Young.

Grayson agreed.  "The Arizona Americans Elect Party takes our politics seriously, but also with style and flair.  Just like the despicable old Joe Arpaio, I'm not going to give up running things without a fight."