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.

Richard Grayson to Step Down as Supreme Leader of Arizona Americans Elect Party, Will Assume Title of "Artistic Director"

Mesa, Ariz., Apr. 1 -- 

At the secret headquarters of the ballot-qualified Arizona Americans Elect Party today in Mesa, Richard Grayson announced his retirement as Supreme Leader of the Party.  Grayson, 61, of Apache Junction, and the party's candidate in 2012 for the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's Fourth Congressional District, will assume the new title of Artistic Director of the Americans Elect Party.

"Since our party's inception a year ago, the Arizona Americans Elect Party has been the fastest-growing of the state's five ballot-qualified parties, and we nudged the longstanding Green Party out of fourth place in 2012 in the votes received for candidates for Congress," Grayson said in a statement.  "I am proud that those accomplishments took place while I was the party's Supreme Leader, but it is time to step down."

The Arizona Americans Elect Party announced that Grayson would assume the new title of Artistic Director while remaining as Acting Supreme Leader until a new Supreme Leader is selected.

"By party tradition," Grayson said, "the new Supreme Leader has to defeat the old Supreme Leader in combat of his or her choice.  I am looking forward to a mixed martial arts contest with anyone who wishes to wrest total control of the party away from me."

Grayson said that as Acting Supreme Leader and Artistic Director, he would spend the next few months working out and recruiting candidates to run on the Arizona Americans Elect Party banner 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.

"The Arizona Americans Elect Party will be stronger than ever in the next state election," Grayson told voters, "and I expect to be stronger, too."  

He urged anyone any Arizona party members who want to be a 2014 Americans Elect candidate to prepare to run for office and any of them who want to be the party's new permanent Supreme Leader to prepare to be rendered unconscious in a fair but brutal fight.

Secretary of State Ken Bennett Announces that the Arizona Americans Elect Party is STILL the Fastest-Growing Political Party in Arizona, with 34% Growth Since August

PHOENIX, Oct. 30 - For the third time in five months, the office of Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has announced the latest Arizona voter count showing that the Arizona Americans Elect Party has remained the fastest-growing political party in the state, increasing its membership by more than a third (33.9%) in just the two months since the August primary. While the new figures show the number of registered independents has declined for the first time since 1990, the Arizona Americans Elect Party's membership has grown over 60% since March, when it had 148 members.

"From 177 registered Americans Elect Party members in August, we have increased our number to 237 voters," said Richard Grayson, Supreme Leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party and Americans Elect Party candidate for Congress in the Fourth Congressional District. Stephen Dolgos of New River is the Americans Elect Party candidate in the Eighth Congressional District. Other Arizona Americans Elect Party candidates include Barack Obama for President, Richard Carmona for U.S. Senator, and Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Salazar for Congress.

"Of course, anyone, regardless of party, can vote for our fine Arizona Americans Elect Party candidates on Tuesday," said Grayson. "You too can join the cool new party in town where everyone is welcome."

Arizona Americans Elect Party Thanks Mayor Mike Bloomberg for His Generous Gift

Arizona Americans Elect Party Gratefully Thanks Its Supporters in 2012 Election

MESA, Ariz., Oct. 21 -

Speaking this afternoon at the Arizona Americans Elect Party's secret headquarters in Mesa, the party's Supreme Leader, Richard Grayson, and Americans Elect Party nominee for Congress in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District, thanked those citizens and others who have been strong supporters of the party.

"These people have gone beyond being helpful and generous to really being the sparkplug that has done whatever sparkplugs do to get old-fashioned gas-powered automobiles going," said Grayson, who does not own a car.

Grayson listed the Arizona Americans Elect Party's benefactors and thanked each of them individually:

Elliot L. Ackerman Jackie Adams David Albertson Judy Albertson Neil A. Allen Melvin T. Andrews Kellen Arno Michael Arno Dr. F. Christopher Arterton David Aufhauser Daren Bascome Dr. C. Fred Bergsten Arthur H. Bilger David Binetti Gerald W. Blakeley Jr. Arturo Brillembourg Hilda Ochoa Brillembourg John H. Burbank III Mark Burnett Edward T. Colligan Charles R. Conn Dr. Denis A. Cortese, M.D. W. Bowman Cutter Charles H. Dallara Nathan Daschle Larry Diamond Andrew Doctoroff, Esq. Wendy Drake Esther Dyson Jessica Einhorn Michael Eisner The Honorable Mark Erwin Brian M. Findlay Alice Finn Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild Les Francis Dean Furbush Jennifer Glass Raymond Glendening Judith S. Goldstein Mr. Nihal W. Goonewardene Roderick M. Hills The Honorable Carla Hills Michael Horvitz Jerry Jasinowski Jim Jonas Dale E. Jones David King Gary Krisel Heide Lankeit W. David Lawson Lawrence Lessig Michael Lewitt Dr. Aaron Lobel Lee Lowenstein Bertil Lundqvist Sarah Malm Julia Malone Will Marshall Ms. Dale P. Mathias Rafael Mayer Cara Brown McCormick Mark McKinnon Morton H. Meyerson Ambassador John Negroponte Mark K. Nichols George Nolfi Deborah Winslow Nutter David M. Olsen Greg Orman Frederick Pakis Ambassador Mark Palmer Carol Perrin Robert Picard Jason Putorti Bruce Raben Jordan H. Rednor Joseph L. Rice Rob Richie Peter Alan Rinfret Nancy E. Roman Robert L. Rosen Kirk T. Rostron Richard Salomon Tom Sansonetti Dr. David E. Scharff Dr. Jill Savage Scharff Douglas Schoen Tom Serres Richard E. Snyder Dorothy Meadows Sobol Darry Sragow Henry A. Sweetbaum Dr. Lisbeth L. Tarlow Dr. G. Richard Thoman Lynn Thoman James Thomson George Vradenburg Ileana Wachtel The Honorable David M. Walker Lynda C. Webster The Honorable William H. Webster Edward L. Weidenfeld Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld William Wrigley Jr. Peter Arno Dimple Bhayani Nancy Blackmore Virginia Bosse Cynthia Burnette Grover Bynum Kahlil Byrd Kate Cantwell Brittanie Clement Jenna Cochran Lori Corder Wendy Drake Sam Edelen Brian Findlay Jackie Freeman Allison Grant Sam Haas Michael Hackett Drew Hazouri Kevin Heller Zach Hubbard Lindsey Jacobson Jeff Knighton Patricia Kramer Sarah Kroll-Rosenbaum Dagny Leonard Tanya Lervik Joshua Levine Jose Lugo Sarah Malm Ben Marcus Julia Malone Meghan Maloney Alan McGee Erin McKenna Kaitlin Murphy Katie Nunn Jess Overby Dan Pashman Justin Pinn Andrea Relopez Laura Rodriguez Ryan Ross Doug Schoen Jennifer Scullion Jeremy Shore Gourdin Sirles Alice Skelton Jordan Taylor-Jones Alisha Thomas Nick Troiano Ileana Wachtel Cara Webster Lynda C. Webster Cheryl Wheeler Blake Wright Michael Zuckerman

Arizona Americans Elect Party Endorses President Obama; Carmona for Senator; Dolgos, Grayson, Grijalva, Barber, Cobb, Kirkpatrick, Salazar, Sinema and Morgan for Congress; Pout, Gohl and Meadows for Corporation Commission

MESA, Ariz., Oct. 21 -

Today the Arizona Americans Elect Party announced its endorsements in the races for President and Congress, as well as for three seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Richard Grayson, Supreme Leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party and an endorsed candidate for Congress in the Fourth District, announced the endorsement at the party's secret headquarters in Mesa.  

"I'm proud to endorse the entire Arizona Americans Elect Party slate, from President Obama and Rich Carmona for U.S. Senator, as well as our candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives," Grayson said.  "Although only Stephen Dolgos in the Eighth Congressional District and I are running officially on the Americans Elect Party, we are cross-endorsing candidates of other parties for the other congressional seats."

The Arizona Americans Elect Party endorses the following candidates in 2012:

President/Vice President: Barack Obama/Joseph Biden (Democrat)
U.S. Senator: Richard Carmona (Democrat)
U.S. House, District 1: Ann Kirkpatrick (Democrat)
U.S. House, District 2: Ron Barber (Democrat)
U.S. House, District 3: Raul Grijalva (Democrat)
U.S. House, District 4: Richard Grayson (Americans Elect)
U.S. House, District 5: Spencer Morgan (Democrat)
U.S. House, District 6: Mark Salazar (Green)
U.S. House, District 7: Joe Cobb (Libertarian)
U.S. House, District 8: Stephen Dolgos (Americans Elect)
U.S. House, District 9: Kyrsten Sinema (Democrat)
Arizona Corporation Commission: Daniel Pout (Green), Christopher Gohl (Libertarian), Thomas Meadows (Green)

Secretary of State Ken Bennett Announces that the Arizona Americans Elect Party is STILL the Fastest-Growing Political Party in Arizona, with Almost 20% Growth Since March

MESA, Ariz., Aug. 24 - For the second time in two months, the office of Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has announced the latest Arizona voter count showing that the Arizona Americans Elect Party has remained the fastest-growing political party in the state at the same time that every other political party -- Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green -- again lost registered voters since June, as they had between March and June, and the number of independent voters also decreased.

Although every other party's membership declined in the two months since June, the Arizona Americans Elect Party grew by more than 5%, with nine new Americans Elect Party voters joining the fast-growing party. Since just March, the Arizona Americans Elect Party has grown by almost 20% -- 19.59%, to be more exact.

"Now there are 177 of us," said Richard Grayson, Supreme Leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party and a write-in candidate for Congress in the Fourth Congressional District.

Stephen Dolgos of New River will be on the ballot as the first Americans Elect Party candidate ever to run on the ballot. Dolgos is running for Congress in the Eighth Congressional District. He is also Supreme Leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, as are all 177 party members, several of whom are running on the Americans Elect Party line for local offices in Cochise County.

"Any independent Arizona voter may join our Americans Elect Party members and vote in the Americans Elect Party primary this Tuesday, August 28," said Grayson. "You too can join the cool new party in town where everyone is welcome."

Arizona Americans Elect Party Endorses Bill Maher, Green Party Write-In Candidate, for Arizona State House in District 16

MESA, Ariz., July 12 -

Today the Arizona Americans Elect Party endorsed Bill Maher, Green Party write-in candidate for the State House of Representatives in District 16.

Richard Grayson, Supreme Leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, announced the endorsement at the party's secret headquarters in Mesa.  

"I'm proud that we have the famous Bill Maher running in my own district here in the East Valley, including east Mesa and Apache Junction.," Grayson said.  "Although we were not able to recruit Bill Maher to run on our party, we were happy to be able to facilitate his candidacy on the Green Party line."

"The Arizona Americans Elect Party strongly endorses Bill Maher's candidacy," said Grayson, "and we consider him 'our' nominee just as we are sure he will win the Green Party nomination on August 28."

In addition to being Supreme Leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, Grayson is running as a write-in candidate in the Americans Elect Party primary for Congress in District 4.  Stephen Dolgos of New River is on the ballot as the Americans Elect Party nominee for Congress in District 8.

"We welcome Bill Maher's entrance into Arizona electoral politics," said Grayson, "and we know his addition will make our state legislature less of a joke."

Secretary of State Ken Bennett Announces that Arizona Americans Elect Party is the Fastest-Growing Political Party in Arizona

MESA, Ariz., July 6 - Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has announced the latest Arizona voter count information as of June. With one month to go to register for the August 28 primary, the Arizona Americans Elect Party has become the fastest-growing political party in the state, having grown by 13.5% since March. 

Every other political party -- Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green -- lost registered voters since March.

Twenty new Americans Elect Party voters joined the 148 Americans Elect Party voters counted in March.

"Now there are 168 of us," said Richard Grayson, Supreme Leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party and a write-in candidate for Congress in the Fourth Congressional District.

Stephen Dolgos of New River will be on the ballot as the first Americans Elect Party candidate ever to run on the ballot. Dolgos is running for Congress in the Eighth Congressional District. He is also Supreme Leader of the Arizona Americans Elect Party, as are all 168 party members. 

"We are still seeking write-in candidates for all offices to run in the August 28 primary," said Grayson. "You must file by the July 17 deadline. We are the cool new political party in town where everyone is welcome -- to join us, to run as a candidate, and to be our Supreme Leader."