Heckling during President Biden’s State of the Union speech Tuesday was typical for the political climate that’s existed since Donald Trump decided to run for president in 2015.
Even at the most local levels, the attempts to shout out slogans loudly in the most visible venues, along with legislation that seems strictly meant to hurt the Democratic Party’s chances of winning elections, have created ongoing challenges and changes in the day-to-day machinations of politics.
Tuesday, U.S. Reps Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., yelled “Build the wall” during Biden’s speech.
That contention has led many to address the political climate.
Joseph Piccari, Sun City Democrats president, believes some of the tactics of the past few years are part of a phase.
“I believe that civility will eventually return and prevail,” Picarri said. “I think that the heckling of the president at the SOTU is rude and uncivilized. Those who did it do not deserve to be a member of Congress.”
Other state, county and Sun City area political leaders from both parties didn’t reply to requests for comment for this story by press time.
According to one precinct chair, it’s the issues and legislation that have West Valley voters motivated to sign petitions and be even more proactive.
Mary Lynne Shroyer, a Democratic committee person for the Sun City precinct, said her work this month is focused on collecting signatures to get statewide-office candidates on the ballot. She’s seen the shift in area Democratic Party voters from wanting to evict Donald Trump from the White House to more attention on measures in the Arizona Legislature and in Congress — especially on voting rights.
“For four years, Democrats were really focused on keeping Trump out,” Shroyer said. “There are still voters concerned Trump could run in 2024. But now there’s also concern about what laws are being voted on right now.”
U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, who served in Iraq with the Marines, tweeted a response to Boebert’s and Taylor-Greene’s heckling during Biden’s mention of the hazards of combat-zone burn pits.
“As someone that lived next to a burn pit I don’t appreciate @RepMTG and @laurenboebert. Had to interrupt the first time ever burn pits are mentioned in a SOTU address to score a political partisan point. #trash.”
Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward didn’t praise Boebert and Taylor-Greene’s outbourst directly. However, she retweeted several tweets from Boebert herself and praise from author and filmmaker, Dinesh D’Souza.
“The emperor has no clothes, and two Republican women were gutsy enough to stand up and say it,” D’Souza wrote.
Shroyer, speaking fewer than 24 hours after Biden’s speech, said she’s not sure how much the exact public tactics matter to registered Democrats.
“We’ll have to wait and see if that becomes an issue for voters,” she said.
She added unlike 2020, when the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and Trump animosity brought some independents to sign petitions for Democratic candidates, it’s the things happening at legislative venues that seem to be resonating in 2022.
“The Jan. 6 insurrection, voter rights — that’s what’s on the minds of Democrats in my area,” Shroyer said. “And, of course, when I’m talking to Democrats, I know how many Arizona voters are not registered with any party.”
The Jan. 2 Arizona Secretary of State report shows the state has 4.35 million voters, or about 130,000 more than it had in November 2020.
Voters registered as “other” than Republican, Democrat or Libertarian are nearly dead-even with the GOP in terms of percentage, each claiming about one-third. Democrats are less than 200,000 voters behind Republicans at 1,364,000 registered voters.
Shroyer said getting Mark Kelly on the ballot to run for U.S. Senate, and to win, was a priority in 2020, along with ousting Trump. She said there are fewer personalities being discussed at this point, and many issues brought up.
“There’s just an awful lot going on right now,” she said.
Shroyer has been going door-to-door in Sun City to get statewide candidate petitions signed. Voters can live anywhere in the state and sign a petition for one of those offices, but redistricting is going to make state legislature and congressional petitions more complicated.
That might not mean an individual voter’s concerns have changed, but that voter might now be grouped with fewer like-minded individuals — or more.
“I discovered that my home address has gone from being in Legislative District 21 to LD28,” Shroyer said. “That means getting to know some new people and their tendencies and priorities.”
Other challenges, besides a highly charged environment, include door-to-door political activities in areas with gated communities and not many public areas. Private property managed by large retail outlets, such as grocery and department stores, often don’t allow signatures to be gathered on-site.
“I also collect signatures for Outlaw Dark Money, and it’s the same challenge,” Shroyer said. “So we have to look for parks or other public spaces where we can collect signatures.”
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent @JasonWBrooks2
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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