Pearce e-mail costs him Hayworth endorsement

By Sarah N. Lynch, Tribune
October 11, 2006

Mesa lawmaker Russell Pearce lost the support of a key political ally Tuesday after sending an email containing information from a white supremacist organization.

Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., withdrew his endorsement from Pearce, even though Pearce had apologized twice for sending the e-mail.

“Given the regrettable and disturbing nature of the e-mail Russell Pearce circulated . . . I cannot in good conscience lend my endorsement to his candidacy for state representative,” Hayworth wrote in a statement to the media. “While Russell has issued an apology for his e-mail, I nonetheless will not be associated with any communication that contains anti-Semitic remarks.”

The e-mail contained an article from the National Alliance’s Web site titled “Who Rules America? The Alien Grip on our News and Entertainment Media Must Be Broken.” In the article, the author accuses the media of manipulating public opinion in favor of nonwhites and makes disparaging remarks toward Jews and racially mixed couples.

The National Alliance is classified as a neo-Nazi organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Pearce’s e-mail went out less than two weeks after he made controversial statements on a local radio station supporting a pre-civil rights era program called “Operation Wetback.” He has not apologized for those remarks.

Pearce did not return several phone calls Tuesday. But in two emails he sent to friends and family, he stated he was appalled by the message it contained and that he sent it out without fully reading it first.

“I’ve only now had it brought to my attention how ugly the words contained in it really are,” Pearce wrote in one of the e-mails obtained by the Tribune. “They are not mine and I disavow them completely. Worse still, the Web site links to a group whose politics are the ugliest imaginable.”

Pearce is running for re-election to the state House of Representatives this November against Democrat Tammie Pursley and fellow Republican Mark Anderson, R-Mesa.

Pearce’s original intent of the email was to ask his supporters to put up signs to support his campaign. After that, he criticized the local media for its coverage of his comments about mass deportation.

Fellow Republicans have tried to distance themselves from Pearce ever since he went on the radio on Sept. 20.

Anderson, who, like Pearce, is running for re-election in District 18, said he disagreed with Pearce’s views on mass deportation. But he defended Pearce over the e-mail and criticized Hayworth for withdrawing his endorsement.

“Any people in my view who are white supremacists are wackos, especially in this day and age,” Anderson said.

Matt Salmon, chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, said Pearce should have been more careful.

“He clearly made a severe mistake in judgment by forwarding that e-mail,” Salmon said.

“He should have thoroughly reviewed it and he should know before he sends out anything with his name what they stand for and what their affiliations are.”

Other Republican leaders agreed that Pearce went too far, but many still refused to comment publicly until they see the e-mail themselves.

“I like Russell in many ways, but I do believe that he’s lost his moorings,” said Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-Scottsdale. “He has become too consumed. He’s driving himself mad about this (immigration debate).”

- Staff writer Nick Martin contributed to this report

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