Sun Lakes Republican Club Minutes
When: October 8, 2025 6:30PM-8:30 PM
Where: Sun Lakes Country Club Navajo Room
Who: approximately 120 people
AGENDA
- Because Chairman Michael Tennant was recovering from surgery, Carolyn McCorkle (First Vice Chairman), greeted the guests and conducted the meeting.
- Bruce McCorkle led us in the Invocation.
- Carolyn McCorkle led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
- The first speaker was our State House Representative, Jeff Weninger. Representative Weninger gave a detailed report on the legislature this session. One of the challenges they faced was that the “Chief of Staff” resigned suddenly and that is the person that normally would assist House Speaker Warren Peterson. Grant Hanna was appointed for the position. One thing the Republicans wanted to make sure they got done was to raise salaries of all Public Safety personnel. This they accomplished! They also got a “relatively modest” budget passed and signed by the Governor. One concern they had was that she was giving “free” down payments to people for housing. She had not sought approval for doing this from the legislature. (If you want more information on this you can contact Rep Weninger.) Rep Weninger has submitted a bill to restrict taxes on mileage people drive while they are in the city of Phoenix doing government business. This type of tax is being collected in other states and “seems excessive”. Also he said the new “Crypto ATM’s” have been the source of scams, especially aimed at older citizens. Thousands of dollars have been stollen from elderly people and the money gets sent to out of our country to accounts which our authorities have no control over.
He is trying to pass measures which will restrict the amounts of money that can be spent at these ATMs at one time so people won’t get so massively “ripped off” if they fall for a “Crypto scam”. He is also working on bills to restrict housing for sex offenders. It has come to light that there are houses in the area which are housing several sex offenders at one time. This is “a disaster waiting to happen”. He also announced he is running for Chandler Mayor in 2026. He asked for a show of hands to see how many people were in attendance and able to vote for Chandler Mayor. There were several people. He also announced that his wife, Janet, is running for our LD 13 legislature. There were questions and answers after his report. - The next speaker was Warren Peterson. He is running for Attorney General of AZ in 2026. Warren Petersen has been a member of the Arizona Legislature since 2012, initially being elected to the Arizona House. He was elected to the Senate in 2016 and has been serving as Senate President since 2023. His current campaign for Attorney General emphasizes standing up for the rule of law, supporting law enforcement, and protecting Arizona families. He spent his time this evening introducing himself and his past accomplishments in the legislature. He also took questions from the audience. Petersen has sponsored and supported numerous bills focused on limited government, fiscal conservatism, and individual rights. Notable legislation includes SB 1138, which prohibited gender-affirming surgeries for minors, and SB 1165, which restricted transgender students’ participation in school sports based on their sex assigned at birth. In 2024, he led efforts to defend Arizona’s voter registration law requiring documentary proof of citizenship, which the Supreme Court partially upheld. Petersen is a third-generation resident of Gilbert, Arizona. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University (ASU) and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. He has worked in the real estate industry for over 20 years, owning a brokerage for over a decade. Warren has received numerous awards for his legislative work, including recognition as Legislator of the Year by the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) , Top Scoring Legislator by the Arizona Conservative Coalition, and Free Market Champion by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. He has initiated a bill to rename the 202 the “Charlie Kirk Memorial Freeway”.
- The keynote Speaker this evening was Matt Beienburg. Matt Beienburg is the Director of Education Policy at the Goldwater Institute. He also serves as director of the institute’s Van Sittert Center for Constitutional Advocacy. Published in local and national outlets, Matt’s work focuses on promoting educational freedom, parental rights, and greater civic appreciation of America’s founding principles. In January, Beienburg authored “Billions for DEI in Higher Ed: The Cost of Indoctrination, How DEI Mandates in Higher Ed Cost Students & Taxpayers Billions & What Lawmakers Can Do About It”. Prior to joining Goldwater, Matt served as a senior analyst at the Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), where he regularly drafted fiscal estimates and briefed members of the state legislature on major policy initiatives in K-12 and higher education. A native of Arizona, Matt earned a bachelor’s in economics from Claremont McKenna College, graduating summa cum laude, and a master’s in public affairs from Princeton. He gave us a talk about the state of education in Arizona and showed graphs and charts on the screen as well. There was a question and answer period at the end. He also had a table set up with books and fliers that people could purchase or take with them. One interesting fact he revealed was that AZ spends $15,000 per child in public schools. In spite of the high amount, AZ “achievement levels” are going down. The stats show that 78% of students graduate, but only 48% go on to higher education. Out of that 48% only 24% go on to complete college. Stats show that at 38% “Charter Schools” are doing better than Public Schools. The ESA (Empowerment Scholarship Accounts) are only providing $7500 per student (1/2 that of public school students). ESA funds can be used towards Charter School tuition, home schooling and Private School tuition. The liberals and anti-ESA groups are pushing to make it as hard as possible for parents to use their $7500 for educating their children outside of public schools. One way they do this is to require excessive proofs that the money is being spent “in ways to benefit the education of the child”. An example of this is that a parent has to fill out a form for pencils and write how pencils will benefit the educational process involving their child. If public schools had to provide the same proofs this might be understandable. However we are hearing in the news where the schools are spending “fast and loose” the money they have been given. One district went so far as to spend $500,000 on DEI workshops in Las Vegas for staff rather than spend the money on much needed buses for their kids. The Goldwater Institute is working on an amendment to the AZ Constitution which will make it LAW that :
– Race based affirmative action will not be allowed
– All DEI offices will be closed down
– There will be no “mandatory” DEI courses required for students to graduate
– There will be no “diversity statements” required for people to get a job
The Goldwater Institute started “New Educator Civics Boot Camp” to teach real un-doctored and un-slanted history. Surveys following the bootcamps show positive outcomes of attendees by their responses to the things they learned. Much of what they learned in boot camp has been banned by liberal progressive public school curriculums for many years now. There is a long way to go to clean out the “woke ideology” that has been pervasive in the public schools. Matt also brought up the cases in the recent news cycle revealing the excessive salaries of Public School Superintendents. Some superintendents are receiving up to $500,000 a year when “perks” like cars and extra retirement funds are figured in. Districts are starting to be audited by the courts to try to rein in these financial improprieties. Perhaps ALL districts should be audited yearly so the public can know for certain where their tax dollars are being spent. You can start with this link “Hidden Ways AZ Superintendents Are Paid” https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/policy-report/the-hiddenways-arizona-school-superintendents-are-paid/ - Karen Vollis was the next speaker explaining how signing petitions on line can be a practical and easy way to get your candidates elected. She handed out a list showing the steps to use with the online option for signing petitions. She said she will be at each meeting helping people with information and tutorials if needed.
- The 50/50 raffle was $44 and the winner donated their winnings back to the SLRC!
- Next month (Nov. 12) the main speakers will be US Congressman Andy Biggs and Karrin Robson. Both are running in the Republican Primary Election in November of 2026. Both have President Trump’s endorsement. Come early to get a seat so you can listen and ask questions! (The Navajo room has an HOA limit as to how many people may attend!)
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