In this episode:
Over the coming weeks, we will be bringing you in-depth conversations with some of the candidates vying to represent you.
Today we will hear from two candidates for Yuma County Recorder.
Democrat Emilia Cortez is new to the political world and running for office for the first time. She served as director of the Girl Scouts of Yuma County for over 15 years and has worked as a community advocate and volunteer coordinator for various nonprofit organizations.
Cortez said the recorder job has been her dream job since she earned her civil service badge as a young Girl Scout. She loves “systems,” and says the ultimate system for her is the registration and election process.
David Lara is fairly well-known in the area: The small business owner believes former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election not because of the ballot harvesting, voter bribery schemes and other fraud that have been rampant in south Yuma County for decades.
Lara's activism and vocal complaints not only earned him notoriety, but also allegedly inspired the accusations made in the film “2,000 Mules,” which alleges Democrats plotted to steal the 2020 election using essentially the same vote-harvesting scheme that Lara said was common in southwestern Arizona and exported to key states across the country during the 2020 election.
The film and the book on which it is based were pulled by their distributors after a Georgia man filed a lawsuit alleging the film constituted voter fraud. Distributor Salem Media apologized to the man and suspended all promotion of the film.
Lara also recently spoke at the Republican National Convention as an “Everyday American” presenter. His speech focused on the U.S.-Mexico border in San Luis and the strain that the recent increase in immigration has placed on the community. We asked Lara about his speech.
Both candidates had a rocky path to the general election ballot: Lara beat incumbent Republican Recorder Rick Colwell by just 40 votes in a recount, while Cortez was removed from the primary ballot due to a paperwork error on his petition, forcing him to run by open ballot.
