Mary Jo Pitzl
Arizona Republic
The Maricopa County Democratic Party is asking the state Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Postal Service to investigate the controversy over a 2022 election mailer that has forced the resignation of two party officials and raised questions of cronyism and possible mail fraud.
The referrals were sent to the two agencies on Friday, Jon Ryder, the party’s interim executive director, wrote in an email on Saturday to party members.
Ryder and party attorneys had started an investigation into the matter, which revolved around a botched plan to spend $24,000 on a campaign mailer targeted to 118,000 Democratic voters before the November 2022 election. The mailer was never sent.
The internal investigation accelerated, Ryder said, when the party got new information on Aug. 7. He did not specify what that was, but said it sealed the decision to seek a full investigation by the two agencies.
The referrals included that evidence, as well as exhibits, he said, adding he would need to consult with attorneys before disclosing further information about the referrals.
Ryder was named interim party director after Ne’lexia Galloway resigned the post on Aug. 7. A day later, party Chair Nancy Schriber also stepped aside.
Schriber, in a statement sent to party members on Aug. 8, said she only learned the previous day of evidence that showed Galloway and her fiance, Bruce Franks, Jr., had been involved in an apparent cover-up of their actions about the mailer.
That evidence came from the political consulting firm Agave Strategy, which the party engaged to produce and distribute a campaign mailer promoting the Democratic slate of candidates on the 2022 ballot.
