FROM JON RYDER, INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MCDP

August 12, 2023

Dear friends old and new,

My apologies for taking a few days to write to you all. The events of the past week at the Maricopa County Democratic Party (MCDP) need to be shared with you. Unfortunately, some of those events also made it difficult to communicate fully until now.

To be honest, it's been a long week regaining control of and access to MCDP's critical systems and accounts (such as the party's email accounts, NGP, ActBlue, etc.).

Securing these critical systems has been my first priority since Monday.

As you may know by now, on Monday, August 7, MCDP's former Executive Director resigned, and I was asked to return to MCDP to serve as interim Executive Director. I've been involved with MCDP since 2011, and was the Executive Director of MCDP from 2013-2017. I am humbled that 5 former MCDP Chairs and a number of our elected Democratic officials asked me to come back into this role at a difficult time for our party.

Earlier this week, Nancy Schriber also resigned her position as Chair of MCDP. First Vice Chair Patti O’Neil has assumed the role of acting MCDP Chair until an election (timing to be announced later) where the party’s Precinct Committee members will elect a new Chair to complete the remainder of Ms. Schriber’s term.

I look forward to working with Patti, the MCDP Executive Board, the MCDP Executive Committee, and all of you who form an integral part of the Maricopa County Democratic community.

Our county party community consists of all Democrats in Maricopa County, all of our elected Democratic officials, all of our precinct committee members, all of of district chairs, all of our candidates, and all of our volunteers. We are inclusive of all who share our Democratic values and who want to make our local communities, our county, our state, and our nation better for all.

Now I need to touch upon the news that has upended MCDP and our operations this week. Dealing with this issue has been my second priority this week. As many of you are aware, there has been ongoing controversy over a mail piece that MCDP ordered and paid for to go out to over 100,000 voters before last year's election.

Those mailers never went out to voters. In January of this year, MCDP requested that the money it paid for the mailers be returned, and it was returned — though months after the mailers were supposed to go out, and only after MCDP had to request the reimbursement.

The fallout from this issue has been ongoing all of this year. Some members of the MCDP community were ready to move on once the money was finally returned. Others were more troubled by the incident and wanted a fuller investigation into what actually happened and how to prevent a future similar occurance.

On Monday of this week, additional information came into MCDP's possession that required further action. To that end, after internal review of all the information now at hand, we've been working with the party's attorney on referrals for a full investigation to the Arizona Attorney General's office and the United States Postal Inspectors. Those referrals were filed by MCDP's attorneys yesterday afternoon.

We will be as transparent as possible with our MCDP community as this moves forward, but we need to follow the advice of the party's attorneys regarding what can be shared and what cannot at this point.

Our intention is to restore trust in MCDP and to rebuild our county party so that once again it represents all of us and is prepared to fight and win in next year's elections.

We are committed to moving forward and we want to assure you that we will have strong candidates running for every county office in 2024 and that we will be prepared, with your help, to support our candidates in every way possible.

Please reach out to me any time with your questions or concerns. My email address is: jon@maricopadems.org

I want you all to know that I take my responsibilities to MCDP and all of you very seriously. I truly appreciate your support, and pledge to do everything I can to be worthy of your trust.

Time is short. There are many who are counting on us to ensure that their government works for them — that their families are safe, that their lives are valued, that public health is a priority, and that elections are secure. That is our job, as leaders of the Maricopa County Democratic Party.

Thank you. Now let’s get to work!

Sincerely,
Jon