Mormon Vs. Mormon: Update On The Arizona LD18 Recall Race Between Russell Pearce And Jerry Lewis, Lewis Now Leads By Only Three Points

Update November 8th: Jerry Lewis defeats Russell Pearce; updated post HERE.

As the recall race between incumbent Arizona Republican State Senator Russell Pearce and his Republican challenger Jerry Lewis heads into the home stretch for the November 8th showdown, the Arizona Capitol Times has released the results of a poll of 598 likely voters in Mesa’s District 18. The poll, in which 160 of the respondents identified themselves as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shows Lewis with only a three-point lead, well within the margin of error, and less than the unofficial seven-point lead reported back on October 17th. The specifics:

-- Jerry Lewis: 46.0 percent
-- Russell Pearce: 43.0 percent
-- Olivia Cortes: 2.5 percent
-- Undecided: 8.5 percent

Crosstabs reveal no significant edge in support for either Lewis or Pearce by age, gender or religious affiliation. Lewis, Pearce, and Cortes are all LDS members; while Cortes has withdrawn from the race, her name will still appear on the ballot. Pearce holds the financial edge, having raised $230,000 as compared to Lewis’ $69,000 according to the latest campaign finance reports. KNXV Channel 15 video embedded below:



The Pearce campaign published a response, posted in part below:

First, it should come as no surprise that this survey shows a tight race. After all, it’s essentially a primary campaign where voters from all parties can vote.

Second, one could argue that the sample size for an automated survey was much too low to effectively gauge voter opinion. We would agree with that argument.

Third, the universe selected for this survey of likely voters does not match up with actual voter history in the district. For example, the actual number of independent or unaffiliated voters in that district that are defined as “likely” in this survey is actually much higher.

Finally, this wasn’t necessarily a blind ballot test among the electorate. The introductory statements leading up to the ballot test question could have potentially biased the survey in one way or another.

In conclusion, we know that in an unprecedented, historical election such as this one, I think all parties can agree that predicting a turnout model is difficult to say the least.

Bloggers Stephen Lemons and DeeDee Garcia continue to hack away at Pearce. Garcia has been trying to lure Pearce into showing up for a so-called "immigration fireside" hosted by the so-called "Somos Republicans", and featuring another prominent Mormon, Daryl Williams, who has spoken out against Arizona SB1070. But Pearce, perhaps sensing a possible setup, has wisely refused to respond to this invitation.

Lemons takes a few more whacks at Pearce HERE, saying that Pearce is falsely atrtributing the decline in Arizona's crime to the influence of SB1070. Lemons also claims that Pearce's assertion that the state budget is balanced is false, further claiming that the state's current debt is $8.5 billion. But this could be attributable to a difference of definitions of a balanced bduget; nearly every state has a so-called balanced-budget amendment requiring that their General Fund expenditures not exceed revenues, but that alone may not mean their budgets are truly balanced. Lemons is so desperate for Pearce to lose that he's even smeared Pearce's brother, Mesa Justice of the Peace Lester Pearce. And Lemons admits that skewering Pearce has been good for his brand and has been "a helluva lot of fun", which means his objectivity is thoroughly compromised.

Until now, Jerry Lewis has sought to wage an issue-oriented campaign, remaining above the muck of some of his supporters. But the MeetJerryLewis website reveals that Lewis has at least three skeletons in his closet:

-- First, he's accused of defrauding taxpayers of $1.9 million; his Sequoia academy was receiving tax dollars even though parents are paying tuition. Lewis owned up to it, stepped down as principal, and no charges were pressed. Sequoia ended up reimbursing the state for the funds.

-- Second, he's supposedly being sued by a former teacher, Diane Fernichio, who claims she was fired because she exposed the fact that Lewis misappropriated donated items. The Lewis campaign claims that that the items that were given away were of practically little value, and the teacher who got them ended up not selling them at a yard sale anyway. Furthermore, Lewis himself is not named in the suit; the Sequoia academy is the defendant.

-- Third, Lewis is being accused of glossing over a multi-level marketing bankruptcy scandal ("multi-level marketing" is just a euphemism for "pyramid scheme"). This seems to be a reach; it happened back in the mid-1990s and I'm not sure this is particularly pertinent to the campaign.

The race is still too close to call, but it appears Russell Pearce is slowly closing the gap on Lewis, and could overtake him on November 8th if he can swing the Undecideds to his favor. Jerry Lewis may indeed be qualified for the job, but not at Pearce's expense.

LDS Group Files Federal Lawsuit Against The City Of Mission, Texas For Blocking Plans To Construct A Chapel

Update December 8th: On December 7th, the Mission City Council reversed itself and voted to allow the conditional use permit necessary for the LDS Church to build a chapel in Mission; updated post HERE.

A group of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have filed suit in federal court against the city of Mission, Texas for obstructing plans to construct a chapel on a five-acre plot on the corner of Bryan Road and 2 Mile Line in Mission. The suit claims the city is violating their religious freedom.

The dispute has been continuing for nearly a year. The LDS group claims the city has blocked the move by changing the voting rules for permit approval, and that at least one member of the council had a conflict of interest in voting on the issue. A subsequent story by The Monitor reveals that the council member in question is Norie Gonzalez Garza, whose real estate company represented the neighbors who opposed the construction of the chapel in their neighborhood because they wanted to keep the area residential and avoid lowering their property values.

-- Read the 25-page suit document HERE
-- Read the three-page Notice of Claim sent to the city on August 23rd HERE.

Even more background was published by The Monitor back on September 15th, 2011. When the local stake announced their plans to buy the land and build a chapel, they sought a conditional use permit. However, nine of the 12 landowners located within 200 feet of the property signed a petition against the church because they wanted to preserve the rural nature of the area and that the size of the building and the parking lot were too big and would attract too much traffic.

Lawyers for the LDS Church contend that Mission violated its own ordinances in the vote. Mission law states that if at least 20 percent of neighbors to a property within an area with a proposed zoning change have signed a petition against it, at least 75 percent of the council will have to approve it. But the church argues that it was asking for a conditional use permit and not a zoning change, so the ordinance does not apply.

Why Mormons Are Christians: LDS Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland Explains The Mormon View Of The Trinity And Rebuts The Nicene Creed

While visiting the blog of A Well Behaved Mormon Woman, I discovered a video of a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Entitled "The Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He Hath Sent", the address was delivered during the Saturday Afternoon General Session of the 177th Semiannual General Conference in October 2007. Elder Holland explained the Mormon view of the doctrine of the trinity, and effectively rebutted the Nicene Creed, which holds the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be abstract, absolute, transcendent, immanent, consubstantial, coeternal, and unknowable, without body, parts, or passions and dwelling outside space and time.

This address becomes important once again because of the renewed public debate over whether Mormonism is Christian. At the very beginning of the address, Elder Holland acknowledges that this controversy tends to revolve around two doctrinal issues — our view of the Godhead, and our belief in the principle of continuing revelation leading to an open scriptural canon. You can read the full transcript of Elder Holland's address HERE.



In summary, we believe it is self-evident from the scriptures that while the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one in purpose, they are still three separate and divine beings, noting such unequivocal illustrations as the Savior’s great Intercessory Prayer, His baptism at the hands of John, the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, and the martyrdom of Stephen — to name just four. Furthermore, if they were not separate beings, why is it that Jesus cried out to the Father during his moment of truth, saying “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”, and “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”? To acknowledge the scriptural evidence that otherwise perfectly united members of the Godhead are separate and distinct beings is not to be guilty of polytheism; instead, it is part of the great revelation Jesus came to deliver concerning the nature of divine beings.

I would also add that the Nicene Creed was rebutted at the very beginning of the Old Testament, in Genesis 1:26-27:

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

This is also replicated in the Pearl of Great Price in Moses 2:27.

We have two arms, two legs, a head, an abdomen, ears, etc. If we are created in the image of God, then common sense dictates that our Heavenly Father looks like us. Thus the Father cannot be part of some three-headed polymorphic blob that's three-in-one, one-in-three, everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Isn't it ironic that our view of the Trinity is much closer to the Bible than those of our Christian critics who hold to the Nicene Creed? And yet our Christian critics question whether we're Christian because we reject the Nicene Creed.