C

Good morning, Arizona. As the results continue to come in, I want to share my gratitude for everyone who worked so hard on my race and all the other races across the state. So many of you sacrificed your time and your treasure. I want to thank the state and local parties. You guys worked so hard. Sergio, you and your team worked your tails off. You guys made a lot of great improvements that helped the candidates with their races. I also want to thank all the candidates who ran. It’s harder than ever to run for office. This may have been the toughest cycle ever. The opposition was unprecedented. For everyone who donated, placed a yard sign, posted on social media, held an event, or volunteered, thank you. If it were just for your efforts, we would be celebrating a win, but we know that a wave of dissatisfaction has swept the nation. The votes coming in now are overwhelmingly in our favor, but we have a large gap to close. When the counting is done, we will accept the results. Some reflections on what happened across the nation yesterday. The top issue was affordability. People didn’t just want Bidenflation to end. They wanted affordability to return. They wanted prices to come down. But to do that, you must stop the out of control spending. As the great Milton Friedman said, “Inflation is made in Washington, D.C.” Republicans had the trifecta in Washington and didn’t deliver. The reckless spending continues. And the country made it clear they want a change. But the carnage didn’t stop with federal candidates. Voters continued down ballot. Local incumbents who had won over and over again got wiped out, even in bright-red states. Do you think the Democrats will now reduce the out of control spending? Their solutions call for even more spending than Republicans. And the rising Democratic socialists want even more spending than the traditional Democrats. If they take total control, the rampant inflation will return. We need a federal balanced budget amendment because neither party has enough members with the self control to balance the federal budget. Even the worst run states, like California, are more fiscally responsible than Washington, D.C., because they are required to balance their budgets. People want affordability, but the repudiation of Congress that has spilled over to local races will deliver unintended consequences. Many, many people have lost races even though they had a long history of making things more affordable at the local level. And in many cases, spenders have been replaced with mega-spenders. Kudos to Florida and the infrastructure built by Governor DeSantis. He has shown the model for prosperity and responsible government. Florida stands out as a state that won in spite of the unprecedented headwinds. We would be wise to replicate their model.