Jim O’Connor elected as corporation commission chairman
Jim O’Connor was just elected to be the new corporation chairman, and here’s why we need to be worried.
Jim O’Connor is one of now four republicans who hold a seat on the corporation commission. The others are Lea Marquez-Peterson, Nick Meyers, and Kevin Thompson. All 3 of the other republicans are concerned with him being chair, and he was supported by the only democrat on the commission, Anna Tovar. He holds controversial beliefs which cause concern for the people of Arizona.
He claims that it is his job as a commissioner to lead an investigation on election equipment, which is diverting the focus on what the corporation commission is actually supposed to be doing.
The corporation commission’s job is to “regulate electric, water and gas utilities, and [it] has oversight of securities investing, pipeline safety and railroad crossings. Elections are not part of its duties…”.Thus, O’Connor’s controversies have no place there, especially as the chair of the commission.
Commissioner Lea Marquez-Peterson shared that she would not support O’Connor as the chair, saying "I truly believe it is the role of the state Legislature, the counties, the election officials. So I would not like to see the commission lead on an election fraud issue,”.
On the flip side the only democrat on the commission, Anna Tovar, was the one that nominated O’Connor for the position of chair of the commission.
Not only is O’Connor currently in a position where he can embarrass the corporation commission, but he was an embarrassment back in 2021. In the height of covid, O’Connor claimed that the vaccine was killing thousands, untold by the media. These claims were not supported by the CDC or official medical professionals. He fought the mandate requiring employees to be vaccinated, and actually encouraged employees to not be vaccinated. Regardless of one’s personal opinion of the vaccine, O’Connor’s emphasis on issues that the corporation should not be dealing with is concerning.
