David Frum

It's so unnecessary.

It's so ugly.

It's so stupid.

It's so shameful.

It just makes you wince and say, why does it have to be like this?

Why can't it be better?

Why can't we be having a politics that is productive?

Why can't we be talking about things that matter?

Why do we have to have people who act like children and adolescents at their worst?

We're discussing the things that matter most or should matter most to us all.

And now my dialogue with Stephen Richard.

But first, a quick break.

Stephen Richer was elected recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona in November of 2020 and served in that role from the 1st of January 21 to the end of December 2024.

Maricopa, of course, is the county around the city of Phoenix, the biggest city in what has become a crucial swing state.

And the recorder is the most important election official in that county.

Richer, a Republican, held firm against President Trump's conspiracy theories and wild allegations against the election of 2020 and then faced another round of such allegations in 2022 and another round again in 2024 when Kerry Lake was on the ballot, first for Arizona governor and then for the United States senator from Arizona.

Richer now writes, teaches, and practices law.

He's a native of the state of Utah, a graduate of Tulane and the University of Chicago, from which he holds both his law degree and also an MA.

I got to know Stephen as a regular contributor to my From Forum website in the 2010s.

He's a man of steadfast courage, and it's a pleasure to welcome him to The David Frum Show at a time when the Trump administration is mounting a renewed attack on the independence and integrity of the American voting system.