EXECUTIVE BOARD

Chairman Mickie Niland - CONTACT MICKIE

Mickie describes herself as a fiscal & social conservative, small government Republican.  She  began her grassroots political work before she even knew the role of Precinct Committeeman existed, independently researching and distributing information to her neighbors and holding events to teach others how to get involved. While volunteering in the community she was introduced to the role of PC and jumped right in! She has worked as a campaign manager in 2011, Gilbert Parks & Rec. Board 2012-2018, Chairman of LD12 2011-2016, 2019-2021, AZGOP CD5 Member at Large in 2012, 2016 & 2018 and was a National Delegate in 2016 & 2020. In January of 2020 Mickie received the AZGOP Ronald Reagan Award for Excellence in Service. 

In her new role as County Chairwoman Mickie’s focus will be on organizing the MCRC, synergizing the strengths of our PC’s and leaders to connect with the voters to get out our message.  Mickie’s experience of leading one of the largest LD’s in Maricopa County over the past decade has prepared her to move into this new role. Mickie's 1st passion in politics is PC recruitment and mentoring.  She is known for her ability to recruit and mentor new PC’s. “I have found that new PC’s need three things to succeed; a mentor, PC Training and small job to feel part of our team. Helping PC’s learn the skills to make a difference is important to me. ”

Mickie and her husband Jeff of 43 years were married in California and moved quite frequently. They were transferred with Procter & Gamble to Arizona in 2001. They have 4 children and 13, soon to be 14 grandchildren.  One of her joys during the 2020 pandemic was sharing her passion for politics with her family by teaching a “Constitution and Politics” class for her five oldest grandchildren and her mother by Zoom! When not “politicking”, Mickie enjoys popcorn, reading, gardening, long walks, board games, crafts and hanging out with her grandkids at their cabin. Her newest passion is watching our beautiful Arizona sunsets.

First Vice-Chairman Nancy Ordowski - CONTACT NANCY

Nancy is a strong Constitutional Conservative.  She believes in freedom, liberty, small government, minimal taxation, and she is stalwartly pro-life.  She and her husband moved to Arizona in 1998.   They are parents to a son & daughter and have 5 grandsons.  Becoming involved in politics was a gradual process.  Having been a voting Republican since she was 18, she became aware it was important to become involved for the sake of her grandsons and other young people she met.

She ran for Fountain Hills Town Council and lost.  That experience gave her the opportunity to meet many Republican leaders who encouraged her to be a PC.  When one door closes another opens and she believes God's hand was guiding her.  Having been a teacher and business owner, she knew the importance of education.  She took on the development and implementation of training programs for PCs and Precinct Captains.  Nancy has learned it is very important to create positive relationships between Chairman and PCs as well as a relationship between PCs and voters.  Her goal is to bring these experiences to the Chairman and PCs of our Maricopa County Republican team. She has served as 1^st Vice Chair for LD23 from 2014-2016, Chairman from 2017-2020.  She now serves as 1^st Vice Chair for both LD23 & MCRC.  Nancy was a delegate for the 2016 & 2020 National Republican Conventions.

Second Vice-Chairman Michal Joyner - CONTACT MICHAL

I am a native Arizona girl who loves our amazing State. I have been involved in politics and civic activities my entire adult life. In addition to my 2nd VP position on MCRC, I also serve on the executive board of Palo Verde Republican Women. Engaging others to become involved is a passion of mine, and it’s always fun to discover new ways to energize our voters. I currently serve on the Development Review Board for the City of Scottsdale, and I have served on the Chandler Planning and Zoning Commission for a total of 8 years. I am married, and I have 5 children. All but one lives in Arizona, and all 3 of our grandchildren are residing in Arizona. My husband and I love hiking with our dogs and camping in our travel trailer. We are a Labrador family, and we have recently added a new puppy, Anna.

Prior to retiring in 2020, I was a mortgage banker in Scottsdale. I worked with amazing Realtors throughout the valley to provide successful financing for clients who were building a new dream home or buying their first home. I have made lots of friends and memories from my wonderful career. A favorite satisfaction for me was when I started financing homes for the children of parents that I had worked with early in their married life. That’s the true definition of a full circle career.

I am a staunch Conservative, and my favorite saying is that “Hope is not a Strategy---hard work is.”  I truly believe that our liberty and freedoms are being attacked, and we must work tirelessly to protect them. I serve as Captain in the Pinnacle Peak precinct, and it’s truly wonderful to witness the energy of my precinct committeemen. We organize Meet and Greets and share the strategy that “Freedom is fragile” and protecting against those who want to replace our Freedom with control is a primary goal.

I am very excited about working with all the Chairmen and serving as an advocate to MCRC to the various clubs in Maricopa County. I am here to serve!

Treasurer David Ludwig - CONTACT DAVID

David is now serving his second stint as the MCRC Treasurer. He previously served three MCRC Chairmen in that capacity from 2011 to 2017.

Proud to be a Republican, David has been a Precinct Committeeman for many years, serving in a variety of capacities; LD Credentials & Tally Chairman, LD Treasurer, LD Sergeant at Arms, State Committeeman, door hanger, walk list walker, phone bank dialer and Alternate Delegate to the National Convention in 2016. He is the recipient of the 2017 AZGOP Outstanding Party Worker award and the 2016 MCRC Reagan Award.

David currently serves the community as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Washington Elementary School District’s three self insured trusts, having done so since 1997, most of which, as he is now, as the Chairman of the Employee Benefit Trust (health insurance). David has served as the Chairman of the Maricopa County Chapter of the Exodus Movement, is a proud member of the NRA, JPFO (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership) and the Republican Jewish Coalition.

A native Arizonan, David accompanied his family around the country, living in various cities, including Oceanside California and Hampton Virginia, before they all re-settled in Phoenix in 1980. A graduate of the University of Arizona, David has been in the actuarial and retirement plan administration industry since his first internship in 1985. David has been a small business owner since 1990 when he started his own Pension Consulting firm, Fiduciary Advisors, Ltd.

David and his wife Jinny of 32 years have three grown children and three young grandchildren. The Ludwigs live in central Phoenix where they were born, went to school, raised their family and maintain their businesses. A family once very involved in the Arizona youth soccer community, David coached many years and served as the President of the CISCO Soccer Club for over 10 years. 

Secretary Daniel Grimm - CONTACT DAN

Dan, an Electrical Engineer with 30+ years of experience in the Valley’s Semiconductor manufacturing arena is a proud graduate of Penn State University, whereupon graduation, he moved to Arizona.  He raised his family in Mesa, Arizona (2 sons and a daughter) and currently resides in Tempe, Optimist Precinct of LD18.

Dan co-founded the grassroots organization VoCaL (Valley Conservative League) in 2004 with a small band of deplorables, presaging the rise of the Tea Party in Arizona!  Dissatisfied with results achieved on the outside, Dan became a Precinct Committeeman to try to incite change from within the Republican Party.

Dan served on the Executive Board of LD19 (LD25) from 2007 – 2010 and as an MCRC Member-at-Large from 2008 – 2011.

Dan planned and organized the Statutory and Mandatory Meetings from 2012 – 2015. (just look for the guy with the BIG Green Hat!)

Dan received the MCRC Reagan Volunteer Award, as well as the Lincoln Lifetime Achievement award.  In 2015, Dan received the AZ GOP Goldwater Volunteer of the Year Award. Dan served on the Executive Board of the East Valley Tea Party from 2013 – 2016.  Dan strives to emulate Ronald Reagan’s maxim, “There’s no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.”

Member at Large Joe Neglia - CONTACT JOE

Joe Neglia is a Constitutional Conservative and is dedicated to upholding and defending the principles upon which our republic and our party were founded. An active Republican Precinct Committeeman and State Committeeman since 2012, he serves in a variety of roles in the party, and is a Life Member of the NRA and the Arizona Citizen’s Defense League. His political activity began in 1980 when he stuffed envelopes for the Ronald Reagan presidential campaign. He is also a professional registered parliamentarian and is president of the Arizona Alpha Unit of the National Association of Parliamentarians.

Joe teaches Engineering Technology at Mesa Community College and is a registered Professional Engineer.  His experience includes consulting for the National Science foundation, Intel Corporation, Sperry Space Systems, and Honeywell Satellite Systems. Joe holds two U.S. Patents for his work on the Strategic Defense Initiative, a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Arizona State University. A resident of Maricopa County since 1986, Joe lives in Tempe with his beautiful wife of 27 years and two lovely daughters.

Member at Large Brian Ference - CONTACT BRIAN

Brian Ference is a native-born Arizonan and a life-long Republican. He is a pro-life Christian and a Constitutional Conservative. He believes strongly in election integrity, smaller government, less taxes, securing our border, and stopping illegal immigration. He opposes anything socialist or communist, will fight for our freedoms, and strongly supports everything in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Brian has an M.B.A. and is an experienced Technical Project Manager and Web Design expert who has put his skills to use creating the LD15 and LD30 sites as well as the SUSD Board Recall and CCUSD Board recall sites. Brian has been very active from the beginning in exposing school board member corruption which has now made national news. This includes creating and organizing telegram and other communication groups, fundraising, and personally putting up “Vote No” signs on the fiscally irresponsible CCUSD $11 Million bond. The CCUSD Bond was defeated successfully. The President of SUSD (who along with numerous other offenses also created a dossier of parents including private data) was replaced as President and is currently facing an investigation, legal action, and calls to resign.

Brian’s goal as MAL will be to help the LDs rebuild their communications and web/social sites after their boards are dissolved and reformed as part of redistricting. This will allow the LDs to focus on winning the 2022 election. Among many other things, here are some technical tasks Brian can advise you on and help you with:

• Creation and setup of a new LD web site
• Improve email open rates with setup and anti-spam verification of an email server (send up to 1,000 emails per month FREE)
• Creating new social media groups other than facebook and twitter (which censors conservatives) such as: Telegram, Gab.com, GETTR, Truth Social (coming soon)
• Fundraising with online donations via methods other than paypal which has shut down and frozen LD accounts in the very recent past such as: Credit Card, Zelle, Cash App, Crypto Currency, Gab Pay (coming soon)

Member at Large Kevin Beamon, ChFC - CONTACT KEVIN

Kevin Beamon, ChFC, is a Christ follower, lifetime Constitutional Conservative, and a proud supporter of the 2nd Amendment. He has lived in Arizona for 54 of his 57 years. Kevin is married to Diane, has two sons and two daughters-in-law. Kevin holds a bachelor’s degree from Grand Canyon College and a Chartered Financial Consultants degree from the American College for Financial Planning. Kevin has been a Registered Representative, Insurance Agent, and Financial Planner for the past 28 years.

Kevin is a “renaissance man”. Music has always been a constant in Kevin’s life. According to his mother, Kevin began singing before he could talk. He began performing at age 8 in a local theatre production. At 11, he was selected to join the Phoenix Boys Choir. He sang throughout high school and studied Opera in college. He enjoys almost all types of music but is moved by more complex forms such as Jazz and progressive rock. He plays multiple instruments, but primarily Bass guitar. Kevin is an accomplished photographer, woodworker, home remodeler, and even built and now drives his own custom 1965 Shelby Cobra. Kevin hates flying and will happily ride 5000 miles on one of his motorcycles to go to a conference on the east coast! (He did it last year!)

Kevin was raised in a family where charitable activity and volunteerism was the norm. Kevin spent five years working full time in a ranch style living environment for mentally handicapped adults. Kevin was a Rotarian for over a decade. He was the deeply involved in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards conference (RYLA) and was the Chairman for three years. He has been professionally associated with Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona for over 25 years. He has been active in the production and set construction for many high school and local theatre productions over the years.

Member at Large Joanie Colson - CONTACT JOANIE

Joanie is a  Christian Conservative who believes the US Constitution is, and always has been, the bedrock of our Repubic and strongly believes the grassroots efforts of Patriots will make our country great again.

As with many people Joanie has met over the last few months, she doesn't like what happened on November 3rd and knew she had to do something. Our rights and freedoms as Amercians are slowly being taken from us.  We cannot  allow that to happen. So she joined the many conservatives who are working to protect our state constitution, the US Constitution and protect our country by becoming a Precinct Captain for  Wood Precinct in LD 20.  Last spring she worked on the Arizona Audit for nine weeks. She truly believes there were many problems with the November 3rd election. Joanie is proud of the work Arizona is continuing to do to make things right. Although there are many major concerns in our state and country right now, only with election integrity will we be able to correct the craziness and bring back our liberties.

With her education background she has a strong understanding of what is going on in our schools.  There is a lot of good happening but there are some things that need to be addressed such as the political influence of the teacher’s unions, the overreach of school boards and curriculum that includes CRT and SEL.  If anyone says we are not teaching this in our schools, they are lying. Joanie believes in our teachers and our students.  She knows we can turn things around.  When she was teaching she was a member of the teachers’ association, she had planned to stay a member as a retiree.  Then she  received the ‘candidates we back’ flyer in the mail for the 2020 election.  Every candidate was a Democrat!  When asked why there were no Republicans, the answer from the Arizona Education Association was ‘we tend to back candidates that support education’.  This is an out and out biased factless statement. Needless to say, Joanie ended her membership.

As a member at large her goal is to work to vet candidates at all levels of elected positions from precinct committeeman to the governor’s office.  She is hoping to work with the MCRC as well as the LD chairs to find strong conservative candidates to fill existing and new positions as we reorganize out of redistricting.  She is also focused on improving communication among the MCRC and the LDs as we move forward.

On a personal note, Joanie is a native Phoenician.  She graduated with a BA in Theatre Education from Grand Canyon College, now University, and a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from NAU. She taught at Horizon High School for 30 years before retiring in 2020 and is now an adjunct professor at GCU.  She is also a stage director having directed over 70 full scale productions such as Romeo and Juliet and the musical Legally Blonde.

Joanie enjoys spending time with her husband of 34 years, her son, and family. They are partial to camping, gaming and are all huge movie buffs.  Hobbies she enjoys are reading, baking, gardening and sewing. She attends church at Faith Bible where she and her husband sing in the choir.  Both sides of her family reside in the Valley or Tucson so spending time with them is easy but of course there is never enough.

As a teacher she works with her students to create a spirit of giving. The clubs she sponsored at the high school, and now the university, have been involved in canned food drives, charitable contributions such as Christmas Angels, raising money to fight childhood cancers and more.

A quote that keeps her motivated is from President Reagan as he said ‘freedom is only a generation from extinction’. Together we can fight to keep that freedom.

Member at Large Liz Harris - CONTACT LIZ

Liz Harris is a constitutional conservative. Currently, she resides with her family in Chandler, AZ and she has three children. After spending the first part of her life in a predominantly liberal urban area, Liz knew there was a different way of living. In her early adulthood, Liz had to break away from the political ideologies that were ingrained in her by the East Coast educational systems (K-12, undergraduate and graduate schools). Relocating to Chandler, AZ in 1999 was one of the best decisions Liz had ever made. She came here not knowing a single person except her new future employer who happened to be a Republican state legislator at the time. Arizona was her new home and each day it became apparent to her that the reason Arizona was so great was thanks to Republican leadership and sound Republican policies. Throughout 2021, Liz Harris and hundreds of concerned citizens led a state-wide canvassing effort and discovered a vast amount of questions to be asked regarding the November 2020 election. Liz wishes to see the Great State of Arizona to remain the state that the rest of the country envies.

Executive Director Patrick O'Malley - CONTACT PAT

Patrick O’Malley is a retired electrical engineer with 40 years experience primarily in hardware and software design. His second career is as a citrus grower in the mornings and analyzing election and voter registration data in the evenings.

He became actively involved in Republican politics after the Tea Party revolution of 2010 sent a lot of new members to Congress but resulted in little change in Washington. He became a PC, a State Committeeman, was actively involved in several campaigns, served as Treasurer for LD12 and some campaigns, served as LD12 Vice Chair for PC training, and received the Outstanding Party Worker award in 2015.

Legal Counsel Ken Sampson - CONTACT KEN

Ken moved to the East Valley in 2011, and is honored to call Arizona his home. Ken is the proud father to 7 children, and married to his soulmate and #1 fan. Ken is a 23 year veteran and was deployed to Afghanistan as an attack helicopter pilot in 2004. Ken graduated magna cum laude from Utah Valley University in 2008, and earned his juris doctorate in 2014.

Ken has been an active Precinct Committeeman in LD 12 for several years, as well as running for the Highland Justice of the Peace in the 2016 and 2020 elections.  As a constitutional conservative, Ken is active in local politics and has written opinion pieces for online publications.

Ken’s diverse legal career has allowed him to work in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate (JAG), Arizona Trial Defense Service, assisted victims of domestic violence, and worked with the Arizona State Republican Party Elections Office leading up to the General Election as well as providing guidance and oversight in the events thereafter. Ken is a member of the American Bar Association, Maricopa County Bar Association, East Valley Bar Association, and the Republican National Lawyers Association. Ken is also a proud member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.