A Texas company is making phone calls to thousands of Republican primary voters in Arizona to try to push them away from supporting me. These calls are illegal because they do not identify who is paying for them.
Here is the appoximate script:
“Do you support Don Goldwater’s plan to build a wall on Arizona’s border?
Len Munsil has been touted as a family values candidate. Would it affect your vote if you knew he had an illegitimate child?
Would it affect your vote if you knew Len Munsil said the terrorist attack of 9-11 was an act of God?”
Before you get worried about an illegitimate “love child” wandering the streets of Phoenix and being left out of family portraits, that’s not what this is about. The truth is below.
Also, the 9-11 paraphrase is a complete distortion. In fact, my comments repudiated some religious leaders who claimed God caused 9-11 in order to punish America. After rejecting that contention, I pointed out that if you believe in an all-powerful God, you do have to believe God allowed 9-11 to happen.
We are grateful for the many friends and supporters our family has heard from as this story hits the news. Your friendship and prayers are greatly appreciated.
We will continue to present a positive vision for Arizona’s future in the days ahead.
This is the statement we released to the media tonight:
Statement by campaign consultant Sean Noble: “This is the most despicable form of campaigning I’ve ever witnessed. Don Goldwater has disavowed doing this and we call on Janet Napolitano to disavow it as well. We hope she will join us in requesting an Attorney General investigation into this illegal activity.”
Statement of Len and Tracy Munsil
“We have been forced into the position to discuss publicly something that as a family, as a couple, and with those we love, we dealt with privately years ago.
“As we were talking about the effect running for governor might have on our family, we knew this would become public — that our oldest son was conceived during our engagement the month before we were married. We both knew if I ran for governor some political opponent would use it to try to embarrass me, to hurt our family, or to hurt me politically.
“Before deciding to run for governor, we had the option to hide because of what the media might do or say, or what some political opponent might do or say about this issue from from our past. Instead, just as we have done with our family and close friends, we decided to deal once again with this issue. This time, because we are in a political campaign, we are now dealing with something very private in a public way.
“Our children and close friends have been aware of this for years; it is not something we have advertised, but it is not something we have tried to hide.
“As we’ve said to one another and discussed with our children, we regret the timing of our son’s conception, but we have never regretted the outcome. Certainly we both understand the pain and difficulties it caused, as we have walked through these issues as a couple and as a family. It was not the best way to begin our 20-year marriage.
“Because of what we’ve experienced, we are even more committed to upholding the standard of abstinence until marriage — because we know from our own experience that it would have been a better way to begin our lives and our family together.
“Knowing how this has affected our family and our marriage, we are passionate advocates for abstinence until marriage — first in raising our own children, and second as a matter of public policy. As we have shared the beauty of sexuality with our teenage children, we have been open with them about our past and encouraged them to not make the mistakes we made.
“We know in our culture the standard is a very difficult one to uphold. But we also know from our experience that keeping the standard is better for marriage, for families, for children, and for relationships. For us, failing to keep the standard and living with those consequences only makes us more committed to encouraging others to remain pure until marriage.
“None of us can go back and undo our past. But we are so grateful, that despite our mistakes, we stand together today, blessed with a committed, wonderful marriage of 20 years, and blessed with a great family –not a perfect marriage or a perfect family — but a marriage and a family in which we love one another as deeply as possible, and deal as honestly as we can with one another.
“Thank you.”