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Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
A beautiful day of disc golf competition at the Four Seasons Disc Golf Course on Saturday, June 25, brought in over $2,500 for Northland Pioneer College Friends and Family scholarships for US military veteran students at NPC.
Eli Crane and his wife, Jen, visited Show Low on July 4. He is a retired Navy SEAL who is running for Congress alongside several other former SEALs.
Eli Crane and his wife, Jen, visited Show Low on July 4. He is a retired Navy SEAL who is running for Congress alongside several other former SEALs.
Congressional candidate Eli Crane visited the White Mountains a couple of weeks back to participate in the Show Low Fourth of July Parade.
Shortly after, he and state Sen. Wendy Rogers went to the Trumped Store to meet with voters, where Crane was approached by the Independent with an interesting question: Why are so many former Navy SEALs interested in running for Congress?
For those without extremely keen eyes and ears, there is a group of five GOP candidates currently running for various districts across the U.S. who all are former Navy SEALs. As a matter of fact, all five are former members of the U.S. Navy’s primary special operations force, commonly known as SEALs.
Crane is one of those men, currently campaigning for Arizona’s 2nd congressional district in the 2022 election, who joined the military less than a week after 9/11.
His fellow candidates include Ryan Zinke from Montana, Derrick Van Orden from Wisconsin, Morgan Luttrell from Texas, and Brady Duke from Florida. All five candidates, either individually or as a group, have been featured on various news organizations across the country speaking as to why these military men feel such a strong need to enter politics. Crane was featured on Fox News a few days before his trip to Show Low, saying, “Most of us don’t want to go to Washington. But we’re concerned about this country, and we want to do something about it.” He spoke of how he and his group view Congress as just another opportunity to serve their country.
A few days later in Show Low, he stood by his statements. “I know it’s cliché, but when we joined the service, we swore an oath to protect this country from foreign and domestic threats,” Crane said, standing inside the Trumped Store on July 4. “I believe the biggest threats are here within. I couldn’t just sit around and watch it anymore.
Crane, born in Tucson and raised in Yuma, has visited the Mountain twice in just the past few months. Before the Fourth of July parade, he attended a GOP fundraiser held at Torreon in May. He spoke briefly at the event, talking about his family and love for his country, and was praised at the event by Rogers.
Rogers joined him at the Trumped Store on July 4, and continued to praise him and what he and his four colleagues are doing. “He’s a Navy SEAL, and I’m an Air Force pilot,” Rogers said. “We have a lot in common as far as our love of country and devotion to military service. He answered the call to arms when his country needed him.”
Crane wouldn’t take the praise, but seemed to appreciate the sentiment by saying, “We’re not the first, and hopefully not the last. There are so many veterans who have done so much for this country. I feel like I just have more to offer.”
Crane spoke with many Show Low residents at the Trumped Store and discussed his political beliefs and ideology. He sat with his wife and two daughters and did his best to take in the fresh White Mountain air.
“We might be a little busy the next few months, so who knows when we’ll make it back?” he joked.
With the Aug. 2 primary creeping closer, it may be some time until he can comfortably vacation with his family again.
“You’re trained to never back down from a fight, and never to give up for something you believe in. I don’t mean to speak for any other veterans, but they could probably all relate to that. They wouldn’t need to ask why we feel like we need to do this,” said Crane. “It’s just what we do whether we want to or not.”
Jacob Hernandez covers general news with an emphasis on Show Low business, events, and government. For comments and questions, contact him at jhernandez@wmicentral.com.
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