By Shreya Raman and Ella Diaz
Palo Verde City Reporters
For the first day of Arizona Girls State, we welcomed Republican Precinct Committeeman Chris King.
King has been a precinct committeeman for twelve years and a notable Girls State speaker for seven of those years.
King’s speech revolved around the logistics of what a PC does and how one can become a PC. His most notable point was that “politics is an increasingly simple game made increasingly complicated by the people in control to keep the average person out.”
His use of this was to highlight how a PC’s role is to engage with the “average person” to ensure their votes for their party’s candidates.
He also discussed how, by being a PC you need to be able to talk to people on both sides of politics while respecting their views and defending your own.
His goal was to show prospective PCs in the crowd how the most important part of the role is going out and socializing with people.
One way he furthered this point was by engaging with girls in the audience and showing examples of what to say when going door to door.
Overall, his speech was engaging and focused primarily on how a PC engages with the “average person”.
Q&A
While King’s talk was undoubtedly engaging, the highlight of the event was indisputably the questioning period, where various Girls State citizens were granted the opportunity to inquire about his experience as a PC and how he tackles certain challenges.
King seized the opportunity, engaging with the women in the room energetically and answering their questions with insight.
The citizens questioned his key tagline (see section above), digging deeper into how to communicate with the average person and how men and women are divided within this sphere of the “average.”
This line of questioning seemed to stump King. Despite his engagement, he often left answers unfinished or purposefully vague, notably taking the defensive position when asked about policy issues or the state of government today.
His intense political involvement struck many as abrasive when he was questioned about his methodology. He was frequently questioned by the girls on how he communicated with discouraged citizens and how he crafted policy for the opposite sex without any firsthand insight into their lived experiences.
When answering, King was quite contrarian, often challenging the assumptions embedded within the questions rather than directly addressing them. Rather than providing specific examples of how he incorporated diverse perspectives into his job, he tended to argue against the claims the girls made in their questions altogether (e.g., differences between male and female perspectives, the state of political polarization, etc.).
This approach created an interesting dynamic in the room, as some appreciated his passionate participation within the questioning period, while others seemed frustrated by his apparent lack of concrete answers.
This exchange ultimately revealed the tensions hidden within government and public service: balancing orderly dialogue in an increasingly complex political landscape.
While the Girls State citizens focused on conversing with the “average person,” King often responded in more general and oppositional terms.
As a result, the questioning period became less of a traditional Q&A and more of a dialogue about the challenges of political representation itself.
Although his responses did not always satisfy the audience, the discussion encouraged critical thinking among the girls and demonstrated the value of political discourse.
The Girls State citizens were not afraid to challenge an elected official, and King, to his credit, remained engaged throughout the conversation. In many ways, the questioning block embodied the broader purpose of Girls State, granting young women confidence to engage with leaders, ask difficult questions, and actively participate in the democratic process through open discussion.
Student commentary
Similar to the themes mentioned previously Palo Verde citizen Reagan Williamson agreed saying, “He was a good speaker and explained his opinion very well. Some of the questions girls asked were hard to understand, however his answers were somewhat vague and didn’t fully answer the question, but he tried following up to see if it made sense.”
Reagan’s viewpoint highlights the way King was notably vague with his answers and how he seemed to skirt around the answer to questions that were somewhat controversial.
While it is understood how King might not want to put his opinions onto his listeners, one of the amazing parts of Girls State is hearing others opposing viewpoints and being able to expand your own.
Since King seemed to put a barrier between his own views and his answers to the girls. Emeline Parrish from Palo Verde agreed with this point while also adding that “despite him being a good speaker who was passionate about what he talked about, when he engaged with the girls through questioning some of his answers seemed condescending.”
This seemed to be a common theme among girls as King did become increasingly defensive when asked questions about controversial topics.
However King’s defensive tactic might have just been because the questions were controversial and he did not want to offend people.
On the other hand, Faith Garrison a citizen of Saguaro noted how King was “unbiased in his speech and did not try to instill the views of his party upon the members of Girls State.”
King’s speech was very focused on just explaining the role of PC and his job without being politically polarized.
Palo Verde citizen Miya Wasserman highlighted his strengths saying, “I think having him be here for seven years he’s very knowledgeable of what being a PC entails and what the role of voters and PCs have in politics. He is a very good speaker and engaged with the crowd while also appealing to the crowd”
This points out how despite the Q&A portion not being ideal, King is a very good speaker and a vital part of the opening night of Girls State.
This is furthered by the beliefs of Melody Anguamea who said “he was very vocal and passionate about what he does, honestly he seemed like a great speaker and it was easy to engage with him. I also liked how he was knowledgeable about the statistics which showed his passion.”
This really does show that King’s speech showcased his own passion for politics and with that he instilled passion upon his listeners. He was a good speaker to have for night one as it rallied the members of Girls State and set the tone for the rest of the week.
Final thoughts
While Chris King’s presentation successfully illustrated the responsibilities of a precinct committeeman and the importance of political engagement, it was the audience’s questions that ultimately defined the presentation.
His emphasis on connecting with the “average person” created a broader discussion about communication and the realities of modern politics.
Although some attendees felt his answers lacked specificity, the Q&A as a whole highlighted the importance of questioning public officials and critically evaluating their perspectives and words.
More than anything, the event demonstrated that effective civic participation requires not only speaking and persuading, but also listening and responding to difficult questions.
By encouraging young women to engage directly with political leaders, the presentation as a whole reflected Girls State’s mission of preparing young women to participate confidently in democracy in the future.