Arizona GOP sticks to Trumpism whether Arizona Republicans like it or not



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In 2016, Arizona Republicans controlled both Senate seats and delivered a victory to Donald J. Trump. By 2020, they had lost each of those statewide elections, and Mr. Trump was one of only two Republican presidential candidates to lose the state in more than 50 years.

The losses do not spark any sort of introspection within the state Republican Party.

Instead, when the party leadership meets this weekend, the most urgent items on the agenda will be censorship of three moderate Republicans who remain very popular in Arizona. The almost certain reprimand from the State party will have no practical impact, but the symbolism is striking: a slap on the wrist for Cindy McCain, widow of Senator John McCain; former Senator Jeff Flake and Governor Doug Ducey.

As some Republicans across the country begin to move away from Trumpism, Arizona is a case of loyalists doubling down, potentially dividing the party in fundamental and irreparable ways. The consequences could be particularly dire in a state that had long been a safe Republican bet, but that has seen significant political change in recent years, in large part due to both the increased political participation of young Latinos and the shift in political power. vision of the white suburbs. women.

State Party Chairperson Kelli Ward, who was first elected in 2019, announced that she would not stand for election until after speaking with Mr Trump, who she said l enthusiastically encouraged. For months, Ms Ward has launched fundraising calls for what she calls the “stolen” election. Arizona state lawmakers were frequently present at “Stop the Steal” rallies around the state, pushing conspiracy theories and refuting accusations of fraud. Two state members of Congress helped plan the January 6 rally in Washington that drew crowds that then stormed the Capitol. They also wrote statements of support for the rioters.

When Ali Alexander, one of the main organizers of the Capitol protest, wrote on Twitter “I am ready to give up my life for this fight,” the Arizona Republican Party account retweeted and asked his supporters : “He is. Are you?”

Far-right extremism is nothing new in Arizona. The state spawned anti-immigrant border militias, legislation that effectively legalized racial profiling, and is home to Joe Arpaio, the former Maricopa County sheriff who has spread a sweeping message about immigration. But the kind of Trump fervor that has manifested vividly in the state since the November election has gained momentum that even some conservatives in the state find alarming. Hours after Joseph R. Biden Jr. was declared the winner of the election, hundreds of protesters showed up at the State Capitol, many military-style weapons and waving flags depicting Mr. Trump as Rambo.

The Arizona Republican Party has long engaged with and promoted extremist elements, particularly on immigration, and has an anti-government streak that dates back to Barry Goldwater, a former state senator. Yet some Arizona Republicans have now started to sound the alarm bells, warning the party is slipping into oblivion in a state where independent voters make up nearly a third of the electorate.

“The message of anger and wickedness coming out of the party right now is not going to win over the New West,” said Adam Kwasman, a former state lawmaker who has been named one of the most conservative lawmakers in the world. ‘State during his tenure. and who voted for Mr. Trump last year.

He said his loyalty was with the party more than with the president. “If we want Arizona not to become Colorado, if we just hand this state over to Democrats, we have to focus on working families, and if we don’t, we are doomed,” he said. he said, adding, “We are in a truly confusing place.”

Already, there are signs that Mr. Kwasman is right to be concerned. Nearly 5,000 registered voters abandoned their Republican Party affiliation in the week following January 6. Some former Republican agents warn that a steady erosion of the party’s narrow edge in voter registration is ahead.

“There is an act of serial theft going on right now,” said Chuck Coughlin, a longtime Republican strategist in Phoenix who changed his own party affiliation in 2017 and is now independent. In the dozens of calls Mr. Coughlin has received from concerned Republicans, he said, his advice has been consistent: don’t bother trying to save anyone who has supported “acts of sedition.” “It has become a party of utter contempt for all authority except one man. The Republican Party is in the midst of its own French Revolution now.

It is unclear how well the state party leadership represents grassroots Republicans. But thousands of voters have turned up at the State Capitol in Phoenix for several “Stop the Steal” rallies, including an impromptu demonstration on general election day in November. Like other state capitals across the country, Phoenix’s copper-domed building was surrounded by a six-foot-high metal fence over the weekend, and law enforcement remains on alert for potential violence on the day of the opening.

A group of Republican lawmakers in the state have issued a subpoena to the Maricopa County Oversight Board, demanding that he hand over the counting machines, along with images of all mailed ballots and information details on voters. Although Democrats won statewide, Republicans maintained their control of both houses of the Legislature, allowing them to continue to argue the debunked notion of fraud despite the fact that all eight court challenges failed in court. law courts.

“We have kept our majority and that is more of a reason to suspect a fraudulent election,” said Sonny Borrelli, a state senator, mistakenly suggesting that the presidential ballots had been tampered with. Mr Borrelli said he had received more than 100,000 messages from Arizona residents urging the Legislature to further investigate the fraud allegations. “It just adds fuel to the fire, and we’re going to stay focused on that fire,” he said. “It’s our job.”

A statewide test for the party is not far off: Mark Kelly, the Democrat who won a special election for his Senate seat in November, will be re-elected in 2022. Mr. Ducey is widely discussed as a possible challenger, functioning as a moderate for business. But Republicans across the spectrum say that while Mr. Ducey was the last Republican to win a statewide election, he would face an uphill battle in a Republican primary.

“It would be an unarmed fight, and it would probably be mean,” Coughlin said.

Mr. Ducey and his associates declined to comment on this article and he should not challenge the state party’s vote to censor it.

The accusations of meanness do not appear to deter the State Party or Ms Ward, who did not return calls seeking comment. Last month, Ms Ward tweeted Mr Ducey with the hashtag #STHU – the internet speaks for ‘shut up’ – when Mr Ducey defended the state’s electoral process.

Mr. Ducey responded by saying that the feeling was mutual and that Ms. Ward should “practice what you preach”.

And this is not the first time that the State Party has stepped into a public torch with the McCain family. In 2014, the party censored Mr. McCain himself on his voting record.

Ms McCain responded to the threat of her own censorship with as much annoyance as she was amused.

“It’s about doing what’s right for the country,” Ms. McCain said during an appearance on “The View,” co-hosted by her daughter Meghan. “Certainly Senator Flake and our Governor have made some very difficult decisions in recent times and in the past, but it was for the good of our state and our country.

“You know, I’m in good company,” she added. “I think I’ll make T-shirts for everyone and wear them.”

Mr. Flake, who supported Mr. Biden in the presidential election, written on twitter that he too was not affected by censorship.

“If it is necessary to forgive the behavior of the president to remain in the good graces of the Party, I am very well on the sidelines”, he wrote.

Robert Graham, who served as the state party’s president from 2013 to 2017, called censorship a waste of time at best, and pointed out that Mr. McCain has won every national election he has held.

“The only objective of a state party is to win elections,” Graham said. “When the president of the state attacks a member of his family, you fracture the party. The resolution will pass, it will rob a group of Republicans of their rights, and it will be put on file and become memories forever.

Rather than further fracturing the base, Graham said, party officials should focus on solidarity.

“The right became even more emboldened because they had someone in the top office with a giant megaphone,” he said. “But in Arizona you have a governor who is in his last term, so it’s time for the Republican Party to come together, come together and transform into what it will be for the next four years. The mission here is meant to be if you take a beating, do a transformational refresh.

John Fillmore, a state official who has attended several protests, compared the debate within the party to a “cleanup” and said he was more concerned about the purge of those who have criticized Mr. Trump than the loss of voters.

“The party is bewildered and outright facers like Jeff Flake and Liz Cheney will feel the wrath of Republican voters,” Fillmore said. “We are a family, and ultimately what happened was the family members went against the family and did it with vengeance. This is what the Godfather said: never go against the family. It’s sad.”

On January 6 in Phoenix, a group of protesters opposing the certification of presidential election results erected a guillotine near the Golden Domed Capitol. The group distributed a document to reporters explaining its actions: Concerned Americans, they said, feared the votes were not counted correctly. They had “gathered peacefully, telephoned and begged their elected officials to listen to their concerns.”

As they gathered, mobs in Washington violated the nation’s Capitol – actions the Arizona party would later attribute to the antifa.

On Sunday, in Phoenix and in capitals across the country, law enforcement was preparing for another round of protests. Only a handful of protesters showed up. The guillotine had disappeared.



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