The decision to censor the three Republicans – in addition to the re-election of controversial President Kelli Ward – intensified the official shift of the official party, while also reflecting the deep rifts among Arizona Republicans over the future of the GOP, which suffered bruises has in 2020 in this increasingly purple state at the ballot box.
The three Republicans are formally condemned for what the state party described in its meeting as a variety of “failures”.
McCain, the widow of the late Senator John McCain, who endorsed Biden during the election, was convicted because he supported ‘left-wing affairs’ and for not supporting Trump.
Flake, a CNN contributor, was also convicted of supporting Biden in the election.
“Fool. It’s stupid,” said Glenn Hamer, former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party. “Parties that want to be successful bring people together and increase the number of people who are attracted to the party. What goes on with the leadership at the AZ GOP is exactly the opposite. It is self-destructive.”
Kirk Adams, a former state representative and adviser to Ducey, calls the action similar to the ending ‘the rabbit hole of loyalty’.
“What we get is a purity test, and the purity test is simple: are you loyal to Donald Trump, no matter what? If you are not, we will condemn you.”
Ward appeared publicly unconcerned about the warnings of moderates while speaking to the composite Arizona Republicans at Dream City Church in Phoenix. The venue was closed to almost all reporters, except for a few by-elections.
Ward ends her speech before the party presidential vote with “Make America Great Again!” She then released a recorded audio message from Trump, in which the former president told members, “I give her full and complete endorsement.”
Ward defeated her challenger by three points in two rounds.
Ducey’s political director, Sara Mueller, discounted the power of the state party’s actions, namely on the censorship of the incumbent governor. “These decisions have no effect at all, and the people behind them have lost any moral authority they ever had,” Mueller said.
Flake tweeted a photo of himself with McCain and Ducey at Biden’s Inauguration, with the words ‘Good company’.
McCain could not be reached for immediate comment, but tweeted: ‘It is a great honor to be included in a group of Arizonans who have served our state and our country so well … and who, like my late husband John, though censored by the AZGOP. I will wear it as a tribute. ‘
The late senator was censored by the state GOP in 2014 for what he then described as a liberal record.
The immediate action appears to have little bearing on the three Republicans. And there are signs that some GOP voters in Arizona may be unhappy after the US Capitol uprising. Figures compiled by the Arizona Secretary of State show that more than 8,000 Republicans requested from January 6 to January 20 to change their party registration from Republican to Independent, Democrat or Libertarian. The Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs does not explicitly monitor party changes for reporting purposes, so it is unclear whether these trends are unique to this post-election cycle.
But Adams regards the registration numbers as a screaming siren that Trumpism has ruined the future of this increasingly competitive state for the Republican brand.
“Many Republicans in the official AZ GOP apparatus have left behind their conservative principals. They are now loyal to a single man or personality to a platform of ideas,” Adams said. “Maybe this fever will break. But if that doesn’t happen, it’s bad news for Republicans who want an office in this state.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story got Kirk Adams’ surname wrong.