Republicans in Arizona voted Saturday to censor Cindy McCain and two prominent GOP members who found themselves at odds with former President Donald Trump.
The censorship of Senator John McCain’s widow, old Senator Jeff Flake and Governor Doug Ducey is merely symbolic. But they point out that the party’s foot soldiers are intent on loyalty to Mr. To maintain Trump, even in the aftermath of an election that sent Arizona down from its strong Republican roots.
Party activists also re-elected the controversial chairman Kelli Ward, who was one of Mr. Trump was the most staunch supporter and was one of the most productive promoters of his unfounded allegations of election fraud.
The belligerent focus of the Arizona GOP has delighted Trump’s strongest supporters and concerned Republican insiders who have watched the party lose ground in the suburbs as the influence of its traditional conservative body has faded in favor of Mr. Trump. A growing electorate of young Latinos and newcomers bringing their more liberal politics away from home has further disadvantaged the IDP.
“It’s a time to vote for Republicans. Are we going to be the Conservative Party?” said Kirk Adams, a former speaker and chief of staff of Ducey. “Or is it a party … that is loyal to a single person?”
It is a matter of Republican identity that party officials and activists across the country are facing after Mr. Trump’s 2020 loss, and especially after a crowd of his supporters lay siege on US Capitol on January 6th.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI
Nowhere is the question sharper than Arizona, where the unconditional loyalty of the state GOP against Mr. Trump even stands out in a party that has been rebuilt everywhere in the image of the former president.
Ward ruthlessly – but unsuccessfully – sued to reverse the election results. The party used its social media accounts to encourage followers to fight and perhaps even die in support of Mr. Trump’s false claims of victory. Two of the state’s four Republican congressmen are accused of playing a role in organizing the January 6 rally that turned violent.
After dominating Arizona politics for decades, Republicans find themselves on their heels in the highest offices of the state. President Joe Biden won a victory and became only the second Democrat in more than five decades to win the state. Consecutive victories in 2018 and 2020 gave the Democrats control of both U.S. Senate seats for the first time in nearly 70 years.
Ward, a doctor and former lawmaker who lost two Republican Senate primary elections, defeated three challengers to win a second term.
In a brief interview, Ward acknowledged ‘disappointment at the top of the list’, but said she and many other Republicans still question the results that victories for Mr. Biden and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly show. Judges have rejected eight lawsuits that challenge Arizona’s election results.
Ward points to the success of GOP during the vote and notes that Republicans defied expectations in local racing.
Ward said she is a “Trump Republican” who “will always put America first, who believes in faith, family and freedom.” According to her, the way forward for the GOP keeps the 74 million voters of Mr. Trump busy.
“Yes, I will be radical about things, because those are the things that keep this country great,” Ward said. “The people who complain are the people who actually put us in this place where we are in Arizona, people who are already mamby pamby, go to bed and let the Democrats walk all over them.”
The censorship is aimed at some of the top Republicans in Arizona,
Cindy McCain endorses Biden and becomes a powerful surrogate for the Democrat after years of attacks by Mr. Trump on her husband. After the vote, she wrote on Twitter that “it is a great honor to be included in a group of Arizonans who have served our state and our country so well.”
“I will wear it as a tribute,” she wrote.
Also after the vote, Flake tweeted a photo of him with McCain and Ducey at Biden’s inauguration and written: “Good company.”
Flake was one of the few Republicans in Congress who was openly critical of Trump for failing to live up to conservative values. He did not want to run again in 2018 endorses mr. Biden in last year’s election.
“If it’s necessary to approve of the president’s behavior to stay in favor of the Party, it’s good for me to be on point,” Flake wrote. Twitter before and after the vote.
Ducey is being targeted for its restrictions on individuals and businesses to limit the spread of COVID-19. Although not mentioned in the proposed censorship, he had a sincere break with the president when he signed the certification of Mr. Biden’s victory.
“These decisions have no effect at all and the people behind them have lost the moral authority they once had,” said Sara Mueller, Ducey’s political director.
Many traditional conservatives are worried that the censorship and Ward’s belligerent style will eliminate the swing voters and ticket splitters that Democrats hand over their recent victories. But according to them, the party’s decisions will only reflect the views of about 1,500 dedicated activists.
John McCain was censored by the state GOP in 2014 and comfortably won a Republican primary over Ward and a general election. The self-described maverick, best known for his willingness to run his party, had strained relations with the state party for much of his career, but was consistently re-elected by wide margins.