Republicans in Arizona voted to disapprove on Saturday Cindy McCain and two prominent GOP members who have been found to be crosswise with former President Donald Trump.
The disapproval of Senator John McCain’s former widow Senator Jeff Flake and Governor Doug Ducey are only symbolic. But they show that the party’s foot soldiers are focused on enforcing loyalty to Mr. Trump, even in the wake of an election where Arizona is inches from its unshakable Republican roots.
Party activists have also re-elected controversial Chairman Kelli Ward, who was one of Mr. Trump’s most staunch supporters and one of the most prolific promoters of his baseless allegations of electoral fraud.
The ardent focus of the Arizona GOP has delighted Mr. Trump’s staunchest supporters and concerned Republican insiders who have seen the party lose ground in the suburbs as the influence of its traditional conservative establishment has fallen in favor of Mr. Trump. A growing electorate of young Latinos and newcomers who have brought their more liberal politics from home have further hurt the GOP.
“This is a time to choose Republicans. Are we going to become the conservative party? ‘ said Kirk Adams, a former state house speaker and Ducey’s chief of staff. “Or is this a party … loyal to one person?”
It’s a matter of Republican identity that party officials and activists across the country are facing after Mr Trump’s loss in 2020, and especially after a crowd of his supporters siege of the Capitol on January 6.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI
Nowhere is the question more acute than in Arizona, where the GOP’s unshakable loyalty to Mr. Trump stands out, even in a party remade everywhere in the image of the former president.
Ward has relentlessly – but unsuccessfully – sued to reverse the election results. The party has used its social media accounts to urge followers to fight and perhaps even die in support of the false claims of Mr Trump’s victory. Two of the state’s four Republican congressmen are accused of having played a role in organizing the January 6 violent rally.
After decades of dominating Arizona politics, Republicans are now on their heels in the highest offices of the state. President Joe Biden narrowly won a victory, becoming only the second Democrat in more than five decades to win the state. Successive wins in 2018 and 2020 gave Democrats control of both seats in the United States Senate for the first time in nearly 70 years.
Ward, a physician and former state legislator who lost two Republican primaries to the United States Senate, defeated three challengers to win a second term.
In a brief interview, Ward acknowledged “disappointment at the top of the ticket,” but said she and many other Republicans still question the results of wins for Mr. Biden and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly. Judges have dismissed eight lawsuits contesting Arizona’s election results.
Ward pointed to GOP successes along the ballot, noting that Republicans defied expectations in local races.
Ward said she is a “Trump Republican” who “will always put America first, who believes in faith, family and freedom.” The way forward for the GOP, she said, is keeping Mr. Trump’s 74 million voters engaged.
“Yeah, I’m going to be radical about those things because those are the things that keep this country great,” said Ward. “The people who are complaining are the people who actually put us in this place where we are in Arizona, people who have been mamby pamby lay down and let the Democrats walk over them.”
The censure is directed against some of Arizona’s most prominent Republicans,
Cindy McCain endorsed Biden and became 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 this as a badge of honor,” she wrote.
Even after the vote, Flake tweeted a photo of him with McCain and Ducey at Biden’s inauguration and wrote, “Good company.”
Flake was one of the few Congressional Republicans to be openly critical of Mr. Trump for not adhering to conservative values. He declined to run for re-election in 2018 and Mr. Biden endorsed at last year’s election.
“If approving the president’s behavior is required to remain in the party’s favor, I’m fine with going the wrong way,” Flake wrote. Twitter before and after the vote.
Ducey is under attack for his restrictions on individuals and businesses to stem the spread of COVID-19. While not mentioned in the proposed censure, he had a notable break with the president when he did signed the certification of Mr. Biden’s victory.
“These resolutions have no consequence and the people behind them have lost the little moral authority they once had,” said Sara Mueller, Ducey’s political director.
Many traditional conservatives fear that Ward’s censorship and belligerent style will turn off the rocky voters and splitters that have handed Democrats their recent victories. But they say the party’s decisions will only reflect the views of about 1,500 committed activists.
John McCain was censored by the GOP state in 2014 and went on to comfortably win a Republican primary over Ward and a general election. Best known for his willingness to oppose his party, the self-proclaimed maverick had strained relations with the state party for much of his career, but was consistently reelected at wide margins.