PHOENIX (AP) – Republicans in Arizona voted Saturday to denounce Cindy McCain and two prominent GOP members who opposed former President Donald Trump.
The disapproval of Senator John McCain’s widow, former 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 Trump, even in the aftermath of an election where Arizona was far from its staunch Republican roots.
Party activists have also re-elected controversial Chairman Kelli Ward, who is one of 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 Trump’s staunchest supporters and concerned Republican insiders who watched the party lose ground in the suburbs as the influence of the traditional conservative establishment faded in Trump’s favor. 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 be the conservative party? said Kirk Adams, a former state house speaker and Ducey’s chief of staff. “Or is this a celebration … loyal to one person?”
It’s a matter of Republican identity that party officials and activists across the country are facing after Trump’s loss in 2020, and especially after a crowd of his supporters besieged the Capitol on January 6.
Nowhere is the question more acute than in Arizona, where the GOP’s unshakable loyalty to 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 incite followers to fight and perhaps even die in support of Trump’s false claims of 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 here, becoming just 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 victories for 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 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 all 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 Trump’s attacks on her husband.
“Perhaps (Ward) should be reminded that my husband has never lost an election in Arizona since his first victory in 1982,” McCain said in a statement before the vote.
Flake was one of the few Congressional Republicans who was openly critical of Trump for not adhering to conservative values. He declined to run for re-election in 2018 and backed Biden in last year’s election.
“If approving the president’s behavior is required to remain in the party’s good graces, then I’m fine with being informed,” Flake wrote on Twitter before 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 high-profile break with the president when he signed the certification of 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.
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Associated Press writer Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed.