Diegel hoped that his state party, after seeing the United States Capitol uprising earlier this month, would change Donald Trump’s course.
But that did not happen.
“Arizona Republicans sided with Donald Trump,” said Diegel, married, a father of two and an Air Force veteran. “You have to stop. These people don’t represent what it means to be conservative in Arizona and I finally had to say, ‘No, I don’t want to be associated with the Arizona Republican Party’ ”.
Diegel is one of more than 9,292 Republicans who asked to change his party record from Republican to independent, Democratic or Libertarian since the Capitol riot, according to figures compiled by the Arizona Secretary of State’s office from January 6 to 24. The figures, although a small percentage of the Republican Party’s general record in Arizona are a snapshot of how voters are reacting to the Republican civil war that is taking place in the undecided state.
“America First’s agenda is alive and well,” Republican Party President Kelli Ward said in a video released on Monday. “Are we going to continue to be an Arizona first in America or are we going to go back to the dark days before Donald Trump? Fortunately for us, we are blessed to move forward as a state first in America.”
“I’m looking forward to keeping Arizona great and making America great again!” she concluded.
‘Whatever Trump is going to do, that’s how the Republican Party is going to do it’
These election losses matter little to Barbara Wyllie and Corky Haynes, who call themselves “popular grandmothers”. Both Arizona Republicans throughout their lives, they were among more than 1,000 members of the Arizona Republican Party in Phoenix for the state party meeting on Saturday.
“Whatever Trump’s move is, this is how the Republican Party is going to go. This is Trump’s Republican Party,” Wyllie said. “And the RINOs [Republican In Name Only] will fall. ”
Ducey was censored for imposing emergency rules while Covid-19 took over Arizona, saying that such emergency orders to contain the virus violated the constitution and meant that the governor enacted “dictatorial powers”.
McCain, who supported Biden during the election, was criticized for supporting “left-wing causes” and for not supporting Trump.
Flake was convicted of also supporting Biden in the election.
Ducey’s political director, Sara Mueller, dismissed the power of the state party’s decision to censor the acting governor.
“These resolutions have no consequence, and the people behind them have lost any small moral authority they may have had,” said Mueller.
Outside the AZ GOP meeting, Wyllie said he voted for the late Senator John McCain, but now he regrets it.
The “Base Grandmothers” proudly showed CNN a photo they had taken with Trump during his tenure. “We are here to increase the Republican Party by making it a MAGA party,” said Haynes while wearing a “Trump” shirt.
When asked exactly how to follow Trump after his defeat in Arizona would increase the number of Republican Party members, Wyllie said, “Honestly, I don’t know. But I’ll be with him, wherever he goes, wherever he goes.” The women then turned to conspiratorial lies that Trump and the Democratic senators did not win their seats, despite overwhelming facts against their illegitimate claims.
“I am shocked that self-styled, long-standing conservatives have abandoned their self-proclaimed principles of loyalty to one person, Donald Trump,” said Kirk Adams, former Arizona Mayor and Ducey’s former adviser. “Will we see more of this in the coming months? Or will this party fall into the loyalty rabbit hole? Perhaps this fever will end. But if it doesn’t, it will be bad news for Republicans looking for a job in this state.”
Ward seemed publicly unconcerned by any warning from moderates, while speaking to Arizona Republicans gathered at Dream City Church in Phoenix. The site was closed to almost all reporters, except for a few select vehicles, including CNN.
Ward, who embraced far-right conspiracies about the legitimacy of Arizona’s election results, ended his speech before his re-election vote with: “Make America Great Again!” She then presented a recorded audio message from Trump, where the former president said to members, “I give her my total and total endorsement.”
Ward defeated his opponent by three points in two rounds of voting.
‘I don’t want to be part of the trash fire’
Meanwhile, Arizona Republicans are moving away from the party’s official apparatus, hoping to delegitimize the party and try to circumvent it for future elections.
Adams, the well-known former Arizona representative, said Ward and the state party “have been feeding the public a steady diet of QAnon-ic conspiracies”. For the first time in 20 years, Adams said he will not be an elected delegate to the state Republican Party.
“I don’t want to be part of the trash fire,” he said.
Several Arizona Republicans say the political battle against Ward-led Republicans will take place at the district level, working at the grassroots and eventually blocking and fighting at the party level. This is unglamorous work, but it is urgently needed, emphasizes Glenn Hamer, former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party and now CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce.
Referring to the more than 9,200 Republicans who left the party since January 6, Hamer fears the political outcome for Republicans.
“This party is being run by a fringe, essentially calling for a purge,” said Hamer. “This is a party that lost the White House, two Senate contests, and shows no interest in bringing people together and certainly no interest in expanding the Republican base. It has become a circular firing squad.”
“If ignored, the state will change from purple to blue very quickly,” he added.
This is a nightmare scenario for some of those who represent the future of the Arizona Republican Party. In many ways, Arizona state senator TJ Shope personifies a future “big tent” Republican party for the undecided state. Raised in a rural part of Arizona, Shope is the son of a Mexican mother and owner of a local supermarket chain. The 35-year-old wears an Arizona belt buckle, western hat and boots, with the goal of increasing the tent for the next generation of Republicans.
“I wear a different hat than the guy in the horns,” joked Shope, referring to the Arizona Capitol rioter who was widely photographed and then arrested for breaking into the Capitol using a horned animal headdress.
“We have to turn the page,” said Shope. “If the emphasis continues to be in 2020, we probably won’t win in 2022. And we’ll probably end up more like Colorado than perennial states like Ohio or Florida. People need to realize that Colorado only took a cycle or two to go from a trusted republican state to a trusted democratic state, and it can happen anywhere. “