Republicans in Arizona lost a US senate seat to Democrats for the first time in three decades last November, and today the GOP leadership took a sharp swerve to the right guaranteeing a blockbuster fight for the states electoral votes in 2020.
Kelli Ward, the bomb-throwing conservative former state senator and loyalist to President Trump, upended the race to lead the Arizona Republican Party by beating the establishment favorite and incumbent GOP chairman, Jonathan Lines.
In doing so, Republicans from across the state today chose a more pro-Trump vision headed into the 2020 election cycle where Arizona is poised to reach battleground status.
The election could have far-reaching implications for how the party messages to voters and how it spends money on races.
Ward’s ouster of Lines also raises questions about the state party’s relationship in the near future with the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
During the rowdy state GOP meeting, the committeemen embraced Ward, who emerged over the past two election cycles as a popular personality among the grassroots Republicans who largely represent Trump’s base and so-called “tea party” conservatives even as she failed to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in back-to-back primaries.
In doing so, the party committeemen rejected a more moderate vision for Arizona GOP politics associated with the long-serving late U.S. Sen. John McCain and former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, sowing frustration with some who said they may abandon their party registration under Ward’s leadership.
McCain easily defeated Ward’s primary challenge in 2016; Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., defeated her in the 2018 primary.
In her race against McCain, Ward did not hesitate to engage in age discrimination.
And when McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer, Ward suggested he should immediately resign and offered herself to Gov. Doug Ducey as his replacement.
Meghan McCain, a GOP TV commentator, did not waste time to offer her opinion following Ward’s election:
Don’t get me started on this…. great day for Az Democrats
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) January 26, 2019
Supporters of Lines, who had been an ally of McCain’s, were shocked and in disbelief.
There were hushed tones in the room as the results were announced.
Lines congratulated Ward on her win and left the room.
Ward said she doesn’t plan to take a salary for the job.