GOP Chair Ward defends record as some Arizona Republicans call for her ouster
(The Center Square) – A day before they meet, several GOP county and legislative chairs said in a letter they want Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward to pull her name out of the running for leader of the state’s largest political party.
A letter to Ward struck a cordial tone, thanking her for her commitment in the leadership role, but said her “egregious distortions of truth” won’t win races in all corners of the state.
“Our next election cycle in 2022 will feature the entire host of statewide races. On the ballot will be the U.S. Senate seat, Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Corporation Commission,” they said. “Critical to the State of Arizona, our future hangs in the balance of winning these races!”
In the letter obtained by KOLD, they said she had proven her inability to win statewide races, detailing the party’s failures to deliver President Donald Trump the state’s electoral votes and Democrats representing Arizona in the U.S. Senate for the first time in decades.
“Our nation is now suffering due to our party losing control of the United States Senate by one vote. What has not gone unnoticed at the precinct level is that, for most of us – for the first time in our lifetime, the great State of Arizona will be represented by not one but two Democrat Senators.”
Ward defended her tenure in an op-ed in TownHall.com Friday, blaming the state’s high-profile losses on voter fraud and saying she had secured record funds and increased their social media following.
“While the results were not what we hoped for at the top of the ticket, we can’t ignore the reports of irregularities in the election, which is why early last year we established the first ever Election Integrity Fund to counter misinformation and finance legal challenges … The Republican Party of Arizona raised and directed over $23.5 million during the 2020 election – nearly four times the amount that was spent during the 2018 cycle.”
The party chairs pointed out that much of that was secured from the Republican National Committee and the Trump Victory Campaign instead of local fundraising efforts.
The chairs also accused her of losing registered Republican voters and saying the state should replace the Arizona GOP with the “M.A.G.A. Party.”
“Please, for the sake of the Arizona Republican Party, stand down from the AZGOP Chairman’s race,” they concluded.
The party is scheduled to meet Saturday to select leadership positions. Ward faces three challengers; GOP treasurer Robert Lettieri, Ann Niemann, and Sergio Arellano.
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