Arizona Republicans Expel Moderates, New State Chair Elected, Staff Quits
A bloody fight is brewing with the Arizona Republicans. Last weekend, the Arizona Republican Party elected Randy Pullen as State Chairman after vicious floor fight. Mr. Pullen is an extremist right-wing Republican and he defeated Lisa James, a moderate by only 4 votes out of more than eight hundred cast.
The campaign between Mrs. James and Mr. Pullen has been going on for weeks and politicking has been grim. In the last weeks of the campaign members of the two camps took aim at each other and allegations flew on conservative blogs. Pullen is to serve a two-year term as state chairman. He replaces outgoing Chairman Matt Salmon.
Randy Pullen has been a controversial figure in Arizona politics. He has been the leader behind Proposition 200 and Republican attempts to suppress Mexican-Americans. He was endorsed by Randy Graf and Jon Kyl. Arizona’s senior Senator John McCain and many others of the GOP’s congressional delegation adamently opposed Pullen’s candidacy. Randy Pullen has twice run unsuccessfully for mayor of Phoenix, but is perhaps best known for his avid opposition to illegal immigration. He earned the loyalty of border activists and the Minutemen in recent years with his support of Proposition 200, which Arizona voters approved in 2004 to block undocumented immigrants from accessing certain services.
But his get-tough immigration stance has at times raised eyebrows among some Republicans, and the bulk of Arizona’s congressional delegation supported James in her bid for chairwoman. She also was a known entity, owing to her campaign work on behalf of President Bush in 2000 and 2004, and her leadership of the Arizona GOP’s Victory 2006 effort last year.
After pledging to help bring the party together after his brusing victory, Randy Pullen got some bad news on Monday at the office. On Monday, GOP attorney Tim Casey and fund-raising director Renee Roebuck stepped down. Communications director and interim executive director Garrick Taylor and voter data expert Brent Frazier also have given their resignations.
They’ll leave their paid roles with the state party next week. That would leave the office without any paid staffers. “I find it interesting, that’s all I can say,” Matt Salmon, the outgoing Chair said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of institutional knowledge with those folks.”
Here are some links to follow this story.Who Chairs the Party will matter.from the Arizona Star on January 27th. Then there is this follow-up story. Pullen to Lead AZ Republicans from the Arizona Republic. And yet another: Resignations Mount at AZ Republican Party
All in all, this is probably a hopeful sign. Yes, the most extreme wing of the Republican Party has taken control of the Arizona Party. Yes, they will be mobilizing money and hate to power their election campaigns. But as we saw in the last election when racist candidates ran for congress and state legislatures here in Southern Arizona, the went down to DEFEAT. David Waid, our newly elected State Chair, has just sent an email around the state talking about this story. His message: it is time for Democrats to come together and we (Democrats) need more volunteers and money now. Here is a link to the Arizona Democratic State Website where your contributions will be gratefully received. Arizona State Democrats.