According to a report from the Daily Beast, the Republican Party is sending barrels of cash to Arizona over fears that not only will they lose the Senate seat held by Martha McSally, but they may lose the state's electoral votes which could put Donald Trump's re-election in peril.
The report notes that the GOP is not convinced that they will hang on to all three of the midwestern battleground states that helped propel Trump to the Oval Office, thus making it highly important to keep Arizona in the win column.
"Trump could ill afford to lose any state he won in 2016. But Arizona would pose particular problems in that it would allow Democrats to potentially win back the White House without having to sweep back the three Midwest states that Hillary Clinton famously lost in 2016," the report states. "If, for instance, Trump were to lose Pennsylvania and Michigan in 2020, he could still win re-election if the rest of the map held. But a loss of Arizona on top of that would swing the contest—even if Trump held on to Wisconsin."
With that in mind, cash is being sent to the southwestern state to shore up the president's prospects.
"From Jan. 1, 2019, through Jan. 31, 2020, the Republican National Committee has transferred $594,875 to the Arizona State Republican Party. That is the biggest transfer of money to any state that has not had congressional elections during that time period. And it significantly outpaces other states that are considered the main battlegrounds in the 2020 cycle," the Beast reports. "By contrast, the RNC has transferred $278,985 to the Wisconsin GOP, even as that state is increasingly viewed as the most likely tipping point for the presidential election."
The report notes that Trump only won the state by a mere four points in 2016, and surrendered a Senate seat held by former lawmaker Jeff Flake to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in 2018. Add to that, Senate appointee Martha McSally is currently trailing astronaut turned gun-control advocate Mark Kelly -- the husband of popular former lawmaker Gabby Giffords.
"Trump, for his part, doesn’t seem to be taking any chances," the report states. "He held a rally in Phoenix on Wednesday night as the Democratic presidential field debated in neighboring Nevada. Trump Victory—the branding for the RNC and Trump campaign’s joint field operation— has hired nearly 50 staff on the ground in Arizona and trained, what one official said were, 'thousands of Arizonans through our Trump Victory Leadership Initiative (TVLI) training program.'"
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