Arizona conservatives turning on 'hoity-toity Republicans' as party fractures over Trump: report

According to a report from the New York Times, there is a class war brewing among conservatives in Arizona that is tearing the Republican party apart as they face a critical midterm election.

As the Times' Jack Healy wrote, there is a battle between the so-called establishment Goldwater Republicans in the state and voters with less income and education who have sided with former president and real estate developer Donald Trump.

The central issue is of the haves and the have-nots, as one Trump supporter explained.

According to Shardé Walter, as she waited for the former president to appear at a recent rally, "You’ve got those hoity-toity Republicans, and then you’ve got ones like me — just trying to live. We’re busting our asses off but we’re broke for no reason.”

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"But the choice between traditional conservatives and Trump-backed firebrands is also tapping into working-class conservatives’ frustrations with a state economic and political system firmly controlled by Republicans, highlighting the gap between voters who have profited from Arizona’s rising home values and tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy, and those who feel left out and are eager to punish the Republican establishment at the ballot box," the report states.

According to polling expert Mike Noble, "It’s like ‘The Great Gatsby’ — old versus new. It’s a very telling moment for the G.O.P. Are they going the way of MAGA, or the McCain-Goldwater conservative way that gave them dominance over the state?”

The report notes that the election contest between Trump-backed Kari Lake and the GOP establishment-supported Karrin Taylor Robson is a prime example of the schism dogging the party in Arizona.

The Trump wing of the party is locked in behind Kari Lake, a Trump-endorsed former news anchor who has stoked an anti-establishment rebellion fueled by falsehoods about the 2020 election and provocations like vowing to bomb smuggling tunnels on the southern border.

"Ms. Robson has cut into Ms. Lake’s early lead in the polls, but recent surveys suggest that Ms. Lake is still ahead," the report states before adding, "Political analysts in Arizona said that some voters appeared to be rallying around Ms. Robson as the least divisive general-election choice. Democrats are expected to nominate Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who defended Arizona’s election system against attacks from Mr. Trump and his allies."

As one Republican voter, Derek Weech, 23, put it, "I don’t want to raise kids in a country that hates each other. Focusing on the last election will not get us to victory.”

You can read more here.