All posts tagged "Arizona"

Republicans running statewide in one battleground state are dreading a political albatross they say President Donald Trump simply won't let them shed.

Arizona GOP operatives told Politico Magazine in a report published Saturday that Trump's refusal to accept his 2020 loss keeps resurfacing on the campaign trail, putting the party's nominees on the defensive heading into the midterms.

"If I could wave a magic wand and make these questions go away, I would. But we can't. It's baked in," said one Republican strategist working on competitive races, who spoke on condition of anonymity....

A Democratic congressional candidate's harrowing account of an attack on the campaign trail drew horrified reactions online from journalists and politicians.

Bernadette Greene-Placentia, who is challenging Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh in Arizona's 8th Congressional District, told the Phoenix New Times in a story published Wednesday that she was struck over the head and raped while repairing campaign signs in August.

Greene-Placentia, a longtime long-haul trucker, said she was attacked shortly after 2 a.m. as she crossed a parking lot to fix a damaged sign, something she had done regularly all summer. She said she blacked out and woke up to find a man on top of her. A second man then approached, she said, and walked away after she kicked at him. She told the New Times she remembers only fragments of the attack and its aftermath....

A Trump-backed congressman overcame scandals and a McCain snub to coast to victory in a gubernatorial primary, per reports.

According to reporting by CNN and NBC News, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) won the GOP gubernatorial primary on Tuesday night with a huge margin of victory. He's set to face off against Democratic incumbent Katie Hobbs.

Biggs won despite a Washington Post report coming out the day before the primary that dug up his involvement in a decades-old legislative episode involving a polygamist sect accused of child sexual abuse. ...

President Donald Trump's influence was expected to be tested on Tuesday night as Arizona voters will decide whether MAGA-backed candidate Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) faces off in the Republican primary against Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) for governor — and an analyst revealed a stunning plot twist tied to late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

CNN anchor Erin Burnett talked to political commentator S. E. Cupp during a panel discussion about why this election primary was so significant.

"And there's a lot on the line for President Trump's endorsement tonight," Burnett said. "Because when it comes to governor's primaries, Trump has suffered two recent high profile losses. Those are in the primaries in Iowa and Georgia. Biggs' primary opponent is Republican Congressman David Schweikert, who has consistently won in one of Arizona's most competitive congressional districts. He argues that the party can't gamble with a MAGA taking on Democratic incumbent Gov. Katie Hobbs in the fall."...

A Trump-backed Republican and former county sheriff has been accused of sexting women outside of his marriage and then threatening his accusers to try and stop them from posting about it online, as questions have been raised over whether the scandal could impact him in the primary election this week, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Mark Lamb, who is vying for Arizona's Fifth Congressional District to replace Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), who is running for governor, was expected to be the GOP front-runner in the "messy race" as voters cast their ballots in the primary across the state on Tuesday, according to The Times.

"But the contest between Mark Lamb, the former Pinal County sheriff, and a lesser-known businessman in a deeply religious part of the state is a test of the power of a Trump endorsement — and the potency of a sex scandal in a Republican primary," The Times reported....

A frightening analysis revealed how "MAGA has already won its war" as the Trump administration hires hardcore election deniers to key roles.

"They need to sow doubt; they need to undermine public trust," Joanna Lydgate, who heads the nonpartisan States United Democracy Center, told The Atlantic for a recent report. "Whether it's an executive order or death by 5,000 cuts, it's chipping away at our election system."

The Trump administration is embedded with election deniers like Clay Parikh, The Atlantic reported. Parikh "gained a following by circulating conspiracy theories about President Trump's 2020 defeat, including that poll workers gave Trump supporters — but not other voters — felt-tip markers to fill out their ballots, rendering them invalid." ...