Latest news with #RobertBranscomb
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arizona Democratic Party's meltdown continues
The tension between Arizona Democratic Party chairman Robert Branscomb II and his vice chair is now public. Branscomb informed Kim Khoury, the first vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party of her suspension through an email, obtained by AZ Central. Branscomb alleged Khoury failed to perform her duties. Among the reasons he listed for her suspension, Branscomb wrote that Khoury engaged 'in political activity directed against party leadership while holding an executive officer role.' Khoury's attorney told reporter Mary Jo Pitzl the state party's bylaws don't say anything about a chair being allowed to suspend a party member, although one can be removed through a vote. Branscomb previously alleged Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego interfered with and intimidated the chair over staffing decisions. In response, the two Arizona senators, joined by other state leaders, said they've lost faith in Branscomb's ability to serve as chair. The timing of this internal turmoil is unfortunate news for the vulnerable Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, up for reelection in 2026. 'Rather than bolstering her with vital political muscle and support, the party has been consumed by an acrimonious and seemingly petty feud between the new state Democratic chairman and Arizona's two Democratic senators,' writes The New York Times' Kellen Browning. Hobbs has shied away from national level politics and barely campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election. The report notes the possibility Hobbs will face a tougher opponent than she did in 2022, when she ran against Kari Lake. And Hobbs is already at a disadvantage in the swing state that has roughly 300,000 more registered GOP voters than Democrats. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, President Donald Trump made a double endorsement for the Republican nomination for governor — Rep. Andy Biggs, who previously chaired the House Freedom Caucus, and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson. That could give Trump loyalist and founder of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk additional sway. In some ways, Turning Point USA is 'taking over the GOP from within,' Chuck Coughlin, the CEO of High Ground, a political consulting firm in Arizona, previously told the Deseret News. He served on GOP Gov. Jan Brewer's transition team in 2009, and was GOP Gov. Fife Symington's campaign manager. Robson has the support of many in the Arizona Republican Party, and enjoys access to a large war chest thanks to this association. But Turning Point USA's preferred candidate is the anti-establishment option; Biggs, a BYU graduate and part of the Latter-day Saints for Trump coalition ahead of the 2024 election. 'We are going to make our endorsement official for the governor's race,' Kirk said on his radio show last week, as AZ Central reported. 'We have to win back the governor's mansion here in Arizona, and we are fully endorsing my friend, Andy Biggs.' Should Biggs manage to beat Robson in the Republican primary, Hobbs will again face a strong Trump supporter. But Biggs has won both state and federal elections in Arizona, unlike Lake.
Fox News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Carville shreds Dem state chair, tells progressives to start their own 'pronoun' party
Veteran Democratic campaign strategist James Carville advised the new chairman of Arizona's Democratic Party to "shut up" or start a new progressive party. The Democratic Party has been struggling to re-define itself since the election, as leaders debate over whether to moderate or double-down on far-left identity politics. Carville, a frequent critic of some of the party's more progressive members, noted that the Democratic Party is doing unusually well in the red state of Arizona, where they have a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators. However, he warned that far-left politics and in-fighting may endanger this rare opportunity. Carville read from a recent New York Times article, headlined, "A Vulnerable Governor and an Intraparty Feud Signal a Bumpy Road for Democrats." The Times reported that Arizaona Democratic chairman Robert Branscomb had been "clashing with staff members over personnel decisions and accused them of sabotaging him by withholding financial documents." The article also claimed Branscomb, "wrote to party members detailing the infighting and attacking Senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, both Democrats, for criticizing one of his staffing choices." Carville praised Kelly and Gallego, arguing to Branscomb, "You ain't been elected to s---. So why don't you shut up?" He went on to argue in his video posted to the Politicon YouTube channel, "that's the problem with this, these people from the 'progressive' whatever the f--- that is, that come into these state parties that didn't do anything that have outstanding Democratic elected officials. He's fighting with the governor. We finally have a Democratic governor, and this guy exemplifies to me what's wrong with that wing of the party." He noted one quote attributed to Branscomb, where he reportedly declared, "I will not be coerced, and I will not be silenced," and offered a barbed response. "Well why don't you just shut up anyway? Because you haven't gotten elected to anything. And why don't you pay attention and work for the people that are out there who are not just trying to win elections but are actually winning elections?" Carville asked. Carville argued this is part of a larger problem, sharing another purported example in Nevada, in which he called "one of the most successful state parties in the history of the United States," until the majority women state legislature took command of the party and turned "it into a useless glob of nothing." "You got one goal, dude, that's to win elections, not run your jackass mouth, which is all this guy Branscomb is good for," Carville said. He suggested that Democrats need to confront these members of the progressive wing of their party and propose an important question. "They need to really consider whether they're Democrats or not," he said. "Maybe they ought to go join the pronoun justice – social, I don't know, equity party or whatever they're doing." Carville continued, "When you don't respect people who go out and win elections and work and put their names out front and dare to lose then there's no use for you in Democratic politics. That's my view." The Arizona Democratic Party didn't immediately respond to a request for a comment.
