State Republican chairs that are backing former President Donald Trump’s lies about his election loss are turning on members of their own party over insufficient loyalty to Trump, The Hill reports.
Oklahoma GOP Chairman John Bennett last month came out in support of Jackson Lahmeyer, a Republican who is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. James Lankford.
Bennett cited Lankford’s decision not to object to the certification of election results following the January 6 Capitol riot and said that simply being a Republican doesn’t make someone “the right pick.”
“It’s more unheard of than it is rare,” Lankford said.. “I’d say it’s highly unusual for a state party chair in any state in America to come out and say, ‘I’m not going to at least be neutral.’”
He added that “obviously the state party makes their own decisions on what they want to be able to do. But every state party chairman I’ve ever talked to has … at a minimum — it’s always just remain neutral.
Arizona:
Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward has railed against Republicans she believed have not done enough to back Trump’s election lies, including Go. Doug Ducey.
Earlier this year, Ward threatened to back primary challengers to House Majority Leader Ben Toma and state Sen. Paul Boyer because they opposed the GOP’s so-called “forensic audit” of the results in Maricopa County.
“They both will face primary challenges if they decide to run again and they stand to be replaced by actual Republicans,” Ward told The Hill, adding that Ducey “isn’t standing up and fighting against critical race theory … isn’t standing up fighting for election integrity.”
Texas:
Texas GOP Chairman Allen West resigned from his position to launch a primary challenge to Gov. Greg Abbott.
The big has triggered intraparty infighting.
“When Republican chairmen take their eye off the ball from building the party, raising money and ensuring a party machine infrastructure to elect more Republicans, then I think it’s a mistake and misguided,” former Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis told The Hill. “The idea of taking on the likes of Gov. Abbott or Sen. Lankford or other conservative to mainstream Republicans is a huge waste of resources and time.”
