For Immediate Release
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Contact: Sarah Guggenheimer, sguggenheimer@azdem.org

The Trump-Shaped Elephant Returns to the Room in Arizona

It may be 2022, but the Arizona Senate GOP primary candidates are stuck in the past – November 2020 to be exact. And as former President Trump descends on Arizona to spread more lies and conspiracies around the election he lost, it’s never been clearer the dominant role he continues to play in this GOP primary.

Trump’s return to the state is proof that he is the most important figure in the GOP primary. Jim Lamon, Mick McGuire, Mark Brnovich, Blake Masters, and Justin Olson have all readily ignored the issues that actually matter to Arizona so they can instead focus on Trump as the dominant issue and “purity test” in this primary.

This is a problem for Republicans, with even Arizona Republicans acknowledging this continued focus on election conspiracies is an “albatross around the neck for every Republican running.”

But that hasn’t stopped these candidates from attacking each other over their support of the sham ‘audit’ and lies around the 2020 election on Twitter, in TV ads, and at protests in this “brutal” contest.

“Arizonans need a U.S. Senator focused on the real issues we face, not one stuck in the past, relitigating an election to cater to former President Trump. But that’s exactly what Arizonans are getting from the entire AZ Senate GOP primary field, which continues to fixate on Trump and his lies around the 2020 election,” said ADP Spokesperson Sarah Guggenheimer. “Trump’s return is a stern reminder that he is the most important issue in the GOP primary and that the needs of Arizonans will never be more important to them than their own political ambitions.”

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