The MAGA muscle
Rinos talk about getting Trumped … The first rat is the smartest rat … And give him the horns.
Longtime Republican lawmakers David Cook and Ken Bennett don’t blame the voters for ousting them in last week’s election.
Instead, they blame their opponents’ massive war chests and Trumpian untruths.
“I think in today's political climate, if you have a Trump endorsement and a strong Republican district like this, if you have lots of money and you're willing to tell a bunch of untruths about your opponent, you can win an election,” Bennett told us.
Moderate vs. MAGA match-ups were one of the main focal points of the Republican primary election this year. And for the most part, the MAGAs won.
Trump-endorsed candidates Mark Finchem and Sen. Wendy Rogers defeated Bennett and Cook, who are both considered moderates along the ever-expanding spectrum of conservatism. Those defeats signify a shift in the Republican caucus and a thinning of the list of potential defectors when Republican-backed legislation comes up for a vote.
Bennett has represented Yavapai County off and on for decades — on school boards, as secretary of state and during two separate stints in the Legislature. But he was not shy about bucking his party. He cast votes that killed Republican bills, like banning trans kids from using school bathrooms and ensuring Arizona never issues a tax based on vehicle mileage.
That was enough to earn a challenge from Finchem, who received Trump's endorsement for his particular band of election denialism.
“If you're not 100% with them, you are the enemy, and they’re gonna take you out. And that's what they did in my case,” Bennett said.
Finchem and Rogers don’t have clear roots in their districts. Rogers has long fought against claims she doesn’t live in Flagstaff, which were recently renewed when she listed a Tempe address on her campaign finance report. Finchem recently moved to Prescott to challenge Bennett.
And both have ties to the far-right Oath Keepers, a group known for outlandish conspiracies and white supremacy rhetoric.
And those extremist ties are a big part of why Cook, who has spent the last eight years representing his northern Arizona district, challenged Rogers, who has built a reputation as one of the most racist, radical lawmakers in the state.
But neither moderate could keep up with the massive fundraising hauls that the Trump-endorsed lawmakers could pull, they noted. Finchem raised more than double Bennett’s $95,000. And Cook brought in about $162,000 compared to Rogers’ $836,000.
And that money meant their opponents were able to fund attack ads telling voters, for example, that Bennett supports satanic monuments.
(Bennett voted against a bill that would prohibit satanic representations on state property over worries it would quash Arizona State University’s Sparky mascot).
But Cook takes heart in the fact that not every MAGA vs. moderate matchup ended with a Trumpian victory. In the Republican primary for Southern Arizona’s Legislative District 17, former Republican lawmaker Vince Leach ousted Republican Sen. Justine Wadsack. Leach is a milder option than the Freedom Caucus member and may be able to help carry on the legacy that Bennett and Cook leave behind.
“I think that the foundation of the Republican Party is solid. And we're just going to have to ride out the storm of what we're going through, the swing within our own party,” Cook said.
Bennett also thinks there’s a future for Republicans beyond extremism, but said the GOP is facing a “civil war.”
For now, Cook said he has a lot of work to do on his ranch and with his cattle company. He doesn’t know if he’ll run again. But he’s keeping his campaign signs.
And Bennett said he’s looking forward to spending time with his grandchildren and wife, and attending weddings for his children in the coming months.
“I'm just trying to figure out why God closed this door. And my life experience is that when He closes one door, He usually opens better ones elsewhere,” he said.
Rat reveal: Jenna Ellis, a former lawyer for former President Donald Trump, is helping prosecutors in their case against the fake electors, the Republic’s Stacey Barchenger reports. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Ellis will testify in exchange for the AG’s Office dropping charges against her. This was Ellis’ second plea deal connected to the 2020 election. She agreed to testify against her co-defendants in a case in Georgia.
Debate drama: Kari Lake won’t debate Ruben Gallego if it is hosted by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, two years after she criticized then-candidate Gov. Katie Hobbs for refusing to debate in the Clean Elections format, NBC News reports. Back in 2022, the dispute over the Lake-Hobbs debate ended up creating a debacle. The Clean Elections Commission rejected Hobbs’ idea to hold separate town halls, then Arizona PBS offered a separate interview to Hobbs, and chaos ensued. It was a lot.
Grisly “evidence collection”: Allister Adel, the former Maricopa County Attorney who died in 2022, sent emails with photos and recordings to a close friend documenting abuse by her husband David DeNitto in 2019 and 2020 as part of a contingency plan “in case something happened,” to her, the friend told Phoenix New Times’ Stephen Lemons. Adel resigned amid controversies and battles with alcohol addiction in March 2022. She died a month later from what a family spokesperson said were “health complications.” Then on Christmas Eve 2023, DeNitto gunned down his girlfriend and her mother before turning the gun on himself. For the past few months, Adel’s former colleagues and friends have been sharing the evidence of abuse with the New Times, often with regret for not doing more at the time.
School’s out (of the voting business): In a break from tradition, many schools in Maricopa County won’t be serving as polling sites this year, the Washington Post’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Clara Ence Morse and Hannah Natanson reported. Mesa Public Schools officials pointed to low voter turnout last November, along with voters harassing school staff and blaming them for “disenfranchising voters.” Without schools as a go-to option, Maricopa County officials budgeted nearly $1 million to lease voting locations. In 2016, the cost was just $53,000.
Space bucks: Sen. Mark Kelly is wealthier than any other Senator or member of Congress from Arizona, the Republic’s Robert Anglen reports. His net worth is somewhere between $8 to $34 million, thanks to investments in companies like the Tucson-based space balloon company World View, book deals, and speaking engagements. He also made some money from promoting nutritional supplements in China. Next up after Kelly is Rep. Andy Biggs, whose assets range from $720,000 to $6.1 million, which is considerably less than the $10 million he won in a Publishers Clearing House-esque sweepstakes.
Coming back to haunt him: Backers of the Arizona for Abortion Access ballot measure want Arizona Supreme Court Justice Bill Montgomery to step away from a case that could decide whether “unborn human being” is the phrase that goes in the voter information pamphlet, the Arizona Mirror’s Gloria Rebecca Gomez reports. Montgomery previously said Planned Parenthood committed the “greatest generational genocide known to man” and accused the organization of selling children’s body parts.
In-custody tragedy: Maricopa County jails are among the deadliest in the country, the Republic’s Jimmy Jenkins reports. One researcher called the death rate at the jails “astronomical.” Some of the leading causes of death were drug overdoses, drug withdrawals, and suicides.
One for the reporters: A former Kansas police chief who raided a local newspaper office last year is going to be charged with obstruction of justice for not disclosing records in the days after the raid.
A federal judge ordered federal agents to give the QAnon Shaman his furry horned hat back.
I think the idea that Leach is a moderate is a bit ridiculous. He was one of the most conservative members of his caucus before he lost to Wadsack. He just isn't as crazy as her.
This is not the end of the earth, but I thought I read some time ago that it was Paul Gosar who won the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, not Andy Biggs, as was stated in your article.
Which one was it?
Thanks for the clarification.