In 2018, Democrats made historic gains in Arizona, picking up both a House and Senate seat in the Grand Canyon state. Now, Republicans find themselves unable to recruit credible candidates in a state they once dominated — setting Democrats up for even more victories in 2020.
As the Arizona Republic reported yesterday, “With less than a year to go before the party chooses its nominees to try and recapture the House of Representatives and hold an imperiled Senate seat, Arizona Republicans have struggled to recruit candidates with star power and who can raise money in a state that both parties are treating as a crucial battleground in 2020.” Left to run only extreme, scandal-ridden candidates like Congressman David Schweikert and Massachusetts resident Curt Schilling, GOP strategists across the state are skeptical of the party’s ability to make a comeback next year.
More Key Points from The Arizona Republic:
- “There is still time for the GOP to mount a serious challenge in Arizona’s competitive races, but there are few signs of it to this point, said Chuck Coughlin, a Phoenix-based Republican consultant. Fundraising has been underwhelming and key Republicans have not coalesced around viable candidates in an election that will likely include many more young, politically progressive voters, he said.”
- “It’s not just the GOP candidates who are falling short. The Arizona Democratic Party is piling up a growing cash advantage over the state’s Republican Party. Through July, Democrats have raised $965,000 from all sources compared to $396,000 for Republicans.”
- “Arizona has nine House seats in Washington. Of those, three were engineered to be competitive eight years ago by the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission. Today, all three are held by Democrats, who have lopsided cash advantages over their potential Republican opponents.”
- “For Republicans, the current match-ups now appear less promising than what they had in the 2018 cycle, in which they lost a House and Senate seat.
- “‘I’m unaware of any kind of a recruiting infrastructure for the Republican Party in Arizona,’ [Former Republican candidate Steve Ferrara] said. ‘Perhaps quality candidates might feel they’re not necessarily going to get the support they need…'”
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