Arizona was the prime battleground on Tuesday as the new Donald Trump-led Republican Party was locked in a showdown with the corporate-establishment "get-along-gang."
Trump-endorsed candidates appeared set to sweep the primaries against a slate of RINO-backed and funded candidates.
"Ran the entire board! Endorsements don’t get any more powerful or conclusive than the Endorsements of last night. I wonder if anyone will write or report that? Just asking?" Trump said in a statement.
Nowhere was the Trump-vs-establishment battle royal more heavily watched than the gubernatorial primary, where Trump-backed Kari Lake was leading Karrin Taylor Robson.
Robson's campaign was flush with $18 million in establishment funding. She was backed by former Vice President Mike Pence and term-limited Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.
Lake fought, to what now looks very much like a victory, with only $3 million, aided by rock star put-downs of media ambushes which went viral on social media and an epic interview with Fox News' Bret Baier.
Lamented Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain: "Congratulations to my home state for full making the transition to full blown MAGA/conspiracy theory/fraudster. The voters have spoken - be careful what you wish for…"
Kari Lake tweeted in response: "This ain't your daddy's Arizona. The state belongs to the people now."
Lake has declared victory but emphasized that irregularities, such as running out of paper-ballots at polling stations just an hour into the voting, was a cause for concern. "This is why we ran." she declared, "to clean this up." Considering what happened in 2020 in the state, she advised caution.
The winner of the GOP primary will face off against leftist Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in November's General Election. Team Trump Republicans contend that Hobbs was a key player in the trove of irregularities that reportedly occurred in the 2020 election.
At 12:33 a.m., Lake walked onto the stage at her election headquarters to declare victory over the establishment Republicans, saying, “We are going to win the nominee for Republican Governor. There is no path to victory for my opponent, and we won this race.”
I see my initial predictions were right despite the initial excitement of Robson pulling ahead - Congratulations to my home state for full making the transition to full blown MAGA/conspiracy theory/fraudster. The voters have spoken - be careful what you wish for…
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) August 3, 2022
This ain't your daddy's Arizona. The state belongs to the people now. And they chose @KariLake to move Arizona forward. https://t.co/QDB0szHCPX pic.twitter.com/s0yWmqO4Sn
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) August 3, 2022
In another huge blow to the establishment, Trump-endorsed David Farnsworth won big over Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers in Tuesday's state Senate primary.
Bowers had testified as a star witness against Trump before the Select Committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
"The Arizona GOP also censured Rusty Bowers for constantly siding with liberal Democrats in the Arizona legislature, supporting woke America Last legislation, and finally his bogus January 6th testimony," The Gateway Pundit noted, adding that Bowers "responded by calling patriots 'thugs' and the 'Orange Mafia.' "
Bowers was term-limited in the state House and therefore ran for state Senate, where he was crushed on Tuesday by Farnsworth by at least 30 points. There is no Democrat on the ballot to run against Farnsworth in November.
In the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, Trump-endorsed Blake Masters won with 39% of the vote against a slew of candidates. Businessman Jim Lamon was second with 29% of the vote. In third place was Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who the team Trump has repeatedly slammed for what they say is his inaction in pursuing 2020 election irregularities.
Masters will face off in November against Democrat incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly.
A protege of billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, Masters said in a recent interview that had he been a senator during the 2020 election, he would have objected to the election certification that took place on Jan. 6, 2021.
State lawmaker Mark Finchem, who has said the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, won the Republican nomination for secretary of state of Arizona, pushing him closer to being the state’s chief election officer during the 2024 presidential vote.
Finchem, who was endorsed by Trump, has said that he wants to ban early voting and drastically restrict mail-in ballots. He is also suing to suspend all electronic vote-counting machines in Arizona.
Following his victory, Finchem said; "16.5% victory is a mandate! Thank you to all of you for the support. The people of Arizona have spoken. They want secure elections & someone to stop the fraud. We won every county with both the mailed in ballots & the election day vote. On to the general."
Finchem will face the winner of the Democratic primary between Adrian Fontes, the former Maricopa County recorder, and Reginald Bolding, a state legislator, in November.
The sweep was completed when Trump-endorsed Abe Hamadeh won the GOP primary for Arizona Attorney General.
Hamadeh will face Democrat Kris Mayes in November with the winner replacing Brnovich.
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