Category Archives: Republican

WASHINGTONU.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz won the Republican nomination for U.S. House in Florida's 1st Congressional District on Tuesday night.

The Trump protg won his primary contest in his Florida Panhandle district despite being under federal investigation in a sex trafficking case.

Gaetz defeated GOP challenger Mark Lombardo, a former Marine and executive at FedEx, and is heavily favored to win a fourth term come November.

RELATED:Real-time elections results

Rebekah Jones won the Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Florida's 1st Congressional District.

Jones has alleged that she was forced to manipulate COVID-19 data while working for the Department of Health. DeSantis and other state officials have denied this.

Gaetz is embroiled in scandal involving a federal investigation into whether the Republican congressman from Florida's panhandle paid underage girls or offered them gifts in exchange for sex.

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U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz wins Republican nomination, will take on Rebekah Jones this fall - WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm

NEWS AND OPINION:

Commentary columns have begun to appear urging the Republican Party to get in touch with its inner warrior as the midterm and presidential elections approach.

Are the GOP lawmakers lacking forthright, productive and gutsy behavior at this juncture? Some believe that is the case including columnist and author Kurt Schlichter, who has come up with a new term for the population of kinder, gentler but not necessarily effective Republicans.

He calls them Flaccidcons.

That term may or may not be offensive to some readers, but lets move right along.

You would prefer a world of comity, collegiality, and unicorns. And that aint happening until we warrior cons have broken our enemy, Mr. Schlichter wrote, suggesting that some GOP lawmakers think its still 2005.

He cites a cause and a remedy for the situation, addressing the Flaccidcons directly:

Your problem is that you live on forever in a world that no longer exists, if it ever did. You live in a world where there are norms. You live in a world of rules and guardrails, where the institutions are at least nominally neutral and where we all share some basic premises that provide common ground. But we dont, declared the columnist, who is both a trial attorney and a retired Army colonel and combat veteran.

We are in a long and brutal political struggle where the stakes are our liberty, and while you want to figuratively clutch your pearls and worry about whether this is who we are, we know who we are. And we are the guys and gals who want to figuratively don our plate armor, sharpen our broadswords, and get some, Knight Templar-style, Mr. Schlichter later said.

He is, incidentally, the author of the new book Well Be Back: The Fall and Rise of America.

NIGHTSTAND READING

The American Principles Project founded in 2009 as a national pro-family organization engaging directly in campaigns and elections has produced a collection of straightforward essays with a compelling title: The Top 25 Threats to the American Family.

The online publication clearly delineates these threats in these 25 thoughtful pieces, grouping them into categories of actual four perceived threats. They include corporations, special interests, legislation and politicians. A category for solutions is also included.

The collection also boasts 25 distinguished authors who know and understand the conservative calling. Among those authors: Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn, Marco Rubio, Josh Hawley and Mike Lee, and Reps. Jim Banks, Chip Roy and Ken Buck.

This publication, in which I contribute an entry, is a must-read for conservatives trying to understand the menaces threatening our home life, Ryan P. Williams, president of the Claremont Institute, advised in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

Find it all at FamilyThreats.com.

BLAME THE DEMOCRATS

Well, well. So a new NBC News poll found that 74% of U.S. adults believe their nation is on the wrong track. Whos to blame here?

Tommy Pigott, rapid response director for the Republican National Committee, has one theory. He points out that President Biden is now the most unpopular president at this point in his presidency in at least 70 years.

Indeed, a recent Gallup poll noted that Mr. Biden has an average 38% job approval rating during the month of July which is the lowest among his 10 predecessors in the White House.

Senate Democrats have aided and abetted Biden every step of the way. They own Bidens failures because they voted with Biden almost every time, Mr. Pigott wrote in an analysis of the terms, citing such Democratic lawmakers as Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Michael Bennet of Colorado.

When push came to shove, all Senate Democrats voted for a $1.9 trillion stimulus that even liberal economists say fueled inflation, against 18,000 Border Patrol agents and Title 42, for raising taxes during a recession, and for hiring 87,000 IRS enforcers, Mr. Pigott continued.

Senate Democrats have put this country on the wrong track. Theyve put Biden first and the American people last time and time again. Voters will remember in November, he advised.

THE FUTURE FAUCI

Dr. Anthony Faucis announcement that he would be leaving his post as head man of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases by the end of the year drew much commentary from a wide range of observers on Monday and no wonder.

Dr. Fauci has been the point man at the venerable federal agency for 38 years.

One observer, however, is more interested in contemporary issues and what the future holds.

For over two years, Congressional Democrats have refused to hold a single hearing on the origins of COVID, or our governments possible financial involvement in gain-of-function research, said House Republican Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

That will change when House Republicans take the majority next year, said Mr. Scalise, who also is the ranking Republican on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, in a statement shared with the Beltway.

Its good to know that with his retirement, Dr. Fauci will have ample time to appear before Congress and share under oath what he knew about the Wuhan lab, as well as the ever-changing guidance under his watch that resulted in wrongful mandates being imposed on Americans, Mr. Scalise advised.

POLL DU JOUR

73% of U.S. adults believe the large number of migrants apprehended at the southern border is a problem.

63% believe the U.S. is experiencing historic levels of migration.

54% think the U.S. is experiencing an invasion at the southern border.

50% believe that migrants bringing fentanyl over the border increases drug overdoses in the U.S.

46% support building a wall or fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

42% think the U.S. is implementing an open border policy.

35% say there is a deep state working to open our borders to more immigrants.

SOURCE: An NPR/Ipsos poll of 1,116 U.S. adults conducted July 28-29 and released Thursday.

Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.

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Inside the Beltway: A Republican call to arms - Washington Times

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Law professor Leslie Book admonished Republicans for using what she insists are false "scare tactics" to radicalize followers against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in an NBC op-ed on Monday.

The IRS faced renewed backlash after it was revealed that part of President Bidens Inflation Reduction Act will be used to fund 87,000 new IRS agents over the next decade as well as an $80 billion boost to the agency. In addition, the agency was further denounced on Aug. 10 after social media users discovered a special agent job posting for the IRS that requires the use of "deadly force" if necessary.

Book, who teaches law at Villanova University, attacked Republicans for continuing to criticize the IRS in a way that she claims could get people killed.

"This isnt just misinformation this is information that is designed to radicalize. And the consequences, as weve already seen, could indeed be disastrous," Book wrote.

Biden's Inflation Reduction Act will greatly expand the Internal Revenue Service over the next decade. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

STEVE HILTON: IRS PERFORMANCE AUDIT EXPOSES HOW THE SWAMP REWARDS FAILURE

She referenced attacks against FBI offices following the Republican criticism of the Mar-a-Lago raid against Donald Trump as proof that right-wing politicians are determined to inspire radical strikes against federal institutions.

"More broadly speaking, these scare tactics are part of a century-long tradition of attempting to turn governmental agencies and agents into bogeymen. As usual, this mythologizing hinges on claims that Democratic-supported policies are existentially dangerous threats to basic American freedoms," Book explained.

Several media pundits have similarly attacked Republicans for hyping up the IRS as a "boogeyman" against regular Americans while undermining concerns about its expansion. The New York Times wrote on Friday that Republicans relied on 'unfounded conspiracy theories' to scare voters, despite acknowledging the agency plans to double in the next ten years.

The Internal Revenue Service federal building in Washington DC USA (istock)

CHUCK TODD TO GOP CONGRESSMAN: IF YOURE UPSET ABOUT EXTRA AGENTS, STOP CHEATING ON YOUR TAXES

While Book noted that the IRS expansion is the most unpopular measure of the Inflation Reduction Act, she continued to call out Republicans for being "more than happy to exploit them to rile up the base and scare Americans into thinking that the IRS is coming for them."

Further, she insisted that extra funding for the IRS could be used to help enforce a "fair" system.

"Yet we would all be better served if politicians focused on legitimate concerns and opportunities. Americans deserve a faster taxpayer service, and they deserve a system that investigates tax enforcement inequality, so that Americans who pay their fair share are not unfairly burdened by those who do not," Book wrote.

She concluded, "It is time for politicians to tamp down the rhetoric and focus on improving the IRS. Can our elected officials wean themselves from the polarizing and dangerous demonizing of the IRS? Lets hope so, before someone else gets killed."

The IRS faced backlash in August after social media users discovered a job posting for special agents who would use "deadly force" if necessary. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

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Although the White House insisted the IRS would not target citizens making under $400,000 per year, FOX Business reported the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed that taxpayers under that pay level will have to be audited to secure $20 billion in funding.

Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.

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NBC op-ed warns 'Republican scare tactics' about the IRS could be 'dangerous' - Fox News

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Herschel Walker, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, with Donald Trump in 2021.Photograph by Sean Rayford / Getty

The Republican Party is clearly no place for Black activism as most of us know it. Members of the Party inveigh against what they call critical race theory, and oppose efforts to redress racial discrimination in everything from school admissions to policing and public safety; in some quarters, simply acknowledging that racism exists is considered unpatriotic. And yet the Republican Party has recently attracted an almost unprecedented number of Black candidates to its foldmore than at any time since the Reconstruction era. In a moment where the Party... has really wholeheartedly embraced white-grievance politics, Leah Wright Rigueur tells David Remnick, they are endorsing more Black candidates than they have in the past twenty-five years. Wright Rigueur is a historian at Johns Hopkins University and the author of The Loneliness of the Black Republican, which covers the period from the New Deal through the Reagan Administration. The G.O.P., she argues, is exploiting a moment when the long-standing relationship between Black Americans and the Democratic Party is weakening, and it aims to capitalize on an everyday conservatism among voters. It actually makes sense that in the aftermath of Barack Obamawith Black peoples levels of support and warmth for the Democratic Party in decline and the belief among a small sect of African Americans that [it] is just as racist as the Republican Partythat actually frees some people up to actually vote Republican, she says.

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What's Driving Black Candidates to the Republican Party? - The New Yorker

The former top Republican Liz Cheney, who lost her Wyoming seat in Congress last week when she was beaten in a primary by a Donald Trump-endorsed challenger, is threatening to turn her political muscle against other prominent politicians in her party who have embraced the former presidents attack on democracy.

In an interview with ABC News aired on Sunday, she said that some of the best-known Republican figures are now within her sights. She name-checked Kevin McCarthy, Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley all of whom have openly supported Trumps lie that electoral fraudsters stole the 2020 presidential race from him and handed it to his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.

In the wake of her Wyoming defeat, Cheney has announced plans to set up a new political organization and has indicated that she is considering a 2024 presidential run designed to stop Trump from re-entering the White House.

Her comments on Sunday suggest that her plans to confront election deniers go much wider than Trump himself.

Im going to be very focused on working to ensure that we can do everything we can [to] not elect election deniers, she said. Im going to work against those people, Im going to work to support their opponents.

Cheney said that two Republican US senators Cruz from Texas and Hawley from Missouri have both made themselves unfit for future office. She said that both know what the role of Congress is with respect to presidential elections and yet both took steps that fundamentally threatened the constitutional order.

Cruz was seminal in the Senate in devising a plot to block certification of Bidens 2020 victory in six battleground states. Hawley was the first senator to object to Bidens victory and memorably raised his clenched fist to protesters outside the US Capitol on 6 January shortly before the violence erupted. He was later revealed to have fled the Capitol building running once the insurrection started.

Cheney also had tough words in the ABC News interview for DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and McCarthy, the current House minority leader. McCarthy is a leading candidate to become speaker should the Republicans take back the House of Representatives in November.

McCarthy was initially critical of Trumps role in unleashing the violent storming of the Capitol, privately telling fellow party leaders Ive had it with this guy. But since then he has swung behind Trumps anti-democratic movement.

My views on Kevin McCarthy are very clear, Cheney said. Hes been completely unfaithful to the constitution. I dont believe he should be the speaker of the House.

She also accused DeSantis of campaigning for election deniers. This is something that people have got to have real pause about, Cheney said.

The Wyoming congresswoman is vice-chairperson of the House committee which has been investigating the January 6 Capitol attack. She was also one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the breach of the Capitol compound eight of whom will not be returning to Congress in January.

The fact that those who stood up against Trumps attempt to subvert American democracy have been almost universally forced from the party was revealing, she said, adding: It says people continue to believe the lie, they continue to believe what [Trump] is saying, which is very dangerous.

She continued: It also tells you that large portions of our party, including the leadership of our party both at a state level in Wyoming as well as a national level with the RNC [Republican National Committee], is very sick.

Cheney would not specify whether or not she would run for the presidency in two years time. Nor would she say, in that case, whether she would run as a Republican or independent.

She did say that if she ran it would be to win.

Cheneys direct threat to Trump and his most senior coterie of Republicans in Congress comes at a time of gathering peril for the former president. The FBI search of his home in Mar-a-Lago in Florida has riled up his supporters but has also heightened risk of prosecution for harboring confidential documents that could endanger national security.

Earlier this month Trump invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination in response to questions when he was deposed in a lawsuit brought by the attorney general of New York over his companys financial statements. Last week Trumps lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was called before a special grand jury in Atlanta, Georgia, investigating efforts to overturn the election results in that state.

On Sunday Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina who was involved in Trumps pressure campaign on Georgia officials to overturn the states election results, was granted a temporary reprieve by an appeals court from having to testify before the same grand jury in Fulton county.

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Cheney vows to fight other Republicans who embrace Trumps election lie - The Guardian US

Three contenders hoping to succeed Rep. Lee Zeldin are fighting to win the Republican nomination in the First Congressional District in the GOP primary election Aug. 23.

Nick LaLota of Amityville, Michelle Bond of Port Jefferson and Anthony Figliola of East Setauket are the three candidates on the ballot for the seat being vacated by Zeldin, a four-term incumbent. Zeldin is the nominee of the Republican and Conservative parties for governor seeking to unseat Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul this November.

LaLota is the Republican committee endorsed nominee for the seat. He is a former Suffolk County election commissioner, current chief of staff to the Suffolk County Legislature and a Navy veteran.

He has the endorsement of elected officials across Suffolk County, including State Senator Anthony Palumbo, Assembly Member Jodi Giglio and Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar.

Bond is the CEO of a cryptocurrency trade organization named the Association for Digital Asset Markets, former counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and former senior counsel to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to her Linked-In page.

Bond has endorsements from prominent national figures: Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, Jr., the son of the former president. She also received the endorsement of the Suffolk County Police Conference and the conservative activist group, the Long Island Loud Majority.

Figliola is a lobbyist and former deputy supervisor of Brookhaven Town. He has the endorsement of Giuliani, a Republican gubernatorial primary candidate who lost against Zeldin and was a special assistant during the Trump administration, according to Figliolas Facebook page. Giuliani is also the son of Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York City Mayor and lawyer to Trump who peddled the former presidents false allegations of fraud in the 2020 election.

He also has the support of other local conservative groups like the America First Warehouse group and the Suffolk County chapter of Moms for Liberty, according to his Facebook page.

All the candidates present themselves as the America First candidate in the race, echoing the slogan used by former President Donald Trump. The candidates have similar viewpoints on issues including the economy, inflation, taxes, law enforcement, immigration and election integrity.

There is no Democratic primary in the First Congressional District. Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming of Sag Harbor secured the nomination after her last primary opponent dropped out of the race in May.

There are also no primary elections for the Republican or Democratic nominations for State Senate. Democrat Skyler Johnson will attempt to seat one-term incumbent Republican Senator Anthony Palumbo in November.

Novembers election will decide control of a U.S. Congress narrowly held by Democrats in both the House of Representatives and Senate. This is also the first election held after reapportionment, which resulted in New York losing one congressional seat.

Reapportionment also resulted in a newly drawn First Congressional district, which is set to be a swing district split 50-50 between voters for Biden and Trump in the 2020 election, according to the website redistrictingandyou.org, developed by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The final redistricting map for the First Congressional District was drawn by a court-appointed special master after a lawsuit successfully challenged Democrat-drawn maps earlier this year.

Polls are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Voters can check the location of their polling place using the New York State Board of Elections website.

The survival of local journalism depends on your support.We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community. Support RiverheadLOCAL today.

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In Tuesday's primary, three Republican candidates fight to be Zeldin's successor - RiverheadLOCAL

Republicans who support former President Trump more than they support the GOP climbed to 41 percent in August, up 7 points from May when 34 percent said they supported Trump more than the party, according to an NBC News poll released Sunday.

A slim majority of Republicans, or 50 percent, say they support the party more than they do Trump, the poll finds. But thats down from 58 percent in May.

The former president continues to wield immense influence over the Republican Party. He has heavily influenced the defeat of eight out of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, either by pressuring them to resign or backing primary challengers.

The most high-profile loss came last week, when Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), arguably his fiercest critic in the GOP, was defeated by more than 40 points from a Trump-endorsed challenger.

Trump saw Republicans rally behind him this month yet again after the FBI searched his home in connection to an investigation into whether he violated the Espionage Act, among other statutes, by taking classified documents home with him upon leaving the White House.

Republicans decried the unprecedented search of a former presidents home, calling it a politically motivated witch hunt.

Trump is also fending off a congressional investigation into the Capitol riot, which the panel of lawmakers has claimed was incited by the former president after he failed to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Most Americans, or 57 percent, say the investigations into Trump should continue, according to the NBC News poll.

Updated at 8:23 a.m.

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Number of Republicans who say they support Trump over GOP rises: poll - The Hill

Its basically from political gadfly within the Republican caucus to potentially the number two person in the state of Arizona, says Arizona Republican Sen. T.J. Shope. Its a meteoric rise.

Never in a million years would Paul Boyer, a fellow GOP state legislator, have imagined that Finchem would crush a field of qualified candidates and win a nomination to statewide office.

Mark is known as the guy thats probably the dumbest well, theres a long list, but one of the dumbest legislators in the state House, he says. (Finchems retort: Boyer is an utter disgrace.)

But Finchems rise makes sense in light of the broader shift within the Arizona Republican Party. Trumps slate of political insurgents swept the GOP nomination for every state office in which he offered his blessing, from the U.S. Senate down to state Senate races.

After decades of civil war, the Arizona primaries mark a decisive swing in the state GOPs balance of power. The center-right, pro-business wing of the party led by the late Sen. John McCain and Gov. Doug Ducey has been defeated, at least for now. Finchem and other far-right outsiders the original tea party activists and the new Trumpist hard-liners have taken over.

We drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine, Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake bragged, while making a stabbing motion, at a CPAC event following the primary. We threw together a rag-tag team of nonpolitical people to run the most exciting campaign in the country. And we won.

Lake, a former TV news anchor, fended off more than $20 million in spending against her to narrowly capture the nomination, despite her opponents backing from Ducey, former GOP Gov. Jan Brewer and former Vice President Mike Pence.

We drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine, Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake bragged at a recent CPAC event.|LM Otero/AP Photo

Blake Masters, a 36-year-old acolyte of billionaire tech entrepreneur and Trump donor Peter Thiel, surged from behind in the U.S. Senate primary after earning Trumps nod. Abraham Hamadeh, a 31-year-old lawyer who has spent fewer days in a courtroom than many petty criminals, was rocketed out of obscurity to win the primary for state attorney general after snagging Trumps endorsement.

None have any political experience. But they have the main qualification that matters to the former president: They repeat the lie that the Arizona election was rigged against him. Every winning Republican candidate said they wouldnt have certified the 2020 election. That means that as Trump gears up for a possible third run for the presidency, Arizona is facing the prospect of a slate of statewide officials who could steal the election for him. (Indeed, another victim of a Trump-backed primary was Rusty Bowers, the soft-spoken leader of the Arizona House who rebuffed Trumps pressure campaign to overturn the states 2020 election results and testified to the January 6 committee.)

For his part, Finchem defeated three other candidates for the secretary of state nomination: Beau Lane, an advertising executive who had backing from the business community and Duceys full-throated endorsement; state Rep. Shawnna Bolick who had sponsored legislation to let lawmakers toss out the results of presidential elections they dont like and had tried to capture the Trump vote; and state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who has been the architect of every major election integrity bill that has been signed into law for the past decade, but who refused to regurgitate the lie that Arizonas election was stolen from Trump. Finchem beat them all by wide margins.

Its not an overstatement to say Finchem remains a bit of a joke to his soon-to-be old colleagues.

Boyer, who served eight years in the Arizona Legislature alongside Finchem, cackled while recalling Finchems doomed 2020 run for speaker against Bowers. Finchem wrote a seven-page memo outlining his vision for the job, including his top priority: using viral content to take the messaging power back from the media. And he did prove that he knew how to go viral.

The use of mimes [SIC] is an emerging means of harnessing rhetoric and sarcasm with a purpose, Finchem declared with a repeated typo of the word meme, which became a local meme itself. The regular use of mimes to build brand identity and establish solid differentiation will serve us well.

Less than a third of the Republican caucus ultimately backed Finchem to become the speaker, but it cemented his status as the leader of the far right at the state Capitol.

Finchem has always been something of an underdog and outcast at the state Capitol. In his eight years as a lawmaker, he has only once been granted a committee chairmanship; typically, even junior Republican lawmakers get prime posts. He had just one bill signed into law this year fewer than many Democrats who sit in the minority and he hasnt fared much better in past years.

How can he go from that, to the Republican nominee for secretary of state? I mean, its simple. He won the Arizona Apprentice for secretary of state, Boyer says. Abe Hamadeh for AG? Kari Lake for governor? Its very simple. If you can fog up a mirror and win the Arizona Apprentice, youre good.

Abe Hamadeh for AG? Kari Lake for governor? Its very simple. If you can fog up a mirror and win the Arizona Apprentice, youre good.

Paul Boyer, Arizona state legislator

Boyer, meanwhile, chose not to run for reelection after receiving death threats for refusing to go along with his partys election lies. So just two years after his failed run for leadership, Finchem is on top. And those who laughed at his vision have been purged from Arizonas political landscape.

In many ways, Finchem is a man made for the times. Hes a longtime leader of the legislatures far-right Liberty Caucus, and is revered in conservative grassroots circles as one of the few good lawmakers.

He refused to do a phone interview for this article, but he did send a few text messages, saying if hes having a moment in the sun, its because like him, the people are no longer afraid to be bullied by the establishment.

I am but a humble servant who took the time to listen to his constituents and has been vilified for it, he wrote. Perhaps thats why they view me as their champion.

Originally from the Detroit area, Finchem moved to Arizona in 1999 and began a career as a realtor. (He had previously been a cop in Kalamazoo, Mich., where his final evaluation reads poor rating, would not rehire.) He later became vice president of business development for Clean Power Technologies LLC, an Idaho-based company that claimed on its now-defunct website that it can generate and deliver clean energy without wires, anywhere around the world.

Finchem was an early adopter of fringe politics in Arizona. He was touting state sovereignty issues long before phrases like plenary powers and the independent state legislature doctrine entered the mainstream political lexicon. Armed not with a law degree, but a masters in legal studies from the University of Arizonas freedom school, Finchem became the thought leader of the movement to decertify the 2020 election in Arizona.

After losing his head-to-head contest with Bowers for the speakership in late 2020, Finchem held an unauthorized, unofficial hearing with Rudy Giuliani and other members of Trumps legal team to air falsehoods about how the election was rigged. That hearing cemented his status as one of the key ringleaders of Arizonas Stop the Steal movement and helped earn him the Trump endorsement that rocketed him to national stardom on the right.

Just a few weeks later, Finchem was outside the U.S. Capitol at the Jan. 6 riot. Though he maintains he never entered the building, video footage shows he was much closer than he originally claimed. Ali Alexander, the organizer of the rally that helped fuel the deadly mayhem, declared there wouldnt have been a Stop the Steal movement in Arizona without Finchem.

CNN reported this week that Finchem previously shared posts on social media about stockpiling ammunition and touted his membership in the Oath Keepers anti-government extremist group, which is under scrutiny for its role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Finchem is still pushing baseless theories about how the election was rigged, texting a link to a conservative activist project that he claims shows the Chinese Communist Party now has operational control over many elections across the United States because they control the servers where all of the electronic data sits.

What boggles my mind is reporters and journalists are sitting on the story of the century but nobody has the balls to write about it, he wrote in a text.

The 2022 primaries underscored just how tight Trumps grip is over Arizona Republicans, and that his 2020 loss is still fresh on these voters minds as he considers another run for the presidency.

How could it not be? In Arizona, it feels like the 2020 election is still ongoing.

Republicans in this state, perhaps more than any other, have followed Trumps election conspiracies down the rabbit hole.

First there was the Cyber Ninjas audit authorized by the state Senate, which ultimately confirmed through a hand count of ballots that President Joe Biden won, but which offered up a host of other debunkable conspiracies about how maybe he didnt win. Then theres the still-ongoing investigation by the Arizona attorney general about alleged improprieties in the election, which uncovered a handful of record-keeping issues, but no proof of any widespread fraud, including from dead people voting.

Meanwhile, Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward not only continues to spout Trumps fantasies about the election; she broke with the chairs long-standing tradition of neutrality to throw her full weight behind the MAGA candidates in the primary, calling the Trump-opposed candidates RINOs and worse. The sycophantic pro-Trump student group Turning Point USA also is based in Arizona and deeply intertwined with the party infrastructure.

Trump himself has seen Arizona as key to keeping his political future alive. Hes traveled to the state twice since losing the 2020 election. In January of this year, he came to promote his candidates and spin election yarns. And during the first weeks of early voting, he returned with pillow salesman and conspiracy-slinger Mike Lindell, who warmed up the crowd by claiming, once again, that the election was rigged and that the state is poised to do away with defective vote tabulating machines.

But just as important, Arizonas mainstream conservatives have cowered to the lie that the election was stolen from Trump. While some, including Ducey, have attempted to tamp down on the rhetoric, none have forcefully confronted Trumps disinformation.

On the same day as Trumps latest rally for his candidates, Pence and Ducey stumped for their pick in the gubernatorial primary: Karrin Taylor Robson. Robson criticized Lake for saying the primary election was rigged against her before votes had even been cast, but Robson refused to say that the 2020 election was free and fair, saying she wasnt sure if she would have certified Arizonas 2020 election if she were governor.

We have the wrong guy in the White House, she said, while repeatedly refusing to clarify whether Biden was wrongfully elected or simply the wrong guy for the job.

Lane, Finchems business-backed opponent, would say the election wasnt stolen when asked. But he never made it a central point of his campaign in an overt way. Instead, he took to the airwaves with criticism of Finchem for having supported a National Popular Vote bill, saying if Finchem had his way, Hillary Clinton would have been president.

In a state where even the mainstream conservative candidate for the top election official doesnt forcefully articulate a message that the 2020 election was safe, secure and legitimate, it shouldnt be a shock that Republican voters backed a slate of candidates thats likely to be willing to throw out the results of the 2024 election.

Whether Finchem and his fellow Trumpists will find success in November is less clear.

In Arizonas purple political landscape, Democrats and even many Republicans here say GOP primary voters went too far that theyve undermined the partys chances of holding the states top offices in an otherwise great year for Republicans. Perhaps that could break the fever, as Barack Obama once predicted, before the party went even further to the right under Trump.

It may take a drubbing at the polls this year to get Republican voters off the Trump train, says Arizona Republican consultant Barrett Marson. Or maybe theyll just double down.

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'Never in a Million Years': Arizona Republicans Grapple with the Rising Fringe - POLITICO

Roger Roth,a senator in the state Legislature, emerged from a crowded field of eight candidates to become the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.

Roth joins construction executive Tim Michels on the GOP ticket to challenge incumbent Gov. Tony Evers.

Here is what to know about Roth, a Republican from Appleton, as voters head into the general election.

Roth, 44, was first elected to the Legislature in 2006 after mounting a successful bid to represent the 56th Assembly District. Heserved two terms before running for the 8th Congressional District in 2010. He was defeated in the Republican primary by former Rep. Reid Ribble.

Roth ran for state Senate in 2014 and won his race in the 19th District by more than 10,000 votes and has represented the district in Madison since.

Roth served aspresident of the Senate from 2017-21. The senate president is elected by fellow senators and presides over daily proceedings in the upper house of the Legislature.

As a college student, he became involved in Republican politics working for then-Gov.Tommy Thompsons campaign.

Roth was a homebuilder and Air National Guard veteran who served multiple tours in Iraq.

Roth is from Appleton where he currently lives with his wife and five sons. He attended high school in Neenah and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Roth is a fiscal and social conservative who has been a staunch opponent of the Affordable Care Act. Roth spearheaded numerous lawsuits aimed at curtailing Evers' COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and mandates. Roth oversaw efforts to restrict Evers powers during the lame duck session between the election of Evers and his inauguration.

Roth blocked multiple nominees put forth by Evers for technical college board positionsand has been a party to efforts designed to limit the Department of Natural Resources regulatory powers.

Roth also led efforts to force a vote on firing former Parole Commission Chairman John Tate and presided over the rejection of Brad Pfaff for agriculture secretary.

Roth supported calls to break up the Milwaukee public school district, has advocated for eliminating the state income tax, signaled an openness to legalizing recreational marijuana,and is in favor of placing restrictions on abortion access.

During his campaign launch, Roth said he believes Wisconsinites "want a change in direction," and added he believes his candidacy "will help empower whomever wins the Republican governor's race to help move Wisconsin forward."

Party spokesperson Anna Kelly said: "With his Fox Valley roots, military background, legislative accomplishments, and business experience, Roger Roth is an excellent complement to Tim Michels on the Republican ticket. Roth would bring a record of cutting taxes, creating jobs and promoting school choice to Madison, and we look forward to getting him across the finish line in November."

In his most recent reelection campaign for the state Senate, Roth won by roughly 5,000 votes and a margin of 53.2%. He enjoyed a dominant performance over his primary opponents for lieutenant governor, netting 30.1% of the vote and defeating the runner-up by about 69,000 votes.

Roths Madison office can be reached by calling 608-266-0718 or emailing sen.roth@legis.wisconsin.gov.

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What you need to know about Roger Roth, the lieutenant governor nominee running with Tim Michels - Post-Crescent

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Photo via Dr. Oz/Twitter

Dr. Oz, who is running one of the most dogshit Senate campaigns in history.

When Specter realized that he would lose the Republican primary to Pat Toomey, the head of Club for Growth, he switched parties, hoping to find succor among Democrats. Though the party establishment lined up behind him, Specter lost the Democratic primary to Joe Sestak, who lost the general election to Toomey, who took office on the vanguard of the conservative right.

Twelve years later, Toomey isnt seeking a third Senate term. If he did, he almost certainly would have lost in the Republican primary. He, too, was labeled a RINO for not wholeheartedly embracing President Donald Trump.

And that was before he voted to convict Trump following the second impeachment. The state GOP publicly rebuked him. Instead, Pennsylvania Republicans have backed the Trump-selected Dr. Oz, who is running one of the most dogshit Senate campaigns in history. They also supported Doug Mastriano, another Trump-backed, far-right election denier who pals around with antisemites and appears likely to lose a winnable election for governor in November.

Thats become a common refrain this year: Trumps preferred candidates have dominated Republican primaries but struggled to build mass appeal. Oz looks hapless. In Georgia, Herschel Walker cant string together a coherent sentence. JD Vances snide populism is turning a safe bet in Ohio into an actual horserace. Blake Masters, a subsidiary of right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel, is the Democrats best friend in Arizona. Even Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, whos been huffing the MAGA glue like a fiend, is behind.

Republicans are starting to recognize their vulnerability. Having amateur candidates whove never run for office before carrying the banner for the Republican Party in critical Senate races is a risky maneuver, a Republican pollster told The Washington Post.

Last week, Mitch McConnell came close to admitting that the Senate was slipping from his grasp. I think theres probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate, he said. Senate races are just differentthey're statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.

And Republicans can no longer bank on President Joe Bidens unpopularity tanking his party this fall. The Supreme Courts abortion decision rattled not just the Democratic base but also suburban and young voters. In addition, gas prices are falling, and Biden has racked up a series of legislative wins, over blanket Republican opposition, on issues like veteran health care and Medicare drug pricing that poll in the stratosphere. (Meanwhile, under Sen. Rick Scott, who ran one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in American history, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is lighting money on fire.)

Not coincidentally, Democrats have regained the (very narrow) lead on the generic ballot for the first time since November.

Due to gerrymandering, that lead probably isnt strong enough to keep the House in Democratic hands, and it might prove ephemeral anyway. Biden remains less popular than Trump was at this point in his presidency, and Republicans got smashed in 2018. And the axiom that the general public doesnt tune in until after Labor Day isnt wrong.

But think about what regular people will see when they start paying attention: a crop of candidates so infected by Fox News Brain that they wont pivot to the general election. They denied the 2020 election results, committed to banning abortion, and backed Trump like drones prostrating before a cult leader during the primary; now they wonder why that strategy doesnt have mass appeal.

As Trump and his acolytes celebrate Rep. Liz Cheneys 37-point loss in the Wyoming primary last week, they fail to imagine what everyone else sees: a party rejecting a conservative apostate whose only crime was prizing democracy over Donald Trump. As they attack the FBIone congressional candidate called for Attorney General Merrick Garlands executionfor recovering stolen classified documents from Trumps house, they fail to realize that beyond their base, the public believes the Mar-a-Lago search was justified.

Trump, for example, believes the Mar-a-Lago search helps him politically. In a way, it does. By playing martyr-in-chief, he raised a ton of money that might have otherwise gone to Jim Bakers apocalypse buckets. He also got a huge bump in the polls against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiswho was just in Pennsylvania campaigning for the antisemite-curious Mastriano.

I dont think him being behind bars would stop him from winning the Republican nomination, a Republican consultant told NBC News, quite accurately.

But winning a nomination and winning an election are different things. Even in a polarized era, in which most voters care more about the party than the candidate, extremists and idiots lose votes. The more extreme and idiotic the candidate, the more votes they lose. The far-right positions and jackass bellicosity required for a candidate to win a Republican nomination are going to cost the party seats this year.

I cant help but wonder if Ron DeSantis and Doug Mastriano will be 2034s Pat Toomeycandidates who redefined extremism, only to have someone else redefine it later. A party on this trajectory should have trouble competing outside of the reddest districts in the reddest states. Of course, I said the same thing in 2010.

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The Republican propaganda machine is eating its own - Creative Loafing Tampa