March 28, 2024 10:17 AM
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Townsend drops House bid after rebuke of Rogers costs her Trump backing – Cronkite News

[Editor’s note: Senator Townsend’s announcement can be found at the end of this article.]

Arizona Sen. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, dropped her bid for Congress Friday, after failing to get a “promised” endorsement from former President Donald Trump – and days after criticizing another Trump-backed candidate on the Senate floor.

Townsend on Wednesday joined other senators who had voted overwhelmingly a day earlier to censure state Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, for Rogers’ appearance at a white nationalist conference where she praised the organizer.

“It was a hard decision because I knew I was throwing away a pathway to Congress, but it’s not worth it enough to me to have to stay quiet in order to get that endorsement,” Townsend said Friday.

She acknowledged that by “speaking up, I’m speaking out against someone that the president had endorsed.” She said Trump’s people never turned her down, but would not confirm an endorsement, and acknowledged that speaking out likely cost her the endorsement in the newly drawn 6th Congressional District, which stretches south from Casa Grande to include much of the southeastern part of the state.

But others noted that Townsend would have faced a tough race for Congress, regardless, with a late start in a new district that she does not currently live in, elements that would have “handicapped” her campaign even with a Trump endorsement.

“When she entered that congressional race, she was already well behind the eight ball,” said Doug Cole, the chief operating officer of HighGround Public Affairs Consultants.

Townsend’s announcement comes just days after the Senate voted 24-3, with three senators not voting, to censure Rogers for “conduct unbecoming a senator” in her appearance at the America First Political Action Conference on Feb. 25.

At that conference, organized by white nationalists, Rogers praised those attending as “patriots.” She was also “encouraging violence against and punishment of American citizens and making threatening statements declaring, quote, political destruction, unquote, of those who disagree with her views,” said Sen. Rick Gray, R-Sun City, who proposed the censure resolution.

All 13 Democrats who were present and 11 of the 14 Republicans in the chamber voted for censure. A visibly shaken Rogers accused her colleagues of attacking her First Amendment rights, calling the censure resolution “nothing more than an attempt to limit my speech.”

“I do not apologize, I will not back down,” Rogers said Tuesday. “And I am sorely disappointed in the leadership of this body for colluding with the Democrats to attempt to destroy my reputation.”

Rogers did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Townsend was among those not voting because she was not present Tuesday. But she took the floor Wednesday to say she would have voted yes, unless Rogers disavowed the “very ugly rhetoric” espoused by the conference organizer, including antisemitic remarks and comments about pedophilia.

“If the senator is willing to apologize for any misunderstanding and denounce this, my vote would have been red on the board in the name of free speech,” Townsend said. “If she is unable to do that, then I would want the record to show that had I voted, it would be green.”

In a prepared statement Friday, Townsend said she had been encouraged by “people close to President Trump” to enter the congressional race. When it became clear that she would not get the endorsement after her Wednesday floor speech, she said she decided to drop out for the good of the party.

Staying in the race, she said in her statement, “will serve only to split the conservative vote … and make it more difficult to elect an authentic America First candidate.”

“I don’t want to be responsible for handing it to a moderate by splitting the vote without the Trump endorsement,” Townsend said in a phone interview Friday evening.

She said she has not made a decision about her political future, but analysts say one option would be for her to run for reelection, where she would face Rogers in a redrawn legislative district. In doing so, she would be taking on an extremely well-funded opponent in Rogers, who claims to have already raised more than $2.5 million.

“A key challenge for Townsend is the millions of dollars that Rogers has raised,” said Bill Scheel, a partner at the Arizona political consulting firm Javelina. “I think that is what Townsend would have to look at, is how she would compete.”

Experts said Rogers has already been able to use the censure vote to raise more money, but Scheel said the censure could still work in Townsend’s favor in a head-to-head matchup.

“I don’t think that a majority of Republicans, even in Arizona’s Legislative District 6, believe all of these crazy things that Wendy Rogers is saying,” Scheel said. “There are more mainstream Republicans who have come to support Townsend.”

Robert Robb, an editorial columnist for the Arizona Republic, agrees.

“If she were to run, I think she would have a chance to make the censure an issue in the primary,” Robb said. “She would be a formidable candidate.”

While she has not made any decisions, Townsend said Friday that she had received “overwhelming support” from voters for her Wednesday speech. Many of those she has spoken to have urged her to “run against her and deliver us from Wendy Rogers.”

“Right now I have to decide if I’m willing to work with people who are unwilling to do the right thing in the face of such hate,” Townsend said.

_________

Statement from Kelly Townsend (3/4/2022)

Many weeks ago, at the urging of conservative activists and people close to President Trump, I entered the race for Congress to ensure a strong America First conservative candidate would represent our party in the November general election.  I was personally encouraged by our President’s words, and the expression of support he gave me when he rallied the faithful in Florence, Arizona. However, in spite of repeated assurances, the promised formal endorsement has still not materialized.

Recently, I refused to remain silent about an important issue involving a colleague who was already endorsed by President Trump.  I knew that doing so might jeopardize my own endorsement from ever being finalized, but I could not remain silent.  In order to not place them in a tough position, I let the President’s team know that I would be moving on without the endorsement.

The lack of the endorsement means that instead of being able to unite the field behind a single banner, my presence in the Republican primary will serve only to split the conservative vote even further and make it more difficult to elect an authentic America First candidate.

Accordingly, I have let President Trump’s team know that I am closing my Congressional campaign and will just focus on my legislative duties.  There is so much work to be done that is critical to our future, so while I prayerfully consider my next move, I know that I have the job I want and I will happily focus on our State Capitol instead of our nation’s capital.

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