Broke Arizona GOP won't be running its own presidential primary. That's a pity

Arizona Republican Party activists, not content with doling out censures like Snickers bars, this week came up with yet another genius plan to kneecap the party’s prospects in the 2024 election.

The Maricopa County Republican Committee’s executive board on Sunday demanded that the party stage its own presidential preference primary in March, telling government elections officials to butt the heck out.

Naturally, state GOP Chairman Jeff DeWit quickly rejected the county’s demand given that the party is wholly unprepared to run an election.

It’s a pity, really. In their own bumbling way, the county zealots have hit upon a great idea, though not for the reasons they think.

Republicans still believe this was stolen

Party leaders don’t trust the people who run elections to, well, run elections.

And really, why would they, having embraced every whack-a-doo conspiracy theory invented to rile up the MAGA faithful?

(See their Aug. 23 Resolution to Reclaim Election Integrity in Arizona’s 2024 Presidential Preference Election, wherein they claim that in 2022 “hundreds of thousands of illegitimate ballots were counted, as proven in court.” Judge who threw out that claim says “whaaaat?”)

“After our election was stolen from our beloved president Donald J. Trump in 2020, thousands of Americans across this country stood up to get in the fight for real election integrity, real election reform,” MCRC Chairman Craig Berland said, in a video explaining the county party’s demand.

“Then we watched in 2022 as our election were once again stolen. For example, Kari Lake was denied her rightful place in the governor’s seat.”

What a hand-count election would require

As a result, county Republicans demanded that the party run its own election to select a presidential nominee next year.

“By the people, for the people," Berland demanded. "One day, one vote, paper ballots, hand count, all at the precinct level.”

So, let’s review what that election by the people for the people would require.

No early voting, never mind that 80% to 90% of voters prefer it.

Instead, Republicans would be have to head to the polls on March 19 should they want a voice in their party’s nominee.

Is it wildly unrealistic? Absolutely

More specifically, to their designated precinct, one of more than 1,700 polling places that would have to be set up across the state.

Where they would vote on paper ballots to be counted by hand by whomever the party can find to work in those 1,700-plus precincts.

With the results presumably announced by bedtime.

Results that would presumably be accurate, because the party would presumably know what it’s doing.

Presumably.

Still, Republicans are onto something

Wildly unrealistic? Absolutely.

And yet the county GOP braintrust is right. This is an idea whose time has clearly come.

Why are taxpayers paying for these internal presidential primaries when fully a third of the state’s voters can't participate? Unlike in the fall primary election for state and local races, independents cannot vote in the parties' spring presidential preference elections.

Bar Trump from the ballot? Secretary of state says 'no'

So why, again, are we footing the bill?

DeWit called the county’s plan “a publicity stunt,” and said it was too late to change course -- though he invited the county to run (and pay for) its own parallel election, whatever that means.

It's unclear how the GOP will pay for it

No doubt, DeWit's rejection has something to do with the estimated cost of putting on a primary: $13 million to $15 million.

That’s money that could be used to try to reclaim a U.S. Senate seat next year or hold onto the Republicans’ slim majority in the Legislature.

Actually, it’s money that doesn’t exist.

As of June 30, state campaign finance records show the party had just under $144,000 in the bank — a pitiful sum that shows traditional Republican donors just aren’t going there anymore.

The county party, meanwhile, reported $31,100 cash in hand.

They'd need to raise about $12.8 million to get this clown car moving. And that would leave them with nothing in the tank to propel the party's prospects in November 2024.

Wrong execution but right idea

This, on the eve of a major election in one of the nation’s battleground states.

As one longtime Republican Party activist — now former, having been chased out by the far right conspiracy crowd — told me:

“Terrible idea! They can’t afford it,” Kathy Petsas said. “They don’t have any people with institutional knowledge around who know how to even organize a caucus. They are going to alienate/disenfranchise the majority of Republican voters. It won’t have the security or sense of impartiality.”

And yet, the Maricopa County GOP is right.

Republicans should run — and pay for — their own election.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona GOP (sadly) won't run its own presidential primary