Trump mob chases away Clint Hickman, one of the last mainstream Republicans

One of the few remaining mainstream Republicans left in office in Arizona announced he is packing it up.

After several years of threats and harassment, Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman told the Washington Post’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez that he will not run for reelection this year.

Hickman joins Supervisor Bill Gates in figuring out that life’s just too short to endure the harassment and death threats heaped upon them at the urging of hard-right politicians looking to make a buck or move up the political food chain.

Hickman received death threats

Hickman, who led the Board of Supervisors during the 2020 election, described some of what he and his family have endured, as protesters descended on his home after the election and vile threats came pouring in, literally for years.

Like the Iowa man who left him this love note in 2022, after one of several audits confirming that Biden won the election.

“I am glad that you are standing up for democracy and want to place your hand on the Bible and say that the election was honest and fair. I really appreciate that. When we come to lynch your stupid lying Commie a--, you’ll remember that you lied on the f---ing Bible, you piece of s---. You’re gonna die, you piece of s---. We’re going to hang you. We’re going to hang you.”

In August, Mark Rissi of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was sentenced to two and a half year in prison. Hickman was in tears as he left the courthouse.

“I just hope it ends,” he told Votebeat’s Jen Fifield. “I hope it ends, for my family.”

I hope it does, too.

Arizona needs more Republicans like him

But there are always other county officials to harass as the hard right continues to demonize them, never mind that not a single judge has found evidence to suggest that either the 2020 or 2022 elections were stolen.

Or that it even makes not a lick of sense that a Republican-dominated county would fix the election for the Democrats.

Hickman and Gates are two of the depressingly few Republicans who have been willing to stand up to the intense pressure employed by Donald Trump and his mob — people who branded these lifelong Republicans as traitors and called for their arrest and threatened their families and their lives.

All this, because they stuck with facts, refusing to cave to the demand that they embrace the Big Lie that Trump was robbed.

For their troubles, Gates has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s young family has endured death threats and constant defamation. Countless elections officials across the state have resigned, citing harassment.

And now Hickman is headed out.

It’s worth noting that there are still at least a few good and decent Republicans in leadership in Arizona. People who haven’t lost their minds or their principles. People who can look in the mirror and hold their heads high.

State Treasurer Kimberly Yee comes to mind, as does Rep. Matt Gress and Maricopa County Supervisors Jack Sellers and Tom Galvin. There are others.

Just not nearly enough of them.

And soon, there will be one fewer.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Clint Hickman won't seek reelection, leaving few to balk the Trump mob