Arizona Republican Convention delegates quit in objection to Donald Trump
Jun 20, 2016, 7:42 AM | Updated: 11:16 am
(AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
PHOENIX — Arizona’s GOP delegation to the national convention has lost two more members, each saying he couldn’t vote for presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
Frank Riggs, who ran for governor against Doug Ducey in 2014, told the Arizona Capitol Times that he had “serious reservations” about Trump, but also that he was staying behind to help his wife’s campaign for justice of the peace.
Zudi Jasser, a Muslim reform advocate and frequent guest on 92.3 FM KTAR, referred to Trump as a “daily embarrassment to conservatism” in his resignation letter.
Riggs said he “realized that I couldn’t go to Cleveland in good conscience and vote” for the business mogul.
“I guess if there are political consequences, I’ll face those down,” Riggs told the Times late last week.
In May, Riggs posted on Facebook his delight in his delegate status.
[fb_embed_post href=”https://www.facebook.com/RiggsforAZGov/posts/580789155412987/” width=”550″/]
Already nine of the 58 delegates have quit.
Jasser, an internal medicine physician, said he has supported Republican candidates despite disagreeing on some issues, but as a Muslim, he was offended by Trump’s proposal for a ban on Muslim immigrants.
“The inability of a presidential candidate who has one of the largest platforms on the planet to thread the needle between identifying Islamism, the theocratic ideology of political Islam, as a threat, and Muslims and Islam coming to terms with modernity as a solution, is beyond a liability,” Jasser said.
Other delegates who have stepped down include Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Secretary of State Michele Reagan.
They have all cited other commitments, not Trump, as the reason for skipping the convention, which will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, July 18-21.
Brnovich spokesman Ryan Anderson said the attorney general wants to spend time
with his family so he gave up his position to a grass-roots volunteer.
Reagan’s spokesman Matt Roberts said she was focusing her energy on the state’s Aug. 30 primary election.
State Treasurer Jeff DeWit, who is the chairman for Trump’s Arizona campaign, said he stepped down so that two others could go.
He said he still planned to be at the convention.
DeWit said many delegates were only interested in going to Cleveland when they thought Sen. Ted Cruz could wrestle away the nomination.
At the state’s GOP convention in late April, DeWit and others questioned the results of the voting, claiming technical issues may have cheated Trump of delegates.
Cruz racked up virtually all 28 of the at-large national delegates and split the 27 chosen by congressional district.
The delegates are obligated to vote for the winner of the Arizona primary — in this case, Trump — in the first round of voting at the national convention.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
