Grant Woods: Tuesday’s election will say a lot about Arizona, country
Nov 6, 2018, 4:06 PM
Grant Woods gives a tribute during a memorial service for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at North Phoenix Baptist Church on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool)
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool)
PHOENIX — Voters across Arizona hit the polls for the first time on Tuesday since President Donald Trump was elected in 2016.
Many officials expect this election to demonstrate the impact of Trump’s first two years in office as Republicans aim to keep control of the House and Senate.
Grant Woods, the former attorney general for Arizona, said the interest in Tuesday’s election has been “unprecedented” and that the result will “say a lot about Arizona and a lot about the country.
“We haven’t seen in Arizona — or around the country — this much enthusiasm and interest in a midterm election,” Woods said.
“That’s all good. The reason for it isn’t necessarily good, in my view,” he added.
“I think it’s spurred on by what’s happened over the last two years in the country. It’s a combination of President (Donald) Trump and his behavior, in particular, and so many Republicans who have been willing to turn a blind eye to that behavior and just go along so they can stay in power.”
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Woods said this is voters’ “first chance” to respond to Trump’s behavior over the past two years.
“This is consequential. We’ll see where Arizona stands and where the country stands,” Woods said.
Woods, a Republican, has said in the past that if he were to run for office again, he would not run as a Republican due to the divisive nature of the party, but said Tuesday that he would wait until the election to reconsider his party affiliation.
“I have said for a while here that I would wait this out and wait until the election — and now we’re here at the election, and we’ll see how that goes and I’ll have to make up my mind, what I’m going to do,” he said.
“If I run for office, I’ve made it pretty clear that I will not run as a Republican, I would run as an Independent or a Democrat,” he added.
“I am very interested in seeing what will happen tonight. I think it will say a lot about Arizona and a lot about the country, and a lot of people like myself have to make some decisions.”
