PHOENIX – Some leading Arizona Republicans don’t think Gov. Doug Ducey is doing such a great job, but his national peers apparently disagree.
Ducey was elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association for 2021 on Wednesday, elevating him a notch from this year’s vice chair role.
“I look forward to building on the RGA’s momentum as we work to expand the Republican majority,” Ducey, who has two years left on his second and final term as Arizona’s governor, said in a press release.
“In Arizona, we’ve put forward bold policy solutions and meaningful reforms that’s made our state one of the fastest-growing in the nation and we look forward to leading Republican governors in bringing these reforms to the rest of our country.”
Ducey will succeed Texas’ Greg Abbott as chairman of the group, which is dedicated to electing and supporting GOP governors.
“Gov. Doug Ducey’s exemplary leadership in the great state of Arizona has prepared him well to assume the role of chairman of the RGA, and I look forward to his accomplishments on behalf of our nation’s Republican governors,” Abbott said in the release.
Some top Arizona Republicans, most notably state party Chair Kelli Ward and U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, have a different view of Ducey’s leadership. They’ve been attacking the governor recently for his acceptance of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Arizona.
When Ducey tweeted about the integrity of Arizona’s elections after signing off the on the certification Nov. 30, Ward replied by telling him to “#STHU” – an acronym for “shut the heck up.”
Ward’s lawsuit challenging the presidential results was dismissed by the Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday. The ruling said she failed to present evidence of misconduct or voter fraud, mirroring decisions in dozens of cases alleging impropriety in battleground state elections.
U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr has said the Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election.
Biden defeated President Donald Trump by more than 10,000 votes in Arizona to win the state’s 11 electoral votes. Biden is the first Democratic presidential candidate to win in Arizona since Bill Clinton in 1996.
Biden is in line to win the presidency by a 306-232 margin when the Electoral College meets Monday. His inauguration is set for Jan. 20.
Biggs, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, wondered on Twitter last week if Ducey “intends to coerce vaccinations.”
Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey’s chief of staff, responded by calling Biggs “a permanent resident of Crazytown.”
On the same day Republican governors anointed Ducey as their leader for next year, a piece authored by Biggs titled “Gov. Ducey Has Harmed the Republican Party’s Cause” was posted on townhall.com calling out Ducey for certifying the election results.
The intraparty squabbling even became a national story Wednesday when The New York Times published a story about it.