Newly-created LD10 in East Mesa is reaping a whirlwind of national attention as two Conservative Mormon Republican contenders challenge each other in what is usually a low-voter -turnout Primary Election to gain a seat in the Arizona State Senate. Both Bowers and David Farnsworth has served two consecutive terms in the Arizona House entrenched "revolving-door' Mormon political machine. State legislative races are typically cheap, low-key affairs. But Bowers’ national profile from his House select committee testimony, as well as Trump’s imprint and heavy outside spending by groups like the pro-Trump PAC Turning Point USA, which is based in Arizona, make this contest unlike virtually any other on the map in 2022.
By the time the Jan. 6 House select committee had subpoenaed him to testify, Rusty Bowers was already careening toward a messy showdown with the Republican Party — the Arizona House speaker uneasy with his party’s embrace of election lies versus a growing number of Republicans who’ve fully bought into them.
The battle will culminate on Tuesday in Arizona’s statewide primary, with Bowers pitted against a Donald Trump-backed opponent, former state Sen. David Farnsworth, in his quest to move over to the Arizona Senate after being term-limited out of the state House. Although Bowers is the top Republican in the GOP-led chamber, his victory and his political future are anything but guaranteed.
If Bowers loses, it will likely happen amid a sweep of Trump-endorsed candidates: Kari Lake, the media-bashing former TV anchor vying for governor; Blake Masters, the venture capitalist with a history of embracing right-wing ideology running for U.S. Senate; and Mark Finchem, the conspiratorial state legislator competing to run elections.
But compared with those primaries — Lake is a firm election denier and opponent Karrin Taylor Robson, an attorney, has tried not to lean too heavily one way or another, labeling the election “unfair” ― the Bowers vs. Farnsworth contest draws a clear line in the sand on Trump. An undisputed prerequisite for a Trump endorsement, Farnsworth embraces both Trump and the “big lie.” Bowers, on the other hand, acknowledges Trump did some good things for the country while also telling The Washington Post, “I don’t want Donald Trump to be the next president.”
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