More GOP Chaos: AZ State GOP Selling HQ 9 Months After Buying It

Back in June 2023 the Arizona State GOP spent $1.9 million on a downtown Phoenix state Party headquarters. Bought up the third floor of an office building and moved right away. Kind of made a big deal about it even. Now, a mere 9 months later they are selling it!

The headline of the Alternet story on this latest state GOP Party debacle begins with the words “Plagued by dysfunction” and frankly, those three words describe the Arizona state GOP for some years now. A squabbling hot mess of people at war with each other as they are with Democrats, and wasting boatloads of money in the process.  Let’s start with the reason I’m calling this to your attention:

Axios’ Jeremy Duda explains, “The AZGOP has been plagued by dysfunction and poor fundraising over the past few years, just as it attempts to fight back against recent Democratic political gains…. Currently, the party is paying about $11,300 monthly in HOA fees for the space. And because people can’t get to the third-floor space without a badge, it’s inaccessible to volunteers and others.”

The article goes on to say Duda’s reports the problems have made it difficult for Arizona Republicans “to help campaigns and carry out get-out-the-vote activities.”  Well duh!  If you’re wondering why what passes for the brain trust in Party leadership didn’t think about such basic stuff before plunking down almost two million bucks for third floor space in a fancy downtown building I’m sure you’ve got lots of company.

This is a state GOP that’s already wasted considerable time and money (not to mention political trust/goodwill) fighting the results of the 2020 election. If not hemorrhaging they are bleeding copious amounts of money. With a GOP dominated legislature that seems increasingly out of touch with many of the state’s voters (including a worrisome number of actual Republicans) they now know they won’t be getting any help from the RNC. No money, and no logistical/organizational help, unless the latter is Trump people running Trump offices to focus on Trump. (and f**k all to any other GOP candidate)

Meanwhile this IS a Presidential election year, and once again Biden has a genuine shot at winning the state. Worse, with once a Democrat but now Independent Sinema having dropped her re-election bid Democrat Rueben Gallego (someone who could legitimately called liberal) is poised to beat Kari Lake who is likely to be the GOP nominee. Reporting today indicates her attempts to mend fences with the old-school “McCain Wing” of the Arizona GOP continue to be fruitless. When Megan McCain publicly tweeted not once “No Peace Bitch!” it seems to have struck a nerve.  The old-school, establishment types seem to want to re-establish themselves. Even if it means putting up with Democrats getting elected this cycle.

So where do things stand?  The Arizona state GOP is shelling out over 11k per month in HOA fees alone for their current digs. Fundraising is in trouble, they’d got legal bills of their own (just like Trump) to pay AND they need to find new office space and ASAP. Office space I delightfully remind you that, unlike their current HQ is actually, you know accessible to all the volunteers, and even actual staffers from around the state who can’t get up to the third floor of where the state Party actually is!  Not to mention the possibility that with the news they are forced to sell their current headquarters they might find themselves taking a loss just to unload the place.

I’ll leave you with a question to ponder.  Why was THIS particular suite of office space purchased? Okay, so it’s more than one question because it makes one wonder if a specific person with power/influence in the current leadership reaped a financial reward back when the deal was closed last June?  Hey, I’m just asking questions but I’m betting folks, from journalists out in Arizona to Republicans sick of what’s been going on in their Party for years now will be asking them too.

Amusing as this news is, it could be the tip of the iceberg to a pretty good sized scandal. One the Arizona state GOP can ill afford (in more ways than one) in a Presidential election year. Better yet, when you look around the country other states are beset by GOP infighting and with Trump sucking up all the resources we are likely to see more of it from more states. This mess in Arizona is easy to understand. They spent a lot of money, but in an amount average folks can wrap their heads around on a real estate boondoggle. If this blows up into some state Party honcho grifting, getting a payout for the purchase of that space it will become a national story that forces the media to focus time on “Republicans in disarray.”

It’s the last thing the executives in the news business wants. “Dems in disarray” is one of their pet means of “both sidering” news coverage to create a “horse race” but we already have the meltdown in Michigan they are fighting so hard to ignore. IF things blow up (quite possible) in Arizona, another swing state the news biz won’t have much of a choice. Especially with reports of discontent reaching a critical mass in other states.  Add in Trump’s problems and try as they might the news bosses will be forced to allow some truth telling. And Fox won’t be able to spin things much either.  Stay tuned.