Felicia Rotellini was kept as Democrat Party leader on Saturday
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez | Arizona Republic
Kelli Ward, the bomb-throwing conservative former state senator and loyalist to President Donald Trump, upended the race to lead the Arizona Republican Party by beating the establishment favorite and incumbent GOP chairman, Jonathan Lines.
In doing so, Republicans from across the state on Saturday chose a more right-wing vision headed into the 2020 election cycle where Arizona is poised to reach battleground status.
The election could have far-reaching implications for how the party messages to voters and how it spends money on races.
Ward’s ouster of Lines also raises questions about the state party’s relationship in the near future with the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Spokespeople for the groups either did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment or declined to talk.
