In an April 9 Instagram post, Cooper (left) wrote: “Dinner At Mar A Lago Turned Into An Impromptu Meeting With @realdonaldtrump , Thank You For The Time Mr. President.”
By Tara Kavaler |Arizona Republic
Congressional candidate Kelly Cooper, a Trump-style conservative running in the Phoenix area, is a recent addition to the Republican Party, Arizona voting records show.
Maricopa County Elections Department records indicate Cooper officially registered as a Republican in 2021. Before the last presidential election, he had only ever participated or requested ballots in the Green and Democratic parties.
Cooper has championed the “America First” agenda, a term used by former President Donald Trump to characterize some of his policies. Yet Cooper did not participate in the early Republican contests six years ago and therefore never voted for Trump in the state’s presidential primary.
Cooper, who is running in the newly drawn 4th Congressional District, is one of five candidates seeking the Republican nomination in the Aug. 2 GOP primary. The winner will face incumbent Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., in November.
The Cooper campaign responded in a written statement.
“Kelly Cooper has built his life based on the principles of conservatism, as is shown in his service to our country as a Marine, business owner, dedicated husband and father of two charter school children. He has consistently voted Republican his entire life and always supported Christian conservative values and any claim against that is a politically fueled distraction to paint him as something different. Kelly is focused on real issues like the insane cost of living plaguing everyday Americans and the crisis at our Southern border.
“Kelly became disheartened with the Republican party when they lost their way years ago as RINOS drifted away from conservative values. This is one of the reasons he decided to run for Congress — to bring the party back in the right direction as Trump did in 2016.”
Cooper has described himself as a ‘lifelong Republican’
