Here's why some Arizona Republicans are skipping the GOP national convention in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE — Conservative fundraiser and activist Shiree Verdone has a long history of attending the GOP’s national conventions.

By her recollection, she represented Arizona on the party’s platform committee in 2004 and 2008, and she was among the handful of Republicans to represent the state at the GOP convention in 2020, when it was scaled back because of COVID-19.

This year she didn't attend.

"I love America. I love Arizona. I’ve been involved for 24 years,” Verdone said. “But at this time, I just don’t want to be involved. … I’m very discouraged with what I see within the party: the bitterness, the fighting.”

The Arizona GOP is very different now from the party the state sent to the conventions cited by Verdone. Nationally, the party has changed from its traditional emphasis on fiscal conservatism towards the populist image of former President Donald Trump, who has instead centered unfounded claims about U.S. elections security and immigration.

Arizona’s party has been beset by infighting, as its members disagree on ideology and campaign strategy. Those tensions have only been inflamed by the party’s recent statewide losses: the governorship, attorney general, and secretary of state.

"I believe the Republican platform is the right blueprint,” said Verdone, a co-chair of Trump’s campaign in Arizona in 2016 and 2020, and a former campaign manager for the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. “That’s why I do what I do. But I don’t like the nastiness. ... It’s not necessary, and it’s a total time-waster."

The party’s nationwide shift is reflected in Arizona’s contingent at this year’s Republican National Convention, the four-day-long jamboree in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where the party will formally nominate and rally behind Trump as their presidential nominee.

The chair of the delegation is Shelby Busch, a conservative activist known for promoting discredited claims about U.S. elections security. Many see Busch as representing an ideological extreme within the party: She recently made headlines for saying she would “lynch” Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a fellow Republican who has put a lot of effort into debunking baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud.

Also in the delegation are three of the Republican electors who falsely certified that then-President Donald Trump had won the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. They are state Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale; state Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek; and Nancy Cottle, who chaired the Trump elector effort.

All three have been charged with crimes. They were required to get permission from a judge to travel to Milwaukee as they await a trial.

Democrats point to their presence to charge the GOP is “celebrating” and “elevating” extremism.

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"The Republican National Convention serves as a summit to express extreme MAGA ideology” and commits the party to an agenda that will let the former president "achieve his dream of being a dictator on 'day one,' roll back Americans’ rights and freedoms, and hurt the middle class," wrote James Martin, a spokesperson for the Arizona Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign efforts.

Others are pleased with the party’s transformation. Trump allies often argue the party now reflects “grassroots” Arizona Republicans who say they were overlooked during the McCain era.

It’s a far cry from the days when McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, and other establishment Republicans dominated the party’s contingent.

The chair of Arizona’s 2016 delegation was then-state GOP chair Robert Graham, a McCain ally. Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey — who in 2020 was an invited guest of Trump’s — will not attend this year, the first convention since he spurned the former president and certified Arizona’s 2020 election results.

Neither will Arizona’s two most vulnerable incumbent GOP members of Congress, U.S. Reps. Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert.

Representing some of the most competitive districts in the nation, both have kept their distance from Trump.

Chris Baker, a political adviser to Schweikert, R-Ariz., said his clients “are all focused on the primary election” and won’t be in Milwaukee, though Schweikert is considered the front-runner in his primary race.

Paige Lindgren, an aide to Ciscomani, likewise said the Tucson-area member of Congress “wanted to prioritize being with constituents” this week.

The convention falls about two weeks before Arizona's July 30 congressional primaries.

U.S. Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., will make an appearance in Milwaukee, and will spend time with the Arizona delegation while there, an aide said. His primary rival, former Yavapai County Supervisor Jack Smith, has opted to forgo the convention and focus on the primary, according to Baker, his adviser.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., who is running for a seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, is in Milwaukee, too. But most of the candidates seeking to replace her in Congress are not: former Arizona attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh, former U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale, will not be in attendance, representatives from their campaigns said. Kern, the fake elector serving as a delegate, also is running for the seat Lesko is vacating.

U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., one of the House’s most conservative members, “had too much going on in the district to make it to Wisconsin,” his spokesperson, Anthony Foti wrote.

Verdone for her part is concerned about the party’s recent track record. She lamented recent statewide losses and said she now works “outside” the party through organizations she trusts.

“There’s too many people involved, at higher levels in our state party, that are very interested in themselves first,” she said.

She said the party needs “a great leader” that has, among other qualities, solid ties to the party’s grassroots and good relationships with donors, but she declined to directly comment on state party chair Gina Swoboda’s tenure so far, saying they have not spoken since Swoboda was elected.

The Arizona Republican Party did not return a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Which Arizonans will – and won’t – attend the RNC Convention this year