{"id":2462961,"date":"2025-07-17T12:17:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T16:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-democratic-state-chairman-ousted-after-intraparty-dispute\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T12:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T16:19:04","slug":"arizona-democratic-state-chairman-ousted-after-intraparty-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-democratic-state-chairman-ousted-after-intraparty-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Democratic state chairman ousted after intraparty dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Farizona-democratic-state-chairman-ousted-after-intraparty-dispute%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2462961&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Arizona Democratic Party Chairman Robert Branscomb II was removed from his position following a prolonged internal conflict with key Democratic leaders in the state. The dispute began in April when Branscomb accused prominent Democrats-including Governor Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Attorney General Kris Mayes, and U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and ruben Gallego-of attempting to intimidate him over his choice for the party&#8217;s new executive director. In response, these figures accused Branscomb of dishonesty and declared they had lost trust in him. The party&#8217;s executive board also censured Branscomb for sharing internal communications without authorization. On Wednesday, after a recall petition signed by 180 committee members and a vote surpassing the two-thirds threshold, Branscomb was officially ousted. He claimed that opposition against him was rooted in racism rather than legitimate concerns about his leadership.The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >leadership dispute highlighted deep divisions<\/a> within the Arizona Democratic Party during a critical period.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Arizona Democratic state chairman ousted after intraparty dispute involving Kelly and Gallego<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2175284\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Arizona Democratic Party Chairman<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3385584\/arizona-democrats-disorder-chairman-attacks-senators\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> Robert Branscomb II<\/a> was voted out of his position on Wednesday after engaging in a monthslong feud targeting top Democratic power players.<\/p>\n<p>The dispute<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3421253\/arizona-democrats-shaky-2026-katie-hobbs-vulnerable\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> erupted in April,<\/a> when Branscomb accused the state&rsquo;s most powerful Democrats of attempting to threaten and intimidate him over whom to hire as the party&rsquo;s new executive director. Gov. Katie Hobbs, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes,&nbsp;state Attorney General Kris Mayes, and U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego fired back, accusing Branscomb of lying and saying he had &ldquo;lost our trust.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3474222\/public-not-behind-trump-on-handling-of-jeffery-epstein-poll\/\">Public is not behind Trump on handling of Epstein files, polls show<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3474314\/report-ohio-housing-wage-gap-climb\/\">Report: Ohio&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-ohios-housing-wage-gap-continues-to-climb-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Report: Ohio\u2019s housing wage gap continues to climb - Washington Examiner\">housing wage gap continues<\/a> to climb<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3474234\/treasury-tren-de-aragua-sanctioned-gang-leaders\/\">Trump administration sanctions Tren de Aragua leader: &#8216;Make America Safe Again&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The public squabbling ended this week when Arizona Democratic state committee members cleared the two<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-fails-to-pass-border-security-bill-meant-to-appease-johnsons-right-flank\/\" title=\"House does not approve border security bill aimed at satisfying Johnson...s conservative side\">-thirds majority threshold needed<\/a> to remove Branscomb from office. The recall vote Wednesday evening came after 180 committee members signed a petition calling for his removal. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mark-kelly-could-be-democrats-secret-weapon-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"... could be Democrats... secret weapon - Washington Examiner\">state party&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s executive board also censured him for sharing internal communications and not returning a report on how he accessed those communications.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Today&rsquo;s recall effort is rooted in misrepresentation, divisive tactics, and does not reflect our democratic values,&rdquo; Branscomb <a href=\"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/news\/2025\/07\/16\/arizona-democrats-vote-to-remove-party-chair-at-chaotic-marathon-meeting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">said <\/a>at the Wednesday recall vote. &ldquo;This effort is not about the strength of the party. It&rsquo;s about distraction and dividing us at a time when unity is more important than ever.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Branscomb, an insurance executive who became the first black leader of the state party when he secured the position following an upset victory in January, has alleged that opposition to him is due to racism, not to mismanagement or strategic disagreements.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The electeds said I can&rsquo;t be trusted, but they never said why,&rdquo; he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.phoenixnewtimes.com\/news\/arizona-democratic-party-chair-blames-racism-ouster-attempt-22125878\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">told<\/a> the <em>Phoenix New Times<\/em>.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t done anything for them not to trust me. I think it&rsquo;s a way for them to try to frame me as someone who is unworthy of their trust and disparage my credibility. I take it that, I don&rsquo;t know, it could be profiling me, thinking that because I&rsquo;m a black man, I&rsquo;m unsavory. I was barely in office before they said they couldn&rsquo;t trust me.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) walks to the Senate chamber as Senate Republicans vote on President Donald Trump&rsquo;s request to cancel about $9 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting spending, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo\/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3461279\/arizona-lawmakers-call-to-kill-trump-tomato-tariffs-mexico\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">ARIZONA LAWMAKERS CALL ON TRUMP TO KILL KEY TOMATO TARIFF ON MEXICO<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Branscomb&rsquo;s comments follow a letter he received from Democratic leaders, including Arizona&rsquo;s governor and both senators, warning that he had lost their trust.<\/p>\n<p>The letter from key leaders, including Hobbs, Gallego, and Kelly, came after Branscomb <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/25902229-adpbranscombemail\/?mode=document\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">said<\/a> the two senators had threatened to withdraw support for the state party because he appointed Michael Ruff as the party&rsquo;s executive director instead of the lawmakers&rsquo; preferred candidate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2175284\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2175284\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arizona Dem chair ousted after feud with Kelly, Gallego<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2462962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/kelly.-.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4472,32923,59329,35708,59328],"class_list":["post-2462961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-arizona","tag-democratic-party","tag-intraparty-dispute","tag-political-leadership","tag-state-chairman"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/kelly.-.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2462961"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2462965,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462961\/revisions\/2462965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2462962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2462961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2462961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2462961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}