Dems Fear Fallout From Arizona Crack-up

Arizona Democrats are scrambling to contain the fallout from feuding that has engulfed their state party and top elected officials, fearing the skirmish will hurt them in 2026.

After the state party chair lashed out at Arizona’s Democratic senators this past weekend, local party leaders warned the collapse of key intra-party relationships in the state could damage the party’s prospects in the midterms. And Democrats are now looking for county organizations through which they can funnel fundraising and resources, bypassing the state party, according to four people familiar with the conversations and granted anonymity to discuss internal party matters.

It’s a major setback for Democrats in a state where Republicans were known for years for infighting and dysfunction — but where the left is now reeling. After the party chair, Robert E. Branscomb II accused Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego of lording their financial contributions over him, the senators and the statewide elected officials released a letter of their own accusing the chair of making false claims and saying he had “lost their trust.”

Steven Slugocki, a former chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party, called the fiasco the “stereotype of Dems in disarray.”

“We have critical elections a year ahead of us,” he said. “We can’t have any of these distractions. We’ve got statewides to win and a legislature to flip. We need a strong party. It’s more critical than ever that we have a strong, united party.”

Turning to county parties as a sort-of shadow state party to organize voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts is not unprecedented. But in recent years, such end-arounds have typically been driven by ideological disputes. In Arizona, the divide appears to be precipitated by warring factions and general accusations of mismanagement.

It could not come at a worse time for Democrats, who are desperate to reelect Gov. Katie Hobbs and several other statewide elected officials next year. Hobbs is likely to face a more formidable opponent than she did in 2022, and Democrats stressed the significance of a strong state party apparatus to aid their campaign efforts.

If they are forced to work instead through a county, Maricopa County, home to most of the state’s population, is widely considered the most obvious choice, given its size. But donors have put feelers out across the state, including to smaller, more rural counties like Mohave and Navajo, leaders said.

One Democratic county official, granted anonymity to discuss the internal party deliberations, said it’s likely that Democratic leaders in all 15 counties have spoken with donors, who are gauging what areas have the infrastructure in place to handle donations on top of their existing local organizing efforts.

"The top of the ticket and donors know what's at stake. And we all know we don't have the luxury of time," the official said.

Above all, it was the mere fact a disagreement between top party leaders quickly devolved into a public spectacle that most upset local Democrats.

"The party has two jobs: Raise money, register voters, and I have no idea how airing this dirty laundry accomplishes either of those goals," said longtime Arizona Democratic strategist Stacy Pearson. "This public circular firing squad is remarkably unhelpful."

Or as another longtime Democrat in the state put it, “People are just really frustrated with the fact that this dirty laundry got aired the way it did … This is pulling us off message at a time when we really don't need to be doing that, especially given the stakes that we've got."

Branscomb brought the party into crisis with a Saturday missive to members of the state central Democratic committee, tearing into Kelly and Gallego. In a letter, he said one senator — but did not specify which — told him he would no longer “support or participate in state party fundraising” after Branscomb hired an executive director that he said the senators disliked for the position.

In response, Kelly, Gallego, Hobbs, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Attorney General Kris Mayes released a letter of their own, declaring the chair had made false claims against them in a “bad-faith response.”

“Any efforts not devoted to winning are simply a waste of resources,” they wrote. “While the Chair has lost our trust, we’re not going to let that deter us from our mission of winning in 2026.”

Branscomb is now under pressure to step down. But whether he will remains unclear. When asked if he would resign, he told a local TV station “Why? I haven’t done anything wrong.” Branscomb said he’d have more to say in the coming days.

Democrats hope a decision from Branscomb comes sooner than later so the party can rebuild its reputation and quell donors' worries ahead of 2026, when both Hobbs and Fontes will be at the top of the ticket.

But even if he does step down, some Democrats acknowledge it may be too late to repair the damage.

“I mean, the infrastructure is in disarray,” Pearson said. “So, I mean, at this point, I'm not sure if (a leadership change) matters."