DGA Statement on Kimberly Yee’s Candidacy Setting Up the AZ GOP’s Primary Race to the Right

Today, Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor of Arizona.

Democratic Governors Association Executive Director Noam Lee released the following statement:

'Kimberly Yee has continually put partisanship and far-right propaganda above the needs of Arizonans. A staunch ally of far-right extremists like Donald Trump, Yee defended Trump's racist comments on the pandemic and refused to denounce the dangerous lies about our election that led to the deadly insurrection on January 6th. She still has not publicly acknowledged Joe Biden as a legitimate president.

'When she's not using fear-mongering rhetoric and dog-whistles to rile up the far-right base, Yee is hurting Arizona's families. While in office, Yee joined a suit to overturn Medicaid expansion in Arizona and voted for cutting essential services like education in the state budget.

'With Kimberly Yee in the race, the GOP primary will be a race to prove who is the most extreme and the most out of touch with Arizonans. With the state in desperate need of leadership to lead them on a road to recovery, Yee is the wrong answer.'

As eyes shift to the 38 governor's races over the next two cycles, the GOP civil war is in full swing, with early primary contests proving to be Trump litmus tests and nasty infighting exploding across the country.

In California, as Trump Republicans spend all their time and energy on a recall attempt that's doomed to fail, Republicans in the state 'are bludgeoning one another even before the recall has qualified.' The candidates who have already announced their campaigns, John Cox and Kevin Faulconer, are launching negative ads against each other, and national Republicans, like Donald Trump Jr., are attacking the candidates for their loyalty to Trump. And with Trump admin official Richard Grennell exploring a run, it's clear this race will only be heating up from here.

In Virginia, where a clown car full of Trump wannabe Republicans are vying for the gubernatorial nomination, the candidates are in a brutal race to the right, and the Republican state party is in a state of chaos as they argue over how to select a nominee. Former Trump campaign chair radio host John Fredericks called the RPV infighting a 'laughing stock dumpster fire' and 'worse than the New York Jets' - a devastating insult to the Jets.

Looking to next year's races - Republicans are failing massively on that front too. In yet another big recruitment fail for the Michigan GOP, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel announced yesterday she will not be running for Michigan governor in 2022. McDaniel's announcement comes on the heels of MI GOP 'dream candidate' Candice Miller also passing on a gubernatorial run. The MI GOP has been unable to recruit anyone viable to run against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and other top Republicans like Michigan State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and former GOP Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield are in hot water for scandals and controversies.

And to top it off, Republican Governors Association Chair Doug Ducey continues to battle with former President Donald Trump, who blamed Ducey and other Republican governors for his losses in important states like Arizona and Georgia. Trump has been gearing up to keep his hold on the GOP for years to come - he's threatening the RNC for using his name for fundraising purposes and forming his own PAC to spend big on Trump loyalists in GOP primaries.

'The RGA and Republicans across the country will have a tough choice over the next few cycles - bend the knee to Trump, or risk long, messy primaries,' said DGA Communications Director David Turner. 'Either way, Republicans' general election candidates will be badly damaged and out of touch with Americans. All this GOP infighting makes it clear Rick Scott was wrong - the GOP civil war far from over.'