Arizona Sen. Kelly Townsend drops out of Congress race, might take on Wendy Rogers

PHOENIX — State Sen. Kelly Townsend is folding her congressional bid, a move that could pave the way for her to take on the recently censured Sen. Wendy Rogers in a legislative race.

Townsend, an Apache Junction Republican, said she made the decision after failing to get an anticipated endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

She said her fate with Trump was sealed when she publicly lashed out this week at Rogers, who is closely linked to Trump and insists, as does he, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

“The lack of the endorsement means that instead of being able to unite the field behind a single banner, my presence in the Republican primary will serve only to split the conservative vote even further,’’ Townsend said, explaining why she is dropping out of the race for the congressional seat currently occupied by Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, who is not seeking reelection.

But Townsend said Friday she has yet to decide whether to run for another two-year term in the state Senate. To do so would pave the way for a head-to-head GOP primary with Rogers.

Rogers may face further actions

Rogers, a Flagstaff Republican, not only was censured this week for “conduct unbecoming a senator,” but could face further actions, especially after using the censure to raise campaign money, Senate President Karen Fann said Friday.

“We are giving her a little time to think about how her actions are affecting the entire Senate body,’’ Fann said.

“The Senate has received emails and calls from constituents inquiring about expulsion or filing ethics complaints,’’ said Fann, a Prescott Republican.

If those complaints are filed, they will be taken up by the Senate Ethics Committee, which could recommend additional sanctions, she said. Fann also has the power to remove Rogers from committees.

There was no immediate comment from Rogers, who was rebuked by the Republican-led Senate on a 24-3 vote for “publicly issuing and promoting social media and video messaging encouraging violence against and punishment of American citizens.’’ In a speech to a white supremacist group late last month, she said “we need to build more gallows’’ to “make an example of these traitors who have betrayed our country.’’

The censure also mentioned Rogers’ tweet, ahead of the vote, threatening “political destruction’’ of those who disagree with her views.

Townsend was not present for the vote, saying her daughter had a medical emergency. But she did comment on the Senate floor the following day after Rogers sent out an email calling the censure a “shock political hit job’’ to try to silence her, and using it to solicit campaign donations.

Without naming Rogers, Townsend apologized to those who “have had to see daily, ongoing grifting with emails that have little basis in fact, giving false hope, tearing our state apart.’’

Legislative race

The state Senate seat both may covet is the newly redrawn Legislative District 7, which stretches from Flagstaff through Payson, into Apache Junction and south to Oracle. It has a 60-40 Republican-Democrat voter registration.

The Independent Redistricting Commission, at the behest of Tucson Republican David Mehl, recently moved the area where Rogers lives out of what would have been a competitive district into the safely Republican District 7. That’s the district Townsend already represents.

Townsend has to make a decision about running relatively soon: The deadline for gathering signatures and filing nominating petitions is April 4.

One thing working in her favor is that the Legislature just lowered the number of signatures required of legislative candidates for this year’s election, to 492 for Republicans and 469 for Democrats.

“I could get 500 signatures with a team of 20 people in a weekend,’’ Townsend said.

She said if she decides to run, she anticipates getting backing from many in the district who dislike Rogers and her links with white supremacist organizations.

“People that would never have supported me in the past are begging me to run against her,’’ Townsend said.

Congressional race

Meanwhile, the newly drawn Congressional District 6, where Townsend is no longer running, runs loosely from Casa Grande through midtown Tucson, down to Sierra Vista and up through Safford and Morenci. The new district largely overlaps the old Congressional District 2, which Kirkpatrick, who is retiring, represents.

Remaining GOP contenders include Juan Ciscomani, Brandon Martin and Kathleen Winn. On the Democratic side, candidates include former state Sen. Kirsten Engel, state Rep. Daniel Hernandez, and Marcos Urrea.