GOP Strategist Says Republicans May Lose in Races Across Arizona

Republican Strategist Sam Stone
Republican Strategist Sam Stone

Speaking on KVOI radio 1030 in Tucson, Republican strategist Sam Stone says there may be statewide losses for Republican candidates in the mid-term elections.

“I do think we’re heading into something of a [blue] wave. … If you’re in Wisconsin and other states, Democrats have been undervoting in the last three cycles now and they’re going to come out, absolutely. The question is, are Republicans? So far, the answer in the special elections has been ‘no.’ We’re fat and happy with the presidency,” he said. 

Stone is Chief of staff of Republican City Councilman Sal DiCiccio in Phoenix and a former campaign advisor to Martha McSally. He was interviewed on the John C. Scott political forum, which is now on the radio Saturdays 4 to 6 pm.

Asked if there will be a “blue wave” in Arizona, he said, “potentially a little bit.” He said Democrats may win the races for Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The race for in Tucson’s CD2

He foresees a Republican defeat in Tucson’s Congressional District 2, even as he sneered, “the Democratic bench that is running in CD2 is pretty pathetically weak. You’ve got a carpetbagger and a bunch of people who Lea Marquez Peterson would normally slaughter. Whoever comes out of that may well win that race.”

The leading Republican contender is Lea Marquez-Peterson, the CEO of several Hispanic chambers of commerce and owner of bankrupt gas stations. See Fear Dominates Secret Tucson GOP CD 2 Congressional Candidate Forum.

Though people disagree, former congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick is seen as the Democratic front-runner in a primary contest with Mary Matiella, Billy Kovacs, Bruce Wheeler, Matt Heinz, Babara Sherry and others.

Stone said president Trump’s “waned popularity” is a problem for Marquez-Peterson. “Lea has the advantage of clarity that didn’t exist for Martha McSally in the last three years. … The electorate that first elected Martha McSally [in 2014], both in both the Republican primary and general election, is not the electorate that is enamored of Trump. You can run away from him. The electorate that is enamored of him is about 40% of the Republican primary base. She [Marquez-Peterson] has a relatively open primary, she really is not contested very much. So for her, doesn’t need to stray into Trump territory.”

President Trump’s base is “30% of the Republican primary base, and it incredibly strong with him. The rest of the folks who went along [with Trump] voted against Hillary Clinton and for Neil Gorsuch and for a conservative majority supreme court. If he continues to ignore and really inflame larger swaths of the country, those folks aren’t necessarily with him, that voted for him,” Stone said.

US Senate race

Stone said the race for US Senate is “a near coin-toss.”

Rarely-seen Tucson Congresswoman Martha McSally is the lead GOP candidate. Stone predicted she will trounce Kelli Ward and Joe Arpaio. “You’ve had a lot of people running against John McCain and Jeff Flake in the primary, running very, very hard right wing, maybe not as far as either Kelli Ward or Joe Arpaio have managed to go, but certainly right of the others. And they’ve all lost.”

McSally will likely face off against Democratic front-runner Congresswoman Krysten Sinema of Phoenix. It will be “an absolute battle of the titans.”

Sinema is incredibly smart and personable and she’s always made sure her staff does really good constituent service work,” Stone said. “Politically nobody other than Kyrsten Sinema, and maybe not even her, has any idea has any idea what she is politically. What she is, is what whatever she thinks is going to be advantageous. Now, in a sense, that reflects the will of the voters. I guess you can give her some credit.”

Asked if Sinema can win, Stone said, “Given this year, it’s certainly a possibility.”

Stone also predicted that a Democratic House of Representatives will impeach Trump. “Absolutely. Zero question. The question is now on what kind of grounds. If the Mueller investigation finds nothing direct, and they’ve said he’s not a criminal target. Then what ground are we impeaching him on? On the grounds of being a schmuck?”

A recording of the interview can be found here.

2 thoughts on “GOP Strategist Says Republicans May Lose in Races Across Arizona”

  1. Ann Kirkpatrick isn’t acting like a “front runner.” The link and article below are from Tim Steller’s column in the Arizona Daily Star today. Are voters to believe that Ann Kirkpatrick doesn’t have time until the end of June for a forum? What is more important than discussing issues in front of voters and the press?
    Tim Steller writes:
    You won’t be seeing apparent front-runner Ann Kirkpatrick at the next forum for Democratic candidates for Congress in Congressional District 2. A group called Represent Me AZ set up the event and understood Kirkpatrick to be available May 3, but she is not. No alternative dates in May were possible, so Represent Me is going ahead with the event without her.
    “We asked all the other candidates if they would like to reschedule and they unanimously decided to attend this forum as scheduled,” organizer Marion Chubon said via Facebook. She went on, “The candidates agreed to also participate when Ann’s schedule allows in June.”
    So now the plan is for there to be a forum featuring the five candidates at 6:30 p.m. on May 3 at Catalina High School, 3645 E. Pima Street, and another one in June, including Kirkpatrick.
    http://tucson.com/news/local/steller-s-friday-notebook-strange-alliances-won-rio-nuevo-extension/article_a3a9d65d-8dc0-54f8-a2ff-6349d8909c77.html

Comments are closed.