'Tea party,' Republican incumbents clash in District 22

Parker Leavitt -
Nov. 21, 2010 07:37 PM
The Arizona Republic

One of the Valley's most solid Republican strongholds is ensnared in a nasty political battle as "tea party" conservatives clash with incumbent leadership for greater influence.

The power struggle in Legislative District 22, which includes most of Gilbert and southeast Mesa, came to a head last week.

Both sides exchanged cutting accusations and terse responses in an e-mail cyberscuffle leading up to last Wednesday's vote on new party leadership.

"We all have differing political views, but the sarcastic comments, the holier than thou attitudes and the sheer venom . . . within our own (district) is disgusting," wrote one disgruntled recipient of the chain e-mails.

A group of tea-party activists led the charge against incumbent district leader Chad Heywood and Adam Armer, who was running to replace Heywood as committee chairman.

They used the e-mail chain to criticize Heywood for "lackluster leadership" and question Armer's commitment to leading the district "out of apathy."

Gilbert activist Erin Scroggins, who has strong ties to the tea-party movement, announced he would oppose Armer.

A compromise intended to avoid infighting broke down, and tempers flared.

Kelly Townsend, president of the Greater Phoenix Tea Party, threw her support to Scroggins because she was frustrated by "disheveled" district leadership, she said.

"I've been here the whole year, and I've never seen anything happen," Townsend said. "This isn't about our little club; it's about our country. It's about the Republican Party and doing something to fix it."

Much of the vitriol appeared to have died down by the time 282 ballots were cast at Wednesday's committee election. Armer won handily, receiving 165 votes to Scroggins' 117.

But Scroggins and his supporters are now disputing the election, alleging violations of party bylaws.

Dozens of proxy ballots cast were illegitimately carried by representatives outside their precinct in violation of county bylaws, Townsend claims.

The violation makes the results "illegal and null," and the election must be redone, she said.

"It's not necessarily about infighting," Townsend said. "It's about being accurate."

Scroggins' supporters voiced their concerns to the Maricopa County Republican Committee and appear to have the ear of Chairman Rob Haney, an outspoken supporter of tea-party groups.

Haney said he's received five complaints regarding the District 22 committee election.

"If they choose to disregard the bylaw, they do that at their own peril," he said.

Armer said the district may redo the election for the state Republican committee, but that the election for local leadership is subject to the district's own bylaws, not the county's.

Despite the ongoing dispute, Armer told The Republic that tea-party members are welcome in Republican District 22.

"Ultimately, we all do have the same goals," Armer said. "If everyone is aware of that, then it won't be long before we're all on the same side again. There's no room for these rifts in the party structure."

Of 164,000 registered voters in District 22, nearly 73,000 are Republicans, and about 37,000 are Democrats.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/ ... z162pvqgT4