11 hours Ago
PHOENIX — In a matter of hours on Saturday, the Arizona Democratic Party found itself on the brink of a meltdown. It started with a long, detailed email from the new state party chairman to state committee members at 10:53 a.m.
Saturday. Arizona Democratic Party Chair Robert Branscomb II accused his own party's senators of trying to threaten and intimidate him, in an apparent dispute over his hiring of the party’s new executive director. Just before 3:30 p.
m., the two senators -- Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego -- along with the Democratic governor, secretary of state and attorney general, delivered a withering response: Branscomb "has lost our trust." The virtually unprecedented public infighting comes as Arizona Democrats try to regroup from demoralizing electoral defeats in 2024 for what will be challenging statewide and legislative races in 2026.
'I haven't done anything wrong' In a brief phone conversation before the response from the elected Democrats, I asked Branscomb if he was planning to resign. He responded, “Why? I haven’t done anything wrong.” Branscomb said he would have more to say in the next few days.
Removing Branscomb from his position would take a two-thirds vote of the Democratic state committee. 'Threatened and intimidated' Here's how the back-and-forth played out: Branscomb, a longtime party activist who was elected chairman in January, revealed what he said were a series of tense exchanges with the senators and their staff, and suggested there were racial undertones to the dispute. “No state party chair should be threatened or intimidated by any elected official for making a decision in the best interest of our party,” Branscomb said in an email to state party committee members.
“The idea that both Arizona Senators would withdraw support because I did not choose their preferred candidate is not only troubling—it’s a threat to the integrity and independence of our party. I will not be coerced, and I will not be silenced.” Chair threatened with 'consequences' Branscomb wrote that one of the senators said he was pulling out of party fundraising, and the other warned Branscomb he would “face consequences.
” Since his election to the Senate in 2020, Kelly has proved to be a prolific fundraiser and sought-after endorser for Arizona candidates. Branscomb also said Kelly’s “top staffer” told Branscomb that his election “was the result of ‘Black folks coming after Latinos.’” Branscomb is African-American.
Branscomb, the party’s vice chairman at the time, easily won election as party chairman in January over incumbent Yolanda Bejarano. The rank-and-file was restive after the party lost legislative seats in 2024 and saw its voter registrations slide. The party’s top statewide elected officials - Kelly, Gallego, Gov.
Katie Hobbs, and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes - all supported Bejarano’s re-election bid. Top Democrats respond: 'Lost our trust' Late Saturday afternoon, Democratic Party Vice Chairman Aaron Marquez emailed a statement to state committee members that was signed by Kelly, Gallego, Gov. Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Attorney General Kris Mayes.
The bottom line: Branscomb's statement "was the kind of bad-faith response we've come to expect from leadership...
. While the Chair has lost our trust, we're not going to get that deter us from our job of winning in 2026.".
