The tension between Arizona Democratic Party chairman Robert Branscomb II and his vice chair is now public.
Branscomb informed Kim Khoury, the first vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party of her suspension through an email, obtained by AZ Central.
Branscomb alleged Khoury failed to perform her duties.
Among the reasons he listed for her suspension, Branscomb wrote that Khoury engaged “in political activity directed against party leadership while holding an executive officer role.”
Khoury’s attorney told reporter Mary Jo Pitzl the state party’s bylaws don’t say anything about a chair being allowed to suspend a party member, although one can be removed through a vote.
State party’s problems leave Arizona Democratic governor vulnerable
Branscomb previously alleged Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego interfered with and intimidated the chair over staffing decisions.
In response, the two Arizona senators, joined by other state leaders, said they’ve lost faith in Branscomb‘s ability to serve as chair.
The timing of this internal turmoil is unfortunate news for the vulnerable Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, up for reelection in 2026.
“Rather than bolstering her with vital political muscle and support, the party has been consumed by an acrimonious and seemingly petty feud between the new state Democratic chairman and Arizona’s two Democratic senators,” writes The New York Times’ Kellen Browning.
Hobbs has shied away from national level politics and barely campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election.
The report notes the possibility Hobbs will face a tougher opponent than she did in 2022, when she ran against Kari Lake. And Hobbs is already at a disadvantage in the swing state that has roughly 300,000 more registered GOP voters than Democrats.
Republicans navigate a double endorsement
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, President Donald Trump made a double endorsement for the Republican nomination for governor — Rep. Andy Biggs, who previously chaired the House Freedom Caucus, and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson.
That could give Trump loyalist and founder of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk additional sway.
In some ways, Turning Point USA is “taking over the GOP from within,” Chuck Coughlin, the CEO of High Ground, a political consulting firm in Arizona, previously told the Deseret News. He served on GOP Gov. Jan Brewer‘s transition team in 2009, and was GOP Gov. Fife Symington’s campaign manager.
Robson has the support of many in the Arizona Republican Party, and enjoys access to a large war chest thanks to this association. But Turning Point USA’s preferred candidate is the anti-establishment option; Biggs, a BYU graduate and part of the Latter-day Saints for Trump coalition ahead of the 2024 election.
“We are going to make our endorsement official for the governor’s race,” Kirk said on his radio show last week, as AZ Central reported. “We have to win back the governor’s mansion here in Arizona, and we are fully endorsing my friend, Andy Biggs.”
Should Biggs manage to beat Robson in the Republican primary, Hobbs will again face a strong Trump supporter. But Biggs has won both state and federal elections in Arizona, unlike Lake.