How a pro-Trump youth group remade the Arizona GOP, testing democracy

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/04/arizona-gop-turning-point-usa/
https://archive.ph/5mcOR

How a pro-Trump youth group remade the Arizona GOP, testing democracy
Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point network worked to purge officials who affirmed the 2020 election results
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Isaac Stanley-Becker
November 4, 2022

PHOENIX — The young conservative activist had a plan, and he wanted the veteran Arizona House speaker to push it.

The two men huddled at a barbecue joint in January as the activist — Tyler Bowyer, the chief operating officer of the pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA — unspooled his demands: Republican legislators, he insisted, should carve up booming and fast-diversifying Maricopa County, diluting the power of Democrats in a state that had helped deliver Joe Biden the presidency.

But the Republican House speaker, Rusty Bowers, ultimately balked at redrawing the state’s map to seize partisan advantage. As the pair’s political differences grew, the activist, who was half the speaker’s age, vowed revenge.

“Rusty, I will be working toward ensuring you do not win your election in 2022,” Bowyer warned in a March text message obtained by The Washington Post. “I appreciate your service, I will do whatever it takes to ensure you are retired.”

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