GOP pushes hard for donations during election audit
The Arizona Republican Party is banking on a fundraising bonanza from the dubious audit of 2.1 million Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 presidential election.
The process is capturing the daily attention of former President Donald Trump as audit supporters continue to make baseless claims of systemic voter fraud.
Led by Chair Kelli Ward, a Trump-backed conservative who ran two unsuccessful races for the U.S. Senate, the party is making fundraising appeals that accuse Democrats of trying to stop and undermine the credibility
of the audit.
The recount of ballots from the state’s most populous county was ordered by the state Senate amid GOP-led questions about President Joe Biden’s 11,000-vote win.
The audit began Friday against the backdrop of serious questions over its procedures, transparency, and the security of voter ballots. A pro-Trump television network, which promotes election conspiracies, has been allowed into the event while other media outlets largely have been shut out.
Ward, a former state lawmaker from Lake Havasu City, emerged in November as a leading fixture of the quest to undermine Biden’s win in Arizona and across the nation.
She has said publicly she speaks with Trump frequently since his departure from the White House. Her fidelity to him helped her narrowly win re-election as chair of the state party — a victory that is still contested by dozens of Arizona Republican activists who have unsuccessfully demanded an audit of her win.
Ward’s latest fundraising appeal on the recount landed Sunday morning.
A recorded video emailed to supporters, that features Ward, directs potential donors to a GOP fundraising platform that said the money will benefit the state Republican Party. The fundraising page pre-checked a box agreeing to recurring, monthly donations.
“The Arizona forensic audit is — it is continuing,” she said. “It’s a fight and we need your help to keep it going … Continue watching for our future updates and we need your financial help, to keep our work, to keep Americans informed as to our progress and to complete this audit. Please take a moment to contribute whatever you can using the link below. Here in Arizona, we’ve done what no one thought was possible.”
The audit has riveted Trump, who is closely monitoring the event.
He has issued missives lauding the “great American Patriots” behind the audit while ripping Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, a potential 2024 presidential contender who has deliberately tried to sidestep association with the audit after running crossways with Trump months ago.
In a statement Monday, Trump again spread unfounded claims of election fraud and lambasted Democrats.
“They will say anything they can to
“We need your financial help, to keep our work, to keep Americans informed as to our progress and to complete this audit.” Kelli Ward Chair of the Arizona Republican Party
take away the integrity, validity and credibility of what these incredible Patriots are doing — but the people of Arizona won’t stand for it,” Trump’s statement said.
A spokesman for the state party declined to talk about fundraising efforts.
Richard Herrera, professor emeritus at Arizona State University who studies politics and voter sentiments at ASU, said the fundraising play likely will resonate with small donors already convinced the election was stolen from Trump.
Those donors play a crucial role in today’s GOP as corporations have begun to rethink their political giving after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, motivated in part by the “Stop the Steal” effort.
“Usually when a party turns out a call for support using a cause like that, that they think their supporters are behind, they’re successful,” Herrera said.
Donor support may be hampered by controversy involving Ward’s own election, as well as serious questions surrounding the audit, he said.
“I’m not sure she’s as popular among rank-and-file Republicans as she was a couple of years ago, even,” Herrera said. “It’s just hard when your spokesperson, your face of the party, is not universally respected by your own party.”
Zachery Henry, the former party spokesman who now works as a consultant in Texas, said the party saw success in fundraising on election-integrity issues after the election.
“I would expect that to continue now that action has finally been taken,” Henry said. He agreed with Herrera the issue plays well with small-dollar donors who believe they can have an immediate impact with a $10 donation.
The audit, he said, “is the issue that’s resonating with Republican voters. If they’re going to donate a few bucks, that’s an issue that they’re passionate about, and they’re willing to give some money to see changes made.”