Ward also endorsed Farnsworth - a rarity for a party chairman in a contested primary - and tagged Bowers with the demeaning nickname Rusty Bowels.. Farnsworth said in a recent debate with Bowers that the devil himself led a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election from Trump. He doesn't consider himself to be a Republican or a Democrat and is not planning to vote in Arizona's high-stakes primary next month.

Ward has come under scrutiny as Trump's most aggressive Arizona ally in seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. "I hope that that's how he really feels. Carol Van Kley, an 81-year-old Republican voter also from Mesa, said she thought Bowers' testimony "was very inaccurate" and "it was disgusting to hear him do that." IE 11 is not supported. Under Wards chairmanship, the state party has censured Arizona Gov.

"And so for me to do that because somebody just asked me to, is foreign to my very being; I will not do it.

RELATED: Biggs, Gaetz asked for blanket pardons after Jan. 6, witnesses testify. ", Bowers said his stance caused longtime friends to turn against him. I think people are really confused right now.

Robert Manzanedo, 52 of Mesa, said he is still deciding on whether to vote Republican or Democratic and thought Bowers' testimony was "very strong.

His race serves as the first and possibly only test this cycle of whether a Republican can publicly cross Trump before the Jan. 6 panel and still win a GOP primary one that is taking place while Bowers' testimony is still fresh in voters' minds. Example video title will go here for this video, PHOENIX The Arizona GOP Executive Committee formally censured Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers Tuesday night, saying "he is no longer a Republican in good standing.". Farnsworth touts his Trump endorsement prominently, while also claiming to be the best candidate to tackle inflation, migration at the border and overhaul elections.

Bowers angered Trump and Ward with his testimony last month to the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Watch previous interviews and segments of Sunday Square Off on our 12News YouTube channel.

The House speaker promoted legislative wins from his most recent term, including overseeing the passage of a budget package with bipartisan support and legislation intended to bring new water sources to the state one in which conservation issues loom large.

A week after Bowers testimony, Trump endorsed former state Sen. David Farnsworth, Bowers opponent in a Senate primary in the East Valley. "And it will continue.

Democrat Joe Biden narrowly won the state.

Bowers described how he rebuffed Trumps pressure campaign to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona.

"So for me to do that because somebody just asked me to, is foreign to my very being.

Bowers has raised $132,000 while Farnsworth has brought in $68,000 for the campaign, according to Arizona campaign finance records, though Farnsworth has also been the beneficiary of $57,000 worth of spending from Securing Arizona PAC, which is dedicated to defeating Bowers and fellow GOP state Sen. Tyler Pace in the neighboring 9th District on Aug. 2.

That's his reputation.

Allan Smith is a political reporter for NBC News. Still, roughly a dozen voters, strategists and insiders who spoke with NBC News felt he had a better chance of defeating his opponent, former state Sen. David Farnsworth, than Bowers himself predicted. But Rusty has been around a long time.

"The Democrats.

Chuck Coughlin, an Arizona Republican consultant, said the testimony spoke to Bowers' character, adding he is curious to see whether he gets any bump in support from independents or even Democrats who might abandon the party to vote for him.

Full press release from AZGOP coming soon. "Among my friends and people that I know personally in the district, it's been good," he said. A recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award this year, Bowers said the response in his district to the testimony has been mixed.

"Nothing about what he said surprised me," Coughlin said.

MESA, Ariz. Curtis Ruhl doesn't care much for politicians. Bowers must be defeated, and highly respected David Farnsworth is the man to do it, Trump said in his endorsement.

"It's so hostile," Bowers told NBC News in a phone interview, noting the overwhelming pro-Trump preference of his state Senate district, Arizona's 10th, east of Phoenix. "If I pull this off, it's going to be a miracle.". He teared up as he detailed the harassment he and his family faced as a result of refusing Trump's demands. But if he did vote in the Aug. 2 contest, it would be for Rusty Bowers, the Arizona House speaker now fighting for his political life after his emotional testimony to Congress about the intense pressure he withstood from then-President Donald Trump to subvert the results of the 2020 election in his state. He said he has faced repeated protests at his home, adding that supporters of the former president have driven trucks through his neighborhood with video panels claiming he is "a pedophile and a pervert and a corrupt politician.".

Noble added the race "really comes down to whether the goodwill that Rusty has built over the years overcomes kind of the tirade of the Jan. 6 defenders.". "So it was disturbing," he testified. "And it gets me out of a discussion and into a hotter fire.".

It is a formal statement of disapproval, according to the U.S. Senate. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings.

Doug Ducey; Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain; and former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake.

Ward and her husband have been served with grand jury subpoenas in the U.S. Department of Justices investigation of a fake elector scheme in Arizona and other states.

"I think there's a certain group of people that are organized and they're going to talk it to death and talk about yesterday's news instead of tomorrow's news," she said.

The move comes after Bowers testified before the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. The Aug. 2 Arizona contest serves as the first and possibly only test this cycle of whether a Republican can break with former President Donald Trump in public testimony and still win a primary. People know who Rusty Bowers is.".

3 dead, 6 more injured in fatal car crash near ASU West Campus in Phoenix, Car crash leaves 3 dead, 6 injured near ASU Campus, 'I feel like we have a very lazy police department': Mom seeks justice 4 years after son shot, killed in Phoenix, Hot end to the week; cooler with rain next week, Arizona Republican calls push to overturn 2020 'juvenile', Biggs, Gaetz asked for blanket pardons after Jan. 6, witnesses testify, Bowers' support of a bill giving tax-payer-funded in-state tuition to migrants at state universities, His support of a billion-dollar education spending bill, His opposition to a bill stating only two genders should be named on government documents, His sponsoring of a bill that makes sexual orientation and gender identity a protected class. Michael Merkley, 51 of Mesa, said he would vote for Bowers simply because he is currently in office though he valued Trump's endorsement of Kari Lake in the GOP primary for governor. She's backing Farnsworth in the primary.

Brewer, the former governor supporting Bowers, said she hopes voters cast ballots on "the policies that are facing us today" the budget, the border, education, water rather than feelings about 2020.

"I don't see me having some courageous Don Quixote-esque [moment].

Maybe that's it, but certainly not a Joan of Arc," Bowers said. "But I did what I had to do. Be sure to subscribe to receive updates on new uploads! He also disagrees with people who tell him his decision to testify took courage.

And it's knowing Bowers that has Ruhl confident in the candidate's chances.

The traitor.'". Rusty Bowers says it will take 'miracle' to win his next election after Jan. 6 hearing testimony, Arizona House speaker: Giuliani admitted he had fraud theories, 'we just don't have the evidence', according to Arizona campaign finance records.

"Where they differ is on the support of the former president and the belief or lack of belief that somehow the election in Arizona was corrupted.". Much of the vitriol came as his adult daughter was gravely ill and living with him.

Bowers "might've lost me right there" with his testimony, she said in an interview outside a local grocery store. While Ruhl has known Bowers personally for three years, most Americans were only introduced to the conservative legislator weeks ago, when he traveled to Washington for a public hearing held by the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. "It is a tenet of my faith that the Constitution is divinely inspired, that this is my most basic foundational belief," Bowers, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, told the committee. She died just weeks after the Capitol riot. "I'm sure there are a lot of people who pay a lot of attention to it," she said of the Jan. 6 hearings. Bowers himself has no illusion about the task ahead of him one in which he needs to have voters like Ruhl, part of Arizona's large, independent voting bloc, choose to cast a Republican ballot on his behalf. "Hes a human being.

Peggy Marchi, a 70-year-old Republican from Mesa, said she was still undecided in the state Senate contest and viewed the economy and border crossings as the biggest issues she's voting on. "He's just an awesome person, an awesome leader, an awesome father and husband. "But generally, it is not seen as good. He has served two stints in the state Legislature covering 16 years.

Jan Brewer, who endorsed Bowers' campaign, told NBC News she found his testimony "riveting" and "just so genuine.

", Former Arizona Republican Gov. Not in my eyes," he said. "Would it take a miracle? >> Download the 12 News app for the latest local breaking news straight to your phone. ", "I really appreciate that," he said. The @AZGOP Executive Committee formally censured Rusty Bowers tonight he is no longer a Republican in good standing & we call on Republicans to replace him at the ballot box in the August primary.

"It's disturbing.". "I do think he has a shot because he's a well-known, well-respected statesman who's been here a long time," said Sean Noble, an Arizona Republican strategist not affiliated with any primary race in the state.

", Soon after Bowers' public testimony, Trump offered a full-throated endorsement of Farnsworth, saying he "is going against a longtime political operative, or hack, Rusty Bowers, who has been an absolute disaster for Arizona and everything which Arizona Values represent.".

The censure resolution, approved by the partys executive committee, encourages Republicans to expel him from office in the Aug. 2 primary election.

That's it. But in an interview with The Deseret News last week, he emphasized he will be "hard pressed" to vote for Trump if the situation presented itself down the road, adding his earlier comments were a kind of "defense mechanism.

But I don't know. Less severe than expulsion, censure does not remove a senator from office.

For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Like Bowers, all three had crossed Trump. "How it affects him, we're going to find out.

A man I respect.".

", There was a different tune from others. Bowers seeking a return to the state Senate in the new 10th Legislative District, after four years as House speaker.

"The difference between former Sen. Farnsworth and current Speaker Bowers on policy matters on paper is very difficult to discern," Barnes said. I knew that there might be consequences, and in some cases, I knew that it would end relationships.

Bowerswas honored last Aprilwith the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his efforts to protect the election, amid great personal and professional stress. Bowers "is a different person," Ruhl, 63, said in an interview outside a local grocery store.

"It is a tenet of my faith that the Constitution is divinely inspired, that this is my most basic foundational belief," Bowers, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, told the committee. In a tweet Tuesday night, Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward cited numerous reasons for the censure, including: Ward went on to say that Bowers has not been forthright in his interactions with others in legislative leadership and, in doing so, has lost the confidence of the majority of the Republican Party of Arizona.

Bowers described his opponent as a back-bencher who "did exactly zero" while previously serving in the state Senate for eight years.

Ward and her husband are fighting a subpoena for their cell phone records by the January 6th committee.

", "And so as kind of a sad evasion, I just said that," he said. ", "Everybody I've spoken to, and I believe this too, that he just left everybody somewhat spellbound," she said.

", RELATED: Arizona Republican calls push to overturn 2020 'juvenile'. He just is Rusty Bowers, and I'm proud to call him a friend.".

But I have to tell the truth.

It's been: 'There you go.

", Bowers raised eyebrows when he told The Associated Press prior to his testimony that he would back Trump in 2024 if he is the GOP nominee because of his pre-pandemic policymaking. Asked what a Farnsworth win would say about the state of the party, Bowers said: "It says that Mr. Trump has, theres a very, I would almost call it cultic appeal.". Farnsworth did not respond to requests for comment.

Bowers told an NBC reporter that it would take a miracle for him to win the August primary. The censure comes three days before former President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Prescott Valley for Republican primary candidates hes endorsed.

"If everybody knew him like I do, it wouldn't take anything.".

Voters here seemed to weigh Bowers' testimony in their decision-making. Beyond that, nothing else. Stan Barnes, an Arizona GOP strategist, said Bowers' advantage will be his better-funded campaign while Farnsworth gets the benefit of a Trump endorsement and the party activists it inspires.

I will not do it. Bowers, who has served a combined 17 years between Arizona's state House and Senate, shot to the forefront of the political universe last month when he recounted to the Jan. 6 committee how Trump and his allies sought his help to invalidate the 2020 election results, something he knew to be unconstitutional.