The left-wing establishment media are firing with both barrels at Arizona Republican state Rep. Justin Heap. His sin? Having the gall to mount a primary challenge against controversial incumbent Maricopa County election recorder Stephen Richer.
Despite rampant voting glitches and charges of impropriety, Richer vehemently rejected changes to properly secure elections. This resulted in heavy criticism from election integrity advocates and the current primary challenge from Heap.
But the challenger is also a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, while Richer is clearly established as a Republican in name only.
This became obvious when he rushed to the defense of his Democratic predecessor and wrote op-eds for CNN blasting election audits. Richer drew derision for criticizing fellow GOP officials over legitimate concerns involving election integrity.
He then used his official capacity to lobby against a 2022 ballot measure to strengthen voting security. The proposal was defeated by a less than 1% margin.
Wow. Stephen Richer using county personnel in his effort to silence Kari Lake.
If this is true, this guy should have resigned by now.
If he was an actual Republican, the media would be attacking him relentlessly pic.twitter.com/tF3d1lxESx
— Tyler Bowyer (@tylerbowyer) March 23, 2024
Richer also founded a political action committee to fund candidates who reject any issues with ballot integrity. And even after the chaotic 2022 midterm elections under his watch, he dismissed concerns as “conspiracy theories promoted on social media.”
As for Heap, the media launched into an attack on his integrity solely based on his position as staunch conservative. His consistent message is that election security is critical to voter confidence in a healthy democracy.
The freshman lawmaker noted that Maricopa County has a “long track record of election related issues. Maricopa County is the laughing stock of our nation and the world.”
The left-wing media clearly chose a side in the primary battle.
Jeremy Duda of Axios breathlessly ranted that Richer is “a prominent target of people who falsely believe the past two elections in Arizona were rigged.”
Sasha Hupka of the Arizona Republic noted Heap’s bid for recorder by accusing him of “false voting conspiracies following recent elections and threats against Richer and other Arizona election officials.”
Dennis Welch is with Arizona’s Family, a CBS affiliate. He charged that the state’s Freedom Caucus is guilty of spreading “bogus claims of election fraud.”
There is an obvious favorite Arizona Republican among the leftist establishment, which should serve as a warning to true conservatives.
