Arizona Democrats vote to oust state party chair amid infighting

Arizona Democrats voted to oust their state party chair, Robert Branscomb II, during a special meeting Wednesday, a major rebuke that comes as the party has been embroiled in infighting.

Arizona Democratic state committee members notched the two-thirds majority threshold needed to formally remove Branscomb during a tense meeting plagued by technical difficulties, according to local media reports.

Dissent over Branscomb and his leadership of the party had been bubbling up in the months leading up to the Wednesday meeting.

Branscomb upset his party when he sent a note to state committee members in April, alleging that Arizona’s Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego were intimidating him over his pick for executive director.  

The note prompted both senators, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), state Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) and state Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) to declare Branscomb had “lost our trust.” 

Between the resignation of the party’s former secretary, the suspension of a high-ranking state party official and news from its treasurer that projected — at the current rate — the party would likely run out of money by the end of the year, the tensions only worsened.

The issues prompted Democrats to launch coordinate campaign efforts to help reelect Hobbs, Mayes and Fontes through the Navajo County Democratic Committee, working around the state party as an indication the party had no confidence in the state apparatus.  

Branscomb, in an interview with the Arizona Republic in mid-May, acknowledged he could have some things differently, but he’s also pressed for Democrats to “allow me to get my footing.” He said he believes chairs before him weren’t facing the same hurdles he’s been contending with and argued he wasn’t left in a strong position to take over as the state party leader.  

The state party chair has continued to push back, telling the Republic in an interview this week “They’re weaponizing identity politics in this. From the beginning, what have I done wrong?” 

A group of Black leaders had thrown their weight behind him in amid the turmoil, expressing their confidence in Branscomb. Yet it’s done little to quell frustrations within the party. 

The stakes of party revolt are high: Democrats are defending three key statewide office positions between Hobbs, Mayes and Fontes — and in a perennial battleground state, no less.  

One question lingering over the state party is how much of a role it will play in the 2026 midterms given Democrats have already moved their coordinate campaign to a county party.