Freedomworks, one of the nation’s leading conservative grassroots organizations, held a joint “Redfest Rally” with other Arizona conservative organizations Friday night to discuss getting conservative legislators into leadership positions in the Arizona Legislature.
State Representative Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale) is vying for Speaker of the House, likely facing off against House Majority Leader Ben Toma (R-Peoria), and State Senator Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) is going up against longtime State Senator David Gowan (R-Sierra Vista) for Senate President.
Chaplik told the crowd that people don’t trust the “fractured caucus” currently under the leadership of House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa), who lost his primary election earlier this month. Chaplik called the legislature a “cesspool” of “sham favoritism,” and said Arizonans can expect a “more conservative caucus” in 2023.
Toma upset conservatives by refusing offers from conservative members of the State House to pass a trimmed-down budget this year. At the same time, just after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, Toma refused to allow State Representative Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) to introduce a bill increasing Arizona’s restrictions on abortion. Conservative organizations consistently rank Toma toward the bottom of Republican legislators. The American Conservative Union (ACU) rates him 85. In contrast, the ACU rated Chaplik 93.
Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Sun Times
