Once McCain’s party, Arizona GOP returns to far-right roots

By JONATHAN J. COOPER
Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — The far-right forces that former Sen. John McCain successfully marginalized within the Arizona Republican Party are back and in full control, with profound implications for one of the nation’s most closely matched battlegrounds. This summer’s primary elections made clear that Arizona Republicans have traded McCain for Donald Trump, backing a slate of far-right candidates aligned with the former president. After she won the Republican primary for governor in early August, former television news anchor Kari Lake said GOP voters “drove a stake in the heart of the McCain machine.” Mainstream conservatives have been sidelined and even censured by the party.