MAGA's takeover of Maricopa County suffers a serious setback. Her name is Jan Brewer

Team MAGA has suffered a rather substantial setback in its efforts to seize control of Maricopa County.

Gov. Jan Brewer.

On Tuesday, she endorsed Maricopa County Supervisor Tom Galvin for reelection, the most recent in a series of county races in which the former governor has taken sides.

A well-known conservative is taking a stand

Put another way, one of the Arizona Republican Party’s best-known conservatives is standing up to the hard right that already controls the state Legislature and now has set its sights on controlling the state’s largest county.

And its elections.

Now it’s time for former Govs. Fife Symington and Doug Ducey to join her.

By my count, Brewer has endorsed at least four Republican county incumbents marked for removal by the America First crowd, convinced as they are that the Republican-run county sabotaged the last couple of elections in a devious plot to put Democrats in office.

Yeah, don’t look for it to make any sense.

Brewer is endorsing traditional Republicans

Brewer also has endorsed several traditional Republicans running against MAGA candidates for open seats on the Board of Supervisors.

“It’s a big deal,” Republican consultant Tyler Montague told me. “It shows that Jan Brewer is engaged in fighting back against the conspiracy wing of the GOP, and she still has decent street cred among conservatives.”

In normal times, high-profile Republicans wouldn’t take sides in a Republican primary. But then in normal times, Republicans don’t plot to knock off their fellow Republicans who hold elective office, preferring instead to fend off Democratic challenges.

I think it’s safe to say, these are not normal times.

Galvin is facing a primary challenge from former state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, a former state legislator who most recently finished fourth in the four-way GOP race for secretary of state in 2022 and now appears on approved candidate slates circulated by MAGA activists.

Brewer, in her endorsement, called Galvin “a person of integrity and principled leadership.”

I picture steam blasting out of Ugenti-Rita’s ears.

County incumbents face MAGA challengers

Brewer also has endorsed:

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer. According to MAGA mythology, Richer is the Beelzebub of county government — the devil who singlehandedly denied Kari Lake her due, with backup from his dark angels, Galvin and the rest of the (GOP-run) Board of Supervisors.

Never mind that they’ve provided no credible evidence and no explanation for why a Republican recorder would want to rig an election for a Democrat to become governor. (I quit counting last summer, when they were 0 for 27 in election challenges.)

Rep. Justin Heap, a member of the hard right Arizona Freedom Caucus, is hoping to send Richer packing. Heap was recruited to knock off Richer by Sen. Jake Hoffman, one of the state’s indicted fake electors who himself was recently elected by party activists to represent the state on the Republican National Committee.

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, who is facing a challenge from Gina Godbehere, a former prosecutor who lost to Mitchell in 2022. No less than the MAGA queen herself, Kari Lake, is supporting Godbehere after Mitchell had the nerve to defend the county against Lake’s claims of a rigged 2022 election.

And Maricopa County Supervisor Jack Sellers, though that announcement still hasn’t been made public. Sellers is facing a primary challenge from Chandler City Councilman Mark Stewart, who curiously won’t say whether Joe Biden and Katie Hobbs won their elections. He’s the MAGA pick.

Brewer is also supporting former state Sen. Kate Brophy McGee for the open board seat created by the departure of Supervisor Bill Gates. Her Republican opponent is MAGA fave Tabatha LaVoie, a Scottsdale lawyer making her first run for office.

And U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko, who is hoping to replace retiring Supervisor Clint Hickman. Lesko voted with Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar to decertify Arizona’s presidential vote on Jan. 6, 2021, but more recently she’s separated herself from the crazy. She endorsed House Speaker Ben Toma over the three MAGA hopefuls vying to replace her (Trump-endorsed Abe Hamadeh, Blake Masters and Anthony Kern).

Lesko’s MAGA opponent in the GOP primary for a seat on the county board is Bob Branch, a Grand Canyon University professor who previously ran for state superintendent. He’s the preferred pick of MAGA activists.

They'll brand Brewer as a RINO, but she's not

Me? I’m waiting for the election denial crowd to brand Brewer a RINO or perhaps a member of the non-existent “uniparty” they talk so much about.

Here in the real world, Brewer is a staunch conservative. As governor, she famously wagged her finger at President Barack Obama, denied driver’s licenses to DACA recipients (until the courts said she couldn’t) and signed Senate Bill 1070 into law, cracking down on illegal immigration.

Before that she served in the Legislature, on the Maricopa Board of Supervisors and as secretary of state, where to my knowledge no Republican ever accused her of trying to rig elections.

Possibly because in those days … Republicans won elections?

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @LaurieRoberts or on Threads at laurierobertsaz.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jan Brewer balks MAGA, endorses traditional GOP candidates