AZGOP Chair Jeff DeWit Resigns in Shame

Today, the AZGOP Chair issued a resignation statement due in part to a recently released audio tape of a conversation between him and Kari Lake. In his resignation, he states that when he took the helm of the AZGOP “our party was in disarray - financially unstable, organizationally weak and lacking in momentum.”
 

JUST IN: Arizona GOP Chair Jeff DeWit resigns after leaked audio reveals he tried bribing Kari Lake into not running for Senate.

There should be a much bigger punishment besides a forced resignation.

Despite resigning, DeWit bizarrely blasted the audio footage, claiming it was… pic.twitter.com/H30e40xj4S

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 24, 2024

This is gaslighting at best. When our team turned over the gavel to Jeff, the party was in outstanding shape - financially stable, organizationally strong, and carrying huge momentum!

Facts:
1. DeWit was left with 3 months or more of operating expenses plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds from the sale of the old AZGOP HQ that had a myriad of problems associated with it. 

2. Our team built one of the most robust state-party digital and mail fundraising programs ever, drawing donors from throughout the nation. 

3. Our team had a strong and growing major donor program in place and I made thousands of fundraising calls during my four years as Chairwoman. 

4. Jeff canceled the mail fundraising vendor that had been in place long before I became chair in January 2019. 

5. Jeff canceled the digital fundraising program that had brought in more small-dollar donors than the state party had ever seen. 

6. Jeff made no visible effort to fundraise aggressively until the party was nearly out of money. We are all still in the dark about those efforts other than what the AZGOP puts out in their very limited communication with the state committee. 

7. Jeff and his team put the party in debt by purchasing a building without first fundraising via a capital campaign which the prior AZGOP executive committee mandated.

It is a shame that DeWit is leaving the party in the shape that it is in. I had high hopes for his success in leading the party to victory. Now it will be very difficult for any new chair to repair the damage he and his team, including toxic treasurer Elijah Norton, have done to the party. The turnaround has to be immediate and we only have the next 10 months. The next chair has his/her work cut out for them as they have been set up to be blamed for any shortcomings the party may have in 2024. That being said, I stand ready to assist the new chair in any way that I can to support our candidates running for Legislature, Congress, Senate, and, of course, to rally behind President Trump. 

In Liberty,

Dr Kelli Ward