Apparently, there's a lot of crazy in rural Arizona and voters there either try to get rid of some of it by sending it to the Capitol or they feel truly represented by it.
From the Payson Roundup -
State House District 7 race may turn into Republican civil war
Redistricting has handed Republicans a safe seat that includes all of Rim Country and the White Mountains.
So get ready for a civil war.
The redrawn State Legislative District 7 seat may pit two incumbent state senators and three incumbent state representatives against one another in the upcoming Republican primary.
[snip]
Currently, both state Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff) and state Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction) could seek the seat in the redrawn District 7.
Sen. Rogers’ office did not respond to an email message asking whether she planned to run for re-election in the redrawn district. Her current official address is actually in the redrawn District 6, which is solidly Democratic and includes the Navajo, Hopi, White Mountain Apache and San Carlos Apache reservations. However, shifting her address by about half a mile would put her in the Republican District 7.
Sen. Townsend’s office responded to a message by saying she had not yet decided whether to seek re-election or what district she would run in. She lives in the new District 7, but her address is just half a mile from a Mesa-based district, so she could easily move into another district.
[snip]
Walt Blackman (R-Snowflake) has said he will not seek another term so he can challenge Democratic Congressman Tom O’Halleran (R-Oak Creek) in the redrawn Congressional District 2 — where Republicans have a registration and vote history advantage.
Brenda Barton (R-Payson) did not respond to an email asking about her future plans. She’s a conservative Republican who represented the old District 6 for several terms, before sitting out two election cycles due to term limits — before her re-election in 2020.
Rep. David Cook (R-Globe) says he will run in the redrawn District 7, which now includes all of Gila County except for the San Carlos Apache Reservation.
Blackman is anti-choice; supports taxation without representation; is anti-consumer and is an anti-vaxxer.
Barton wants to pay high schoolers less than the minimum wage; is anti-democracy; and is a less than ethical gun nut.
From her 2014 legislative bio -
Cook is pro-developer/anti-water; wants non-LEOs/correction officers (and related types) and anyone else who works for society to rot in their retirements; and is a fave of wingnut religious group The Center for Arizona Policy.
From Cook's legislative bio -
As for Townsend and Rogers?
They're just nuts.
David Gordon of Blog for Arizona has a piece up wherein he, and Kirsten Engel (a Democratic candidate for Congress), state a belief that Townsend will run for Congress in AZ6.
Note: As of this writing, there's no "Townsend" committee listed on the website of the FEC.
Wherever she runs, she may find that winning a general election in Pima County (or part of it) to be "problematical."
She demanded an AG investigation into Pima County's vaccine mandate for its employees.
She's since dropped it, but not because she suddenly started liking vaccines. Because the AG ran out of time.
If she does run for Congress, one good thing will come out of it. With her (possibly) running for Congress, and state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita running for Secretary of State, two of the most anti-voter members of this year's legislature won't be in next year's legislature. They may famously dislike each other, but they share a hatred of society.
My guess is that this won't be the last time that Pima County hears from Townsend.
