Robert Branscomb. Photo Credit: Tucson Sentinel
After a bruising year at the polls last year, Arizona Democrats were looking forward to a rebound election in 2026, one that has been made all the more likely because of the current messiness in the White House. But that will only be the case if the party is strong and united, and recent developments have shown quite the opposite.
This winter, the Arizona Democratic Party made a bold move; in a vote of State Committeemembers, they ousted their Chair, Yolanda Bejerano, after charges of some self-dealing within the party emerged (in conjunction with poor election results). They voted in a relative unknown, Robert Branscomb. And what had the opportunity to be a breath of fresh air and an injection of excitement has turned into an abject tire fire.
After Branscomb fired some long-standing staff, including the party’s Executive Director, he gained the ire of nearly all of the most important members of the party: its elected officials. Behind closed doors and in private conversations, Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego both chastised him for this move, with one offering veiled threats and another saying he would withhold fundraising assistance. But that Branscomb did the one thing you absolutely don’t do in high-level party politics…
He spilled those beans to the press.
Since then, the knives have come out, with nearly all high-level elected officials stating that he should resign. The work of the party has come to a near standstill, and the office’s most important fundraising staffing role, the Finance Director, remains unfilled. The party is burning through cash, with a burn rate that will drain its coffers by year end. The Chair offered up an absurd budget for the upcoming year, projecting to spend nearly 10x what the party raised in Q1 of this year, and it was roundly rejected.
And this past Saturday was the party’s semiannual State Committee meeting, and reports show it to be relatively uneventful. Branscomb came with supporters carrying placards implying that to take issue with his leadership is anti-black and attempting to tie him to the Black Lives Matter movement, as if they are still stuck in 2020 with obvious obfuscation. There was nothing on the agenda related to leadership seats nor were any spontaneously sparked, so Branscomb exited how he entered: battered and bruised, clinging onto power.
Democrats also left the door open for a snap meeting that could be called with two days’ notice, wherein Branscomb could be up for a removal vote. While no decisions were made during this meeting, that could change very quickly.
That said, patience is clearly thin and the Chair has precious little political capital. He needs to start producing results or the next meeting might not be as charitable. Besides, he’ll have about 6 months before the party apparatus starts gearing up for the next election; for the sake of Democrats around the state, he better get the house in order quickly.