Robert Branscomb. Photo Credit: Tucson Sentinel
It has been a brutally bad half year for the new Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP), Robert Branscomb. He has faced a near-total party revolt as all statewide elected officials came out and publicly criticized him after he broke the unwritten rule of airing dirty laundry (read our last piece here). Well that was not about to be the end of it, as a turbulent last week or so has finally come to an end, as the embattled Chair has been voted out.
Since our last piece, the news has come in hot and heavy. First of all, in what is essentially an unprecedented move, Branscomb received heavy friendly fire from a very unexpected source. ADP’s Treasurer Greg Freeman, who was also voted in in the wave election where party members wanted change, lobbed his own volley at the Chair in a very public way, posting a YouTube video calling for his resignation.
Underscoring the crisis point that the party is now in because of Branscomb’s leadership, Treasurer Freeman stated publicly that the only outcome for the party if Branscomb stays is “ineffectiveness or bankruptcy” and urged the Chair to resign. Ouch. Massive ouch.
Next, as the pivotal vote to get rid of the Chair came near, the Progressive Council of the party, its biggest caucus, ran their own non-binding vote. With a fairly wide margin, they voted in favor of the resignation of Chair Branscomb. And having lost the support of all of the statewide elected officials as well as the progressives (who are often on the other side of “establishment”), the path to keeping his seat narrowed and the writing was on the wall.
Last Wednesday the members of the Party’s State Committee came together virtually and had a vote to decide the fate of Branscomb, and the vote was beyond decisive. By a margin of 456-76, Arizona Democrats decided to push out Branscomb, thus leading to the end of only a six month period of him at the helm.
So where does this leave the Democrats? In short, they’re currently a mess. Branscomb’s tenure has left them short on cash and needing to rebuild their coffers from relatively close to zero.They will now likely have a complete turnover in their staffing. And they will have to rebuild their reputation, which is currently in tatters.
But if there is a bright side to this fiasco, it’s that this happened in a non-election year, and they have plenty of time to rebuild. Best to rip the band-aid off early.