In a last major test of Donald Trump’s Republican power this year, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday endorsed a potential successor who’s going up against a candidate backed by the former president.
Ducey’s defiance of Trump in supporting Karrin Taylor Robson over Kari Lake marks the third swing-state governor’s race — following primaries in Georgia and Pennsylvania — in which Republican establishment figures have resisted Trump and his preferred candidates.
The fight in Arizona, as in the two other swing states, is as much about relitigating the 2020 election, which Trump lost, as it is about exerting his influence in the GOP as he weighs another White House bid…
Former Vice President Mike Pence could be next to offer his support, according to an adviser who wasn’t authorized to publicly disclose their private conversations. Pence is a friend of Ducey’s, and both men were attacked by Trump and his supporters for failing to help overturn the 2020 election based on the falsehood of widespread, rampant fraud.
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