How the Republican Party in Arizona is reacting to Biden’s lead in the polls

Mark Kelly’s win over incumbent Martha McSally, and the possibility of Joe Biden winning the Presidential vote, are big successes for Democrats in major races.

But what about the Republican Party? Where does the State GOP go from here?

We asked Matt Benson, a director with the political consulting firm Veridus.

Benson shared that there are a few different challenges at play when it comes Republicans questioning the voting process. First, many people are concerned about Sharpie pens impacting ballots, but that has been dismissed by the court. There is also a challenge about overvotes for voters who voted for more than one candidate and did not have the appropriate amount of time to fix their ballot.

Benson agrees with a statement made by Ben Ginsberg, a prominent Republican election attorney. Ginsberg stated that these challenges are a strategy to “throw everything against the wall to see what sticks.”

However, Benson believes the election was “not that bad” for Republicans.

“Not that bad–I think that would be the Republican motto for the 2020 General Election,” Benson said.

A week ago, Republicans were looking at losing the Arizona House of Representatives and losing the Senate seat.

“[There was] a lot of damage up and down the ballot,” Benson said.

Yet, Republicans managed to keep the legislature and the Maricopa County Attorney’s office.

“[They] treaded water, which, in a year we were expecting a blue wave, we’ll take it,” Benson said.

After watching Arizona turn blue for the first time in over a decade, Benson believes Republicans need to learn how to win over the urban centers of the state.

“Historically, it is incredibly difficult in Arizona to win statewide if you are losing Pima County…and Maricopa County,” Benson said. “If both of those counties drift away from Republicans, they got problems.”

Benson added that these politics will greatly impact the governor’s race approaching in the next two years.