Republicans legislators who support Medicaid expansion are certain to face primary opposition in 2014. Grassroots activists are targeting the likes of Heather Carter with serious challengers and apparent deep pockets.
Heather Casey will challenge Carter and filed a campaign committee for the House in LD15. Christine Bauserman, a GOP activist from Tucson, told the Yellow Sheet that Casey was adamantly opposed to AHCCCS expansion and was challenging Carter because of her support for it. “This is going to be a grassroots campaign,” Bauserman told the Yellow Sheet.
Casey is a nurse, who was described to a Yellow Sheet reporter by former Senator as “a knockout” candidate who is “well-qualified” to take on Carter.
According to Antenori there are two more candidates waiting in the wings in case their GOP incumbents support Medicaid expansion. The issue has energized the grassroots, and has emphasized the divide between the “establishment” Republicans and the “grassroots” Republicans.
While incumbent Republicans will receive considerable money from the establishment faction of the GOP, they lack the support of the vast majority of precinct committeemen. The Governor further alienated committeemen this week when she sent a message advising them that they were elected to support her.
A letter has been circulating among Republicans has summed up the sentiment across the state by county GOP organizations, “The Governor of the state that passed a legislative referral to the ballot to amend the Constitution of AZ to prohibit Obamacare and then turned around and sued the Federal government over the implementation of the program is now demanding her own party ignore its core tenets and embrace O-Brewer-Care.
The sides are formed. Corporate Healthcare joins with the Governor to lead Democrats and Brewercrats , with millions of dollars to run a full-fledged campaign and a future of reaping, according to some estimates, $2 billion. The other side is the Republican party, Libertarians, nurses, doctors and small business owners who have passion and a demand to be heard and view the Republican tenet of limited government the ultimate goal.
The image of a strong, finger-waving-at-the-President leader gives way to a portrait of a puppet politician surrendering her state and turning her back on the wishes of her own people.”
“The good news is, in Republican primaries, as I’ve seen it down here, the grassroots always win, if the grassroots are energized,” Antenori told the Yellow Sheet.