Setting up a classic left vs right Republican primary, House Speaker Rusty Bowers filed the paperwork needed to run for the new Legislative District 10 Senate seat on Friday. Bowers’ more liberal voting record, but flush campaign accounts, will do battle with conservative former State Senator David Farnsworth.
Bowers, who was first elected in 1996, and has now served in four different decades, was being forced to leave the State House due to term limits, but he decided to try to extend his political career even longer by running for the Senate seat.
“Bowers is the ultimate insider’s insider,” said one prominent lobbyist, who added that “Bowers will have more money than God for his race, which he may need because his voting record is actually pretty terrible if you’re in a conservative Republican primary.”
While Bowers is popular among “establishment” Republicans and the Chambers of Commerce, Farnsworth remains very popular with the grassroots of the Party. Farnsworth recently served as the District Chairman for the district, and during his time in the State Senate, he had one of the most reliably conservative voting records of any Republican.
Bowers’ time as Speaker has been shrouded in controversy, he has been accused of dirty tricks and unethical behavior, giving lobbyists too much power over legislation, and he has played hardball with House members who do not go along with his agenda. Most recently, Bowers has emerged as the single greatest obstacle to Republicans being able to pass any meaningful ballot security and election integrity measures, as Bowers has single-handedly killed such bills and bragged about doing so.
He has also recently teamed up with Democrats to push liberal legislation–like special protection for the LGBTQ+ population–that puts him at odds with his party’s platform and even prominent members of his LDS church.
“I don’t recognize this Rusty Bowers,” one voter in his district told the Arizona Daily Independent, saying “I know he campaigns as a conservative, but he works with Democrats to kill good bills and push radical left-wing stuff that puts our kids and families in harm’s way.”
The primary election will be held August 2nd, 2022 and the winner in this heavily Republican district is expected to cruise to victory in the November general election.