With the writing on the wall clearly showing he would soon be ousted as the head of the Cochise County Republican Party, Brandon Martin has left the GOP and registered as a Libertarian. The move by Martin clears the path forward for the Republican Party faithful to restore order as the 2024 election nears, according to Party members.
Former Chair Robert Montgomery met with Cochise County Precinct Committeemen on Saturday at the American Legion Hall in Tombstone to discuss that path forward. Montgomery, a vocal Trump supporter, was narrowly defeated by Martin in the previous chairmanship vote, after he was accused of not being “Trumpy” enough. The 118-115 vote splintered the Party and left the 310 precinct committeemen fighting amongst themselves rather than taking on Democrats who were attacking Republican elected officials.
It was unanimous vote on Saturday that gave the chairmanship to Debi Wise.
Prior to the meeting, Wise wrote in a Facebook post:
71 pages of evidence of criminal and ethics violations were presented to the Cochise County Republican Committee, with the documentation to back it up.
150 PCs signed the petition to call the meeting to remove him.
We only needed 60 signatures.
I made that presentation after compiling all of the evidence.
I have enough evidence for 2 more presentations on 2 more subjects, if I chose to put them together.
Martin’s tenure as the chair was riddled with scandal and discord due to his sordid personal life. In fact, as previously reported by the Arizona Daily Independent, less than one month after Martin became chairman, local voters called for his resignation “in light of court filings showing the frequent congressional candidate has failed to pay child support for the last six months.”
According to court documents, Martin was accused of being delinquent with his $335 per month child support payments for his 11-year-old child.
Martin is also alleged to have ignored a recent demand for payment of nearly $500 in routine medical bills for the child as required by court order. Richard Wintory, the attorney for the child’s mother, declined to comment on the filing, stating he had “nothing to add as I stand by our pleadings to the Court.”
Questions also arose as to whether Martin was actually a resident of Precinct 27, from which he was elected as a Republican precinct committeeman (PC). Being a PC is a prerequisite for being a county chair.
Martin, who is closely aligned with the Patriot Party, has claimed his only employment is as an independent contractor, serving as executive director of a nonprofit he created, Keepers of Liberty.
As previously reported by the Arizona Daily Independent, “GuideStar has no financial reports concerning the group established in January 2020. Tim Sifert, the group’s treasurer according to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), did not respond to Arizona Daily Independent’s request to discuss Martin’s role with Keepers of Liberty. Sifert’s company, American Campaign Finance Foundation in Scottsdale, is also listed with the ACC as the group’s statutory agent.”
“Every district and county seems to have a cranky element that only wants to fight other Republicans, and that goes for us here in Cochise County as well.” said one local precinct committeeman. “The problem we experienced is that once they take power they don’t know what they’re doing and they still spend most of their time fighting other Republicans, which only helps Democrats. Thank goodness we are getting clear of these people in time for 2024.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been corrected to show that Wise was unanimously (not narrowly) elected by the Precinct Committeemen on Saturday.