After AZ GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward Asks if Maricopa County Should Be Broken Down, Wendy Rogers Volunteers to Introduce the Bill

Yesterday, Arizona’s GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward asked in a tweet whether or not Maricopa County, which is the 4th most populous county in the U.S., should be broken down.

Arizona GOP State Senator Wendy Rogers quote tweeted Ward and declared, “1,000 times yes. I will propose this bill unless someone else beats me to it.”

Rogers acknowledged, however, that she “Will probably have to order a study first to see how we would do it.”

In Ward’s tweet, she asked, “Do you think #Maricopa County is too large and should be broken down into several smaller counties?”

Ward added that “For reference, #AZ only has 15 counties – Maricopa has ~4,300,000 while Mohave has ~207,000 & Santa Cruz has ~9,500).”

Ward also shared a link which provided the population of every county in the state, which shows that the county is nearly three times larger than the next closest county, Pima, and larger than the rest of the population of the state combined by over 1 million.

1,000 times yes. I will propose this bill unless someone else beats me to it. Will probably have to order a study first to see how we would do it. https://t.co/u3BX5zYJj9

— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) June 30, 2021

GOP candidate for Congress Josh Barnett was one of several who responded to Ward’s tweet, noting how many counties other states have, including Indiana which has a similar population, but 7 times as many counties.

“Look at Georgia- 159 counties Texas- 254 Florida- 67 Indiana- 92,” Barnett explained.

Look at Georgia- 159 counties
Texas- 254
Florida- 67
Indiana- 92

— Josh Barnett for Congress (AZ-06) (@BarnettforAZ) June 30, 2021

A Michigan transplant, Keith Janson, who “leans conservative” responded to Ward by reporting that, “Michigan has 83 small counties. Majority of people live in Wayne and Oakland counties, i.e. Detroit and Northern suburbs.”

“Even though counties are smaller, they still have large portion of the vote,” Janson added.

Michigan has 83 small counties. Majority of people live in Wayne and Oakland counties, i.e. Detroit and Northern suburbs. Even though counties are smaller, they still have large portion of the vote.

— Keith Janson (@jansonkeith2) June 30, 2021

Dividing Maricopa into smaller counties could help delegate some of the responsibilities and allow each individual part of the county more autonomy.

This sort of thing doesn’t happen often and would be sure to receive great pushback from Democrats, who look to consolidate power moving forward.