Nearly Broke AZ State Sen Kelly Townsend Tries to Primary Trump Endorsed Fundraising Juggernaut Wendy Rogers

Arizona GOP State Sen Kelly Townsend announced yesterday that she was dropping plans to run for the U.S. Congress and instead planned to run for re-election to the state senate.

Due to redistricting, however, Townsend is now planning to run against fellow GOP State Sen Wendy Rogers.

In a statement announcing her bid, Townsend accused Rogers of “hanging out with white supremacists, endorsing them, and declaring the finest of patriots.”

Rogers has a massive leg up on Townsend at the beginning of the primary as she raised $2,453,700.58 through individual contributions, small contributions, and personal and family contributions in 2021.

The 2021 campaign finance report states that after disbursements, Rogers currently has $1,573,169.80 cash on hand.

Additionally, Rogers has received a “complete and total endorsement” from the 45th President Donald Trump.

Townsend, on the other hand, reportedly only had just about $13,000 cash on hand at the end of 2021 and cited her lack of endorsement from Trump as the reason that she withdrew from her Congressional run.

Following the announcement by Townsend, Republicans for National Renewal reaffirmed their endorsement of Rogers.

“We stand by our earlier endorsement of @WendyRogersAZ, who is now in the 7th State Senate district. She is a patriot who is deeply committed to implementing President Trump’s populist agenda,” the group said in a quote tweet of a report on Townsend’s move.

Rogers responded with a heart emoji in a quote tweet of her own and called them a “Great organization!”

Great organization! https://t.co/Mc91QJO5cu

— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) March 8, 2022