The Maricopa County Republican Committee voted to censure former Republican Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake on Saturday.
The resolution passed by a 1,190 to 291 vote at the meeting, which was held at Dream City Church in Glendale, the Arizona Republic reported.
Flake, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, chose not to run for reelection in 2018 and endorsed President-elect Joe Biden over Trump in 2020.
Some confusion centered around the purported inclusion of Cindy McCain, wife of the late Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, in the censure resolution. While Arizona’s Republican Party tweeted initially that McCain had been censured, they later corrected the news, stating that McCain’s censure was discussed and even cheered, but the resolution to censure Flake couldn’t “be amended from the floor.”
The @MaricopaGOP has voted and passed a resolution to censure Cindy McCain. The Arizona Republican Party has no comment on the county’s resolution. The state party will vote on a similar resolution at our annual meeting on January 23, 2021.
— Arizona Republican Party (@AZGOP) January 9, 2021
After further review, it appears the @MaricopaGOP did not formally censure Cindy McCain. There was a call, a second, and near unanimous cheering/approval – but resolutions can’t be amended from the floor. The @AZGOP will vote on a “Censure McCain” resolution on Jan 23. Thank you!
— Arizona Republican Party (@AZGOP) January 10, 2021
The state’s Republican Party apparently plans to schedule a later vote to censure McCain, who like Flake endorsed Biden’s presidential bid, on January 23.
Reacting to the news in a Saturday night Twitter post, Flake wrote, “I’m in good company,” referring to McCain.
I'm in good companyhttps://t.co/uWxaf9p3F5
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) January 10, 2021
Arizona has gradually flipped from red to blue over the past two years, voting for Biden in November and electing Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema in 2018 and Mark Kelly in 2020.
