Steve Tully

Rob Haney is out and Steve Tully is in as chairman of the Legislative District 11 Republican Committee, after a tempestuous meeting Tuesday night that saw passions flare and intra-party division on display.

Prominent figures in the Arizona Republican Party, past and present, turned up alongside LD11 precinct committeemen and curious rank-and-file Republicans from outside the district for a meeting that promised to be memorable and did not disappoint. Among those on hand Tuesday night were former Gov. Jane Hull, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, former legislator and Arizona Corporation Commissioner Barry Wong, a number of sitting and former state legislators and U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix). Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell was there with ballot counting machines from the county to handle the votes.

Seen as more than a vote on the 11th district's leadership, the meeting was in spirit and actuality a battle between competing ideologies within the Republican Party as a whole. One Republican activist from outside the district who showed up to witness the proceedings told PolitickerAZ.com, "I came to see the bloodbath."

CD5 Republican candidate Laura Knaperek today announced former Arizona House Majority Leaders Ernie Baird, Lori Daniels and Steve Tully have all endorsed her primary campaign today. Knaperek us seeking the nomination for the right to take on Harry Mitchell.