Tony Bouie was a Democrat earlier this year, but has since switched to the Republican Party and is running for state Representative against Stan Crump and Carl Seel.

Bouie has been welcomed with open arms by many of those who have taken the time to sit down with him, hear his story and to ask where he stands on a lot of the issues.  Conservatives such as Congressman John Shadegg and state Senator Pam Gorman have come out and endorsed Bouie.  Republican leaning organizations such as the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, the NFIB and the Arizona Realtors have also come out and endorsed Bouie in his campaign.

But not all conservatives are welcoming Bouie with open arms.  Most of the prominent conservative blogs in the state have come out in support of Crump and Seel and have taken to gloves off against Bouie.  Also the Maricopa County Republican Committee has come out and endorsed Crump and Seel in the primary and have basically told Bouie he is not welcome here.

A prominent Republican mentioned to me earlier this week how disappointed he was because the party had been trying to recruit conservative minorities to become more involved and conservative groups and organizations were coming out so strongly with the message of we don’t want Democrats switching parties.  Based on that conversation I set out to talk to a large group of leaders in the Republican Party and overwhelmingly heard the same sentiment. 

Most of the leaders I communicated with who had actually talked to Bouie were very impressed with him as a candidate and thought he was a conservative they could work with.  One party leader wanted Bouie to know he was welcome when he said “Like Dick Armey, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, and Ronald Reagan before him, Tony Bouie found a home in the Republican Party.” 

Most of the contacts I had said they understood why Carl Seel would come out so strong against Bouie. “It’s a primary campaign, I would expect Seel to use whatever information he had to help his campaign.”  But many were upset with the Maricopa County Republican Committee’s actions of endorsing in the primary.  “We want Democrats to switch, that is what we try to do, convince them our ideas are better so they should join us.”

One source who had met with Bouie told Inside Edge “He is very impressive, and a solid guy.  Small business owner, fiscally conservative, socially conservative – what’s not to like?”

One of the key criticisms of Bouie from the County Committee and from conservative blogs is he received donations from Jason LeVecke.  But as was pointed out to Inside Edge “so did Crump and you don’t see any of them out for Crump’s head.  It’s a real double standard.”

One Maricopa County leader who agreed to talk to Inside Edge on background told us he was concerned about letting “left-leaning R's reach positions of power.  The open border crowd cannot be permitted to elect folks who will weaken our defense against invasion by people who will skirt our legal system.  I would be delighted to have D's convert to R's but the question must be asked:  What took you so long and why are you running against proven R's?”  This insider was asked twice by Inside Edge if he had actually ever talked to Bouie, but did not reply.

While the County Committee has taken a strong stance against Bouie, his campaign and his supporters stress the fact the Committee leaders have never talked to him in person to ask him where he stands on issues.

Another conservative leader said he loved the “idea” of Bouie but had “serious concerns about Tony Bouie himself.”  “He didn’t know what employer sanctions were.  He didn’t know if he would sign a No New Taxes pledge and wouldn’t answer the question until he asked his consultant first.  He favors affirmative action, and so on and so on.  Early indications are that he doesn’t know what he thinks about many issues, but those issues he does have an opinion on do not reflect positions that are consistent with this party’s platform.”  He did go on to say he hoped if Bouie lost and truly wanted to be involved in the party and with conservatives he would stay active and “earn his stripes.”

One group who is enjoying what is going on are Democrats.  “This is yet another reason why Republicans are doing so poorly in Arizona. They’re focusing on internal ideological purity tests instead of actually solving problems voters care about,” said one gleeful Democrat.

The one thing that seems to be clear is there is a rift in the Republican Party over the Maricopa County endorsement.  Supporters of Bouie are frustrated that party never talked to Bouie before they made the endorsement and they wish the party stayed out of the primary and gave Bouie a real shot to earn their trust while those inside the county leadership are more concerned with Bouie’s lack of Republican credentials. 

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