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."

When the time came for the current officers and their opponents to address LD11, the difference between the Haney and Tully camps was clear. The Haney leadership took turns lambasting the pro-John McCain element within the LD11, state and national GOP, saying they had gotten away from Ronald Reagan conservatism, while those opposing Haney tried to strike a more upbeat, conciliatory tone, themselves invoking Reagan's legacy as well.

The sparks started to fly as Steve Tully made his pitch. Tully went over his alloted speaking time and was shut down by the sitting leadership. Thereafter, Rep. Shadegg attempted to speak but was barred from doing so.

Taking his turn before the committee, Haney made no secret of his displeasure with Arizona Republicans in Congress.

"My friends, it is time for some straight talk," said Haney, mocking trademark stump speech expressions of U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Phoenix), who drew much of Haney's ire during his speech.

The leadership election, said Haney, "is about four of the five members of the congressional delegation, and their backers, imposing their own fairness doctrine on the current officers of this district, as was demonstrated."

"The law doesn't matter to them," continued Haney. "It's what they think matters. It's up to us to say, 'no, that isn't right,' and they refuse to allow us to say it isn't right. Is it about senators McCain and [Jon] Kyl, and Representatives [Jeff] Flake and Shadegg representing the go soft approach to the illegal alien invasion, and using their political power and wealth to silence the officers of district 11 who have been outspoken in opposition to their policies."  

Haney went on, and as he exceeded his allotted two minutes, shouts of "Time!" began rising up from the crowd. Eventually calls for him to stop speaking drowned out Haney's address, and as it became apparent he wasn't going to yield the podium, a large contingent rose up en masse to begin voting without waiting for him to finish.   

In the end, the harangue made little difference for Haney, who was defeated on a vote of 191 to 203.

Interestingly, one of the of the night's biggest beneficiaries may have been Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen, who has also been a critic of McCain and aligns himself with the conservative wing of the AZ GOP.

While Tully and his supporters carried the day on the district committee level, the majority of the state committee members elected Tuesday night from LD11 are Pullen backers. Pullen will defend his chairmanship at the state Republican convention in January, and shoring up that sort of support is vital to his re-election effort.