Going against Donald Trump is tantamount to career suicide for any Republican looking to keep their job as another anti-Trump Republican has discovered.
Arizona State Senator Paul Boyer, who was a thorn in the side of his fellow Arizona Republicans during its audit of the 2020 presidential election, has announced that will not seek reelection, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Sen. Paul Boyer said this week that he will serve out the remaining year of his term and then move on to other pursuits. The Glendale lawmaker said opponents in his party will need to put up with him for his remaining year in office, however, meaning heâll retain the ability to thwart some key initiatives the slim one-vote GOP majority failed to get past him in this yearâs legislative session.
One of Boyerâs top moves was blocking Senate President Karen Fannâs effort to hold the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in contempt. Fann wanted the board to immediately hand over ballots from the 2020 election under a subpoena so she could conduct an unprecedented partisan review of President Bidenâs victory, but board members balked, saying they could not legally hand over 2.1 million voted ballots.
She eventually won and conducted a recount that found Biden beat former President Trump.
Boyerâs refusal to back Trump supporters as they sought the recount brought Boyer a slew of threats, and he briefly moved his family in February for fear of violence. That toxic atmosphere inside and outside the Capitol is one of the reasons Boyer decided to leave the Legislature after serving a decade.
In an email to his supporters, Trump heralded the news of the end of Boyerâs career.
âGreat news for Arizona, Senator Paul Boyer, a RINO obstructionist, is done. Congratulations to Karen Fann and all of the other Republican Patriots who have worked so hard to reveal the Presidential Election Fraud of November 3rd!â he said.
In July, Trump sent another email calling Boyer a âRINOâ and ânothing but trouble.â
âRepublican Arizona State Senator Paul Boyer, a RINO if there ever was one, is doing everything in his power to hold up the damning Forensic Audit of Maricopa County which has been taking place over the last 90 days. The people of Arizona are demanding it. Boyer has been nothing but trouble, and nobody knows why. All we demand is Voter Integrity! He is being primaried by a strong and highly respected challenger, former Arizona State Representative Anthony Kern,â he said.
Boyer promptly took to his Twitter to go after Trump right back.
âHad Trump built the wall like he promised, perhaps he couldâve prevented the 40k #BambooBallots from being imported into Arizona. And if he hadnât started an insurrection in D.C. and gotten kicked off here, I couldâve responded directly to him. So thereâs that,â he said.
Had Trump built the wall like he promised, perhaps he couldâve prevented the 40k #BambooBallots from being imported into Arizona đ. And if he hadnât started an insurrection in D.C. and gotten kicked off here, I couldâve responded directly to him. So thereâs that. pic.twitter.com/elGvwIHca0
— Paul Boyer (@PaulDBoyer) July 22, 2021
Boyer stood against the audits for a long time, after first supporting them, and efforts were led by his constituents to get rid of him, but to no avail.
âIt makes us look like idiots,â he said to The New York Times. âLooking back, I didnât think it would be this ridiculous. Itâs embarrassing to be a state senator at this point.â
And what triggered Trump is Boyer refusing to enforce the subpoena against Maricopa County election officials, The Tennessee Star reported.
This week, Boyer cited the current political climate in the state and the nation as reasons for his departure.
âIâve never seen it so toxic, and thatâs more on a personal, member-to-member basis,â he said. âItâs not just in closed caucus. Itâs also publicly as well as social media, where members have to feel like they need to talk to the base and tell them that theyâre a fighter and theyâre fighting against the moderates or whatever theyâre calling me these days.â
âI can leave and feel good about it at this point,â he said. âIâve been fortunate enough to do a certain amount of good that I could never do anywhere else.