ONE MAN'S BATTLE FOR THE REPUBLICAN FUTURE

He called Gov. Jan Brewer a "Judas" for betraying Republican principles.

He likened GOP senators' support of Medicaid expansion to Pearl Harbor's "day of infamy."

He said state GOP leaders were lucky there weren't gallows in the town square.

All the barbs came from A.J. LaFaro, the improbable head of the Maricopa County Republican Party. All the barbs were about fellow Republicans, though LaFaro would insist the targets of his ire had abandoned the true principles of their party.

Elected six months ago, LaFaro represents one front in the battle for the soul of the Republican party.

Brash, opinionated and unafraid of offending, LaFaro rode a wave of "tea party" support in his bid to replace one of his own heroes who shares his brand of politics -- Rob Haney.

LaFaro was elected in January following a confrontational election in which he ran farther to the right of another candidate, Lisa Gray, who credits his win to "dirty campaign tactics."

Before his election to county GOP chair, LaFaro fought Tempe City Hall on issues ranging from taxes to employee leadership.

Members of his own party either love him or hate him. Almost no one is in the middle. And everyone, it seems, has an opinion about LaFaro.

Senate Majority Leader John McComish, R-Phoenix, who was among the Republican lawmakers who backed Medicaid expansion, said he is disappointed in LaFaro's performance.

"The difficult thing about rhetoric that's so personal is that it has an impact, and then at some point in time, the primaries are over and you want to get together and be unified," McComish said.

Republican Tom Husband is a fan of LaFaro, saying his leadership "is very focused, clear and vigorous."

"He basically sees things very clearly, and he can articulate some of the subtle distinctions," Husband said.

LaFaro believes his combative defense of conservatism is needed to define what his party stands for -- to Republicans and non-Republicans alike. There's no agreeing to disagree with LaFaro, no gestures toward a big tent.

"I will always speak out; I will always be vocal for the things I believe in," he said during the interview he'd arranged to be held in the historic state Supreme Court chambers in the Capitol museum.

Movements need a conscience, a voice to steer them past pitfalls. LaFaro sees himself as the sharp-tongued enforcer for county Republicans.

"I'm not advancing my agenda -- I firmly believe that I'm advancing the conservative grass-roots agenda," he said.

But some in the party hear a potential death knell in his bombast, saying he further divides the party and alienates potential Republican voters at a crucial moment for the GOP.

Kim Owens, an Avondale Republican who supported LaFaro's opponent for GOP county chair, said she doesn't doubt his sincerity but believes his approach could destroy the party.

LaFaro has no right to determine "who is and isn't a proper Republican," she said.

"The statement he made about the governor and Judas, the comparison to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the letter referencing building gallows in Prescott for Senator (Steve) Pierce and Representative (Andy) Tobin -- those are not the kinds of things that leaders should do," she said.

"This will lead us to fewer Republicans wanting to identify as Republicans for fear of being associated with (those) type of actions," she said.

Still, LaFaro's style plays well with some conservatives who say he has reflected their deep frustration with Brewer -- someone they once admired for her stances on states' rights, illegal immigration and, at one time, President Barack Obama's health-care plan.

How can her embrace of the health-care law's expansion of Medicaid, which LaFaro labeled "OBrewercare," be anything but betrayal, some have asked.

LaFaro cited polls showing a majority of Republicans across the country oppose the president's health-care overhaul.

"The governor says she is a Republican. … She needs to start acting like a Republican," he has said.

Asked if there is room in the party for a diversity of opinion on major issues, LaFaro said he cannot reconcile how a Republican can "sacrifice (their) principles and beliefs ? and propose Medicaid expansion."

So LaFaro makes no apologies for his attacks, saying he should not have to hold his tongue to make a few members of his party more comfortable.

History of activism

The son of "conservative Italian Catholic" parents, LaFaro grew up Tulsa, Okla. ("The reddest state in the United States," he's fond of saying.)

His father was a mechanic for American Airlines before moving up the management ladder and leaving the union ranks. His mom stayed at home and cared for him and his younger sister.

He said his parents taught him to work hard and encouraged him to save money earned from a paper route and bagging groceries to help pay for parochial school.

His political activism began at 21, when he volunteered on city council campaigns. He would again volunteer during Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign in 1980, serving as a part-time volunteer in Reagan's Oklahoma campaign offices. He would also work as a volunteer on Reagan's re-election campaign.

By then, LaFaro had spent time in the Air Force, married, finished college and begun a career as a computer programmer. After the petroleum company where he and his wife worked offered them lucrative voluntary severance packages, they moved to Tempe.

LaFaro largely stayed out of politics until 2000, when he launched a recall campaign against Republican Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano, partly over a proposal by the city manager to restrict employees' United Way contributions to certain organizations, such as Boy Scouts. The proposal came as the U.S. Supreme Court essentially ruled that the Scouts could prohibit gays from being Scout leaders.

It was a bitter campaign. At one point, LaFaro served as witness and his own attorney as he sought a court injunction to prevent harassment from a Tempe councilman who accused him of bigotry.

LaFaro lost the recall election, held Sept. 11, 2001, by a wide margin.

"I'll always remember that day," he said. "We weren't successful in recalling Neil Giuliano."

The former mayor called LaFaro's supporters at the time "very fringe." He credits LaFaro for giving him political capital to power through his term.

"There will be times where he may be right on an issue … but he's so far out of the mainstream of knowing how to deal with and work with other people that he's never going to be an effective leader," Giuliano said. "I think it's an unfortunate commentary on the state of the county Republican Party if A.J. LaFaro is all they've got."

Over the next decade, LaFaro continued to criticize Tempe leaders over the "ill-conceived Rio Salado Town Lake project" and other spending. He urged voters to reject proposed tax hikes and budget-override measures.

His local activism whetted his appetite for party politics.

In 2011, the Maricopa County Republican Committee elected him as its Legislative District 17 GOP chairman. Then, last fall, he ran for -- and won -- the chairmanship of the county GOP, partly on a platform of inclusiveness.

Political tactics

LaFaro says he'll use his two years as head of the party to bridge the "real, real divide" among conservatives, moderates, tea partyers and Libertarian-leaning Republicans.

His supporters hope the county GOP's influence will grow under his leadership.

But some Republicans and political scientists see LaFaro's brand of politics narrowing the base of the Republican Party at a time when it should be promoting a big-tent philosophy.

The party's image in opinion polls has hit a historic low, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. According to that survey, released in February, 62 percent said the GOP is out of touch with Americans, 56 percent thought it's not open to change and 52 percent said the party is too extreme.

Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, said LaFaro, as the face of the county GOP, should be "a more thoughtful, rational voice that is attractive."

"We want to bring people into the party; we want to show them we're a party of ideas, not just a party of rhetoric and flippant comments," said Mesnard, who opposed Medicaid expansion but booed LaFaro for his Judas comment.

McComish said LaFaro's actions contradict his promise to bring Republicans together.

"You want to get together and be unified, but it's hard to do that when you're vilifying … your own party," he said. "It plays into the enemy hands: Democrats love it."

Mesa GOP Sen. Rich Crandall dismissed LaFaro and the county GOP, saying they think they are bigger players than they really are.

"It's a place for people who just want to make a lot of noise, but they have no money, they're not organized in large mass and they're always led by the far, far extreme right," he said. "Until they have the ability to bring solutions to problems, they'll kind of be inconsequential."

David Berman, a senior research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy, said LaFaro's rhetoric might keep the base "activated and aroused," but it remains to be seen if it's productive.

"You have the leading icon of the Republican Party (Brewer), and you have this county chairman who thinks he's fully entitled to call her whatever he thinks," Berman said. "It makes the party look like an extremist party. It will stiffen resistance (against Republicans) and cause a lot of heat. And in the end, I don't know if they're going to get what they want."

Rob Haney, who urged LaFaro to run to replace him as chairman of the county GOP, said that LaFaro speaks for the Republican base and that sometimes leaders need to be outspoken to be effective, even if it stirs controversy.

But other Republicans, while agreeing with LaFaro politically,wish he'd take a more measured tone.

"Although the sentiment of what he is saying is felt by many precinct committeemen, I just wouldn't have said it," Mickie Niland, chairman of the LD 12 Republican committee, said of the Judas remark. "I want to disagree, but I don't want to be disagreeable."

LaFaro says he will now work to oust Republicans who supported Medicaid expansion and aid an effort to refer Medicaid expansion to voters.

One recent morning, dressed in a gray suit and tie, LaFaro stood in a House hearing room shortly before a Medicaid debate, shaking hands and patting the shoulders of conservative lawmakers.

"Thanks for the good fight," he said to one.

To two women wearing red AARP shirts, he bellowed, "Hey, I used to be in your organization! I dropped my membership of AARP after 13 years."

The organization supported Medicaid expansion.

LaFaro, who considers himself to be articulate and bold, says he sees no need to apologize for his remarks and style. But that doesn't mean the incident hasn't given him a reason to reflect.

"I will probably think more carefully before I choose my words," he said.

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