A Republican candidate should "immediately withdraw" from the Arizona House of Representatives LD-7 race for "misrepresenting his military service," according to the local county's GOP.
The Navajo County Republican Committee over the weekend called for Steve Slaton, candidate and the owner of a "Trumped" store, to remove himself from the race, saying he "provided an altered DD-214 claiming combat veteran status" and showed "qualifications and awards which" he has not actually earned.
"That unfortunately has cast a shadow of dishonesty on your campaign, and by extension, on the Republican Party organizations in LD-7," the county GOP wrote in a public letter to the would-be lawmaker.
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"While we believe in due process, you have canceled numerous opportunities to speak to constituents in LD-7 to address and defend these concerns," the letter says. "Furthermore, you have silenced and served cease-and-desist letters to some who wish to verify your military records."
The GOP group goes on to "respectfully request, for the good of the Republican party," as well as for the good of the conservative movement, that he withdraw.
"This is not intended to give an advantage to any other candidate for the office you seek," they wrote. "As you probably know, the Navajo County Republican Committee does not endorse candidates in the Republican Primary Election. However, on June 20, 2024, at the monthly NCRC meeting, a motion was made, followed by discussion which resulted in a unanimous vote to call for your immediate withdrawal from the LD-7 race."
The news quickly spread online, leaving some onlookers to express surprise about the accountability being sought by the GOP.
"Oof," wrote analyst Allison Gill, better known as Mueller, She Wrote, on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
Slaton himself called the group "losers."
"I am a Vietnam combat veteran - no left wing smear campaign will ever deny that fact. These people doing this are doing to me what the liberals did to my fellow Vietnam veterans decades ago when they returned - spitting on them and mocking them. These are the same people who opposed patriots like Kari Lake, President Trump, Eli Crane and Wendy Rogers," he wrote Sunday. "They are a bunch of establishment Chamber of Commerce RINO hacks who support Democrats more than Republicans. It is about 10 losers with no real power to do anything. They get everything wrong and are about as irrelevant as the paper their phony letter is printed on."
The Navajo County GOP was then blocked by Slaton and Rogers on social media.
"Why would our own state Senator block us?" they asked in a public post.