The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump this week endorsed Dr. Kelli Ward for chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party, in his first assay in politics after leaving the White House.

In a short call, Trump called on Arizonans to help Ward become re-elected as chair of the state’s Republican party, saying that he gives her his “complete and total endorsement,” due to her stances on a number of issues.

“She is a terrific person. She is a person I know. You’ll never find anybody as dedicated to every aspect we’re all dedicated to,” Trump said.

Ward, an ally of the former president, ultimately fended off several challengers for the role, winning 51.5 percent of the vote to 48.5 percent against challenger Sergio Arellano in the second round of voting.

During a speech prior to the votes, Ward promoted herself as an anti-establishment Republican who aims to continue Trump’s America First vision. She played Trump’s call during the party meeting.

“The decision is ours. Are you going to re-elect me and show the state, the country, and the world that we are an America first Arizona, or will we go back to the dark days before Trump?” Ward said.

She added that the culture change must also be extended to the Republican National Committee across the country.

“This election cycle exposed that we have too much cronyism from top to bottom, too many backroom deals, too many to send unsigned, cowardly letters, and too many attorneys who aren’t there for the right reasons,” she said.

Ward played a central role in Trump’s fight to protect election integrity, filing lawsuits in Arizona to question the accuracy of the election results in the state. Her lawsuit asked the court to inspect hundreds of duplicated ballots, but following several inspections, a state judge refused to allow the additional review of more ballots because the court did not believe there was enough evidence of error.

On the same day, Arizona Republicans voted to censure Sen. John McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Gov. Doug Ducey.