Within one week after the U.S. Capitol insurrection, more than 3,900 Maricopa and Pima County Republican voters switched parties. 

From Jan. 6 to Jan. 12, Maricopa County saw more than 3,300 voters switch out of the Republican designation on their voter registrations. Pima County had 642 do the same thing.

Collectively, most joined “Party Not Designated,” but 477 became Democrat, 439 became Independent and 229 became Libertarian. 

Separately, Pinal County saw 557 Republicans leave the party designation from Jan. 6 to Jan. 21; it’s unclear where those voters switched to.

Lorna Romero is the owner of Elevate Strategies, a political and strategic communications firm. She says it’s shocking that so many would switch in one week but it’s also not shocking given the state’s Republican leadership’s refusal to accept the election. 

She says this a message to the Arizona GOP leadership that their narrative and rhetoric is not reflective of the larger Republican party, either nationally or in Arizona. 

“If that were the case, Donald Trump would have won handily in the state, as well as Martha McSally, and neither of those scenarios happened," Romero said.

Romero also says it may take a new national or local leader to rebrand the state Republican party and attract those voters back. 

Chuck Coughlin, president and CEO of HighGround Inc., agrees and says as of now, while a Trumpian configuration might win elections in other states, it won’t win in Arizona. 

"Stop challenging the legitimacy of the election, [and] work on an agenda that is reflective of solving problems, not creating further conflict," Coughlin said. 

Coughlin also says if the Republican Party keeps dividing, it may not even be able to compete against a very progressive Democratic candidate. He points out there may be more division coming if former President Donald Trump goes through with rumored plans of creating a third party.