Arizona’s Virus Recovery Fails to Boost GOP’s Election Prospects

Governor Ducey abandoned his embrace of Trump’s Covid approach
Drop in cases and deaths haven’t translated to gains for GOP

Doug Ducey meets with Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Aug. 5.Photographer: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg

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By Renata S. Geraldo and Brenna Goth

August 24, 2020 at 3:54 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

In less than two months, Arizona went from global Covid-19 hot spot to a model of Sunbelt recovery. Republican Governor Doug Ducey led the turnaround by rejecting his initial embrace of President Donald Trump’s virus skepticism.

Ducey’s pivot has slowed the virus, at least for now, but it hasn’t spared his fellow Republicans from the backlash against the president’s handling of the pandemic, which has killed 4,771 state residents so far.