Ted Cruz will contest Joe Biden’s Arizona victory: report

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is among the Republicans who has vowed to contest President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory when the Senate and the House of Representatives meet for a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. And Cruz, according to Washington Post reporters Seung Min Kim and Mike DeBonis, will be focused on Arizona.

In November, Republicans suffered two major defeats in Arizona — which was once a deep red state — when Biden won its 11 electoral votes in the presidential election and incumbent Sen. Martha McSally was unseated by Democratic challenger Mark Kelly. Trump has been making the baseless and debunked claim that he was robbed of a victory in Arizona because of widespread voter fraud, but in fact, Biden's victory in the southwestern state was certified by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey — a long-time Trump ally — and later, by the Electoral College on December 14.

Kim and DeBonis report that according to a Washington Post source who is "familiar with the matter," Cruz plans to "join with Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) to contest the results from Biggs' home state."

"The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose strategy that is not yet public," the Post reporters explain. "Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), who faces a runoff election Tuesday to keep her seat, plans to object to results from her home state, and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has pledged to contest the outcome in Pennsylvania. The objections are all but certain to fail in the Democratic-controlled House and the GOP-led Senate, where a growing number of Republicans have called the challenges dangerous to democracy."

Cruz discussed his plans to contest the Electoral College outcome when he appeared on far-right radio host Mark Levin's show on Monday. The Texas senator told Levin, "My view is Congress should fulfill our responsibility under the Constitution to consider serious claims of voter fraud. And that's why I assembled a coalition of 11 senators…. We are going to vote to object to the electors not to set aside the election — I don't think that would actually be the right thing to do — but rather, to press for the appointment of an electoral commission that can hear the claims of voter fraud, hear the evidence and make a determination as to what the facts are and the extent to which the law was complied with."