Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips of True the Vote endorsed Eli Crane in the race for Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District seat, the campaign announced on Wednesday.
In an interview, Engelbrecht gave Crane a significant amount of credit for the work True the Vote has done on election integrity.
“Eli deserves a huge amount of credit by being that muse, that inspiration, behind the scenes,” Engelbrecht said.
“True the Vote is a [nonprofit]. We can’t endorse [as an organization]. I want to be very clear about that bit of it, but I also want to say personally, as Catherine Engelbrecht – someone who is in the trenches and knows a warrior when she sees one – Eli Crane is that warrior and I just think the world of him,” she said. “I think the world of him and I think that anybody that he represents would be very well served. He is a a godly man. He is someone that has incredible follow-through and does what he says he is going to do, and I think he’s great.”
Crane has a list of endorsements, both local and national, which include Trump advisor and former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik, Eagar Mayor Bryce Hamblin, Chino Valley Chief of Police Chuck Wynn, conservative radio host Mark Levin, and Law Enforcement Today.
On Tuesday, National Border Patrol Council endorsed Crane.
Election integrity and border security are two of the most important issues to Crane’s campaign.
“Arizona and America must reinstate Election Day voting, bolster polling sites, end unregulated mail-out balloting and enact stronger voter ID laws and stiffer penalties for anyone caught harvesting ballots or found guilty of voter fraud,” he says on his website.
“There is an invasion on our southern border. Eli believes it’s time we gained operational control of our borders and empower border patrol agents,” the candidate adds.
According to his website, Crane “is a combat veteran, small-business owner, husband, father and native Arizonan. The week after 9/11, Eli joined the Navy. He went on five wartime deployments, three of them to Iraq with SEAL Team 3 and served our country for 13 years. Today, Eli and his wife Jen own a small business in Tucson. Together they started Bottle Breacher, a successful company featured on Shark Tank, where they landed a deal with Mark Cuban and Kevin O’Leary. Bottle Breacher makes 100 percent of its products in the USA, while employing and giving back to veterans nationwide.”
The GOP primary is scheduled to occur on August 2.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
Photo “Eli Crane” by Eli Crane.
