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Trent Franks Endorses Gingrich

Trent Franks at the 2011 Veterans Day parade in Phoenix, Arizona.
Gage Skidmore
Trent Franks at the 2011 Veterans Day parade in Phoenix, Arizona.

More than seventy members of Congress are backing former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, including Arizona Senator John McCain and Congressman Jeff Flake. While Gingrich has only won ten endorsements from members of Congress – half are from his home state of Georgia. But one of his most outspoken backers is Arizona Congressman Trent Franks…who is actively trying to woo his colleagues into the Gingrich camp.

Conventional political wisdom says Arizona will easily go to Romney – in part because of the state’s large Mormon population. But Franks says Gingrich can take Arizona because of his sharp mind.

“I think Mr. Gingrich is able to discern the fallacy in the left wing rhetoric better than anyone else and then turn it around in a way that’s favorable to the Republican perspective," said Franks.

Franks initially backed Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann before she dropped out. 

Arizona’s primary is on February twenty eighth.    

For Arizona Public Radio, I’m Matt Laslo in Washington.

 

Based on Capitol Hill, Matt Laslo is a freelance reporter who has been covering Congress, the White House and the Supreme Courtfor more than five years. While he has filed stories for more than 40 local NPR stations, his work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Chattanooga Times Free Press, National Public Radio, The Omaha World-Herald, Pacifica Radio, Politics