The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Republic's editorial board says it never endorsed a Democrat over a Republican for president from 1890 until 2016, citing conservative ideals and Republican principles. It backed John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012, then Hillary Clinton in 2016, and it stopped endorsing candidates in 2020.

Editorial record means the rating rests on the outlet's documented record, such as its editorial board's endorsements, the stated purpose it was founded for, its opinion lineup or its published commitments such as an ethics policy. Scope: Institutional editorial board · US politics. Confidence: medium. What these mean

Evidence

• Republic editorial, Sept. 27, 2016, endorsing Hillary Clinton; it says its earlier Republican endorsements reflected an appreciation for conservative ideals and Republican principles. “we have never endorsed a Democrat over a Republican for president”
• KJZZ, Oct. 3, 2022: interview with editorial page editor Elvia Díaz on why the Republic no longer endorses candidates. “In 2020, the Arizona Republic made the decision to stop endorsing candidates.”
• Arizona PBS, March 2, 2020: reports the Republic announced it will no longer endorse candidates, breaking a decades-long tradition.
• American Presidency Project 2008 table: the Republic endorsed John McCain.
• American Presidency Project 2012 table: the Republic endorsed Mitt Romney.

Limits of this rating

• Mixed means documented positions in both directions, not balance in any one editorial.
• This rating rests on the board's endorsement record through 2016; it has not endorsed candidates since 2020, and its later editorials were not reviewed.
• It covers the editorial board; the newsroom operates separately and is not covered by this rating.

First draft by Sol, our AI editor, on Nov 3, 2026. Rewritten and checked against the evidence pages by Claude, an AI system, which can change the draft's label. Accepted by our human editor on Nov 3, 2026, as part of a batch.

This rating covers only the part of the outlet named in its scope, not the rest of its work. It never rates a single article; articles get their own "This article" rating.