Locals Sour on Rep Eli Crane Dodging Dissenters

In Northern Arizona, a growing number of locals say they’re being steamrolled by the people elected to represent them, particularly around LGBTQ+ issues.

As policies targeting the community surge across the country, many in Flagstaff and the surrounding region feel not only unheard, but deliberately sidelined. Their frustrations point squarely at U.S. Rep. Eli Crane—a businessman-turned-politician whose record on queer rights, constituents say, reads as a warning sign.

Crane, who represents Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, has backed legislation to ban LGBTQ+ flags at military bases and gut funding for transgender health services. This year, he mocked transgender science funding on Instagram, invoking Anthony Fauci and so-called “transgender animal studies” in a viral stunt that critics called a distraction from real issues.

“(He’s) about creating news by making people upset,” said Thomas Cosner, a Flagstaff business owner and therapist who works with LGBTQ+ clients. “I feel like he's a voice for instability, rather than trying to create positive change.”

Across the district—from Flagstaff to Sedona, Prescott to Cottonwood—residents and advocates say Crane’s approach isn’t just callous. It’s calculated.

“He’s clearly using it as a tool to leverage power,” said Trinity Kline, a transgender woman in Chino Valley. “They aren't things I'm voting for. They're just things that are being done in spite of me.”

“There are people in power who want to make our lives harder,” Kline said. “That’s dangerous.”

Arizona has more than a quarter million adults who identify as LGBTQ+ residents, according to most recent reports from the Williams Institute of UCLA, but it’s unclear how many live outside of the state’s two largest cities: Phoenix and Tucson. Still, a city such as Flagstaff—an area built up in population by its proximity to Northern Arizona University—is typically thought to be one of the more accepting cities in the state. Flagstaff also scored a 95 out of 100 in the Human Rights Campaign’s 2024 Municipal Equality Index Scorecard, which evaluates the inclusivity of laws, policies and services for LGBTQ+ people.

And though no one denies that Flagstaff might be bright blue in a sea of red, they contest how a person like Crane—who has built his political career on a staunchly pro-Trump name—could possibly have their interests in mind.

A Progressive Area With Oathkeepers As Leaders

Critics say Crane’s seat itself is a product of political engineering. Before the 2022 election, the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission moved Flagstaff out of Democrat-leaning CD1 and into CD2 — a more conservative district anchored by rural cities such as Prescott and the Town of Cottonwood. The shift gave Republicans a significant edge and helped Crane unseat Democrat Tom O’Halleran.

Yavapai County, where Prescott and Cottonwood are located, is also where multiple hate and antigovernment groups are located, as tracked by the Southern Poverty Law Center. One of those is the Highlands Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group whose members embrace anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies.

The redistricting also gave power to fringe conservatives in local politics, such as State Sen. Wendy Rogers, who represents Flagstaff, but has made a name in local politics by praising White nationalist groups, campaigning as a member of the local Oath Keepers militia, called for her followers to make child abuse claims against parents who took their kids to a local drag show, and was a fierce defender of the conspiracy that Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

“To gerrymander [Flagstaff] so that we can't possibly elect somebody that we want in office, I think is unpatriotic. It's cheating,” said Laura Carter, chair of the Northern Arizona Democratic Party. “This isn’t representative government. Our voice has been completely lost.”

That erosion of voice feels especially painful to LGBTQ+ residents who say their safety, visibility and basic rights are under siege. And Crane, they argue, has done little to reassure or even acknowledge them.

“He doesn’t live here. He doesn’t talk to us. He won’t meet with us,” said Julian Bernhardt, a Flagstaff resident and communications director for the Arizona Students Association. “Eli crane has not been present. … Nobody can get a hold of him.”

“These elected officials swore to uphold the Constitution, which guarantees equity for all. Instead, they’re actively working against queer people. It’s shameful.”
-Jeremy Helfgot, Phoenix-based organizer

Bernhardt, who is gender-fluid, said repeated attempts to reach Crane’s office have gone unanswered. Carter said even local Democrats willing to work across the aisle are iced out. And trying to confront Crane at town halls has become an impossible task.

Nationwide, Republicans altogether have been paring back their town halls, upsetting voters who come to express their anger toward lawmakers about their support for DOGE’s sweeping cuts or heavy-handed tactic with immigration. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson recently encouraged Republican lawmakers to skip town halls. In Tucson, Republican representative Juan Ciscomani didn’t show up to his own scheduled town hall meeting.

Some allege Crane’s office is screening town hall attendees to exclude registered Democrats—a page from his fellow Congressman Andy Biggs, who has drawn attention for only holding town hall meetings for registered-Republicans.

The alleged move by Crane and Biggs seems to be in alignment with a new view from conservative lawmakers where they are only beholden to the people who voted for them. Former Arizona State Senator Justine Wadsack once tweeted this new mindset more bluntly to a constituent: “Your ideology is that of a Dem. So no, I do not work for you.”

Eli Crane is no different, some Flagstaff residents argue.

“He’s unpatriotic,” Carter said. “ As a leader, you need to represent everybody. Your job is to serve all of us.”

Crane’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

What Would Eli Crane Do?

Crane built his political brand on a platform of free speech, small government and cultural grievances. A former Navy SEAL, he gained notoriety on Shark Tank pitching Bottle Breacher—a company that turns bullets into bottle openers.

Bottle Breacher’s website leans heavily into the firebrand of American exceptionalism that’s popular among the new subgroup of popular manfluencers and “alpha-male” or pro-Trump content. One koozie for sale reads “What Would Founding Fathers Do,” another a shopping cart brimming with guns and American flags with the word “Deplorables” underneath, alluding to the comment made by Hillary Clinton against Trump voters in her 2016 race for president.

Crane has remained fairly elusive, hiding from most media coverage unless it’s with conservative outlets, making him notoriously difficult to pin down.

Crane is also a brand ambassador for Sig Sauer firearms, a company that donated thousands to the campaigns of dozens of conservatives in the 2024 election cycle, including Donald Trump and Crane, himself.

Sig Sauer donated $3,900 to Crane’s 2022 campaign, according to Open Secrets.

In 2024, Crane’s campaign was bankrolled by hard-right groups like the House Freedom Fund and Senate Conservative Fund. He also recently received $6,600 in financial backing from Elon Musk after filing articles of impeachment against a federal judge who blocked Trump-era financial surveillance efforts.

But Crane has also remained fairly elusive. Hiding from most media coverage unless it’s with conservative media, he has been notoriously difficult to pin down.

In 2022, Crane gave an exclusive interview to far-right website Breitbart News. He has since largely avoided mainstream press.

Before the last election, however, Crane was a guest on the UnsubscribePodcast, which interviews primarily veterans and business owners. Crane at one point was asked about the future of politics, and responded by predicting the country in the future would have a “more totalitarian bent where the federal government continues to overreach.”

That “federal overreach” Crane warned about appears to be happening under his watch, argued Cosner, who said his therapy business that receives federal funding and has been threatened with a Presidential Executive Order, is now dealing with financial unpredictability: “They’re not trying to fix anything,” he said. “They’re just trying to scare everyone. And that’s terrible for business — and worse for people.”

Community advocates like Jeremy Helfgot, a Phoenix-based LGBTQ+ organizer, say Crane represents a broader betrayal happening in Arizona politics.

“These elected officials swore to uphold the Constitution, which guarantees equity for all,” Helfgot said. “Instead, they’re actively working against queer people. It’s shameful.”

For Bernhardt, the communications director for the Arizona Students Association, the stakes go beyond policy.

“Crane is not going to listen, and he’s sending a message that our lives don’t matter,” they said. “Arizona is watching to see what he does, and I think he should remember that.”

In response, local community groups have ramped up organizing, such as hosting events and support groups to push back against Crane, and local Indivisible chapters—collective action groups across the country—have started to protest outside Crane’s office on a consistent basis.

“No one’s coming to save us,” Bernhardt said. “So we have to do it ourselves.”

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