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Eli Crane scrubs ‘forever wars’ and spending pledges he voted against from campaign website
Eli Crane scrubs ‘forever wars’ and spending pledges he voted against from campaign website. Originally published by Arizona Mirror.
By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy · 2026-09-06T02:43:01.224Z
Eli Crane at at April 2026 rally for President Donald Trump in Phoenix. Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY SA 2.0 A month ago, a section of U.S. Rep. Eli Crane’s campaign website declared that he was opposed to spending money on foreign “forever wars” and vowed to “rein in reckless spending” that was increasing the national debt. But Crane, a Republican who represents Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District https://ballotpedia.org/Arizona%27s 2nd Congressional District District map , has repeatedly voted to allow President Donald Trump to unilaterally go to war with Iran — a conflict now in its seventh month — and he backed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which slashed taxes on businesses and the wealthy and will increase the national debt by $4.7 trillion https://www.crfb.org/blogs/obbba dynamic score comes 47 trillion . And now, as Republicans head into a midterm election with a historically unpopular GOP president and polling shows he is running neck and neck with his Democratic opponent, Crane has scrubbed those priorities from his website. “Instead of funding forever wars and throwing away money we don’t have, Eli believes we should be focused on taking care of those who risked it all for our freedom,” Crane’s site said as recently as July https://web.archive.org/web/20260719091619/https://eliforarizona.com/issues eli crane/ under the heading “fighting for those who fought for us.” The new site changes the heading to “fighting for veterans” and removes his opposition to “forever wars” in favor of talking about fighting “fraud ridden nongovernmental organizations” and declaring that “we should be focused on taking care of those who risked it all for our freedom.” Crane has voted https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2026170 multiple https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/roll114.xml times https://www.congress.gov/votes/house/119 2/85 in favor https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th congress/house concurrent resolution/86?loclr=cga member of the deeply unpopular war that has cost the average American household $1,200 so far. Recent https://www.americanprogress.org/article/fact sheet costs of iran war/ polling found that only a quarter of Americans https://www.reuters.com/world/only quarter americans think iran war is worthwhile reutersipsos poll shows 2026 09 04/ are supportive of the Iran War, which has seen 18 service members die and more than 750 wounded. A former Navy SEAL, Crane has been outspoken during his time in Congress against spending money to fund overseas wars, regularly zeroing in on U.S. support of Ukraine in its war against Russia, which invaded the American ally in 2022. “They’re seeing the headlines, you know, when they pump gas or they’re buying groceries, you know, they’re struggling to make ends meet,” Crane said on a podcast in 2024 https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/good vibes podcast/rage against the machine dh IyfW7Hxp/ . “They’re wondering, why the hell are we sending, you know, hundreds of billions of dollars over to a country that most people can’t find on a map and escalate a war with the biggest nuclear superpower in the world? In 2022, Crane made similar comments on another podcast https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the clay travis and buck sexto 4010707/episodes/clay travis and buck sexton sh 148428881 . “It’s just that I have to ask myself, are we putting Americans first? And I don’t believe that we are. And so that’s something when I continue to see us send more money that we don’t even have, we have to print this money because we already are… I think, $33 trillion in debt,” Crane said about the Ukraine conflict. “You know, it really bothers me because we continue to spend money that we don’t have on, you know, protecting somebody else’s sovereignty and border.” Likewise, Crane’s website no longer features his pledge to “rein in reckless spending” and practice fiscal responsibility. “As a small business owner, Eli knows you can’t just print money. As inflation rates and our national debt skyrockets, Congress continues to spend money we don’t have. This is unacceptable and Eli has consistently gone against the grain, voting to rein in reckless spending,” the website previously read. Now, after he voted for the debt boosting https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans came congress fight deficit face attacks raising trump rcna227533 One Big Beautiful Bill, and as inflation continues to rise https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/key inflation gauge jumps to 3 year high in latest sign of affordability challenges under Trump, that section of the website has been deleted. Crane’s rewrite of his “issues” page also signified a shift in focus from national politics to local matters. The old version didn’t mention rural Arizona once, while the new page features sections on protecting rural Arizona land, recovering from natural disasters — like the flood in 2025 https://www.azfamily.com/2025/09/28/2 dead 1 missing globe after massive flooding state declares emergency/ that devastated Globe — and helping Arizonans achieve the American Dream. Crane, whose campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the Arizona Mirror, isn’t the only Republican in the country making similar moves. Two Kentucky Republicans have removed mentions and photos of Trump https://www.lpm.org/news/2026 08 31/another kentucky republican removes trumps name from his website ahead of midterms from their campaign websites, as Republicans nationally https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/04/trump republicans struggle midterms 01064541 are grappling with the president’s rising unpopularity among voters. Although Crane’s district has historically been safe for Republicans https://azmirror.com/2022/09/15/native voters worried they wont have a say in the midterm election/ — Trump won it by 15 points in 2024 — that may not be the case this year. New polling https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/732200/dem poll shows tightening race in deep red territory/?unlock=QL98DIZZ54TZ6EJ5 from his opponent, former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, showed the race statistically tied as of late August. Crane was already seen as potentially vulnerable earlier this year, which prompted national GOP leaders to funnel cash into his campaign https://azmirror.com/briefs/money gop leaders juan ciscomani eli crane democrats say thats telling/ . The changes to Crane’s website also extended to his “about” page which has removed references to his anti abortion stance, replacing it with a quote from Crane saying he is “committed to putting Rural Arizona first.” SUPPORT https://azmirror.com/donate/?oa referrer=midstorybox