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PHOENIX — After the results of a contentious race for state Republican party chairman were announced in late January, GOP figureheads talked at length about the party coming together and moving on.

But this week, nearly four months later, the wounds still seemed fresh as Republicans launched into a very public dust-up over immigration.

Now, there's renewed intra-party debate over whether Arizona Republicans can effectively compete in 2008.

At the center of the storm is GOP Chairman Randy Pullen — who edged out 38-year-old fundraising machine Lisa James by only four votes during that January election. He made national news this week for standing up for the party's grassroots rather than the state's two U.S. senators.

While John McCain is accustomed to facing criticisms for partnering with Democrats, this time Jon Kyl took the hit.

Arizona's junior senator involved himself in negotiations for a compromise bill on immigration, saying that with Democrats holding the majority he'd rather improve the bill than sit on the sidelines.

Pullen publicized the concerns about Kyl, in response, he said, to a flood of calls and letters from angry Republicans.

His critical remarks drew the attention of the national media, and by Wednesday he was playing hardball with MSNBC's Chris Matthews. On the Fox News Channel, anchor Brit Hume declared: "That battle in the Senate over immigration legislation seems mild compared to the fight in Arizona between state GOP conservatives and Arizona's two Republican senators."

The entire episode has cemented the fears — and hopes — about what a Pullen reign would bring. Supporters say he's standing up to the Washington elite and energizing the party base. Critics says he's further dividing a troubled party — and in the national spotlight.

Though ideology is part of the equation, Pullen's opponents aren't just moderates. Many can be found in some of the most conservative corners of the party. But those conservatives say they are realists, at odds with a small group of party purists who are gaining influence with Pullen at the wheel.

Pullen declined to be interviewed last week, but during a press conference last Monday, Pullen said staying silent would have been more harmful. He said it's the immigration bill, not his actions, that are spilling Republicans.

"I didn't create the situation, but the situation is what it is," he said. "This is an issue where the base of the party and the delegation are not fully in agreement."

For all the talk about Pullen being a fire-breathing conservative, his demeanor is quite cool.

It's the same polished, professional attitude that made the Phoenix resident a successful businessman. A CPA by trade, Pullen emerged as a Maricopa County real estate consultant.

Pullen became visible in the Phoenix political scene in the '90s, when he ran against Mayor Skip Rimsza.

Unlike Tucson, Phoenix's city races are nonpartisan — but moderate Rimsza and conservative Pullen were both Republicans with business ties.

Pullen, who has now been accused of catering to the most right-wing segments of the party, impressed powerbrokers. GOP strategist Nathan Sproul calls Pullen's actions last week "outrageous." But back in 1999, Sproul said Pullen seemed like a different person.

"The first time I ever met Randy he struck me as far more a pro-business, country club Republican," said Sproul. "I would not have seen this type of person emerge."

Pullen lost that mayor's race, and another in 2003. Sproul and others say after the second defeat, Pullen transformed.

"He chose to align himself with the angry wing of our party to get elected national committeeman," said Sproul. That meant taking conservative positions to knock Tucsonan Mike Hellon, an abortion rights moderate, out of the job.

Sproul isn't immune to controversy. He's former head of the Arizona Christian Coalition. He led the unsuccessful campaign to define marriage in Arizona as between and man and a woman. And in the past, he has come under fire for his petitioning-gathering tactics.

Thursday, he launched an automated phone blast, urging Republicans to tell Pullen he's wrong — a move party spokesman Brett Mecum says has only boosted Pullen's support.

Of Pullen's criticisms of the immigration bill, Mecum said, "We see it as basically trying to rally the Republican base and keep them in for the next election cycle."

The 2006 election was a wake-up call to some Republicans. The party lost two Republican-leaning congressional seats, Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano won landslide re-election and Democrats gained ground in the state House.

Though many party insiders and elected officials see Pullen's approach as a sure way to lose elections, others say his brand of leadership is exactly what has been missing.

"There's no question that we have not had very effective leadership at the state party level. It's been virtually non-existent," says former congressional candidate Randy Graf.

Graf says the party has had a loosing streak not because it hasn't been moderate enough, but because the grassroots base of the party has had no voice. Pullen fits the bill, Graf says.

"The party has basically been a mouthpiece for our elected officials," Graf says. "Where are the independents coming from? I believe it's the base that has been frustrated with the party and the leadership not being out front on these issues."

Mecum said Pullen is not interested in litmus-test politics but on key issues like immigration, he's speaking out "to try to make the base whole again."

Former state Rep. Laura Knaperek, one of the Republicans who lost to Democrats in the November election, says Pullen is in the wrong job.

"I think he's a nice person, but he's a grassroots person who wanted to speak out on immigration. The chairman of the party has a different role," said Knaperek, a conservative.

Now, she says, Pullen is forced to deliver to the right-wing. "He would have mutiny if he didn't," she said.

Pullen's vocal nature is no surprise to those who know him. He was a driving force behind Arizona's successful anti-illegal immigration ballot propositions. But Republicans were particularly worried Pullen would use his position to undercut McCain's chances of winning the presidential nomination.

Pullen has pledged to stay neutral, but his views aren't a secret. In 2005, after McCain helped reach a compromise over judicial nominations, Pullen told the Arizona Daily Star, "John is clearly John's own man. He pays very little attention to what the party rank and file want. He'd rather play to the media than to the rank and file."

Ironically, McCain was highly rumored to have been behind Pullen's 1999 mayoral bid, and at the time, Pullen told the Arizona Republic that it was McCain's wife, Cindy, who encouraged him to run.

Now, Pullen says he's focused on helping other Republicans win elections. But with Democrats gaining ground in the land of Barry Goldwater, the GOP can't seem to agree on how to reach that goal. Pullen plans to prove his skeptics wrong.

"The fact is that we will raise the money and train the candidates and have them ready to go next year to run a very solid race across the state of Arizona," he said Monday.

On StarNet: Do you support the new immigration plan? Participate in an online poll at azstarnet.com/border