Anti-tax protesters in Gilbert on July 4, 2009 (Tribune file photo by Darryl Webb).

If a taxpayer town hall I attended last night at San Tan Flat is any harbinger of things to come, Gov. Jan Brewer is making a whole host of enemies within the Republican Party with her insistence on a statewide election for a temporary, 1-cent increase in the sales tax.

At least 120 people jammed into a side room for an event sponsored by Tom Jenney with Americans for Prosperity. While the meeting was ostensibly nonpartisan, these folks were almost universally Republicans from Queen Creek and Chandler.

They were upset that Brewer and a Republican-controlled Legislature have yet to adopt a balanced budget. But they seethed with anger that Brewer, widely viewed as a traditional conservative, is so adamant about the proposed sales tax increase instead of cutting back further on state government spending.

No one from the Brewer administration was present, but several Republican lawmakers from Gilbert and Chandler were pressed to explain the governor’s perspective. Rep. Andy Biggs and Sen. Thayer Verschoor (both from Gilbert) struggled to do so, but admitted they also oppose a sales tax election. At one point, a woman shouted out to ask why Brewer wasn’t supporting her own party. That word echoed off the lips of people around the room for long time (why? Why? WHY?) while the lawmakers looked around helplessly.

Others demanded that the lawmakers help to organize the Republican rank-and-file to flood Brewer’s office with phone calls, e-mails and faxes. The idea was that Brewer would change her mind and oppose a tax increase if she simply heard from enough protesters.

But Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, urged the crowd to not underestimate Brewer. Huppenthal has watched Brewer’s political career since they served together in the state Senate. The governor fights as hard as any politician in the state, Huppenthal said, and she never loses.

“When she’s on your side, she’s your best friend,” Huppenthal said. “But when she’s on the other side, it gets nasty. I have watched her go 13-0 in (political) death matches.”

Another person caught in the middle was Randy Pullen, the state Republican Party chairman, who sat quietly in the back until Biggs called Pullen out for issuing a news release supporting a sales tax election. Pullen said he backs an election because he’s convinced voters will reject higher taxes, and then Brewer and the Legislature will have no choice but to cut the budget further. Verschoor said he suspects that’s part of Brewer’s strategy as well.

Reacting to murmurs about a possible recall, Verschoor reminded the audience that Brewer is not Janet Napolitano, pointing to Brewer’s signing of bills in favor of gun rights and of placing new restrictions on abortions.

“I am grateful to have Jan Brewer in the governor’s office,” Verschoor said.