By Matthew Holloway |
Democratic congressional nominee Amish Shah declined an invitation to participate in an Arizona PBS discussion with Republican nominee Jay Feely, leaving Feely as the only First Congressional District candidate on the program.
“As for the Democratic candidate, Amish Shah, he declined our invitation to participate in tonight’s discussion,” Arizona Horizon host Ted Simons said at the opening of the segment.
Arizona PBS presented the interview as part of its “Candidates in Conversation” series. The station described the district as Arizona’s wealthiest congressional district and identified northeast Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and Fountain Hills among the communities it includes.
Feely greeted Simmons and asked, “Is it you or me they don’t like?”
“I haven’t figured it out,” Simons replied. “We’ll work that out later.”
Feely subsequently characterized the planned appearance as a debate and accused Shah of avoiding scrutiny.
“It’s disappointing that Amish Shah hid from tonight’s debate,” Feely wrote on X. “Arizonans deserve a representative willing to show up and stand by their convictions. Shah knows his socialist views & support for Bernie Sanders are deeply unpopular. He’s hoping you never learn who he really is.”
Shah’s campaign has not publicly explained his decision to decline the Arizona PBS invitation.
The interview began with the economy. Feely identified affordability as the most pressing issue facing district residents, citing conversations at doors and campaign events.
“People in general care about the economy,” Feely told Simons. “They care about the future for their children. You know, when you go to the grocery store, you look at prices. When you buy gas, obviously that’s a big one as well.”
Feely said reducing regulations could lower housing costs and argued that wage growth would help households absorb higher prices. He also defended President Donald Trump’s use of tariffs as leverage in trade negotiations.
Asked whether he would support a proposed tariff of 50 percent or more on Canadian goods, Feely said he did not expect the tariff to take effect.
“It’s not going to happen,” Feely said. “He uses it as leverage. Everything he does is about leverage to get the best deal for America.”
Feely later acknowledged that tariffs can raise prices in the short term. He said the policies should be evaluated according to whether they encourage domestic manufacturing and produce more favorable trade agreements.
Simons also questioned Feely about the national debt and federal entitlement spending. Feely said Congress would have to address mandatory spending and begin a discussion about the long-term finances of Social Security.
Shah’s current campaign platform calls for rolling back Trump’s tariffs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and expanding access to health coverage. His campaign describes him as a supporter of universal health care and says he would work to reduce premiums and prescription drug prices.
The candidates’ differences over health care became part of Feely’s closing argument.
When Simons asked whether Feely wanted Trump to campaign in the district, Feely said he would remain consistent with the positions he took during the Republican primary. Trump endorsed Feely during that contest, and Feely said the two had known each other before either entered politics.
Feely then turned to Shah.
“I think it will come down to a choice of two things in this district in particular, two visions of where the country is going,” Feely said during the exchange. “You have common-sense measures of Republicans on the right, and you have socialist measures and a Bernie Sanders-type guy in Amish Shah, who has campaigned for him. He talked at some of the DSA rallies and believes in crazy policies that they want to implement.”
Simons attempted to return Feely to the question about Trump.
“No borders, no prisons, no property rights,” Feely continued. “These are ideas that I don’t think resonate with the people in the First Congressional District or normal, average people around the country.”
“If he were here—” Simons began.
“He could have been here to defend himself,” Feely replied.
Shah appeared at an April 2019 Arizona for Bernie 2020 town hall in Phoenix. The video of his remarks identifies the event as paid for by Phoenix Democratic Socialists of America and states that it was not authorized by a candidate or candidate committee.
Shah spoke in support of Sanders and a universal, single-payer health care system during the event.
“We have a system that is based on the free market, and there are a lot of things that are wrong with that,” Shah said in the recorded remarks. “We need universal, single-payer Medicare for All throughout this country.”
Shah said during the appearance that health care policy was “one of the first things that drew me to Bernie as a candidate.” His current campaign platform continues to describe him as a supporter of universal health care, with an emphasis on expanding coverage, protecting Medicare, and lowering prescription drug prices.
Simons pressed Feely a second time on whether he wanted Trump to campaign in the district, citing its narrow Republican advantage, large population of independent voters, and Trump’s approval ratings.
Feely responded that he would continue knocking on doors, conducting town halls, and speaking with independent voters.
“I handle that by talking to people, by going door to door, town halls with independents, anyone that wants to talk to me and hear our story and why we care about people and how I want to do that in Congress and do it the right way,” Feely said. “That’s how you handle it. You have those conversations and you communicate with them.”
Shah was also the Democratic nominee in 2024, losing to Schweikert by approximately four percentage points. Shah and Feely will face each other in the general election.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
