by Matthew Holloway | Oct 24, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb filed a statement of interest Monday to seek Arizona’s 5th Congressional District seat and announced his candidacy Wednesday, placing himself into a growing Republican field.
The filing, reported by AZFamily on Tuesday citing sources close to Lamb, confirmed speculation that the two-term former Sheriff would bring his national name recognition from his 2023 U.S. Senate bid into the race. Lamb announced his campaign publicly on The Charlie Kirk Show late Wednesday morning, telling guest host Tyler Bowyer, “I believe in God, family, freedom, I believe in the rule of law, believe in America, believe in all the things that built this country, and, like you said, we need proven fighters in this in this realm right now.”
Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman quickly took to X, claiming the title of Lamb’s first official endorsement, writing, “Proud to be the first person to officially endorse Mark Lamb for Congress in AZ-CD5! I’ve spent months talking with Mark about running. I’m grateful God has called him to the fight for liberty in Congress. Mark will win. It’s time for conservatives to rally behind Mark.”
Lamb’s entry bolsters a competitive GOP primary in the conservative district, which stretches from Gilbert and Chandler to Queen Creek and eastern Mesa. Early contenders include former state Rep. Travis Grantham and ex-NFL kicker Jay Feely, with more speculated names like Gilbert Councilman Monte Lyons and home-builder Daniel Keenan, as well as Theologian and Army Chaplain (ret.) Alex Stovall.
A poll from NextGen Polling on October 12th, reflecting the Fifth Congressional District’s demographics, was based on 830 responses with a margin of error of ±3.3 percent at 95 percent confidence, according to the pollster. The poll showed Lamb with a commanding 54 percent lead in a ballot test among likely GOP voters against his top four likely challengers.
Lamb’s name recognition appeared to be a decisive advantage. NextGen Polling wrote, “In terms of name recognition, Keenen was identified by 49 percent of respondents, and Stovall by only 43 percent, indicating that more than half of likely voters are either unfamiliar with them or lack a clear opinion.” Meanwhile, 96 percent of respondents gave Lamb near-universal name recognition according to the poll.
“The polling is sending us a clear message,” said Gregg Pekau, managing partner at NextGen Polling. “Voters in congressional district 5 want to elect Sheriff Mark Lamb to Congress, and campaigning from other candidates is doing little to change their minds. After our last 3 quarters of polls, we’ve seen zero real improvement or movement from Feely, Grantham or Keenan. Without a major move by any of them soon, this race is over if and when Sheriff Lamb enters the race.”
Lamb’s platform details have yet to be announced, but his past campaigns emphasized border security and election integrity, America First tent poles he’s likely to carry forward. The district’s R+10 rating from Cook Political favors Republicans, but the late entrants could muddy the waters.
Lamb’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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.
by Matthew Holloway | Oct 3, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ01) announced his candidacy for Governor of Arizona on Tuesday and will face fellow Republicans Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ05) and Karrin Taylor Robson in the 2026 Primary.
In a statement to The Hill, Schweikert said, “Arizona is at a crossroads that will be decided by the outcome of next year’s race for governor. Arizonans will have the opportunity to decide if our future is one of economic growth and prosperity for all Arizonans, or a future where we become another California.”
“I’ve spent my career fighting for conservative pro-growth policies that strengthen the economy, promote job growth, and protect taxpayers, and that’s exactly what I intend to do as Arizona’s next governor,” he added.
Speaking to James T. Harris on 550 KFYI on Wednesday, Schweikert said, “Washington, D.C., particularly Congress, is unredeemable,” adding, “Congress is unsavable. I think Arizona, though, is savable.”
The congressman’s decision to join the race has generated mixed responses within the Arizona Republican Party and among top conservative figures. Tyler Bowyer and key figures in Turning Point Action and Turning Point USA have thrown their endorsement behind Biggs. Both Biggs and Taylor Robson were endorsed by President Donald Trump in April, but he has not yet commented on Schweikert’s bid as of this report.
Robson campaign advisor Jeff Glassburner said in a statement, “Our campaign welcomes Congressman Schweikert to the campaign trail. He is a career politician with a well-documented history of opposing President Trump, including abandoning his district at a critical time when President Trump and House Republicans relied on his presence to secure re-election and maintain our House majority. This comes after earlier this year, when he ‘slept’ through and didn’t vote for the President’s marquee piece of legislation, the Big Beautiful Bill,” according to the Arizona Daily Independent.
The Biggs campaign reacted by stating, “No matter what the field looks like, polls have been clear: Arizona Republican primary voters are supporting our campaign. We’ll keep working and building on our lead over the coming months.” He also linked to a recent poll that shows Biggs in a commanding lead over both Robson and Schweikert.
Schweikert’s decision to challenge Arizona’s incumbent Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs will require him to vacate his District 1 Congressional seat, rated by Cook Political as an R+1 ‘Toss-up.’ By comparison, the district 5 seat opened by Rep. Andy Biggs’ run for Governor is far more secure at R+10. This state of affairs was commented upon by Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman, who openly criticized Schweikert for his decision and accused AZGOP Chairwoman Gina Swoboda of influencing him to do so in a post on X on Tuesday.
Hoffman wrote, “Well, this tweet aged well. The AZGOP Chair worked behind the scenes to push Schweikert to run for Governor. Now one of America’s most important House swing districts is in jeopardy. And she’s put the congressional majority for @realDonaldTrump at risk. Very stupid.”
Swoboda denied the accusations, stating officially that she follows the AZGOP bylaws, which prohibit her from endorsing candidates in the primary.
The Arizona Freedom Caucus also criticized the retiring congressman, writing, “David Schweikert is losing his own congressional district to Biggs in the Governor’s race polling TRUE STORY: David was over being in Congress, but his ego, and the ego+bank acct of his consultant, refused to let him just gracefully retire They chose to divide the GOP instead.”
A recent Pulse Decision Science poll showed Biggs as the clear frontrunner in the Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary.
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.
by Jonathan Eberle | Sep 6, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-LD15) has filed an ethics complaint against Sen. Analise Ortiz (D-LD24), accusing her of endangering public safety by posting online alerts about federal immigration enforcement activity.
Hoffman announced the filing Wednesday, arguing that Ortiz’s actions undermined U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Arizona. He said her public posts alerted individuals targeted by federal agents, putting both officers and civilians at risk.
“By publicly posting alerts about federal law enforcement activity, she actively tipped off individuals being pursued by ICE, jeopardizing the safety of officers and law-abiding citizens,” Hoffman said in a statement.
According to the complaint, Ortiz used her official platform to share real-time information about enforcement operations and urged people to avoid them. The filing states that after being criticized, Ortiz defended her posts with what Hoffman characterized as “inflammatory language.”
The complaint is backed by Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14), Majority Leader John Kavanagh (R-LD3), and other Republican lawmakers. It calls for Ortiz to face expulsion or, at minimum, disciplinary action by the chamber.
“Every law enforcement officer deserves to go home safe at the end of their shift. Every Arizona family deserves to know their elected leaders are protecting them, not siding with lawlessness,” Hoffman said. The Senate Ethics Committee will now review the complaint to determine whether to move forward with a formal investigation or disciplinary measures.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Aug 2, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Turning Point Action’s (TPA) recently updated scorecard grades the state of Arizona, as well as our members of Congress and State Legislators, on their alignment with or divergence from its policies and political positions. Federal-level scorecards were created for all fifty states, but state-level drilldowns were developed for six swing states: Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia.
The scorecard revealed a significant opportunity for improvement in the Arizona legislature, with many of the most prominent Republicans in leadership roles scoring below the 80th percentile. According to TPA, the conservative outreach organization, “has worked across the conservative movement to identify every scorecard and the legislation they encompass and provide an accumulation of scoring from across the Republican spectrum.”
Each state, policy category, and lawmaker (federal and state) is scored 0-100 and is classified from “Tyrant,” and “Becoming Tyrannical,” mainly for Democrats and some Republicans with a score of 49 or less, to “Turncoat” at 50, “Betraying America,” from 50-60, “Erratic,” from 60-70, “Becoming Erratic” from 70-80, “Losing Patriotism,” at 80-95, and for those scoring 95+: “Patriot.”
According to an explanation of lawmaker scoring from TPA, “Turning Point Action looks at each vote individually, identifies the category it belongs in and works amongst the grassroots to identify the conservative position. If the representative votes with Turning Point Action’s position for each bill or nomination, they receive full points. If the representative votes against TPA’s position, they receive nothing. Not voting, present, and abstaining from voting gives the representative only half credit, thereby diminishing their score for neglecting their responsibility.”
States are also scored in overall terms by “first finding the overall House score and overall Senate score by issue. Then the overall House score is added to the overall Senate score and divided by two to achieve the overall category state score.” States are accordingly ranked as being a “Tyrannical State” with a score between 0%-20%, “Becoming Tyrannical,” from 21%-40%, an “Erratic State” from 41%-60%, “Losing Freedom,” from 61%-80%, and a “Free State” scoring 81% or better.
As of this report, Arizona is ranked as “Losing Freedom” on federal matters with a score of 62.50 and as an “Erratic State” on state issues with a score of 41.69.
In the case of Arizona’s state legislature, the only “Patriots” recognized by TPA were Senator Jake Hoffman with a score of 99.40, and Representatives Joseph Chaplik with 98.05 and Alexander Kolodin with 96.10. The scores indicate a significant split between Arizona’s legislative GOP leadership and one of the largest, most impactful political organizations in the state and country.
Several of the most prominent leaders in the GOP were scored relatively low, such as House Speaker Steve Montenegro, who scored 77.27, labeled as “Becoming Erratic,” and Majority Leader Michael Carbone, who scored 71.43. Senate President Warren Petersen is listed as “Losing Patriotism,” with a score of 89.16 alongside Majority Leader John Kavanagh, who scored 83.13.
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.
by Matthew Holloway | Jul 16, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-LD15) suggested Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ handling of a “foreign cyberattack” looks like a “massive cover-up” in a fiery exchange on X, posted Tuesday.
Further allegations from Hoffman that “Adrian Fontes is lying” followed Turning Point Action COO Tyler Bowyer’s post about the reported hacking of the Secretary of State’s Candidate Portal. Hoffman added that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are now involved in the matter.
In his initial post Bowyer wrote, “BREAKING NEWS: I was just was told by an inside source at the legislature that it appears the Arizona Secretary of State’s portal was hacked, believed to be impacting the Candidate portal, but possibly much more.”
The Secretary of State responded with a reference to his office’s July 1st press release writing, “Your ‘inside source’ finally read the press release we issued on July 1? Breaking news indeed.”
In the press release in question, Fontes’ office stated:
“The Secretary of State’s Office detected and successfully responded to a malicious adversary that targeted the Arizona Secretary of State’s website. These attempts were investigated, our security controls tuned for similar attack patterns, and applicable threat intelligence was shared with our cybersecurity partners. The Arizona statewide voter registration database was not targeted and is unaffected by this event. The integrity of all Secretary of State systems has been maintained and the office remains in a heightened security posture as we continue to monitor for new and evolving threats.”
In a statement Fontes said, “Our office identified patterns of activity consistent with what others are now publicly acknowledging, and we took decisive action to strengthen our defenses early on. I’m proud to say that critical systems—like Arizona’s voter registration database—remained secure and protected throughout. We will continue to lead with urgency and vigilance, because defending democracy doesn’t come with a pause button.”
In a response posted Tuesday night, Hoffman blasted Fontes writing, “July 1st press release looks like a MASSIVE cover up[.] FBI & DHS (at least!) now involved[.] A private briefing was held TODAY and legislators have confirmed that a ‘foreign cyberattack’ on AZ’s election system occurred[.] The public is totally in the dark[.] Adrian Fontes is lying!”
In a follow-up post he wrote, “AZ ELECTION CYBER ATTACK COVER-UP Legislators report a briefing last week for GOP members downplaying severity of hack[.] NOW: Reports of a briefing today for DEM legislators only telling the full story[.] FBI & DHS are confirmed to be involved[.] Why is Adrian Fontes lying?”
AZ Free News has reached out to Senator Hoffman seeking elaboration on the “private briefing” held Tuesday and the involvement of the FBI and Department of Homeland Security that “confirmed” a “foreign cyberattack’ on AZ’s election system.”
As of this report no response has been received.
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.
