Democratic congressional nominee Amish Shah’s campaign reported financial support from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) PAC. HRC opposed the same restrictions on gender transition surgeries for minors and girls’ sports participation in Arizona that Shah voted against as a state lawmaker.
Shah’s campaign disclosed two in-kind contributions totaling $152.66. The entries list a $50 press release contribution dated Aug. 21 and $102.66 in signage dated Sept. 18. The contributions provided campaign materials and services.
The press release entry coincided with HRC PAC’s endorsement of Shah for Arizona’s First Congressional District. In announcing its endorsement, the organization described the race as important to securing a congressional majority supporting its policy priorities.
“The Human Rights Campaign is proud to endorse [Amish Shah’s] candidacy and to work to get him elected this November,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said.
Arizonans, you deserve a champion who will address the real issues — let’s send Dr. Amish Shah to Congress and help secure a pro-equality majority!
— Human Rights Campaign Rapid Response (@HRC) August 21, 2026
The endorsement announcement’s disclaimer identifies Human Rights Campaign PAC as paying for the communication and states that Amish for Arizona authorized it.
Shah responded to the endorsement in a statement describing himself as “a longtime ally of Arizona’s LGBTQ+ community” and saying he was “proud to fight for the community in my time in the State House.”
The endorsement and reported contributions have drawn criticism from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which pointed to Shah’s votes on legislation involving minors’ surgeries, school athletics, and restroom access.
“Arizona families don’t agree with Socialist Amish Shah’s extreme views like backing child transgender sex change surgeries or men in women’s sports. But that’s exactly the far-left agenda Socialist Shah would pursue in Washington if elected,” NRCC spokesman Ben Petersen said.
Shah voted against Senate Bill 1138, which prohibited physicians from providing specified irreversible gender reassignment surgeries to patients younger than 18. The House passed the measure 31–26 on March 24, 2022, and then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed it March 30.
The law’s definition includes mastectomies, breast augmentation, and specified genital procedures performed for gender transition. It preserves exceptions involving certain disorders of sex development, treatment of complications from previous procedures, and physical conditions requiring surgery to prevent imminent death or impairment of a major bodily function. Its prohibition addresses surgical procedures.
HRC urged Ducey to veto SB 1138, arguing that lawmakers were interfering with healthcare decisions involving transgender children and their families.
“It is simply not the job of legislators to make healthcare decisions for the families who this legislation will directly impact,” HRC Arizona State Director Bridget Sharpe said.
The same statement opposed Senate Bill 1165, the Save Women’s Sports Act, which Shah also voted against. That legislation required covered school athletic teams to be designated according to biological sex and prohibited students of the male sex from participating on teams designated for females, women, or girls.
The sports measure covered public schools and private schools competing against them, including institutions of higher education. It permitted female students to participate on teams designated for males and preserved coeducational competition. The House approved it 31–24, with five members not voting, on March 24, 2022.
After Ducey signed both bills March 30, HRC issued a statement condemning his decision, expressly identifying the surgery and sports restrictions.
Shah had previously opposed House Bill 2706, a 2020 proposal restricting participation on female school athletic teams based on biological sex. The House passed that bill 31–29, with all Democrats voting against it. The measure subsequently stalled in the Senate Rules Committee and never received a Senate floor vote.
His voting record also includes opposition to Senate Bill 1040, a 2023 proposal governing public school restrooms, changing facilities, and sleeping accommodations.
The bill would have required reasonable accommodations for people unwilling or unable to use facilities designated for their sex. Possible accommodations included single-occupancy or employee facilities. The proposal excluded accommodations allowing access to opposite-sex restrooms or changing facilities when others were or could be present. It also would have authorized lawsuits under specified circumstances involving access to facilities designated for the opposite sex.
Shah voted against the measure when the House passed it 31–27 on May 15, 2023. Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed it June 8.
Shah faces Republican nominee Jay Feely in Arizona’s First Congressional District.
Democratic congressional nominee Amish Shah is facing fresh criticism from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) over his support for taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants. The NRCC is pointing to Shah’s call for a “wholesale repeal” of the tax-and-spending law President Donald Trump signed in 2025.
During an April candidate forum, Shah was asked what he would do about the law commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Trump administration and the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) refer to Public Law 119-21 as the Working Families Tax Cut.
“So number one, repeal the tax cuts,” Shah said in a video released by the NRCC. “Yeah, I’ve called for a wholesale repeal of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. … I think it’s abominable.”
The NRCC argues that repealing the entire law would also reverse its immigration-related healthcare restrictions and rescind billions of dollars provided for immigration enforcement and border security.
LEAKED: AZ Democrat @DrAmishShah said, "So #1, repeal the tax cuts! Yeah, I’ve called for a wholesale repeal" … "Yes!"
Socialist Shah would raise taxes on Valley families by OVER $4,000 and end No Tax on Tips/Overtime/Social Security. AZ can't afford Socialist Shah! pic.twitter.com/JOfaelDmtl
“If Socialist Amish Shah got his way, criminal illegal immigrants would be back on free healthcare while Arizona families foot the bill,” NRCC spokesman Ben Petersen said in a statement provided to AZ Free News. “Every step of the way, Amish Shah backed radical open borders policies that led to the worst border crisis in American history and he’d do it all over again.”
Shah did not mention immigration or Medicaid in the cited portion of the forum. His remarks called for repealing the broader law and its tax provisions.
The legislation became Public Law 119-21 when President Trump signed it on July 4, 2025. It combined tax provisions with changes to Medicaid, food assistance, energy policy, and immigration enforcement.
The law narrows the categories of noncitizens eligible for federally funded Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program benefits beginning Oct. 1. Under guidance issued by the CMS, federal Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding generally will be limited to U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and migrants covered by the Compact of Free Association.
The restrictions will affect some immigrants lawfully present in the United States, including refugees and people granted asylum. Across Medicaid, CHIP, Medicare, and Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the law’s combined immigration-related provisions would leave approximately 1.4 million lawfully present immigrants uninsured by 2034.
Illegal immigrants were already ineligible for comprehensive federally funded Medicaid coverage before the 2025 law. Federal matching funds were, and remain, available when a patient requires emergency treatment and would otherwise qualify for Medicaid apart from immigration status.
CMS said the new law preserves federal matching funds for emergency treatment. It also preserves state options to cover lawfully residing children and pregnant women through Medicaid or CHIP.
A separate provision caps the federal reimbursement rate for emergency Medicaid at each state’s standard matching rate beginning Oct. 1, rather than the enhanced rate available for the Medicaid expansion population. Repealing that provision would restore the previous reimbursement formula for emergency care. It would not establish comprehensive Medicaid eligibility for people living in the country illegally.
The 1.4 million figure cited by the White House and Republican organizations during the bill’s 2025 debate came from a separate CBO analysis of the earlier House-passed version.
The Congressional Budget Office determined that approximately 1.4 million people whose immigration or citizenship status was unverified could lose coverage because states would face a reduced federal Medicaid matching rate if they continued operating state-funded health programs for illegal immigrants.
“Those 1.4 million people currently are covered under state-funded programs alone,” the CBO wrote. “Their health insurance coverage does not involve federal funding.”
Shah has focused his opposition to the law on its wider healthcare provisions. In a July 2025 guest commentary for the Arizona Capitol Times, the emergency room physician called the law “a logistical failure, professional betrayal, a moral outrage and a national disgrace.”
The law also contains major appropriations for border and immigration enforcement. It provides $4.1 billion to hire and train additional Customs and Border Protection personnel, including Border Patrol agents, Office of Field Operations officers, and Air and Marine agents. Another $2.05 billion is designated for retention, hiring, and performance bonuses.
The law appropriates $29.85 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities through fiscal year 2029, including hiring and training additional personnel. It also allocates billions for border barriers, detention capacity, transportation, and state reimbursement.
A wholesale repeal of the One Big Beautiful Bill, codified as Public Law 119-21, would require Congress to decide which tax, healthcare, immigration, and spending provisions to eliminate or replace. Shah has not released a detailed proposal for repeal legislation specifying how he would treat each provision.
Republican congressional nominee Jay Feely and Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher joined the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) on Saturday for the opening of a new campaign “Battlestation” in Scottsdale. The event took place as Republicans build out their ground operation in one of the country’s most competitive congressional races.
The NRCC said the Scottsdale office will serve as a hub for the grassroots operation supporting Feely, including volunteer recruitment, voter contact, and turnout efforts ahead of the general election.
The opening places another piece of the national Republican Party’s field organization directly inside Arizona. In July, Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani and the NRCC opened a Battlestation in Sierra Vista for the competitive Sixth Congressional District race.
The NRCC has described its Battlestation program as a multimillion-dollar national investment designed to establish permanent field operations in competitive House districts. In a May strategy document, the committee said it already had more than 20 offices operating around the country.
Battlestation is live — Scottsdale showed up and we are not slowing down. 🌵☀️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ullLTee059
By late June, NOTUS reported that the network had grown to more than 30 Battlestations in key congressional districts. The broader Republican strategy is focused heavily on identifying and turning out voters who supported President Donald Trump but are historically less likely to vote in midterm elections.
The Scottsdale opening comes as Republicans and Democrats prepare for a closely watched contest between Feely and Democratic nominee Amish Shah for the seat being vacated by Republican Rep. David Schweikert.
Feely, a former Arizona Cardinals kicker and longtime NFL broadcaster, won the Republican primary in July with approximately half of the GOP vote, defeating former state Rep. Joseph Chaplik and businessman John Trobough.
Shah, an emergency physician and former Arizona state representative, won a four-way Democratic primary after defeating former television journalist Marlene Galán-Woods, whom the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had backed. Shah previously challenged Schweikert in 2024 and lost by approximately four percentage points.
The open seat emerged after Schweikert gave up his congressional reelection bid to run for governor. He was subsequently defeated by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ05) in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
The district, which includes much of Scottsdale, northeast Phoenix, Paradise Valley, and Fountain Hills, is regarded as one of the races that could help determine control of the House. The Cook Political Report rates CD1 a Toss Up, with a R+1 partisan voting index.
Feely has already received substantial support from national Republicans.
In March, the NRCC named him to its first group of candidates in the committee’s “MAGA Majority” program, the successor to its longtime Young Guns candidate program. The initiative provides targeted Republican candidates with strategic support, resources, and national exposure.
President Trump also endorsed Feely and reiterated that support shortly before the July primary.
“There’s an incredibly important election coming up in your state,” Trump said in a video endorsement, calling Feely a “true America First conservative” and saying he would support lower taxes, reduced regulation, border security, and law enforcement.
Urlacher’s participation in Saturday’s opening also reflects the unusual level of support Feely has received from figures in professional sports. Urlacher spent his entire 13-season NFL career with the Chicago Bears and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. He is also among the sports figures who have financially backed Feely’s congressional campaign.
Campaign finance records show Urlacher contributed $7,000 to Feely.
Feely has also received contributions from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, former Phoenix Suns star Charles Barkley, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, broadcaster Jim Nantz, and members of the Arizona Cardinals’ Bidwill family.
After Feely won the primary, the NRCC said after Feely won the primary that Republicans intend to campaign on affordability, economic policy, and public safety in the district.
“As a former NFL player, business leader and charity founder, Jay Feely understands the Valley needs fiscally conservative leadership so every Arizonan can prosper and live the American Dream,” NRCC spokesman Ben Petersen said. “That’s why Arizonans will send Jay Feely to fight the tax-and-spend politicians in Washington D.C., lower the cost of groceries, gas and housing and protect our public safety and quality of life.”
The committee has already begun spending against Shah as well, launching a paid digital advertising campaign following the Democratic primary.
With the Scottsdale Battlestation now open, the national Republican effort in Arizona’s First Congressional District is moving from the primary campaign into its general-election turnout operation with just over two months remaining before Election Day.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) criticized Democratic congressional nominee Amish Shah over his veganism and decade-old remarks linking meat consumption to cancer. The NRCC questioned whether Shah’s support for universal health care extends to government restrictions on meat.
The committee issued its challenge after Politico reported on Republican efforts to make veganism a campaign issue in several battleground races. The report identified Shah among the Democratic candidates whose dietary views and animal-welfare advocacy have drawn Republican scrutiny.
Politico reported that Shah identifies as vegan and founded the Arizona Vegetarian Food Festival. His official biography with the Arizona Legislature described the festival as a philanthropic effort intended to promote healthy eating and eliminate preventable disease.
The NRCC published a video that it identified as footage from a 2015 speech by Shah at the festival. The committee said the recording showed Shah linking meat consumption with “DNA damage” and cancer. Shah later discussed meat and cheese while referring to coronary bypass surgery.
POLITICO reports that Arizona Democrat Amish Shah, a Vegan Socialist, argued in 2015:
🥩Eating meat causes "DNA damage" & cancer
Shah on doctors doing surgery:🧀 "They’re not pulling broccoli out of there, okay? Yeah, they’re pulling cheese and they’re pulling meat out of that"… pic.twitter.com/JgtnIeZxGX
“When they do bypass surgeries, they’re not pulling broccoli out of there, okay?” Shah said. “Yeah, they’re pulling cheese, and they’re pulling meat out of that.”
The committee subsequently asked whether Shah believes a government-run health system “should monitor, ban, tax or limit meat consumption.”
“The more Arizonans learn about socialist Amish Shah, the more clear it gets how out of touch he is with their priorities,” NRCC spokesman Ben Petersen said. “Socialist Shah’s wacky liberal agenda pushing Vegan policies, the Green New Scam, and a socialist government takeover of health care place him squarely out of the mainstream.”
Shah’s current campaign platform calls him a “proven champion for Universal healthcare” and says he would expand coverage, protect Medicare, and lower prescription-drug prices. The published platform also calls for honoring state and local authority to combat factory farming and for ending horse slaughter for human consumption.
As of Friday, the campaign’s published issues page contained no proposal to tax, ban, monitor, or limit individual meat consumption.
Shah is running against Republican nominee Thomas “Jay” Feely for the open First Congressional District seat. Shah won the Democratic nomination in July after defeating the candidate backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Feely won the Republican nomination after receiving President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Arizona cattle and calves generated approximately $727.2 million in sales during 2022, accounting for 14 percent of the state’s $5.2 billion in agricultural-product sales, according to the USDA Census of Agriculture. Cattle ranked as Arizona’s third-largest agricultural sales category behind vegetables, melons, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, at 27.5 percent, and milk from cows, at 22.4 percent.
Republican Rep. David Schweikert defeated Shah with 51.9% of the vote in 2024. Schweikert subsequently declined to seek reelection and ran unsuccessfully for governor, leaving the congressional seat open.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is targeting Democratic congressional nominee Amish Shah over his documented support for admitting Washington, D.C., as the 51st state. The criticism comes as Arizona’s competitive First Congressional District race moves into the general election.
The NRCC said Thursday that Shah supported the proposal on multiple occasions while serving in the Arizona House of Representatives and characterized statehood as an effort to expand Democratic power in Congress. The committee cited a 2021 letter signed by Shah and a 2023 concurrent resolution listing him among its sponsors.
The D.C. Statehood Compact, an organization supporting admission, lists Shah among 33 Democratic Arizona lawmakers who signed the 2021 letter. The lawmakers wrote that “the State of Arizona supports admitting Washington, D.C. into the Union” and urged the state’s congressional delegation to support federal statehood legislation.
Two years later, Shah joined more than two dozen Arizona House members and eight state senators sponsoring House Concurrent Resolution 2034. The measure, which died in committee without receiving a floor vote, would have proclaimed support for admitting Washington, D.C., as a state and enacting federal legislation granting statehood to its residents.
The resolution argued that District residents pay federal taxes, serve in the military, and remain without full voting representation in Congress. It also cited the 2016 districtwide referendum in which approximately 86 percent of voters supported statehood.
Federal statehood legislation would preserve a smaller federal district containing the White House, Capitol, Supreme Court and other federal buildings while admitting the residential and commercial portions of Washington as the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth. The proposed state would elect two senators and initially one voting member of the House. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Sen. Chris Van Hollen reintroduced companion measures in January 2025.
Republicans have argued that admission would produce two reliably Democratic Senate seats and an additional Democratic vote in the House. District voters have supported the Democratic presidential nominee in every election since they first participated in 1964. Former Vice President Kamala Harris received 90.28 percent of the District’s vote in 2024, while President Donald Trump received 6.47 percent.
NRCC spokesman Ben Petersen linked Shah’s statehood position to the committee’s broader criticism of his policy record.
ALERT: Arizona Democrat Socialist @DrAmishShah pushed for making Washington D.C. 🟦 the 51st state — a Democrat power grab
Uncovered docs revealed Socialist Shah wanted to create two new Democrat-held U.S. Senate seats and a Democrat U.S. House seat 🟦🟦🟦
In a post to X, Petersen wrote, “Arizona Democrat Socialist @DrAmishShah pushed for making Washington D.C. the 51st state — a Democrat power grab. Uncovered docs revealed Socialist Shah wanted to create two new Democrat-held U.S. Senate seats and a Democrat U.S. House seat.”
“Socialist Amish Shah demonstrated he’s a partisan Democrat obsessed with seizing power to force unpopular far-left tax hikes on Arizonans,” Petersen said, adding, “Arizona families can’t afford Socialist Shah rubber-stamping a radical left agenda in Congress.”
Shah’s campaign describes him as an independent voice who worked across party lines during his five years in the state Legislature. His campaign says his congressional priorities include lowering costs, protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and defending abortion rights.
The new attack follows a contentious Democratic primary in which Shah openly criticized national party leaders. In May, Shah accused the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee of interfering in the race after it endorsed former television journalist Marlene Galán-Woods. Shah said the committee had previously assured candidates that it would remain out of the primary and described its intervention as “hubris.”
Shah defeated Galán-Woods and two other candidates in July and will face Republican nominee Jay Feely in November. Feely, a former Arizona Cardinals kicker, received Trump’s endorsement during the Republican primary. The open district includes Scottsdale, northeast Phoenix, Fountain Hills, and Paradise Valley and is expected to help determine control of the U.S. House.
The NRCC has also focused on remarks Shah made about taxes and the Democratic Party’s progressive wing. During a Democratic forum this year, Shah called Trump’s tax cuts “abominable” and said he would use his platform to “prosecute” Trump and congressional Republicans “as vigorously as I can.”
During a 2018 appearance that resurfaced in the 2024 campaign, Shah said the country’s economic system was unfair, blamed Reagan-era tax reductions for contributing to inequality and welcomed what he called a “huge progressive movement” within the Democratic Party. Shah also said during the 2024 campaign that he opposed extending the Trump tax cuts because many of their beneficiaries were wealthy.
Shah previously won the district’s Democratic nomination in 2024 and lost to Republican Rep. David Schweikert by approximately four percentage points Schweikert left the seat open after forgoing reelection to run unsuccessfully for governor.
