Harmeet Dhillon, a conservative attorney and Trump campaign advisor, was appointed by former President Donald Trump to lead a new ‘Election Integrity team’ in Arizona to “stop Democrat interference” and “secure” the state’s elections, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) announced Tuesday.
Read the full story
Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chair Gina Swoboda told The Arizona Sun Times that Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes did not contact her office to reschedule a meeting this week to discuss the 218,000 registered voters who may not be citizens of the United States.
It was revealed last month that Arizona does not have proof of citizenship records for nearly 100,000 voters in Arizona. A second election integrity issue was raised by Fontes to Swoboda on Friday, when the AZGOP chair issued a press release announcing a meeting was scheduled between the Secretary of State and the party.
Read the full story
Christian Lamar was suspended from attending Arizona Legislative District 2 meetings, where he remains a precinct committeeman and member-at-large for the state’s 8th Congressional District. The body voted overwhelmingly for his suspension, with margins of 80-16 barring access to the legislative district and 76-23 to revoke his state committeeman status.
“I was just expelled as the only Black Republican from AZGOP executive committee by RINOs in AZGOP LD2 for: supporting President Trump, signing up 285 new Trump Precinct Committeemen & holding the Republican AZ state legislature accountable for allowing 2020/2022 stolen elections,” Lamar tweeted.
Read the full story
Chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Gina Swoboda called the alleged theft of a security fob and keys from the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) by a temporary worker a “critical security incident” and “critical risk to the election.”
Read the full story
Chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Gina Swoboda announced her support for a ballot referral that would help secure the state’s border with Mexico introduced by Republican state lawmakers.
Read the full story
Former legislator Liz Harris, expelled in 2023, was tapped by Arizona Republican Party members to represent the Copper State as National Committeewoman at the State Delegate Convention held at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix on Saturday. Freedom Caucus Chair State Senator Jake Hoffman won the position of RNC National Committeeman. Over 1,200 elected delegates gathered to determine who would represent Arizona at the 2024 National Convention in Milwaukee.
Read the full story
The Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) submitted a joint Amicus Curiae brief on Thursday with the Georgia Republican Party and the Republican State Committee of Delaware supporting Kari Lake’s and Mark Finchem’s Petition for Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. The pair are appealing the lower courts’ decisions against their lawsuit challenging the use of electronic voting machine tabulators in elections. Under the new leadership of AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda, who has a lengthy history in election integrity work including heading the Voter Reference Foundation, the AZGOP is heavily focused on election integrity.
Authored by attorney William J. Olson, the brief argues that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals erred by dismissing the case claiming Lake and Finchem lacked standing. The court affirmed the trial court’s granting of the defendants’ motion to dismiss, asserting that the pair lacked standing because “speculative allegations that voting machines may be hackable are insufficient to establish an injury in fact under Article III.” The complaint emphasized that the lower courts “conflated standing with merits, twisting the standing rules to require much more — that the complaint prove facts sufficient to grant relief.”
Read the full story
The Arizona Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week from the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) and opposing litigant Secretary of State (AZSOS) over lower courts awarding sanctions against the AZGOP for filing a “groundless” lawsuit “in bad faith.” The AZGOP sued Arizona officials immediately after the 2020 election for conducting a post-election audit that the AZGOP contended did not comply with the law. The AZGOP said the law required the audit to be conducted at the precinct level, but the audit was conducted at the voting center level according to the state’s Election Procedures Manual (EPG), which the AZGOP claimed contradicted state law.
The AZGOP said A.R.S. § 16-602 requires precinct-level audits. The relevant part of that statute, (B)(1), provides, “ At least two percent of the precincts in that county, or two precincts, whichever is greater, shall be selected at random from a pool consisting of every precinct in that county.” In contrast, the EPM states that in counties which utilize vote centers, vote centers will be used for the audits.
Read the full story
The Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) on Tuesday reported that it raised nearly $250,000 in the 30 days after Gina Swoboda’s election as the party’s new chair.
A post by the AZGOP to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, attributed the fundraising haul to Swoboda, writing that the party chair raised nearly a quarter of a million “in her first 30 days on the job.”
Read the full story
Newly-elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Gina Swoboda joined Thursday’s edition of The Afternoon Addiction with Garret Lewis on KFYI to discuss why she was reluctant at first to run as the AZGOP chair, explaining how a call from former President Donald Trump ultimately changed her mind.
“It was impossible to say no,” Swoboda said. “It was surreal. I think any one of us when called upon to serve is going to serve.”
Read the full story
Newly-elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP), Gina Swoboda, joined Thursday’s edition of The Afternoon Addiction with Garret Lewis on KFYI to discuss how her extensive knowledge of election laws will benefit her in her new position as the party’s chair, in particular her strategy of litigating to protect the party against lawfare this election cycle before it’s “too late.”
Swoboda was elected at the annual AZGOP Mandatory Meeting of the State Committee last week following the resignation of former chair Jeff DeWit.
Read the full story
Newly-elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Gina Swoboda joined Thursday’s edition of The Afternoon Addiction with Garret Lewis on KFYI to discuss her experience as an election official and how her extensive knowledge of election laws will benefit her in her new position as chair.
“One of the issues I think we have had historically is that there has not been a process expert, a subject matter expert, that works with the attorneys to explain to them, ‘this is what should be happening, this is not what’s happening, flag on the court.’ The election attorneys are great, but they are election attorneys, not election administrators,” Swoboda explained. “I’m a certified election official and I’ve helped administer elections…so I know what’s supposed to be happening, I know when things are not supposed to be happening, or when we should be doing things that we are not doing.”
Read the full story
Newly-elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Gina Swoboda joined Steve Bannon’s War Room on Monday where she discussed her plan to litigate and protect the party from lawfare ahead of the November election.
Read the full story
The Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) voted on Saturday to elect Gina Swoboda to be its next chair following the abrupt resignation of Jeff DeWit. Out of 1,600 votes cast, sources told The Arizona Sun Times that Swoboda won over 1,000 votes and her nearest opponent, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Jim O’Connor, won slightly more than 400.
Swoboda, formerly the party’s 3rd vice chair, won the election at the annual AZGOP Mandatory Meeting of the State Committee at the Dream City Church in Phoenix on Saturday and will lead the party ahead of the November elections.
Read the full story
Donald Trump and Kari Lake announced their endorsement Friday of the Voter Reference Foundation’s Gina Swoboda for Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) chair. Jeff DeWit was forced to resign this past week after a recording was released of him attempting to convince Lake to stay out of politics for two years by offering her a well-paying job instead. The election will be held on Saturday at the AZGOP’s annual mandatory meeting for state committeemen.
Lake announced the endorsements on X Friday evening. “I am proud to join President Trump in endorsing Gina Swoboda to become Arizona GOP’s next Chair at tomorrow’s vote,” she said. “Gina has never backed away from working for honest elections, and she is respected in the Republican Party. I am confident that Gina will help deliver Arizona for President Trump and flip control of the U.S. Senate.”
Read the full story
Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake joined Wednesday’s edition of The Afternoon Addiction with Garret Lewis where she reacted to Jeff DeWit’s resignation as the chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) after he delivered her a message last year which included offering her money and a job if she stayed out of politics for two years.
Read the full story
Former President Donald Trump canceled his planned travel to Arizona for Freedom Fest, an event held by the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP), which was also canceled despite other speakers planning to attend.
The AZGOP’s decision to cancel the event came just one day after the party’s chairman resigned following the release of audio in which he relayed an offer to U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake that would see her receive a well-paying job in the private sector in exchange for staying out of politics.
Read the full story
Editor-in-Chief and CEO of The Tennessee Star Michael Patrick Leahy joined Steve Bannon’s War Room on Wednesday to discuss who orchestrated the message Jeff DeWit, the now-former chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP), delivered to Kari Lake, which included offering her money and a job if she stayed out of politics for two years.
Read the full story
Jeff DeWit, the chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP), resigned on Wednesday after an audio recording was leaked revealing him offering Kari Lake money and a job if she stayed out of politics for two years. Now, questions are arising as to who told DeWit to make the offer.
The former chair of AZGOP said “very powerful people” “Back East” were behind it. A source knowledgeable of the situation told The Arizona Sun Times that it was the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), naming Political Director Tim Edson. However, when The Sun Times asked the NRSC if this was true, the organization did not respond.
Read the full story
Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake confirmed on Thursday that she recorded the audio of former Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chair Jeff DeWit relaying an offer for Lake to receive a well-paying private sector job in exchange for staying out of politics. She also said listening to the audio with her daughter was a key motivation to release the recording.
Lake, during an appearance on “Louder with Crowder” on Thursday, confirmed she recorded the audio of DeWit, who resigned from his position leading the AZGOP after the audio surfaced and gave conservative commentator and comedian Steven Crowder new details about its release.
Read the full story
Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chair Kelli Ward is not running for a third term, and six candidates have announced they are running to replace her. At least 63 more candidates are running for other positions in the AZGOP, which will be decided in an election at the annual statutory meeting on January 28, 2023. The candidates for chair are Sheila Muehling, Jeff DeWit, Steve Daniels, Dan Farley, Vera Gebran, and Lori Ann Martinez.
Read the full story
Following a unanimous vote, the Republican Party of Arizona’s (AZGOP) Executive Committee passed a resolution calling for Ronna McDaniel to resign as the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
“We challenge every state committee to meet and tell their RNC Members how they expect them to vote in January at the RNC reorganizational meeting,” according to a statement from the AZGOP.
Read the full story
The Republican Party of Arizona (AZGOP) called upon Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) to conduct a full investigation into Governor-elect Katie Hobbs (D) for requesting tweets relating to election information be deleted.
“The First Amendment protects citizens’ speech from the government – not the other way around,” according to the letter by AZGOP President Dr. Kelli Ward. “As Americans, we have the right to be critical of our government and vocalize those concerns.”
Read the full story
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) Chairman Bill Gates released his response to a subpoena submitted by State Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Mesa) Sunday, which demanded information about the 2022 General Election. Gates insisted that the subpoena was not enforceable but is still allegedly committed to providing the requested information.
“To reiterate, although the Document does not meet the legal requirements of an enforceable legislative subpoena, the Board is committed to transparency in this election. We are reviewing your requests and collecting information which we will promptly provide to you,” said Gates.
Read the full story
Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chairwoman Dr. Kelli Ward sent a letter to Maricopa County Tuesday demanding answers to several issues and shortcomings seen on Election Day.
“Given the systemic election failures experienced by voters in Maricopa County on Election Day, it is of paramount that a full accounting of every reconciled ballot and checked-in voter be done to assure the public that every vote was properly counted,” wrote Ward.
Read the full story
Following the apparent losses of major races to Democrats in the state, Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chairwoman Dr. Kelli Ward has faced calls to resign from her position, with significant backlash coming from former Republican gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson. However, Tyler Bowyer from Turning Point USA said this backlash is unnecessary because Ward will not be seeking reelection as party chair.
“Karrin has been a no-show, never helped GOP only herself, did zero after she lost & only helped Dems turnout for prop 308 to help illegals. If she was semi-involved she’d already know Ward isn’t even running,” tweeted Bowyer.
Read the full story
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – Republican Mark Finchem remained optimistic in the hours following the polls closing on Tuesday as the early returns showed the Secretary of State hopeful underperforming against his Democratic Party rival, Adrian Fontes.
Arizona’s Trump-endorsed slate of candidates appeared to be losing at first, with State Representative Mark Finchem (R-Oro Valley) trailing former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes in the Secretary of State’s race 41.8 percent to 58.2 percent. By midnight, 69 percent of precincts were tabulated.
Read the full story
By midnight on election night in Arizona, mostly only early ballots had been counted, which skewed towards Democrats due to large numbers of conservative voters voting in person on election day. The Trump-endorsed slate of candidates was behind, with Democrat Katie Hobbs ahead of Kari Lake 56.7 percent to 43.3 percent, and 69 percent of precincts reporting.
Lake spoke to the crowd at the massive Arizona Republican Party event in Scottsdale late in the evening after the results came out, declaring, “It’s early” and reassuring Republicans, “I want you to know we are going to monitor the ballots. We will not stop counting until we have every legal ballot counted.”
Read the full story
Chairwoman Dr. Kelli Ward of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced a lawsuit against Maricopa County Tuesday for failing to comply with public records requests (PRR) relating to poll worker staffing.
“After several weeks of negotiations, Maricopa County left us no choice but to sue because Arizonans who want to be poll workers shouldn’t be shut out of the process. With midterms just 35 days away, Arizonans deserve basic transparency about how their elections will be conducted,” said McDaniel and Ward. “This legal offensive is the latest step in Republicans’ ongoing efforts to promote free, fair, and transparent elections in Arizona.”
Read the full story
Arizona Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters has received endorsements from the state’s four Republican Representatives, and he said he looks forward to joining them in Washington.
“It’s an honor to be endorsed by bold, conservative leaders like Representatives Biggs, Lesko, Schweikert, and Gosar. All are highly respected and effective legislators, which is why Arizona voters continue to re-elect them to fight for their interests in Washington. I look forward to being their partner in the Senate,” Masters said.
Read the full story
The Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) released a statement Tuesday slamming Maricopa County Attorney (MCA) candidate Julie Gunnigle for an “anti-cop attitude” and having staff members who have previously opposed police.
“Violent crime is on the rise across Arizona as a direct result of Democratic Leadership at the local and county level. Statistics and common-sense logic support a clear conclusion: Soft on crime messaging and coddling criminals DOES NOT WORK,” aid Arizona GOP Political Director Jeremiah Cota in a press release.
Read the full story
The Arizona Republican Party announced last week that it would reward anyone who provides evidence of vote buying in the 2022 election a $50,000 reward, with up to two rewards. The evidence must lead to an arrest and conviction.
The press release explains how vote buying occurs, usually with mail-in ballots since they are not secret from everyone. “Unfortunately,” the AZGOP said, “the movement towards mass mail-in voting completely undoes secret ballot reform. Mail-in ballots are not secret — once a person has a ballot in their home, they can easily show it to anyone, including bad actors.”
Read the full story