Arizona State Rep Austin Smith Withdraws From 2024 Ballot

An odd set of circumstances and accusations have led to Republican Austin Smith withdrawing from his re-election campaign for the Arizona State House. Smith had been accused of forging signatures onto his campaign’s petitions, but the two men making the accusation turned out to be Democrat Party officials who claimed Smith had forged their names onto his petition as part of qualifying for the ballot. The lawsuit filed against Smith went even further, claiming nearly all of the signatures gathered by Smith were false. Most campaign professionals have expressed doubts given Smith’s ample campaign resources and large volunteer base, courtesy of his long involvement with Turning Point Action.

Statement below: pic.twitter.com/avsmpmy5XB

— Rep. Austin Smith (@azaustinsmith) April 18, 2024

Now, no one will know the truth about what happened because Smith is withdrawing as a candidate, to spare himself and his new wife the tens of thousands of dollars fighting the case would cost.

“As you know, I recently got married to an amazing woman, and we’re just starting our life together.” wrote Smith in his public statement. “We have our plans and aspirations, and none of them involve starting out tens of thousands of dollars in debt as a price of being involved in public service. Even if I won, I would have to pay those debts.”

Smith continued, “So we spoke and prayed and decided that we’d learn from this and live to fight another day. To protect my family today, I’ll withdraw as a candidate.”

Conservatives were quick to warn about the long-term consequences of “lawfare” as they call it. “This thing where you use the courts and legal costs as a way of targeting and damaging conservatives just because you disagree with their political point of view is a very dangerous and slippery slope.” said one Republican politico who had been following the story.

“Smith did the right thing for his family and himself, but we’re going to miss him.” said a Republican activist in Smith’s district, adding, “He shouldn’t have to pay such a high price just to serve us in public office. No one should. It is the same garbage they are trying to do to Trump.”

Constantin Querard, a conservative consultant who worked with Smith, scoffed at the charge of forgery made by the Democrat activists. “The whole reason a candidate might cheat is to get on the ballot, and you can’t get on a Republican ballot with Democrat signatures – they don’t count.” Querard believes the Democrats signed the petitions themselves with the intent of coming back around with accusations against Smith. “We’re supposed to believe Austin didn’t just forge two random Democrat names, he picked two who were both Democrat party officials in his own district? That’s a joke. But it is also the start of a dangerous game and one every candidate in every party needs to start being prepared to deal with. I’d recommend candidates scour their petitions and eliminate any from the opposite party at the very minimum, and get all of your signatures online if you can.”