Arizona Republican operatives have been impressed as the leader of Arizona’s Freedom Caucus, State Senator Jake Hoffman, has wielded power above what might be expected from a State Senator. His connections to Turning Point USA and close friendship with TPUSA’s former COO, and Turning Point Action’s current COO, Tyler Bowyer have also given him access to the MAGA political ecosystem, impressing those outside the party.
However, now they are questioning the recent turn of events in which Hoffman has set himself against both President Donald J. Trump and Trump’s MAGA movement with an effort to take over the Arizona Republican Party and to torpedo Trump’s endorsement of Karrin Taylor Robson for Governor in 2026.
And there are signs his small but fierce Freedom Caucus is joining him in his dual crusades.
First, say critics, Hoffman helped roll out former State Representative Cory McGarr’s candidacy for Chairman of the AZGOP. Thanks to support from Bowyer, Hoffman was elected RNC National Committeeman earlier this year, and his title featured prominently in his endorsement of McGarr. He was joined by National Committeewoman Liz Harris, who became somewhat of a celebrity thanks to election fraud claims over the last several years, and to being booted from her position as State Representative for improprieties related to witness testimony in an election integrity hearing.
Hoffman and Bowyer initially supported the candidacy of Gina Swoboda to take over for Jeff DeWitt last year, and party observers believe their current opposition to her stems from her unwillingness to be controlled by any faction no matter how aggressive it is.
Instead, Swoboda resisted efforts to drag the state party messaging through the election fraud morass that had plagued the party in previous years, and she focused instead on encouraging maximum turnout, echoing the Trump campaign’s “Too big to rig” theme. Swoboda was successful, the state party enjoyed a good cycle with victories across the state, and her re-election has been endorsed by President Trump himself, who cited the “great job” she did.
HUGE: President @realDonaldTrump ENDORSES @GinaSwoboda for second term as @AZGOP chair.
“We are going to be backing Gina to run again.”
“Great job you’ve done!” pic.twitter.com/3GP4F5RWM7
— Dan Coulson (@DanCoulsonAZ) December 22, 2024
The race for State GOP Chairman will be settled at the Party’s convention in late January, but Bowyer is also leaning in against Trump’s endorsement and motives, tweeting, “In less than one year @AZGOP leadership has done everything it can to hand the party to the moderates. Anyone who supports that has questionable motives at best— at worst they are a paid operative.”
In less than one year @AZGOP leadership has done everything it can to hand the party to the moderates
Anyone who supports that has questionable motives at best— at worst they are a paid operative.
After the establishment lost 2 Senate seats, they tried to bleed conservatives
— Tyler Bowyer (@tylerbowyer) December 23, 2024
He even mocked Trump’s affinity for attacking “losers” in his remarks, tweeting, “Only Losers want to hand the keys back to them! It will not go well.”
Hoffmann’s next battle with Trump originated ironically at Turning Point’s AmeriFest, a national conference featuring many of the nation’s top conservatives and leaders in the MAGA movement. From the main stage, President Trump effectively endorsed 2022 Republican runner-up, and likely 2026 candidate, Karrin Taylor Robson for Governor, telling the audience that if she ran, she would have his full support. Hoffman’s name is occasionally mentioned on lists of potential candidates for Governor, as his congressional aspirations are forced to wait while Congressman Andy Biggs continues to hold that East Valley seat, and he reacted quickly to Trump’s endorsement of Robson.
“@realDonaldTrump should fire whichever consultant or staffer told him to endorse the UniParty McCain network candidate for AZ Governor” tweeted Hoffman after Trump’s big announcement, and he followed up with additional tweets attacking Trump’s chosen candidate.
.@realDonaldTrump should fire whichever consultant or staffer told him to endorse the UniParty McCain network candidate for AZ Governor
She lost the 2022 primary for a reason.
Arizona doesn’t want her open borders, pro-amnesty liberal policies.
KTR is the Swamp.
— Jake Hoffman (@JakeHoffmanAZ) December 22, 2024
Hoffman was quickly joined by fellow Freedom Caucus members Austin Smith and Jacqueline Parker, who similarly attacked the decision. Parker, who did not run for re-election this year, targeted Trump personally, attacking not just this endorsement, but his previous endorsements of Kari Lake, Abe Hamadeh, Mark Finchem, and others.
“Trump’s AZ endorsements have messed up our state so many times. He needs to just focus on Congress & stay out of our statewide races.” posted Parker in support of Hoffman.
The battle with Trump threatens to further erode the influence of Arizona’s Freedom Caucus, which is already suffering after losing a number of members in the 2024 cycle to retirement or defeat. Arizona’s chapter of the national organization has a well-earned reputation as being among the most combative and eager to attack other Republicans, but its preferred candidates for legislative and statewide office have struggled while Republicans have improved their overall performance and results. Time will tell how this latest battle will affect it.
There are 4 members of the freedom caucus left. What does that tell you? They are clowns and grifters. I have to admit – it is hard to tell which of the 4 is which.
The AZ GOP is a mess. And it is obvious that neither Trump nor his advisors understand it. They also do not understand the battle lines down in the trenches. But they better school up on it because if they continue down on his road they will loose the support of AZ conservatives.
And people thought only wash dc was home to the swamp! These guys are rinos for sure as they are like the left/deminazis and want only for SELF. Its really hard to beleive these guys have any influence in the state as there is NO organized GOP that I know of. Only time you hear of them is when they want $$ and they do not care for what the people want ie. ms lake. So dont follow any of the bs they are spreading and look for people who will actually tell ya what they believe in and will do, not a bunch of strap ahngers that think they know best.
I don’t want RINO Robson on that I agree with Hoffman.
IMHO, the AZ GOP would be nuts to dump Swoboda; she’s a tech’s tech when it comes to elections. Nothing personal about McGarr, but the guy has 4 small kids and a small biz company to run. How he got talked into running is beyond me; he needs to step back and look at the big picture.