Arizona congressional candidate Kai Newkirk has lost a key endorsement over allegations of undisclosed concerning behavior.
The Young Democrats of Arizona (YDA) revoked its endorsement of Newkirk on Thursday. In their announcement, YDA alluded that Newkirk had exhibited “serious [and] concerning patterns of behavior.” YDA didn’t elaborate on the details of those alleged behaviors, and alluded that the claims against Newkirk came from multiple individuals who had known him for a lengthy period of time.
“As Democrats, we need to hold ourselves accountable for our actions, and need to elect leaders that will reject AIPAC, protect our communities from ICE, make our communities affordable, accessible, and livable,” said YDA. “While we agree with Kai’s stated position on key issues, we can not [sic] endorse candidates that have serious accusations against him brought by trusted community members who have known him for years.”
Newkirk is campaigning as a “progressive Democrat” in the 4th Congressional District race, where he’s attempting to take down the incumbent, Rep. Greg Stanton.
YDA added that they don’t have any endorsed candidates for the race.
Many associated the abandonment of Newkirk with the rape accusation scandal in Maine involving the Democratic nominee for Senate, Graham Platner. Platner withdrew from the race shortly after the allegations emerged.
Some speculated the retraction stemmed from investigative reporting on Newkirk’s past activist pursuits, which has since been deleted. The article, “How Kai Newkirk’s ‘Extractive Activism’ Left Destruction In Its Wake,” was published by Popular Resistance, a grassroots reporting entity with Antifa persuasions and ties.
The article alleged that multiple progressive organizers with Black Lives Matter, Democracy Spring, and Mobilization for Health Campaign had claimed to experience “upsetting [and] disturbing” behavior by Newkirk as a progressive activist leader following his time conducting Resist Rockwool, a months-long protest campaign by Newkirk and a West Virginia community in 2019 to prevent the construction of a production factory for Danish insulation manufacturer Rockwool.
Progressive organizers who’d worked with Newkirk in that and prior activist campaigns accused Newkirk of being a “con artist.” Specific charges against him included grooming younger activists (he admitted years ago to a sex addiction), undermining organizations for personal gain, and breaking promises: one individual alleged she was never paid as promised for her work with Newkirk’s now-defunct organization, Democracy Spring.
The article claimed that Newkirk spiraled further after allegedly discovering that all the footage containing him was cut from the “This is Personal” documentary about his now-wife, reprieved illegal immigrant and pro-illegal migration activist Erika Andiola, which featured at the Sundance Film Festival.
By the time the investigative report was published in 2019, Newkirk had gained national prominence for his tactic of escalating civil disobedience to prompt mass arrests, having arranged Democracy Spring’s demand campaign in 2016 that led to the arrest of 1,300 protesters.
Newkirk lent credit to the theory that the endorsement revocation was based on the 2019 article by circulating a retraction letter from one of the report authors, Anne Meador. Meador called the report “inaccurate” and lacking “basic journalistic standards.” It was removed some time ago from the Popular Resistance website.
— Kai Newkirk for Congress (@kai_newkirk) July 10, 2026
Almost a month ago, Newkirk had gained some traction with the progressive grassroots for filing a complaint with Attorney General Kris Mayes alleging AI-powered election interference by the state of Israel. Newkirk tied Stanton in with his complaint by pointing out that AIPAC, one of the top Israeli lobbying groups, was a top contributor for Stanton.
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