Arizona Republicans fear 'another Roy Moore situation' in U.S. House race


Voters in Arizona's 8th congressional district will pick their candidates Tuesday for an April 27 special election to replace Rep. Trent Franks (R), who resigned in December after it emerged that he asked two staffers to have a child for him and his wife, through nebulous methods, for $5 million. The suburban Phoenix district is solidly Republican — President Trump won it by 21 points in 2016 — but both of the GOP frontrunners have their own scandals, and some Republicans are worried. Former state Sen. Debbie Lesko (R) is accused of illegally donating $50,000 from her state Senate account to a PAC supporting her congressional campaign, but most of the attention is on the sexting scandal involving former state Sen. Steve Montenegro (R).
Montenegro, a married father and a Christian minister, acknowledged last week that a former Senate aide had sent him a topless photo as part of a months-long exchange of salacious text messages. An attorney for the aide, Stephanie Holford, said Holford had sent several nude photos to Montenegro. The candidate initially denied the claims, but after several newspapers printed excerpts from the text exchange, he told the Washington Examiner that he had not solicited the topless photo and "did not have any inappropriate relationships with this woman."
Despite the sexting scandal, Montenegro may well win, as an estimated 75 percent of voters in the district had already mailed in their ballots by the time the scandal broke last week. And if he does win the GOP primary, "it could be Alabama all over again," Shiree Verdone, who ran Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) 2010 Senate race, tells Politico. "Deep down, I'm worried because I don't want this to be another Roy Moore situation." Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, an emergency room physician backed by former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D), is expected to beat fellow political newcomer Brianna Westbrook for the Democratic nomination, but even with the scandal, whichever Democrat wins faces an uphill battle.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
How global conflicts are reshaping flight paths
Under the Radar Airlines are having to take longer and convoluted routes to avoid conflict zones
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayor
In The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The best film reboots of all time
The Week Recommends Creativity and imagination are often required to breathe fresh life into old material
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders