Charlie Kirk-linked GOP lawmaker ends re-election bid after complaint he forged signatures

Far-right Arizona state Rep. Austin Smith is ending his re-election bid after being caught forging petition signatures to qualify for the ballot.

According to Yvonne Wingett Sanchez of The Washington Post, "State Rep. Austin Smith (R) — who was senior director at Turning Point Action, the campaign arm of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA — was accused by a Democratic activist of submitting petition sheets with rows of voter names, addresses and signatures that 'bear a striking resemblance' to Smith’s handwriting, according to a complaint. Smith 'personally circulated multiple petition sheets bearing what appear to be forged voter signatures,' the complaint said."

After the complaint was submitted to the Arizona secretary of state and attorney general, "Smith submitted his resignation to Turning Point Action on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about it publicly. Smith also publicly ended his reelection campaign," according to the report.

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Turning Point USA is a right-wing youth group that, under Kirk's leadership, has enthusiastically supported former President Donald Trump. Last month, reports indicated the group was aiming to raise $108 million to unseat and replace election officials around the country with MAGA loyalists, with Smith himself tweeting, "[We] need to clean house in Maricopa county."

In recent years, Turning Point has come under scrutiny even on the right as its leadership causes controversy.

In January, the group had to kick out a volunteer ambassador who engaged in rants about "Zionist Jews controlling our planet." And even some of Trump's associates are growing concerned that Kirk himself, who has attacked the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King and suggested that airlines are endangering passengers' lives by training too many Black pilots, is going to make it harder to persuade nonwhite voters to back GOP campaigns.