Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) expressed his "intense frustration" with the Republican Party on Tuesday, leading to a shakeup in which he decided not to seek re-election, ultimately testing President Donald Trump's "tight grip" on the GOP, according to a report.
Schweikert announced Tuesday his campaign for Arizona governor, leaving his seat in the competitive Arizona 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives and a vacancy that could impact control of Congress, according to The Washington Post.
“I’ve grown to believe Washington ... is unsavable. I do believe Arizona is savable,” he told Axios Arizona, describing his run as due to "intense frustration" after more than a decade in the House.
"Schweikert, who represents the Phoenix suburbs, enters a gubernatorial primary where Donald Trump has already weighed in, testing the president’s tight grip on the Republican Party. He is campaigning as a more traditional Republican, trumpeting a focus on fiscal conservatism that has faded under Trump," The Post reports.
The GOP lawmaker described Congress as “intellectually calcified." His longtime priority has been addressing the national debt, and he says that leaders are uninterested in seriously fixing it.
Schweikert previously received an endorsement from Trump but says his run for governor would not focus on the president. He would instead face off against another Republican, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs — a MAGA favorite endorsed by Turning Point USA's political action committee, Axios reports.
Schweikert claims he is not confident that Biggs or Karrin Taylor Robson, who has established herself as a Trump loyalist, can win the general election in November 2026.
Democrats are eyeing the vacancy as a path to obtain another seat in Congress, as his exit from the race leaves Republicans without a Congressional candidate in the swing state.
Marlene Galán-Woods, Amish Shah, Mark Robert Gordon, Rick McCartney and Jonathan Treble are all Democrats contending for the Congressional district.