Arizona Republicans choose Trump favorite Gina Swoboda as party chair

PHOENIX — Gina Swoboda, an election activist backed by former President Donald Trump, has been chosen as the next chair of the Republican Party of Arizona, a leadership post that puts her at the center of the November presidential election battleground.

Fox10 television in Phoenix reported that Swoboda received 67% of the vote at Saturday’s state party meeting. The Republican Party declined to confirm that margin of victory to The Associated Press.

Swoboda replaces Jeff DeWit, who was halfway through his two-year term. He resigned Wednesday after a leaked audio recording showed him offering a job to U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake and asking her to name a price that would keep her out of the 2024 election cycle.

At the time of the recording last March, Lake was waging an unsuccessful lawsuit challenging her loss in the 2022 race for Arizona governor as she prepared to campaign for the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, Republicans in Washington, bruised by a disappointing midterm election result, talked openly about plans to seek Republican Senate candidates who would be more viable in a general election.

DeWit served as Chief Operating Officer for Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns and as Chief Financial Officer at NASA during Trump’s presidency.

He was seen as a trusted and experienced operative who could bridge the bitter divide between Trump loyalists and Arizona’s old guard Republicans, many of whom were brought into the party by the late Sen. John McCain.

Swoboda is a former employee of the Arizona Secretary of State’s office and served as Trump’s director of operations on Election Day in 2020. She has worked for the Arizona Senate as a senior election adviser.

Lake, who is running for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat, congratulated Swoboda and called her victory a “huge win” for her campaign and Trump’s.

“Gina is a national leader in voting rights. She is a grassroots, battle-tested hero and a woman of great integrity,” Lake said in a statement. “Gina understands that the majority of the White House and Senate – and, frankly, the survival of our Republic – runs through State 48.”