Arizona

Trump endorses ally for AZ Republican Party chair after Jeff DeWit resigns over Kari Lake tape

Published

2 years ago

January 27, 2024

Trump endorses ally for AZ Republican Party chair after Jeff DeWit resigns over Kari Lake tape

On a day when Donald Trump was told he had to pay $83.3 million to a woman for defaming her, the former president took time to endorse one of his former campaign officials for chair of the Arizona Republican Party.

He picked Gina Swoboda, a conservative election activist and former Trump campaign official who is a current officer in the state GOP.

The nod to Arizona politics as the federal jury award came down in New York shows both how important the state is to Trump’s 2024 presidential hopes and how Trump felt he needed to quickly straighten out the mess caused by the Kari Lake-caused resignation of the former chair, Jeff DeWit.

DeWit resigned Wednesday after Lake, the Trump-endorsed candidate running for U.S. Senate in Arizona, released an audio recording she had made of DeWit telling her that “powerful people” wanted to give her a lucrative job in exchange for halting her Senate campaign. Though Lake secretly recorded the conversation in March, she released the recording days before the annual state Republican Party meeting on Saturday, creating a rush of candidates for the chair job.

Trump canceled his attendance at the state GOP’s planned FreedomFest rally after DeWit’s resignation, which led the party to cancel the rally. State party officials, including DeWit, had counted on the rally to help raise money.

Trump’s spokespeople said he had a court hearing on Friday and couldn’t make the event. Trump attended closing arguments on Friday, though he walked out briefly as plaintiff E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer was speaking. A jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $83.3 million in damages for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of rape.

Former president loses lawsuit: Trump hit with $83.3 million in damages for defaming E. Jean Carroll

Trump’s campaign team said in a statement he spoke with Swoboda on Friday.

“Gina is a strong fighter for election integrity and will be relentless in her work to deliver Arizona for President Trump and Kari Lake in 2024,” the statement said.

Lake soon followed by also endorsing Swoboda.

Not filling the position immediately would mean a 45-day delay, because the party’s bylaws require that amount of time to arrange a special election meeting. That’s a long time in an election year when every month counts. Putting a poor fundraiser in the job could be an even worse move for the party.

‘Betrayal’: Arizona GOP Chair Jeff DeWit resigns after recording of ‘offer’ to Kari Lake

DeWit was elected last year as the state GOP faced a financial disaster some blamed on former party Chair Kelli Ward.

The unpaid job is primarily about raising as much money as possible for elections up and down the ballot, said Barrett Marson, a Republican political consultant.

“A problem with taking out Jeff DeWit is, who do you replace him with that can raise money and lead the party in an election year?” Marson said. “A Trump-endorsed chair could be good for fundraising. The Republican National Committee will likely funnel a lot of money to the Arizona GOP.”

But Marson said he’s not familiar with Swoboda’s fundraising ability.

Swoboda does have experience in helping Trump find suspected election fraud. As executive director of the Voter Reference Foundation, a subsidiary of the nonprofit Restoration Action Inc., she pushes the idea that elections aren’t secure and mailed ballots aren’t to be trusted.

The company has been accused in articles by OpenSecret.org of disseminating false claims about voting discrepancies, but the company says on its website its goals are to increase voter participation and ensure elections are “transparent, accurate and fair.”

Swoboda worked last year as the state Senate’s adviser on election matters and also worked as “election integrity director” for Lake’s failed 2022 gubernatorial campaign.

‘Disgusting’: Kari Lake assails former AZ GOP boss Jeff DeWit, doesn’t say why she released ‘bribe’ recording

Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.

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Arizona

Arizona football shuts out Baylor in 2nd half for 4th straight victory

Published

16 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

Arizona football shuts out Baylor in 2nd half for 4th straight victory

Arizona’s massive senior class was honored before the final home game of the season, the first at newly named Casino del Sol Stadium. And they went out on top, with many stepping up to keep the win streak going.

The Wildcats outscored Baylor 27-0 in the second half, including 20 points in just over four minutes in the fourth quarter, for a 41-17 win. It was the fourth in a row overall for the UA (8-3, 5-3 Big 12) and improved its home record to 6-1, tying the school record for most home wins in a season.

Kedrick Reescano ran for three touchdowns, including a 19-yarder to turn a 4-point game into a 2-score advantage, while Noah Fifita threw for 183 yards and a TD and Arizona’s defense forced three turnovers and made three stops on fourth down.

Several UA seniors had huge games. Kris Hutson had nine catches for a career-high 133 yards and a TD, Ismail Madhi ran for 93 yards and a score, Dalton Johnson had 18 tackles and Treydan Stukes intercepted a pass in the end zone to preserve what at the time was a 4-point lead.

Baylor (5-6, 3-5) scored on its first two drives then had one field goal the rest of the way, gaining 129 yards after taking a 17-14 lead at halftime. FBS passing leader Sawyer Robertson was limited to 162 yards with a TD and two interceptions, making the Bears the ninth opponent not to reach 200 passing yards.

The UA won for the third straight game despite trailing at the half but went ahead for good just over three minutes into the third quarter on a 1-yardReescanorun. That came after the game’s fourth pass interference penalty thrown in the end zone.

Four consecutive 3-and-outs followed before Baylor put together a sustained drive, getting into the red zone to start the 4^th quarter. The Bears went for it on 4^th and 3 from the UA 12 but Robertson’s pass was picked off in the end zone byStukes.

The UA drove into the red zone after the interception but had to settle for a field goal, with Michael Salgado-Medina missing to the right from 38 yards out. It was his ninth miss of the season.

Yet a play later the Wildcats had the ball back, with Taye Brown forcing a fumble and Michael Dansby recovering it. The next snap saw Ismail Madhi score on a 28-yard run for a 28-17 lead with 10:29 to go.

Reescano’s third TD, from 19 yards out, came with 6:38 remaining, and 11 seconds later Jabari Mann returned a pick 34 yards for a score.

Baylor scored on its opening drive, only the third opponent to do so this season. A 30-yard pass on the first play and a pass interference call on 4^th down set up Robertson’s 9-yard TD pass to Josh Cameron for a 7-0 lead less than three minutes in.

Arizona matched that score on its first possession, also benefitting from a pass interference call, with Reescano scoring on a 2-yard run immediately after.

The Bears went up 14-7 in the final minute of the first quarter on a 2-yard Robertson run after another pass interference call on Arizona. The Bears converted a 4^th down earlier in the drive after also catching a break when forward progress was ruled on what looked like a UA fumble recovery.

The first stop of the game came with 4:59 left before halftime when, after Arizona forced a 49-yard field goal attempt, Baylor’s Connor Hawkins was wife left. But the Wildcats didn’t capitalize, with a Fifita pass going off Tre Spivey’s hands to Baylor’s DJ Coleman for an interception.

That snapped a streak of 140 consecutive attempts for Fifita without a pick.

Baylor turned that into points just before the half, getting a 48-yard field goal from Hawkins.

The UA wraps up the regular season Friday at ASU, looking to take back the Territorial Cup and win for the second time in a row in Tempe.

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Arizona

Freed sex offender allegedly poses as doctor, sexually assaults student at Arizona elementary school: police

Published

1 day ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

Freed sex offender allegedly poses as doctor, sexually assaults student at Arizona elementary school: police

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Friday – A convicted sex offender freed from prison two weeks ago allegedly posed as a doctor and sexually assaulted a student inside an Arizona elementary school, sparking outrage and calls for answers from parents, according to reports.

Abel Kai Gblah, 25, is accused of sexual assault and kidnapping after he accessed school grounds and posed as a doctor to lure a student into a classroom and assaulted her at Orangewood Elementary School on Nov. 19, according to the Phoenix Police Department (PPD).

PPD officials said in a statement to Fox News Digital that officers were called to the school after administrators reported that an incident had occurred on campus.

“When officers arrived, they learned an unauthorized man had made it onto school grounds and lured a grade-school-aged girl into a classroom where he sexually assaulted her,” police said. “At some point, the student was able to push the man away. He then ran from the scene before officers arrived.”

NEWLY RELEASED VIDEO SHOWS COPS CUFFING TEEN LINKED TO VIOLENT SEX ASSAULT SCANDAL THAT HAS FAMILIES FUMING

Abel Kai Gblah was accused of sexually assaulting and kidnapping a student at a Phoenix elementary school on Nov. 19. (National Sex Offender Registry)

FOX 10 Phoenix reported that court documents show Gblah allegedly drew the attention of a student by impersonating a doctor and expressing that he had to examine her.

After fleeing the school, police located Gblah, who was booked into jail on multiple charges.

Gblah was released from prison two weeks ago on similar charges, according to the outlet, and was also allegedly involved in human smuggling across the U.S. border.

According to FOX 10, a prosecutor at Gblah’s court appearance said he was convicted twice in 2021 for sexual conduct with a minor and a registered sex offender.

FURY ERUPTS AFTER ACCUSED TEEN SEX PREDATOR DODGES PRISON; FAMILIES SWARM COURTHOUSE DEMANDING JUDGE’S HEAD

Abel Kai Gblah was arrested this week after allegedly sexually assaulting a student at a Phoenix elementary school. (iStock)

The news station reported that the Washington Elementary School District said in a statement that school administration immediately called 911 and placed the school on lockdown for over an hour.

“He was on campus for approximately 10 minutes and during that time, he made inappropriate contact with a student,” the district wrote.

The district shared a separate statement with Fox News Digital that it released to parents on Friday, which revealed the results of its internal investigation, including that Gblah was a former student of the school who attended from 2012 to 2015.

Abel Kai Gblah allegedly assaulted a student at Orangewood Elementary School in Phoenix on Nov. 19. (Google Maps)

While initial reports indicated that the Gblah gained access to the campus behind a student who had buzzed in, further investigation revealed that he entered through an unlocked lobby door, and walked in with a tardy student, the district stated.

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Following the investigation, a staff member has been placed on administrative leave, the district added.

“We understand how alarming this situation has been and want you to know that we are reviewing every aspect of our safety procedures and communication to ensure that an event like this does not happen again, wrote Orangewood Elementary Principal Emily Paterson.

According to FOX 10, Gblah is being held on a cash-only bond of $500,000, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Dec. 1.

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