Former Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Gina Swoboda has officially entered the 2026 election to become the next secretary of state.
Swoboda recently stepped down as chair of the state party to focus on her campaign in Congressional District 1. But, earlier this month, she expressed an interest in switching races to run for secretary of state.
She made those plans official on Friday.
“That's where my heart has always been and I've missed the office every day since I left in August of 2020,” said Swoboda, a former election official in the Secretary of State’s Office under Republican Michelle Reagan and Democrat Katie Hobbs, who is now the state’s governor.
In explaining the decision, Swoboda echoed Karrin Taylor Robson, the former Republican gubernatorial candidate who dropped out of that race in order to unite the party and avoid a messy primary fight ahead of the 2026 general election.
“I think there were four tier-one candidates running in CD1 right now that will beat each other up and spend all their money and make it harder in general,” Swoboda said. “And I see no one in the secretary of state's race on the Republican side that has a hope of defeating Mr. Fontes.”
However, Swoboda may be trading one messy primary for another.
She will now face Republican lawmaker Alexander Kolodin, who is running for secretary of state with the backing of the far-right Freedom Caucus and Turning Point Action, the political arm of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.
Swoboda and the Freedom Caucus, led by state Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), frequently butted heads during her time as the chair of the state party.
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