An Arizona grand jury has indicted former state Rep. Austin Smith for what the attorney general describes as a scheme to forge petition signatures.
Smith dropped his 2024 reelection bid rather than fight accusations that he forged signatures he needed to gather to qualify for the ballot.
Smith denied the allegations at the time, and his withdrawal from the House race meant a complaint filed by a voter in his West Valley legislative district was never vetted in court.
Prior to dropping out of the 2024 race, Smith served in the Arizona House of Representatives from Legislative District 29, a safe Republican district stretching from Goodyear to Wickenburg.
Smith didn’t face much competition in his re-election bid, but state law required him to gather 527 signatures from registered Republicans in his district to qualify for the ballot. Smith turned in a total of 826 signatures, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
But a 14-count indictment charges Smith with multiple felonies and misdemeanors for allegedly forging signatures and submitting false documents to the secretary of state.
In multiple instances, the indictment accuses Smith of signing names other than his own on nominating petitions.
Smith did not respond to a request for comment.
Smith had long worked with Turning Point Action, the political arm of the Trump-aligned Turning Point USA youth organization. He reportedly resigned in April 2024 after the signature fraud allegations came to light.
However, according to his LinkedIn page, Smith returned to Turning Point Action earlier this year.
A spokesman for TPUSA and Turning Point Action did not respond to a request for comment.
Smith’s LinkedIn page was deactivated after KJZZ requested comment.
