This Arizona state lawmaker's slate of candidates could upend the state Republican Party

Earlier this week, Jake Hoffman stood before the press at the Arizona Capitol to back two new GOP hopefuls for statewide office. The far-right state senator announced his support for two Republicans running for statewide office in 2026.

Running, that is, against two incumbent Republicans on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Hoffman’s growing list of endorsements in 2026 GOP primary races threatens to upend traditional state party politics. And if his challengers are successful, their victories could cement Hoffman’s place as a new power player in Arizona.

Before entering the 2026 primary fray, Hoffman had already grown into a well known figure in the state.

He’s the leader of the Legislature’s far-right Freedom Caucus. Also at the Capitol, he chairs two Senate committees, including one known for its blistering — and some argue politicized — scrutiny of Gov. Katie Hobbs’ nominees to lead state agencies.

But it's his role as one of national committeemen — representing Arizona on the national stage before the RNC — that Hoffman cites for his growing influence in GOP state politics.

“That is a role of people who serve in, in positions like mine, is to make sure that we have good candidates, strong candidates, that can win general elections,” Hoffman said.

To Hoffman, that means bucking the Arizona Republican Party’s policy of remaining neutral in GOP primaries.

Hoffman is backing a fellow East Valley Republican, Congressman Andy Biggs, for governor. And in doing so, he hasn’t pulled any punches in his criticism of the other Republican in the race, businesswoman and lobbyist Karrin Taylor Robson.

But endorsing a Republican hoping to oust an incumbent Democrat is one thing.

In April, Hoffman took it a step further, announcing that he was hunting for a candidate to challenge an incumbent Republican in 2026: state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne.

“Tom Horne is the single greatest threat to the ESA program. Tom [Horne] is the single greatest threat to nearly 100,000 students and their families that are utilizing those programs right now,” Hoffman said in April.

Horne’s sin, Hoffman said at the time, was a failure to fully back Arizona’s universal school voucher program, despite Horne’s longstanding support of the school choice program.

Hoffman has bristled at Horne’s attempts to ensure voucher funds are only approved for legitimate educational purposes at a reasonable cost, efforts he describes as “extra-statutory.”

“That means things that are outside the bounds of what statute allows him to do, when it comes to the ESA program, right?” Hoffman said. “ESA, [the] universal school choice program, it allows parents to choose the best educational environment for their children no matter where that is.”

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Hoffman followed through on his threat to mount a primary challenger to Horne in May, when he announced state treasurer Kimberly Yee would run for superintendent with his endorsement. And earlier this week at the Capitol, he unveiled state Reps. David Marshall and Ralph Heap as challengers to incumbents Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers on the Corporation Commission.

Hoffman says he’s picking his battles — he has no plans to field a Hoffman-backed candidate for every office, though he does intend to get more involved in legislative campaigns.

Democratic consultant Stacy Pearson said every candidate Hoffman endorses is a boon for Democrats.

“I think, for the good of democracy, it would be nice to have two sane candidates talking about nuance of policy, but the Freedom Caucus continues to put up tinfoil hat-wearing election denying lunatics,” Pearson said.

This is the first election cycle in which Hoffman is flexing his influence on such a large scale. But in his own words, Hoffman’s success will be judged by whether his preferred candidates “can win general elections.”

Recent evidence suggests winning against Democrats, particularly in statewide races, presents a challenge for Hoffman’s brand of Republican.

For example, Trump-endorsed candidates for governor, secretary of state and attorney general all won their primary races in 2022, only to lose against Democrats at the finish line.

“When you look at the last several elections, Freedom Caucus has found certainly some success at a smaller level, the legislature, for instance,” says Barrett Marson, a Republican political consultant. “However, it's found very little success when it comes to statewide elections,” Marson said.

Pearson attributes some of that lack of success to election denialism, a common thread the losing Republicans in 2022 share with Hoffman, one of Arizona’s so-called fake electors. Hoffman was indicted by a state grand jury for allegedly trying to undermine Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the state’s 2020 presidential election. A judge recently sent the criminal case against Hoffman and others back to the grand jury.

Hoffman said he’s not worried about the electability of Freedom Caucus candidates. He points to Trump’s victory in Arizona’s 2024 presidential race as a sign statewide voters are warming up to his preferred conservatives.

But Marson is skeptical that Hoffman-backed candidates can perform as well as Trump, given the unique circumstances that led former Vice President Kamala Harris to enter the presidential race.

“But for a horrendous campaign, horrendous candidate and a bad economy, I'm not sure that Trump would have won in 2024,” Marson said.

Pearson says Hoffman may have an ulterior motive for backing a slate of statewide candidates: financial gain.

Hoffman infamously employed a troll farm of teenagers pushing a pro-Trump agenda on social media during the 2020 presidential campaign. He now runs the firm 1TEN, and has handled millions of dollars in contracts for candidates like Kari Lake in 2022 and organizations like Turning Point USA.

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“I'm assuming, given the money that they raised for their candidates, this is a very enriching position he's in right now to recruit candidates, fundraise for them, spend the money through his his own companies and his affiliates,” Pearson said. “There is a waterfall of money that he is in control of,”

Hoffman said he agrees to work for candidates because they’re the right people for the job, not for his own financial gain.

As for Hoffman’s fierce criticism of members of his own party — which Hoffman calls honesty — his words will have a stark impact on GOP primaries in 2026. But the real test of his influence will come not against his fellow Republicans, but against Democrats next year.