Arizona GOP chair, rural party leaders defend decision to host state meeting in Prescott Valley

State Sen. Jake Hoffman has a new bone to pick with Gina Swoboda — the location for a meeting in January to elect Swoboda’s successor as chair of the Arizona Republican Party.

Republican Party members meet in January every other year to elect party leaders. In 2026, they’ll gather at the Finlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.

It’s the first time the biannual meeting will be hosted outside Maricopa County in years.

Hoffman claims Swoboda chose the location to suppress the turnout of GOP committeemen in Maricopa County, by far the state’s most populous county, and southern parts of the state. Hoffman says it’s a scheme by Swoboda to help elect her favored candidate as chairman.

“AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda has taken a page out Democrats playbook — when you can't win, rig the election,” Hoffman posted on X. “Swoboda's attempt to rig the election through suppressed turnout is all about ensuring her favored candidate will win the Chairman's race. Never mind that it will MASSIVELY inconvenience more than 85% of the Party's most loyal activists.”

Hoffman would not say who he believes Swoboda’s preferred candidate is. He told KJZZ that he doesn’t want to publicly announce candidates who want to run until they formally announce.

But Swoboda, who’s running for Congress rather than seeking reelection as state party chair, said she has no preferred candidate.

“We decided on rurals in 2024. All rural chairs have been scouting for a location big enough for all 1,900 SCs for about five months. … I LITERALLY stated over and over that we are doing rurals at every single meeting… And — I do not have ‘a chosen nominee’ lol,” Swoboda said in a text.

GOP leaders from 10 rural Arizona counties also issued a statement supporting efforts to hold a meeting in their part of the state.

“We the Chairs of the Rural Counties call on the AZGOP NCM Jake Hoffman to cease and desist attacking Chair Gina Swoboda. Chair Swoboda is honoring her promise to hold the AZGOP Mandatory State Committee Meeting in a rural county,” the county leaders said in a statement. “For over a decade, the State Committeemen of the Rural Counties have driven across this state to attend AZGOP State Meeting in Maricopa County. Rural voters are the reason Arizona is red. No statewide race can be won without rural efforts and rural voters.”

The rural county leaders also asked that Hoffman stop calling for a special meeting to oust Swoboda as chair before January, arguing it would be an unnecessary use of funds.

Since Swoboda announced her candidacy for Congress, Hoffman has been urging her to step down, arguing it’s a conflict of interest to serve as the party chair and a candidate.

Recently, Hoffman started urging state committeemen to sign onto a petition to recall Swoboda during a special meeting in December.

Swoboda said last week that she will resign in January when a new chair is chosen.