Local Republican officials in Arizona’s Legislative District 3 chose three nominees to replace former Rep. Joseph Chaplik, who resigned from the Legislature this month to focus on his congressional campaign.
Chaplik was one of two Republicans elected in 2024 to represent LD3, a ruby red district covering parts of Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, north Phoenix and Cave Creek. After Congressman David Schweikert opted to run for governor rather than reelection, Chaplik entered the race to replace him in Congressional District 1, which covers pieces of LD3 along with parts of Paradise Valley.
On Monday night, LD3 Republicans met at Dream City Church in north Scottsdale to pick those nominees.
They selected former lawmaker Michelle Ugenti-Rita; pollster and political consultant George Khalaf; and Cody Reim, a Rio Verde Foothills resident who was in the middle of a fight over the community’s water supply three years ago.
Under state law, county boards of supervisors are responsible for filling vacant seats in the Legislature with a member of the former lawmaker’s party. But, in most cases, local party officials in the legislative district are allowed to nominate the three candidates the supervisors will choose from to fill the empty seat.
The candidates
Reim indicated he wanted to focus on water issues if he makes it to the Legislature as Arizona remains engaged in unresolved negotiations over cuts to Colorado River allocations.
“I don't want to see Arizona go through what I've lived through, and it's imperative that we solve these issues,” Reim said.
Khalaf, a former legislative intern and longtime Arizona politico, leaned into his professional experience and personal story as an immigrant from Lebanon.
“Only in the United States of America can an immigrant come here, be an intern 15 years ago … and now they have the ability to drive down Washington (Street) to be the next state representative from District 3,” Khalaf said.
Ugenti-Rita also focused on her experience when she asked the local party to support her. A former state representative and senator, Ugenti-Rita also ran unsuccessfully for Arizona secretary of state and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
“I know how to get things done, because I've been there,” Ugenti-Rita said. “I can read a 1,000-page budget. I know what they're hiding in, that they're not gonna get anything by me.”
The candidate chosen by the board will finish the remainder of the final year of Chaplik’s term.
Both Khalaf and Reim are also running for a full term in the Arizona House of Representatives in the upcoming 2026 election.
Ugenti-Rita is running for the Scottsdale City Council. She said she would only complete Chaplik’s term if selected by the board and continue her campaign for the City Council.
Internal conflict
The vote also exposed rifts in the Republican party at the Arizona Capitol.
Before the meeting began, Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale), LD3’s other lawmaker in the House of Representatives, called on his fellow party members to send him a seatmate to fight alongside him on issues like election reform.
He said he needs that support to pass his version of the Arizona Secure Elections Act, which would make a host of changes to state election laws. That includes requiring voters to provide state issued identification with their ballots, including mail-in ballots, which are currently verified using a voter’s signature.
A version of the legislation passed by the Arizona Senate removed that ID requirement.
“We've been getting the shiv from Republicans over in the Senate,” Kolodin said. “Send me somebody who can help me stick it to them, who can help me make sure that you get that on the ballot to vote on, so that we get more secure elections with voter ID no matter how you cast your ballot.”
Ironically, the LD3 Republicans removed a similar ID requirement from their own rules before voting for Chaplik’s replacement.
Under the original rules, voting members — called precinct committeemen — were required to provide ID to enter the meeting and receive their credential. They were then required to “show their picture ID and name card to the ballot collector” to cast a ballot.
They removed that second requirement “due to the urgent need to speed up the ballot process,” party member Bart Massey said.
Fountain Hills Councilman Allen Skillicorn also asked all candidates whether they planned to follow House Speaker Steve Montenegro, the top Republican in the House, or join the Arizona Freedom Caucus, a far-right group of lawmakers at the Capitol co-founded by Chaplik.
“There's two factions within the Republican caucus,” Skillicorn said. “There is the Freedom Caucus and there's Speaker Montenegro’s caucus, so the Freedom Caucus versus the speaker.”
Both Ugenti-Rita and Reim committed to joining the Arizona Freedom Caucus.
“I love RINO hunting,” Ugenti-Rita said, referencing a term that stands for “Republicans in name only.”
Reim said actually asked to join the Freedom Caucus months ago.
Khalaf also indicated he will join that wing of the party.
“There’s absolutely no one who's done more to remove Republicans that have betrayed their values than I have,” Khalaf said. “I absolutely commit to falling in Rep. Chaplik and Rep. Kolodin’s footsteps to being the most pro-liberty, pro-freedom vote and ensuring that we exclusively vote out good conservative bills and holding our own members’ feet to the fire when it comes to them.
Following the vote, LD3 Republicans must now send their choices to the Maricopa Board of Supervisors, which will then have 10 calendar days to make an appointment, according to state law.
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