Jay Feely tells CD1 rivals the fight isn’t on stage, it’s against Democrats, as debate turns to AI, voting

Three Republicans vying for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District clashed over mail-in voting, artificial intelligence and who is best equipped to hold the competitive seat in a debate hosted by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission on Wednesday.

The debate took place the same day early voting ballots were sent out ahead of the July 21 primary.

Former Cardinals kicker Jay Feely, state Rep. Joseph Chaplik and tech executive John Trobough all agreed on most conservative priorities. Their views on border security, shrinking the national debt and support for President Trump were all similar.

“We’re not fighting against each other up here,” Feely said. “We’re fighting against the Democrat party.”

Feely, the only candidate with Trump’s endorsement, returned to that relationship throughout the night.

 

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“When the President of the United States reaches out to you and says, ‘Will you run in this district?’ You do it,” Feely said in his closing statement. “I’ll give up a broadcasting job. I’ll run in this district to make sure that we keep this a Republican seat.”

Chaplik countered by anchoring himself to his time in the Arizona House and a legislative record he described as flawless

“If you want to fix DC, we need to send better people to Congress,” Chaplik said. “That’s what I’ve done for six years here in the state.”

Trobough pitched himself as a common-sense fiscal conservative with a global business background, warning the country faces a financial crisis driven by unsustainable debt.

 

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Chaplik accuses Feely-supporting PAC of using AI to commit identity theft

The only moment of contention came over artificial intelligence, when Chaplik accused a PAC aligned with Feely of using AI-generated images of him on campaign signs.

“That is not a photo of me. That is an AI-generated image from a PAC that he supports,” Chaplik said. “That’s identity theft.”

“He’s just lying,” Feely said in response. “Joe knows that PAC has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with my campaign, in no way.”

Two front runners agree to limit mail-in voting

On mail-in voting, Chaplik staked out the most aggressive position, calling for a return to single-day, precinct-based voting and saying the current system is being abused.

“We should go back to one-day vote. And if you can’t vote on that one day, we should have absentee ballots,” Chaplik said. “We used to know the election (results) every evening and no longer right now since COVID and they did the voting centers.”

Feely pointed to California as a cautionary tale.

“They send a ballot to everybody. And if you have an apartment, and you get eight mail-in ballots from the people that came before. That allows the opportunity for people to do things that they shouldn’t do that are illegal,” Feely said.

 

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Trobough took a more measured stance, noting Arizona’s elderly population deserves accessible voting options.

“We have an elderly community here in Arizona as well who deserves the right to vote,” Trobough said. “I am for doing what’s best so that Arizona citizens can vote.”

All three said they would support the eventual Republican nominee.

The winner will face one of four Democrats who debated Tuesday night in what is expected to be a toss-up between Republicans and Democrats for the first time in over a decade.

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