NEED TO KNOW

• Former Arizona state Rep. Austin Smith was sentenced to two years of probation and a five-year ban from public office for forging signatures on his own nominating petitions
• Smith served as senior director of Turning Point Action, the political arm of the organization that ran the largest conservative ballot-chasing operation in 2024
• He had previously campaigned on election integrity and supported the GOP-backed audit of Maricopa County’s 2020 results

PHOENIX, AZ (TDR) — Former Arizona state Rep. Austin Smith, who built his political career partly on election integrity advocacy, was sentenced Jan. 6 to two years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to forging more than 100 signatures on his own reelection petitions. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Aryeh Schwartz also imposed a five-year ban on running for public office and a $5,500 fine.

Smith, 30, had served one term in the Arizona House representing a suburban Phoenix district. He was also a senior director at Turning Point Action — the political arm of the conservative organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk — and previously chaired the Arizona Young Republicans Federation. His bio page stated that Kirk and Turning Point COO Tyler Bowyer personally approached him in 2019 about launching the organization’s political operation.

What Smith Admitted To

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In November 2025, Smith pleaded guilty to two reduced charges: attempted fraudulent schemes and practices — a class 6 undesignated offense — and illegal signing of election petitions, a class 1 misdemeanor. A state grand jury had originally indicted him in June 2025 on 14 criminal counts, including four felonies.

As part of the plea, Smith admitted to signing the name of a deceased woman on one of his candidate nomination petitions in March 2024. He also acknowledged knowingly filing petitions with forged signatures of purported supporters with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office to qualify for the Republican primary in Legislative District 29.

“If you try to illegally manipulate Arizona’s elections or mislead Arizona voters, you will be held accountable under the law. There are real consequences for cheating the system.” — Kris Mayes

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, prosecuted the case and emphasized it as proof that election fraud enforcement applies regardless of party affiliation.

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Smith’s attorney, Kurt Altman, told the court his client was mortified by his conduct.

“He realizes that things got out of hand. And in today’s political atmosphere, things get out of hand very quickly. He is embarrassed by the lapse in judgment.” — Kurt Altman

Smith himself declined to address the judge during the sentencing hearing.

The Contradiction

The case is notable for who Smith was before the charges. As a member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus — the far-right legislative bloc that aggressively pushed election law changes after 2020 — Smith had voiced support in campaign literature for the Republican-backed audit of Maricopa County’s 2020 presidential election results. That audit concluded without producing evidence supporting then-President Donald Trump‘s claims of a stolen election.

Smith also complained in a campaign ad about political elites breaking election laws — language that now reads as ironic given his own guilty plea. And he had promoted the debunked claim that Maricopa County officials fraudulently altered ballot signatures to disadvantage Republicans.

When the accusations first surfaced in spring 2024, Smith called them “ludicrous” and characterized the case as a “silly” coordinated Democratic attack before dropping out and eventually admitting guilt.

Turning Point’s Distance

Turning Point Action said Smith resigned more than a year ago. However, at the time of his sentencing, he was still listed on the organization’s website as a “senior enterprise director” — raising questions about the completeness of the separation. Neither Smith nor Turning Point Action responded to media requests for comment at the time of the guilty plea.

The organization itself continued to expand. In the 2024 presidential election, Turning Point Action deployed thousands of ballot-chasing representatives across six battleground states and claims to have chased over 315,000 ballots in Arizona alone. The program was credited by a senior Trump campaign advisor as a “force multiplier” in flipping key states.

“Forging signatures, including those of people who have died, in order to get yourself on the ballot is illegal, and it erodes trust in our elections.” — Kris Mayes

What Happens Next

Under Arizona law, Smith’s conviction remains “undesignated” — meaning if he completes probation without violations, the judge can classify it as a misdemeanor rather than a felony. That distinction matters because felons in Arizona cannot vote or hold elected office unless their rights are restored by a court.

Judge Schwartz acknowledged the offense undermined election integrity but noted Smith had accepted responsibility for his actions.

When officials who campaign on protecting the ballot are themselves caught forging signatures, does the system’s ability to catch and prosecute them prove it works — or does the hypocrisy itself erode the public trust they claimed to defend?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, KJZZ, Arizona Mirror, ABC News, U.S. News & World Report, MSNBC, and Turning Point Action.

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