Arizona Republicans are drawing lines in the sand over the state’s school choice program, the Empowerment Scholarship Account.
State GOP chairwoman Gina Swoboda last month said she thought people were “taking advantage of” the government program which subsidizes school tuition and other costs associated with education through taxpayer money.
On Aug. 20, two high-ranking Arizona Republicans reacted quickly and called for her resignation, criticizing Swoboda for going against school choice policy. The public spat has escalated since.
Behind the controversy
The controversy began after several reports on the ESA program revealed taxpayer money went toward things like diamond rings, drones, shampoo and conditioner, dog food, appliances and even lingerie.
State Senator Jake Hoffman and former lawmaker Liz Harris said they view the law as sufficient and instead shifted blame to Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne for failing to conduct proper oversight.
Horne’s office is responsible for implementing a policy that automatically approves any requests under $2,000. They did this because of the large backlog of ESA requests. Last week, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes ordered Horne to stop these automatic approvals.
Swoboda said she backed stronger guardrails in response to the misuse of funds.
“Any time you have a government program, it’s going to be susceptible to abuse,” the chairwoman told 12 News journalist Mark Curtis. “And when you expand it rapidly and you don’t staff up for it or put guardrails in place, this is where we are now.”
What Gina Swoboda said
Although Swoboda received President Donald Trump’s endorsement for party chair twice, in 2024 and 2025, she faces opposition from members of her own party, some of whom are closely associated with or endorsed by Turning Point Action, including Hoffman and Harris.
As NPR reported in 2024, Turning Point Action is focused on replacing longtime Republicans in office with candidates more aligned with President Donald Trump’s vision of the U.S.
Hoffman is often aligned with Tyler Bowyer, the conservative political advocacy group’s chief operating office. Bowyer also made calls for Swoboda’s resignation.
Over Labor Day weekend, the argument between Swoboda and Bowyer unfolded on X.
“I am told Gina Swoboda is pressuring GOP county chairs to put out letters of support for her after attacking school choice,” Bowyer said on X.
“It will be interesting to see what counties are crazy or bought off for cheap. This is the same behavior we saw from Ronna Romney as RNC chair. No different.”
In response, Swoboda published the letter she sent to the county chairs, where she criticized Bowyer for “attacking her.”
“But what isn’t funny is Bowyer’s clear intent to weaken our Republican party,” she said. The chairwoman said her priority is to work to defeat Democrats and asked Arizona’s county chairs to support her.
Arizona politics react to debate over ESA
More Republicans have taken sides since then, including Arizona gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson.
“Anywhere we find waste, fraud or abuse, we have to expose it,” Robson said on a radio show last week.
Her GOP opponent and Turning Point-backed gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs has so far remained mum on the subject.
In the latest developments, the Maricopa County Republican Committee reaffirmed its support for Swoboda.
“The attempt to remove” the chairwoman “is a distraction from our Party’s primary goal and mission of getting Republican candidates elected,” the MCRC’s statement said while rejecting the recall effort.
Democrats are using this split to portray a contrasting image to what Republicans are offering — although they had internal party problems of their own earlier this year.
Copper State Victory, which backs the reelection campaigns for top state Democrats Gov. Katie Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, took the opportunity to criticize the “bitter party war” among the state’s Republicans.
“As Karrin Taylor Robson puts herself in the crosshairs and Andy Biggs stays silent, the divisions are getting deeper as this primary races further to the extreme,” they said.