Arizona GOP Secretary of State Primary: Rep. Alex Kolodin Faces Late Challenge from former chair Gina Swoboda
- EZCivics
- 8 hours ago
- 5 min read
Summary: The 2026 Arizona GOP Secretary of State primary pits election attorney Rep. Alex Kolodin—with secured signatures and endorsements from Lake, Hamadeh, others—against late entrant Gina Swoboda, ex-AZGOP Chair who opposes Trump's SAVE Act and identifies as non-partisan, but registered Republican. The Primary winner faces far left Democrat Secretary Adrian Fontes in the General election.
ARIZONA – The 2026 Arizona Republican primary for Secretary of State features a contested race between State Representative Alex Kolodin and former AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda, who entered late after switching from other ambitions.
Rep. Alex Kolodin's Position
Alex Kolodin, a member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, has secured the required nomination petition signatures to qualify for the ballot. He is campaigning on election integrity, with endorsements from figures and groups including Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray, election integrity advocate Cleta Mitchell, Turning Point Action (via Tyler Bowyer), State Senator Jake Hoffman, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Arizona, Republicans for National Renewal, Congressman Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08), and Kari Lake.
Kari Lake described Kolodin as a "proven fighter for election integrity" while encouraging petition signatures and criticizing incumbent Adrian Fontes.
Kolodin is recognized as a top Arizona election attorney, having practiced election law for over a decade. He graduated from Georgetown University and earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. As a former Reagan Fellow at the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, Kolodin has litigated significant cases, including establishing that election-related metadata on central count computers is a public record in 2014. He has also successfully challenged Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on issues like the Elections Procedures Manual and voter registration without proof of citizenship.
His campaign website describes him as "Fighting for transparency and lawful elections in the Courtroom." President Donald J. Trump has praised Kolodin as “one hell of an attorney” and a “patriot,” in the past.
During Gina Swoboda's second run for AZGOP Chair, she endorsed Kolodin and pledged not to run for the seat if she won her Chair race.
Gina Swoboda's Entry and History
Gina Swoboda announced her run for Secretary of State on February 13, 2026, via her campaign site and X post.
She had served as AZGOP Chair from 2024 until January 2026, where she said she'd resign at the election of a new Chair. At the party's annual meeting in January 2026, marked by low attendance and prolonged delays, Gina suggested she'd run again for Chair but was booed by State Committeemen. Sergio Arellano was elected as the new Chair instead.
X posts indicate she initially planned to remain as Chair, then considered running for both Chair and Secretary of State, later shifted to a bid for Congress in Arizona's 1st Congressional District (CD1) announced in October 2025, and now has switched to the Secretary of State race.
Swoboda filed a statement of interest in the Secretary of State race less than two weeks before her announcement.
She had received President Donald Trump's endorsement for the CD1 race, but stated upon switching, “I’m running as Gina with no endorsement because I think that’s what the people of Arizona want.”
Swoboda previously served as an election official in the Secretary of State’s Office under Republican Michele Reagan and Democrat Katie Hobbs. She left the office in August 2020 and stated, “That's where my heart has always been and I've missed the office every day since I left in August of 2020.”
Her tenure as AZGOP Chair began after Kari Lake released audio leading to the resignation of previous Chair Jeff DeWit in January 2024. During her chairmanship, she oversaw GOP successes in the November 2024 elections, including Trump's victory and expansion of Republican seats in the Arizona Legislature. Swoboda received criticism for giving insufficient financial and election integrity support, contributing to Lake's loss. However, Swoboda's time as chair involved clashes with Turning Point and grassroots activists, as well as criticism in 2025 over her comments on misspending in the Empowerment Scholarship Account program, which prompted calls for her resignation. She also threatened lawsuits against MAGA Recorder Justin Heap for following federal law to ensure long-distance voters weren't disenfranchised in the CD7 election.
In her February 15, 2026, interview on Politics Unplugged, Swoboda stated that she opposes President Trump's SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act), saying she opposes requiring citizen-only voting.
As AZGOP Chair, she sided with incumbent Secretary of State Adrian Fontes over a challenge involving long-time voters not having documentary proof of citizenship on record. Her amicus for the Party argued it is a violation of citizens' rights to require proof of citizenship for voting.
Swoboda's CD1 campaign raised approximately $200,000, with $147,000 on hand entering January 2026, trailing competitors like Jay Feely, who had over four times that amount and also received Trump's endorsement in January 2026. She cited avoiding a competitive primary in CD1 as a reason for switching, noting four tier-one candidates there would "beat each other up and spend all their money and make it harder in general."
In statements, she has questioned Kolodin's general election chances against incumbent Democrat Adrian Fontes, stating, “I see no one in the secretary of state's race on the Republican side that has a hope of defeating Mr. Fontes,” and that Kolodin "can't win."
She cited Kolodin as more conservative, and said she identifies as non-partisan. She stated she has differences with many Trump-aligned election positions, while having a willingness to work with Democrats, such as Governor Katie Hobbs. Swoboda stated she respects current Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and that she gets along with the governor, legislature, and federal administration, and would work with necessary partners. In an interview on Outspoken with Bruce & Gaydos on KTAR News, Swoboda discussed what she sees as missing in the current Secretary of State office under Fontes, including lack of cooperation and protection of certain issues. She mentioned statutory prohibitions and incidents like the Iranian National Guard allegedly hacking the candidate portal without reporting to DHS at the federal level. She emphasized Arizona being a huge target for foreign nations penetrating systems and the need to engage with federal authorities, including the United States government, for security.
Swoboda received an endorsement from long-time anti-Trump consultant Barrett Marson.
Signature Requirements and Outlook
For statewide offices like Secretary of State in Arizona's 2026 cycle, partisan candidates in the Republican primary must collect a minimum of 7,588 nomination petition signatures from qualified Republican voters, according to the Arizona Secretary of State's official requirements document dated February 13, 2026.
Kolodin has already met this threshold. Swoboda, entering in mid-February 2026, has until the filing deadline of March 23, 2026, at 5:00 P.M. to gather and submit signatures.
From her announcement date of February 13, 2026, to the March 23, 2026 deadline, there are approximately 38 days available (inclusive of weekends and assuming full collection periods). To reach the minimum of 7,588 signatures in that timeframe, Swoboda would need to collect an average of about 200 perfect signatures per day, without accounting for invalid signatures, weekends/holidays, or verification buffers—candidates typically aim higher to ensure qualification.
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