By Ronald J. Hansen | Arizona Republic
Republican congressional candidate Steve Smith called on Wendy Rogers, one of his GOP primary rivals, to drop out of the rural Arizona race Thursday after she suggested in ads and on a website that he worked with a modeling agency linked to sex trafficking.
Rogers swiftly refused to quit the 1st Congressional District race and doubled down on her attacks that Smith is insufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump and personally ill-suited to run as a conservative.
“For 10 years, Wendy Rogers has been trying unsuccessfully to get into political office. Today she’s so desperate to win that she’s abandoned truth, decency and the values of the Republican Party,” Smith said as he was surrounded by members of law enforcement who continue to back his campaign.
“She’s not disagreeing with me on policy. She’s coming after a well-respected business and their employees just to try to score political points in a way that is so shockingly reprehensible. … It’s a hundred percent false.”
