By Jakob Thorington | State Affairs
A Republican state representative running for Congress announced he will resign from the Legislature soon.
At the close of today’s House floor session, Rep. Joe Chaplik said he will resign next week. Chaplik is running for Congressional District 1 in a bid to replace U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, who is running for governor.
“I cannot fully commit to the Legislature’s demands and campaign for Congress at the same time,” Chaplik said.
Chaplik’s resignation is not unexpected. Former Democratic state Rep. Amish Shah resigned early in the 2024 legislative session when he ran for Congress in the same district as Chaplik. Chaplik’s campaign shared earlier this week that he held a campaign kick-off event on Tuesday evening.
Despite former Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda’s decision to run for secretary of state rather than Congress in CD1, Chaplik is still running in a heavily contested primary race where 10 Republicans have filed statements of interest, including former NFL kicker Jay Feely and cybersecurity CEO John Trobough.
