Former NFL Kicker Wins House Primary After Receiving Trump Endorsement
Former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely easily won his Republican primary race Tuesday night to represent the 1st Congressional District, which includes portions of Phoenix and Scottsdale.
President Donald Trump endorsed Feely, who was running against former state Sen. Joseph Chaplik and technology and telecommunications executive John Trobough, CBS affiliate KTVK-TV reported.
As of Wednesday morning, Feely held approximately 49.7 percent of the vote, or about an 11,000-vote margin over Chaplik, with over 85 percent of the ballots counted, according to NBC News.
In a victory speech early Wednesday morning, Feely said that he decided to run for office out of a “desire to leave this country better for our children and our grandchildren.”
“When you look at the two parties, they’ve never been further apart ideologically,” he continued. “And the Democrat Party has embraced Democrat Socialism. They have chosen to move further to the left.”
“They are talking about abolishing the border. They are talking about abolishing the police department. They’re talking about abolishing the Senate now,” Feely said. “The things that they are talking about are changing the very foundation of this country, and what has made it great for 250 years, and we’re not going to let it happen.”
Republican nominee in #AZ01 @JayFeely in victory speech: “Why did I decide to run for office? It is a desire to leave this country better for our children & our grandchildren.”
“The Democrat Party has embraced Democrat Socialism. They have chosen to move further to the left.”… pic.twitter.com/P8fGvfugvg
— Ben Petersen (@bennpetersen) July 22, 2026
On the Democratic side, the two front-runners are Marlene Galán-Woods, a former television news personality, and former state Rep. Amish Shah.
Shah, a doctor, is currently in the lead in the race with 40.5 percent of the vote to Galán-Woods’ 33.6 percent.
Democrats are hoping to flip the 1st Congressional District in November in what is considered one of the more competitive races.
The swing district seat is currently held by Rep. David Schweikert, a Republican who chose not to seek re-election to make a bid to be Arizona’s governor. He lost that primary race to Rep. Andy Biggs, who won with 73.4 percent of the vote as of Wednesday morning, to Schweikert’s approximately 14.7 percent.
Six of Arizona’s nine congressional seats are held by Republicans, while Democrats Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego represent the Grand Canyon State in the U.S. Senate.
Feely played for the Arizona Cardinals from 2010 to 2014.
Perhaps his most memorable game was in 2010, when he became the first kicker in NFL history to score 25 points.
They included five field goals (including a 55-yarder), four extra points, and a rushing touchdown on a fake field goal.
Cook Political Report lists 18 House races nationwide as toss-ups, including Arizona’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts.
Republicans currently hold a 219-to-212 edge over Democrats in the House, with one independent who caucuses with the GOP and four vacancies, three of which were held by Democrats.
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