Former Arizona Republican lawmaker Austin Smith, who pleaded guilty in November to criminal charges connected to forged signatures on his 2024 nominating petitions, was sentenced today in Maricopa County Superior Court.
Smith, a former Turning Point staff member and former West Valley state legislator, was banned from running for office for five years, fined $5,500 will spend two years on supervised probation, according to court records.
During the November plea agreement, Smith admitted guilt to attempted fraudulent schemes and practices. He also admitted to illegally signing election petitions.
Background
Attorney General Kris Mayes emphasized in November that her office will continue pursuing cases involving fraudulent petition activity.
As a part of his guilty plea today, Smith admitted signing the name of a deceased woman on one of his candidate nomination petitions in March of 2024. He also admitted he attempted to deceive the Secretary of State’s Office. He did this by knowingly filing petitions containing forged signatures of purported supporters of his nomination for the Republican primary for State Representative from LD 29.
Smith previously claimed the allegations were part of a coordinated political attack. During his campaign, he supported the Republican backed review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County. This review ended without evidence supporting claims of widespread fraud.
