| Jay Feely can’t run away from his clear track record of embracing far-right conspiracy theories and MAGA extremists like Kari Lake, Andy Biggs, Jim Jordan, and Donald Trump.
New reporting in the Copper Courier sheds light on Feely’s relationship with Lake, who he called “rational,” “measured” and “impress[ive].” Feely reportedly had dinner with Lake, endorsed and donated to her 2024 campaign, and said he couldn’t “understand how somebody could vote for Trump and not vote for Kari Lake.”
AZ-01 voters twice rejected Lake, who is known for “voicing opposition to more moderate Republicans, including the late Sen. John McCain,” fraternizing with QAnon and Nazi sympathizers, and denying election results.
Feely’s embrace of Lake is the latest sign that he is way too far right for AZ-01.
DCCC Spokesperson Lindsay Reilly:
“MAGA lapdog Jay Feely is making clear he’s running to fight for Donald Trump and far-right extremists like Kari Lake in Congress, not for Arizona families. Voters will reject bootlicker Jay Feely this November.”
READ THE REPORTING FOR YOURSELF…
Copper Courier: Jay Feely says he’s all Trump. His donors say he’s all Kari Lake
- Feely said he spent time with Lake and was “impressed” by her responses. A week later, Feely clarified that he and Lake had dinner, calling her “very transparent and honest,” in a post on X. “I left impressed,” he wrote.
- A month later, in October, Feely called Lake “rational, measured, well spoken,” in a post on X.
- Despite her tumultuous 2022 campaign, Feely stood in support of Lake two years later, endorsing her in a 2024 Instagram post that Lake shared.
- “I support Kari Lake because, as a husband, father, and now grandfather, I want to protect my family first and second protect the state we chose to make home,” Feely said in the Instagram post. “I care about the future of Arizona and our beloved country. This election is about the kind of future we want to ensure for our families.”
- “I don’t understand how somebody could vote for Trump and not vote for Kari Lake,” Feely said on the radio show.
- But their ties go deeper than rhetoric. In October 2024, Feely, under his legal name “Thomas Feely,” made a $500 donation to Lake’s victory fund, according to campaign finance data gathered by the FEC.
- Some of the same people who gave Lake’s 2024 campaign more than $340,000 have also given Feely’s campaign more than $40,000 — including John Childs, a billionaire financier charged in a 2019 Florida prostitution sting.
- While Feely doesn’t run a campaign as outwardly aggressive as Lake, his ties to far-right politics go beyond just Lake. The ex-NFL kicker has close ties with US Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Gilbert).
- Aside from Arizona figures, Feely received the backing of other far-right figures, including US Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a founding member of the far-right “Freedom Caucus” who tried to ban same-sex marriage in 2015. Between 2025 and 2026, campaign committees associated with Jordan have donated $14,000 to elect Feely.
- “President Trump needs more fighters like Jim Jordan for Congress in Washington D.C. to champion America First policies,” Feely wrote on a 2025 Facebook post. “I will be that fighter in Congress.”
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