The Case Against Jay Feely

“Extremist Jay Feely has already proven himself to be at the beck and call of the President and extremist GOP leaders. Rather than fight for families, Feely is all-in on a cost-spiking, reckless agenda that leaves working Arizonans behind. Unlike Feely, Dr. Amish Shah will always put his community first. Arizonans already know and trust Amish will work to make their lives more affordable, and that’s why they’ll enthusiastically elect him this November,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.

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To: Interested Parties
From: Lindsay Reilly, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: July 22, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Jay Feely

Jay Feely is a loyal Republican Party lapdog whose single-minded focus is serving Donald Trump, not working Arizonans. From his initial campaign kickoff in a completely different district to recent primary debates, Feely has explicitly defined his candidacy by his unwavering obedience to Trump, rather than the needs of Arizonans. Feely’s top priority in D.C. would be to serve as an unquestioning rubberstamp for Trump’s reckless, cost-hiking agenda – all while turning a blind eye to Trump’s naked corruption and championing far-right ideas that are wildly out of step with Arizona’s First Congressional District.

Feely’s Trump-first platform is anchored by his full-throated defense of devastating cuts to Arizonans’ health care and vital food assistance for hungry kids, hiking the national debt by trillions of dollars, and reckless tariffs that local business owners warn are driving up the cost of everyday essentials. Feely has also firmly aligned himself with radical extremists by refusing to acknowledge Trump lost the 2020 election, spreading dangerous anti-immigrant conspiracy theories, and taking extreme positions against abortion rights. In a competitive swing district that has repeatedly rejected extreme, election-denying candidates, Feely’s blind loyalty to the President and embrace of far-right extremism will be completely toxic to swing voters this November.

Dr. Amish Shah is an emergency room physician who will fight to improve Arizonans’ health care, lower costs for families, and stand up to extremists in Washington, D.C. A former State Representative who’s already represented parts of AZ-01 in the State House, Amish is known as an independent voice who puts Arizona families before party politics. With a track record of rejecting partisan extremism, Amish is focused on getting things done for Arizona families.

Arizona’s First Congressional District is a true toss-up, and for the first time in years there won’t be an incumbent on the ballot, providing Democrats an even stronger opportunity to flip this seat. This race presents Arizonans with a straightforward choice: trusted, Arizona-first leadership dedicated to lowering costs, or Trump-first extremism making life unaffordable.

A Political Opportunist Whose Loyalty is to Trump, Not to Arizonans

A loyal MAGA lapdog, Jay Feely has been clear about why he’s running for Congress: to serve Trump. At his campaign kickoff, Feely “tied his candidacy to his support for Trump,” and he has explicitly stated “we need people that are going to fight for [Trump].” Even the local press has characterized Feely’s political identity as “best defined by his enthusiastic support of President Donald Trump.” With a campaign website that was called out for being “largely devoid of concrete policy proposals,” Feely’s whole platform is tied to serving one person in D.C., not the people of Arizona.

Feely couldn’t care less about the communities he’s hoping to represent. Easily emasculated by President Trump, Feely switched congressional districts eight months into his campaign – blatantly admitting he did so because Trump told him to. Adding to the humiliation, his district-shopping cleared the way for sexual pest Mark Lamb to represent AZ-05. It’s clear where Feely’s loyalties lie: with Trump, not with Arizonans.

Taking a page from Trump’s playbook, Feely seems to share his disregard for the truth. Blindly loyal to party talking points, Feely has twisted himself into pretzels misleading Arizonans in order to defend Trump and his agenda. During a recent GOP primary debate, Feely rejected overwhelming evidence that Trump’s tariffs are raising prices on Arizona families and small businesses. When asked directly if tariffs are contributing to inflation, Feely falsely claimed, “Well, we haven’t seen that.” To add insult to injury, Feely concluded his full-throated support for tariffs by stating, “I think it’s important to have an honest conversation.” Even Feely’s primary opponent was taken aback by Feely’s blatant disregard for the truth and advised him to be straight with voters. Unwilling to cross Trump, Feely doubled down on his support for the Administration’s reckless tariffs – even though they are jacking up prices on everything from groceries to utilities to household essentials.

Dr. Amish Shah is a public servant who works for Arizonans, not for a political party. Amish is dedicated to having face-to-face conversations with Arizonans, already knocking 28,000 doors to hear from people directly what’s top of mind. In the State House, Amish was known for reaching across the aisle to get things done for working families. An effective state lawmaker, Amish will work with anyone – Republican, Democrat, or Independent – to deliver results for Arizonans.

A Rubberstamp For Trump’s Price-Hiking Agenda

Jay Feely’s unwavering loyalty to Donald Trump manifests itself in Feely’s near constant praise of the President’s cost-hiking agenda. Feely is a staunch supporter of the Big, Ugly Bill, which guts Arizonans’ health care, takes food out of hungry kids’ mouths, and adds $3.4 trillion to the national debt – all to pay for permanent tax cuts for billionaires and multi-millionaires like Feely himself. Voters are already feeling the disastrous impacts of the Feely-backed agenda, with Arizonans paying up to 55.3% more for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace – a hike that forced 107,000 Arizonans to drop their health care altogether. Feely-supported health care cuts have also forced at least nine Arizona health care clinics in and around the Phoenix/Scottsdale area to close or soon close, an outcome that hurts every Arizonan, regardless of their insurance. Hospitals in the First District specifically are on track to lose more than $64 million annually. Meanwhile, Feely-backed cuts to food assistance have kicked roughly half of all Arizona SNAP recipients off the program, including nearly 200,000 kids, the largest decline of any state in the country by a wide margin.

On top of supporting cuts that drive up Arizonans’ health care and food costs, Feely is all-in on Trump’s reckless, price-hiking tariffs – except when he himself benefits from overseas manufacturing. Despite campaigning on “unleash[ing] domestic manufacturing,” Feely got caught manufacturing his own campaign merch overseas – an embarrassing fiasco that led to Feely closing his store. Meanwhile, Feely has repeatedly praised Trump’s tariff strategy that is jacking up costs for families and small businesses. Feely has even gone so far to lie and deny that tariffs are leading to higher prices. Meanwhile, experts aren’t mincing words about the “enormous” impact that the Feely-backed tariffs are having on Arizona’s economy. The CEO and President of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, who previously worked for Arizona’s Republican governor, told the press that “prices have gone up,” that “the net effects… have not been positive,” and that “there’s no certainty on financing.” Indeed, multiple Arizona small businesses have sounded the alarm that they are struggling to maintain prices, make payroll, or even stay open. At the same time, families are paying an extra $2,500 this year due to Feely-supported tariffs.

While Arizonans are struggling with skyrocketing health care costs and higher prices because of tariffs, Feely is making it clear that he supports Trump’s War of Choice in Iran that’s driving up prices even further. Gas prices in Arizona are on track to break “all-time records” because of the war, potentially surging to up to $6 a gallon. Meanwhile, nearly 2 in 3 Arizona voters are saying that high gas prices are “likely” to affect how they vote in the midterms. At the same time the Feely-backed war is jacking up prices at the pump, it could also make petroleum-based products more expensive, including clothes, detergent, and dentures. Despite its economic pain, loyal lapdog Jay Feely remains “in lockstep with Trump on the unpopular war with Iran” – and everything else.

A practicing emergency room physician, Dr. Amish Shah has seen firsthand how Trump and D.C. Republicans’ cuts to health care have devastated families across Arizona. His top priority is serving Arizona families, and that means working to lower costs for his community on Day 1 – from health care, to groceries, to gas.

An Election Denying, Anti-Abortion Extremist Who Is Too Far-Right For AZ-01

Nothing but an empty vessel for Trumpism, Feely is embracing far-right ideas that are wildly out of step with the swing voters of Arizona’s First Congressional District. In a recent interview, Feely “repeatedly declined to say whether Trump lost the 2020 election” – a position that even the district’s incumbent, also a founding member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, “expressed discomfort with.” Meanwhile, Arizona’s First Congressional District resoundingly rejected election-denier Kari Lake in 2022 and 2024 – a clear indication that voters there do not tolerate extremists who echo election conspiracy theories.

Feely’s far-right ideas extend beyond election denialism. Feely has repeatedly spread “racist, false claim[s]” about immigrants, claiming they are to blame for Trump’s affordability crisis. In a recent interview with 12 News, Feely seemed to agree with Trump’s false, racist claim that Haitian immigrants in Ohio eat cats and dogs. And Feely has repeatedly echoed the racist “great replacement theory,” a conspiracy that has motivated deadly, far-right extremist violence. In a similar vein, Feely has advocated for ending birthright citizenship and backs extreme, violent immigration enforcement tactics that have made communities less safe. Feely “praised the [Trump’s] administration’s aggressive enforcement tactics” in an interview with Arizona’s Family that took place after the shooting deaths of multiple U.S. citizens by ICE. Feely even claimed that one of the citizens’ deaths was her own fault because she “chose to put herself in harm’s way.”

Feely is also an anti-abortion extremist who would put Arizona women and their reproductive rights at risk. Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was overturned, Feely made it clear he opposed any efforts to codify a federal right to reproductive health care. Feely has also been an outspoken advocate for defunding Planned Parenthood, which provides broad health care services including cancer screenings, blood tests, and birth control. At a time when D.C. Republicans are unabashed about their desire to ban abortion nationwide, Arizonans can’t afford another anti-choice extremist like Feely in Congress.

A medical doctor, Arizonans can trust Amish Shah to champion facts and solutions, not play partisan games. Unlike Feely, Shah is a straight shooter who is loyal to Arizonans, not to a political party or its conspiracy theories.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Arizona Republic: Scottsdale swing district puts Trump-backed candidate under pressure [Arizona Republic, 6/15/26]

“In an interview, Feely repeatedly declined to say whether Trump lost the 2020 election. He defended Trump’s tariffs and his handling of the war in Iran. […] ‘I love his policies and what he’s trying to implement,’ Feely said.”

Phoenix News Times: Feely makes racist, false claim blaming immigrants for housing crisis [Phoenix News Times, 6/25/26]

“At Wednesday’s GOP debate, the Trump-endorsed Feely did his best to live down to the MAGA mantle. Specifically, when asked about affordability issues in Arizona, the former NFL kicker xenophobically scapegoated immigrants, falsely blaming rising housing costs on the state’s undocumented residents. He also pejoratively referred to those residents as ‘illegals,’ a descriptor that stigmatizes a largely brown-skinned group of people, many of whom have lived productive and law-abiding lives in Arizona for years.”

Phoenix News Times: Feely shutters campaign store when asked about foreign-made merch [Phoenix News Times, 3/27/26]

“Though his campaign website is largely devoid of concrete policy proposals, 49-year-old Feely touts his desire to ‘unleash domestic manufacturing.’ On social media, he has cheerleaded Trump’s tariffs.”

“Someone so intent on Making America Great Again should probably be making his campaign merch in America. Yet campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission show that Feely was not.”

Arizona Mirror: Trump’s Medicaid cuts will hurt every Arizonan, not just those who lose coverage [Arizona Mirror, 8/14/25]

Arizona Mirror: Arizona ACA health insurance enrollment plummets as premiums soar without enhanced subsidies [Arizona Mirror, 1/14/26]

Arizona’s Family: Budget bill cuts food stamp benefits as Arizona school lunch prices rise [Arizona’s Family, 6/24/25]

KTAR News: High gas prices could cost Arizona candidates at ballot box, new poll shows [KTAR News, 5/20/26]

“The poll, which surveyed Arizona 996 voters on May 5-7, found 90% were concerned about rising fuel prices, including 75% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans who said they were ‘very concerned.’”

Arizona’s Family: One year after Trump’s ‘Liberation Day,’ Arizona lost thousands of jobs [Arizona’s Family, 4/2/26]

Arizona Republic: Here’s why congressional candidate Amish Shah says he is ‘not ideological’ [Arizona Republic, 7/8/24]

“Shah has been more effective than many of his Democratic colleagues at getting his bills passed in a Republican-held state Legislature. On the campaign trail, he says he’s had more bills signed into law than any Arizona Democrat in more than a decade. He’s made a point of finding common ground across the aisle and accepting incremental compromise.”

PATH TO VICTORY

Labeled a “toss-up” by independent race raters Cook Political Report and Inside Elections, Arizona’s First Congressional District is one of the most competitive House districts in the country. Arizona’s First was the median House district in 2024 – meaning that half of all House seats were redder than AZ-01 on the presidential level, and half were bluer. In a midterm election year where Arizonans are souring on Trump and Democrats are overperforming in Congressional special elections by roughly 17 points, Democrats are well positioned to finally flip AZ-01 – now an open seat for the first time in years.

Democrats have already proven they can win in Arizona’s First Congressional District. Ruben Gallego won the district in 2024, Katie Hobbs won it in 2022, and Mark Kelly won it in both 2022 and 2020. With an electorate that “has historically preferred more moderate political figures,” AZ-01 is a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats – especially with commonsense, bipartisan leader Amish Shah running against extremist Jay Feely, a political lapdog who’s unabashedly tied himself to Trump and his tanking poll numbers in Arizona.

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