Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, is facing a heavily financed Republican primary challenge from businessman Daniel Keenan. Keenan has contributed more than $1.6 million to his own campaign, which has spent more than $1.8 million on television advertising focused on allegations involving Lamb. Trump recently reiterated his endorsement of Lamb in a social-media post.
The allegations stem from an Arizona Republic investigation that reported claims that Lamb sent sexual images and encouraged intimate encounters involving himself, his wife and others. Jillian Stannard alleged that Lamb threatened her after she raised concerns with leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Messages obtained by the newspaper involving another woman, Tammy Peacock, were reported to suggest that Lamb threatened to use Arizona’s revenge-porn law against her. Lamb spokesperson Ed Morabito called the allegations false and said they came from discredited political opponents; Stannard said the reported allegations were accurate. Peacock died in 2021.
Lamb was not charged with a crime. A Pinal County attorney investigation found no criminal wrongdoing, though it concluded that a previous county attorney had not adequately investigated the accusations. It remains unclear whether the Latter-day Saint church took any action, as the church does not publicly disclose membership status or disciplinary proceedings and did not respond to a request for comment.
The contest has produced conflicting internal polling. Keenan’s campaign released a poll showing him ahead of Lamb 42% to 40%, a result within the stated margin of error and a reversal from its late-June survey showing Lamb ahead 43% to 35%. The Club for Growth, which has put $250,000 into advertising supporting Lamb, cited its own internal poll showing Lamb with a 34-point lead. Keenan also faces a name-recognition disadvantage in his campaign’s poll, where about one-third of respondents said they were unsure of him, compared with 11% for Lamb.
The late-July primary comes after Arizona moved its election date forward from early August, with thousands of voters already having voted by mail or through early voting. The district includes Gilbert, Queen Creek and parts of Mesa and has a substantial Latter-day Saint population. Lamb’s supporters point to Trump’s backing and his past strength in Pinal County, while Keenan argues that the allegations and Lamb’s past testimony that he saw no evidence of fraud sufficient to alter the 2020 election make him unfit for the seat.
