LDS Women Sour on Scandal-Plagued Arizona GOP Candidate

Latter-day Saints women in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District are increasingly distancing themselves from Mark Lamb, the Trump-endorsed Republican nominee whose campaign has been roiled by sexual misconduct allegations and questions about his residency, according to NPR. The contest in the deep-red East Valley seat is drawing national attention as a test of whether religious voters will weigh character over party loyalty in a midterm year that could determine control of the House.

The seat is open because Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) is running for governor instead of seeking reelection. Lamb, a former Pinal County sheriff, faces Democrat Elizabeth Lee, a reproductive-health nurse and political newcomer, in the Nov. 3 general election.

A Values Reckoning

Kimberly Tait, a Gilbert resident and lifelong Republican who switched her affiliation to independent in 2016, told NPR that Lamb’s reputation conflicts with her faith. “Yes, Mark Lamb is a member of my faith. He also belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But from what I understand about Mark Lamb, the dishonesty that has been displayed in his public and private life is completely contrary to our faith,” she said.

Tait said the stakes are personal: “The idea of having yet another elected official who is accused of sexual misconduct towards women—that does not speak well to me, to my children.”

Another LDS independent voter, Holly Andersen, invoked scripture to explain her skepticism. “In my faith, we really stand by 2 Corinthians 13:1… ‘In the mouth of two or three witnesses, shall every word be established,’” she said. “There’s been multiple women who have come forth and exposed the things that he has done.”

Suzanne Lunt, a Gilbert teacher and former Republican who left the party after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said she looks for integrity first. “I think we need to find people, and we’re taught by our church leaders that we need to look at people who have character… Lamb comes across as so untrustworthy on a lot of different levels.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds chastity sacred, and leaders can revoke privileges or move to excommunicate members found to be out of step with their covenants. NPR reported that church leaders looked into claims about Lamb’s sexual improprieties.

The Allegations

Lamb has been accused of racist remarks and sexual misconduct during his tenure as sheriff. According to KJZZ, the Arizona Republic published a multipart investigation alleging Lamb had multiple affairs and sent sexually explicit messages to a woman outside his marriage, then threatened to send law enforcement after her if she spoke publicly.

KJZZ’s detailed reporting also documented allegations that Lamb sent nude photos of his wife to a former friend, who then had sexual encounters with her, and that he canceled a planned KJZZ interview and skipped a June debate with primary rival Daniel Keenan, who accused him of hiding.

A county attorney’s review found Lamb appeared to benefit from “a different standard of review” regarding misconduct claims, and that his own requests to investigate two women who came forward were not documented. Yet Lamb nonetheless went on to win the July 21 GOP primary over Keenan in the heavily Republican district despite the scandal, HuffPost reported.

Lamb has denied the allegations without addressing them specifically. “I’ve been called a racist. I’ve been called a misogynist… I’m going to tell you folks, these are lies. Every single bit of it,” he said at a June event. His campaign lawyers told the Republic the claims were “baseless and harmful.”

County attorney Brad Miller concluded Lamb did not violate any laws after several women accused him of using his position to silence them, though that investigation did not address the broader allegations in the Republic’s reporting.

Residency Questions

Beyond the scandal, Lamb faces questions about whether he actually lives in the district. His family opened a ranch with rentable cabins and event space on 140 acres purchased for $3 million in rural McNairy County, Tennessee—roughly 1,500 miles from the district, per KJZZ. Lamb says he still lives in Arizona and plans only to visit.

Lamb also declined to appear at the Aug. 26 Citizens Clean Elections debate, appearing to cede the stage to Lee; Smarter.Vote, an election research site, notes that Lamb “skipped the Aug. 26 Citizens Clean Elections debate,” at which Lee appeared solo to campaign on healthcare access and reproductive freedom.

A Democrat’s Long-Shot Bid

Flipping the seat remains an uphill battle. Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rate it Solid Republican, and Smarter.Vote models Lamb with a 95% win probability and a +20-point margin. Trump won the district by roughly 20 points in the last presidential election.

But Lee argues the race is closer than the ratings suggest. An internal Change Research poll shared with NPR showed her trailing Lamb by just three to five points, particularly among independents—roughly 195,000 registered voters who form the district’s second-largest bloc.

“The GOP has nominated an extremely flawed candidate with the kind of alleged flaws that people nationally are fed up with, that people in this district are most certainly fed up with,” Lee told NPR. She has branded herself “Nurse Lee,” emphasizing healthcare affordability, reproductive rights, and public education.

Arizona State University political scientist Kim Fridkin said pocketbook issues and Trump’s unpopularity could motivate low-interest voters. One recent poll found only 39% of Arizona voters approved of Trump’s job performance—the lowest ever recorded in the swing state.

Nationally, the broader split among Mormon women is being watched closely in Arizona, where about 442,000 Latter-day Saints live—roughly 6% of the state’s population, a bloc that could matter in a state decided by narrow margins. ABC News/GMA reported on that divide in the context of Arizona’s separate governor’s race, where the two major tickets each include a church member.

“Women are looking at the values, the controversies, the morals,” said Brittany Romanello, a University of Arkansas professor who studies Mormon political behavior. “This is not the 2012 election, where people just expected people to vote for Mitt Romney because he’s LDS.”

What to Watch

Despite the discontent, all three LDS women interviewed by NPR expect Lamb to prevail in November given the district’s conservative lean—a sign that values-based reservations may not translate into votes for the Democrat. Lunt said she senses a broader shift away from partisan politics altogether. “I don’t ever see anybody wearing their MAGA hats anymore,” she said.

With no public polling on the general election, the true competitiveness of the race remains uncertain. The answer will arrive on Nov. 3, when LDS women—and the rest of the district—decide whether scandal outweighs party.