Drive around Arizona this fall and you may see a sign that says "Democrats for Biggs," or "Demócratas por Biggs." Andy Biggs, the five-term congressman running for governor against Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, is one of the most conservative members of the U.S. House. So the Arizona Republic asked a simple question: who are these Democrats?
Nobody could say. Not the group that paid for the signs, and not Biggs.
Biggs couldn't name a single one
The signs are real. They were paid for by Turning Point PAC, part of the political arm of Turning Point USA, which has spent more than $5 million to help elect Biggs.
When the Republic asked Biggs to name a Democrat who supports him, he couldn't. "I don't ask anybody when I go around, 'What's your party affiliation?'" he said. "But I've spoken in groups that have Democrats, independents, and Republicans, and I assume that they're there because they support me." Then: "I don't do that, so I don't know."
Beyond that, Biggs referred questions to "whoever's putting up those signs."
The Republic reported that it "could find no evidence that an organized coalition of Democrats supporting Biggs exists, as the signs suggest." Turning Point didn't answer questions before deadline and didn't make any of these Democrats available for interviews. After the story ran, a Turning Point spokesman said "a lot of Democrats are sick of asleep-at-the-wheel Katie Hobbs," without naming any.
The state is now reviewing the signs
The signs have drawn at least four complaints to the Arizona Secretary of State's Office. Arizona law requires political signs to say who paid for them, in letters at least 10% of the sign's height. The complaints say Turning Point's disclosure is too small. On September 21, the Secretary of State's Office asked Turning Point PAC to respond and said it would conduct a review that could lead to enforcement by the Attorney General's Office. Complaints have also come in to the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.
Before that, the fake photos
This isn't the first time the campaign's allies have been caught inventing Democratic support.
Earlier this month, two people tied to Turning Point Action posted photos on X showing someone who looked like Democratic state Rep. Lorena Austin of Mesa, one of the most progressive members of the Legislature, posing with "Democrats for Biggs" and "Demócratas por Biggs" signs. KJZZ reported that one of the two posters manages Turning Point Action's "Chase the Vote" campaign. Austin said the images were fake.
"I guess my first thought was a little shocked, but not surprised, because being deceptive and deceitful is what this group kind of does," Austin told KJZZ. Both posts were deleted shortly after KJZZ asked the Biggs campaign and Turning Point Action about them.
The Republic also looked at two Turning Point Action videos featuring six people explaining why they left the Democratic Party. Not all of them talk about why they support Biggs. Of the four the paper could identify, one appears to be Matt Whitmire, who works for Turning Point Action's ballot-chasing operation and who became a Republican in 2018. He was also one of the two people who posted the fake Austin photos.
Why this matters
A campaign sign that claims support that doesn't exist is meant to fool voters. It tells swing voters that people like them have already crossed over, when the paper found no sign they have.
Biggs doesn't control the PAC's spending, and the signs say so. But he's the one on the ballot, he's the beneficiary of more than $5 million from the group, and when he was asked about the signs, he pointed reporters back to the group instead of saying they were wrong.
It isn't the first time Biggs's image has been reworked for a statewide audience. We've documented how Biggs deleted the "Defending Life" page from his campaign website.
What we know
Turning Point PAC has spent more than $5 million to elect Andy Biggs governor and put up "Democrats for Biggs" signs across Arizona. The Arizona Republic found no organized group of Democrats backing him, and Biggs himself could not name one. The signs are under review by the Secretary of State after at least four complaints, and two Turning Point Action staffers posted faked photos of a Democratic state lawmaker with the signs before deleting them.
Source
Who is behind those 'Democrats for Biggs' signs? — The Arizona Republic, via the Arizona Daily Star. Photo: The Arizona Republic.
