Mark Lamb had a very bad week

Mark Lamb, the former sheriff of Pinal County and erstwhile candidate for Congress in CD5 had a very bad week last week.

From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State (AZSOS), the list of candidates -

Reporters at the Arizona Republic published a story about his habit of sending nude pictures of himself to women.

From MS Now (the Republic article is behind a paywall) -

Growing list of MAGA sex scandals now includes Arizona congressional hopeful

As sure as the sun rises, the list of sex scandals involving a Trump ally continues to grow.

My colleague Steve Benen has been doing a great job tracking the Jan. 6 rioters who have been charged with sex crimes after receiving pardons from President Donald Trump.

[snip]

This excerpt basically sums up the Republic’s reporting:

Digital evidence reviewed by The Republic found the Arizona lawman invited intimate encounters and indulged a yearslong habit of sexting that he later denied or sought to conceal, sometimes with threats or intimidation.

Interviews and screen captures of photos, chats, social media posts and emails shared with The Republic stand in contrast to the image Lamb has built across a decade in public life.

The report begins with a story of one woman who told the Republic that Lamb threatened to sic the Arizona Department of Public Safety on her to prevent her from posting sexual messages he sent her, including nude pictures:

Lamb, who is now running for Congress, appeared to suggest he could control the Arizona Department of Public Safety and stop any investigation if the woman agreed to stop posting on social media, messages and interviews show.

One Facebook message included a link to the state’s revenge-porn statute and said violations are a “Class 4 felony,” screenshots show.

“Please just no more posting,” read the back-to-back messages, accompanied by Lamb’s profile picture. “I will call DPS.”

And if the woman volunteered to take down the posts?

“I will ask for them not to proceed,” came the reply, which added, “My wife says she is okay with that too.”

[snip]

This clearly isn’t a great look for someone who has made his family life and Mormon faith a major part of his political biography.

Alone, that might damning enough, but there was more.

From KNXV, written by Manuelita Beck, dated 5/21 -

Mark Lamb hits primary opponent Daniel Keenan with 'cease and desist' notice

Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb has sent his Republican primary opponent in the Congressional District 5 race a cease-and-desist letter, telling him to stop talking about how Lamb failed to disclose a bankruptcy on legal documents as required by law.

Daniel Keenan, who is facing Lamb in the Republican primary, has talked on the campaign trail about Lamb’s 2018 failure to disclose a bankruptcy on documents filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission for his now-defunct nonprofit, the American Sheriff Foundation.

While there has been talk about Cheeto pulling his endorsement of Lamb over this stuff, I don't believe that will happen.

With Cheeto, things like sexual misconduct, misuse of office, and bankruptcy fraud only happen on days ending in "y". 😀

The one thing that might get Cheeto to pull his endorsement is if it looks like Lamb is on track to lose the primary.

Right now, there are at least three people who are probably wishing this news broke in February, not in May.

Jay Feely, who jumped from the R primary in CD5 to the one in CD1 at Cheeto's behest.

Gina Swoboda, who jumped from the R primary in CD1 to the one for AZSOS when Feely entered the CD1 race.

Alexander Kolodin, who had been the only the only candidate in the R primary u for AZSOS...until Swoboda jumped into it.

Of course Lamb may (or may not - just ask his campaign and his lawyers) cheat on his wife, abuse the authority of his office, and/or commit perjury, but one thing may impact the voters' loyalty to him - his (apparent) loyalty to the district.

From Bluesky -

His "ranch" (OK - "events venue") is in Tennessee.  The website lists the address as 833 N Prather Rd, Michie, TN 38357 .

It didn't exist until just over a month ago.  From the website of the Tennessee Secretary of State -

However, nothing by that name owns property in McNairy County, which is where the "ranch" is located (caveat: the search function on the Tennessee property assessor's website in McNairy County is profoundly lousy, so I may have missed it) .

From the TN property assessor's website -

"American Sheriff LLC" is interesting.

Nothing by that name is listed on the website of the TNSOS.  However, an organization by that name shows up on the website of the Arizona Corporation Commission (AZCC).

From the website of the AZCC -

CD5 is overwhelmingly R in terms of registration, to the point where it's considered a "safe Republican" district, yet weirdly, the person who may be/should be the most hopeful if Lamb emerges from the R primary as the nominee is the eventual D nominee.

This district covers the same area that, in 2000, ousted Republican Jeff Groscost, then the Speaker of the Arizona House and a rising star in R circles after his involvement in Arizona's infamous "alt fuels" debacle.

A Democratic victory there isn't guaranteed (far from it), but is will be easier if Lamb is on the general election ballot.