Trump-Backed AZ Congressional Nominee Jay Feely Targets Democrat Amish Shah As ‘Socialist’ At GOP Convention

Arizona Republican congressional nominee Jay Feely used his appearance at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention Wednesday to praise President Donald Trump and portray Democratic opponent Amish Shah as part of his party’s socialist wing.

Feely, a former Arizona Cardinals kicker and NFL broadcaster, was the only Arizona candidate scheduled to address the two-day convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, according to KJZZ. The Republican National Committee described the September 9-10 gathering as the party’s first national convention organized around a midterm election.

America’s future is on the ballot.

We face a critical choice: common sense policies that lead to improving the lives of Arizona’s families, or the socialist policies of the modern Democratic Party.

WATCH my full convention speech ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/U5dhi3YMDp

— Jay Feely (@jayfeely) September 10, 2026

During his address, Feely placed Shah alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders and argued that Democratic socialists had become representative of the national party.

“We are blessed to live in the greatest country in the world. We are still the shining city on a hill. But Ronald Reagan warned us freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. Freedom is not something we merely inherit. Every generation has to defend it. Every generation has to fight for it. We cannot sit on the sidelines and hope someone else will do it for us. We will not surrender our future. We are the ones that must preserve it. In my lifetime, the two parties have never been further apart ideologically. There are two very different visions for America’s future. The Democrats believe the answer to our problems is more government, more spending, more taxes, more regulation. No,” Feely said, according to a transcript of the convention’s opening night.

“Democrat socialists like Bernie Sanders and my opponent Amish Shah, they aren’t the fringe of the Democratic Party. They are the Democratic Party.” 

Feely then attributed several positions to the Democratic Party’s socialist movement, including abolishing prisons, eliminating national borders, abolishing the U.S. Senate, socializing health care and taking away private-property rights. He did not provide examples linking Shah individually to each of those proposals during the speech.

A Shah campaign spokesman called Feely’s allegations “demonstrably false,” KJZZ reported.

Feely contrasted the positions he attributed to Democrats with a Republican agenda centered on lower taxes, reduced regulation, capitalism and free markets. He argued that those policies would improve housing affordability and allow families and businesses to build wealth.

“We cannot tax our way to prosperity nor regulate our way to abundance,” Feely said during the four-minute address.

Feely also connected his congressional campaign to the July 2024 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. He said watching Trump raise his fist after being wounded prompted him and his wife, Rebecca, to consider what they were willing to sacrifice for the country.

Feely said he subsequently left his broadcasting career after 14 NFL seasons as a player and 10 years covering the sport. He played for seven NFL teams, including the Arizona Cardinals, before retiring in 2014, according to the Associated Press.

Trump endorsed Feely in the Republican primary and renewed that support shortly before Arizona voters selected their nominees. The president called Feely an “America First Patriot” in a July endorsement and said he would support Trump’s positions on taxes, regulations, domestic energy, border security, the military and the Second Amendment.

Feely and Shah are competing for Arizona’s open 1st Congressional District seat. The district includes Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Paradise Valley and portions of northeastern Phoenix and is expected to be among the races that could help determine control of the House, according to the Associated Press.

Republican Rep. David Schweikert is vacating the seat after leaving Congress to run for governor and losing the Republican primary to Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ05). The Arizona secretary of state’s official primary canvass confirmed Feely and Shah as their parties’ nominees.

Shah previously won the Democratic nomination for the district in 2024 before losing the general election to Schweikert. He returned in 2026 and defeated a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)-backed opponent, Marlene Galán-Woods, in the July primary.

The Associated Press described Shah and Galán-Woods as moderates and reported that their contest did not reflect the national Democratic Party’s broader dispute between progressive and centrist factions. Shah also broke with fellow Democrats on some issues during his tenure in the Arizona Legislature, as reported by KJZZ.

As reported by The California Globe in July, the DCCC faced major backlash after entering a $200,000 joint advertising buy with Galán-Woods. National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) National War Room Director Ben Petersen shared an Axios article on the fallout in a July 9 post to X, citing “multiple Democrat Members of Congress shitting on the DCCC for meddling.”

Feely has accused Shah of representing the radical Democratic Socialist left, while Shah’s campaign has sought to link Feely closely to Trump and portray him as too conservative for the district.

Arizona’s 1st District has a Republican registration advantage, although its presidential vote has become more closely divided. Former President Joe Biden carried the district in 2020, while President Trump won it narrowly in 2024, according to the Associated Press. The Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up and describes the district as one of the most competitive in the country.