Malignant Turning Point Nitwit Pleads Guilty to Forging Signatures to get on the Ballot

Republican numbskull Austin Cole Smith has pleaded guilty to blatantly forging signatures on a petition to get on the ballot in LD29. He was the Strategic Director of Turning Point Action, who spent years claiming widespread election fraud, only to be one of the few people found guilty of election fraud himself.

“Can’t make this shit up. Grifters gonna grift right?” said Drew Chavez, the owner of a signature-gathering company.

Smith, a MAGA stooge, forged the names of dead people and added the names of people in the easily-seen identical handwriting. He needed 200 signatures and faked 100 of them.

Smith, age 30 of Buckeye, had been a one-term Republican in LD29, in the west valley of Phoenix. He assumed office on Jan. 9, 2023, and left office on Jan. 13, 2025.

He built his political career on false election conspiracy theories and frequently accused election officials of fraud. His campaign literature supported a Republican-backed review of the 2020 presidential election, which ended without any proof of the false claim of a stolen election.

He was a member of the far-right “freedom caucus” that spread false claims of election fraud in 2020 and called for limiting the right to vote.

“Forging signatures, including those of people who have died, in order to get yourself on the ballot is illegal, and it erodes trust in our elections,” said Attorney General Mayes. “My office will continue to hold accountable anyone who tries to cheat the system and mislead Arizona voters.”

Turning Point, where Smith was also the National Field Director for Students For Trump, is in decline. Without a jabbering, bickering villain like the dead Charlie Kirk, TP is less interesting to MAGA sycophants. Today, it is led by Kirk’s wife, Erika, a Millennial fashion model with the piety of a Sunday school teacher.

Smith will be sentenced on Jan. 6, 2025, and, under a plea deal, faces a 5-year prohibition on seeking public office, a $5,500 fine, and a term of probation. This is a pretty light punishment for this total crooked bonehead.

“Jeez, he made no effort to make them (signature) different,” said James Ashurst of Goodyear regarding the fake signatures Smith submitted. “I mean, come on, man. No effort.” Ashurst was the plaintiff in a 2024 court complaint against Smith.

Arizona House Democratic leader Rep. Oscar De Los Santos responded to the guilty plea with an all-caps message to “ARREST THE ILLEGALS.”