Eli Crane's GOP challenger Jack Smith denies ties to Kevin McCarthy in solo TV appearance

Republican congressional candidate Jack Smith skirted Monday allegations that he has ties with allies of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in a televised one-on-one interview.

Smith, a former Yavapai County supervisor running in Arizona's 2nd Congressional District, is up against incumbent Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., for the upcoming July 30 GOP primary. Crane declined the invitation to debate Smith on the program.

Instead, Crane's campaign hosted a rally in Prescott Monday evening alongside the MAGA personality Charlie Kirk and GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona. U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake also appeared at the rally in support of Crane.

"I'm very disappointed that my opponent didn't want to be here. It was the only televised event that we're going to have in this race, and I think it's important that the American people get to see both sides," Smith said standing alone at the debate podium.

Crane was the only freshman member of Congress who voted in October to oust McCarthy, R-Calif., from the speaker's job. Now, Smith is challenging Crane with indirect financial support from McCarthy's allies.

The two candidates have sparred over their level of allegiance to McCarthy. Smith has argued Crane's speaker votes were misguided and a betrayal of the Republican Party. Crane in turn has cast Smith as an opportunist bankrolled by the D.C. “Swamp."

Crane wrote in a fundraising email that "Kevin McCarthy recently recruited an ambitious guy named Jack Smith to primary me. Nobody in the district asked him to run — just a corrupt swamp creature who’s bitter that he lost his grip on power.”

Smith noted he's never met McCarthy but hopes to someday.

" ... If you want to just throw at me that I'm a McCarthy guy, that's great. I would happily join with Kevin McCarthy if he wanted to join the team to help us get some reality back to the district," Smith said.

Smith said he would not have voted to oust McCarthy and wants to work within his party to make changes, specifically to infrastructure, in the 2nd district.

"We've got to stop the finger pointing," he said. "If you're like me, you're tired of the back and forth in our own Republican Party."

Like much of his campaign messaging, Smith pointed out that Crane lives outside of the district in Oro Valley, a well-to-do suburb outside Tucson.

He said it's important to work with the district's local representatives and meet voters to get things done as a federal lawmaker.

"Unfortunately, he's not in the district very often," Smith said.

The event was hosted by Arizona’s publicly funded Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

Rep. Eli Crane vs. Jack Smith: Inside the GOP 'civil war' in Arizona's 2nd Congressional District

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Challenger Jack Smith criticizes Rep. Eli Crane for 'finger pointing'