Retiring Rep. Debbie Lesko to run for Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

Months after Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko's surprise announcement that she would not seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives, the Peoria-area member of Congress has filed to run for a seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Lesko will run to represent District 4, a conservative-leaning area that stretches across the northwestern Valley, encompassing some of the same geographic area as her congressional district.

The announcement comes just days after Supervisor Clint Hickman announced he would not seek reelection.

Hickman has served in the role for more than a decade and was among the county supervisors who faced false allegations of election fraud following the 2020 and 2022 elections.

Lesko saluted Hickman in a message posted Friday on the social-media platform X.

"Thank you Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman for your service to the great people in the West Valley and Maricopa County! I wish you and your family many blessings in your future endeavors. Your work for the people in the West Valley will be remembered."

Once a lower-profile post, the Board of Supervisors has in recent years become a flashpoint for discredited, Republican-led challenges to the integrity of U.S. elections, which are mostly operated at the county level.

Lesko has embraced some of those efforts. She voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results in Pennsylvania and Arizona and signed onto an election challenge lawsuit that was swiftly dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lesko has represented Arizona's 8th Congressional District since winning a special election for the seat in 2018. She announced her retirement after the ousting of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., a chaotic effort led by fellow Republicans that exposed the cracks in the GOP's caucus. Lesko called the situation "a disaster."

While she served on influential committees within the House, Lesko is on track to depart federal office with little to show for her time in Congress. She was the main sponsor of only two bills that became law: One renamed a post office, and the other required an analysis of the safety of the nation’s ports of entry.

She previously has said that she will serve out the rest of her term, which ends in January 2025.

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Arizona Republic reporters Sasha Hupka and Ronald Hansen contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko to run for Maricopa County Board of Supervisors