No prominent Arizona Republicans publicly defended Mark Lamb from women's allegations that he had used threats and intimidation to suppress a history of sexting, nude photo-sharing and inviting intimate encounters outside his marriage.
Neither did they criticize the onetime Pinal County sheriff.
Lamb's congressional campaign has kept a low profile since an investigation by The Arizona Republic surfaced a trove of photos, screenshots and paperwork. The former sheriff is running as a "traditional values" conservative.
Peoria mayor and businessman Jason Beck, one of the biggest donors to Lamb's congressional campaign, said he was not in a position to comment on the topic. He hung up on a phone call with a Republic reporter.
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Kari Lake also hung up on a Republic reporter. The former Phoenix newscaster and staunch Trump ally beat Lamb in Arizona's 2024 Republican primary for U.S. Senate. She went on to lose to Democratic U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego and is now Trump's nominee to be the nation’s ambassador to Jamaica.
Leaders of the right-wing group Turning Point USA also would not comment on the allegations surrounding Lamb. Weeks earlier, they had thunderously criticized Gallego over his longtime friendship with former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell. Multiple women accused the California Democrat of sexual misconduct, including rape.
Lamb's grassroots supporters appeared willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Seeing shirtless photographs of Lamb in sexts to women was not enough to dissuade Chris Ogg, a Queen Creek resident and self-described cowboy, from supporting "America's Sheriff."
"If it is indeed true, he should not be running for representative in my district," Ogg said. "If people do things deliberately and habitually, not only will I not vote for 'em, I'll actively make sure that they're not in there."
The congressional campaign of former Pinal County sheriff Mark Lamb, running as a "traditional values" conservative, has kept a low profile since an investigation by The Arizona Republic unearthed women's allegations that he had used threats and intimidation to suppress a history of sexting, nude photo-sharing and inviting intimate encounters outside his marriage.
But he's standing by Lamb for the time being.
"I would require a private discussion with Mark Lamb to change my standing of him," Ogg said. "I defer to what I know personally: not guilty until proven otherwise."
Ogg's comments reflect the loyalty of many voters in Pinal County, an area that still clings to its rural roots even as thousands of homes in new subdivisions replace farmland in metro Phoenix's fast-growing East Valley.
Republicans outnumber Democrats 2-to-1 in the ruby-red congressional district Lamb is running to represent. Boosted by an endorsement from President Donald Trump, and with no high-profile GOP challenger, the former sheriff has an overwhelming advantage in both the July 21 Republican primary and the Nov. 4 general election.
The claims may put a damper on any ambitions Lamb may have of running for higher office, like governor or senator, political analysts told The Republic.
They say allegations also may cost Lamb support and credibility within Arizona's 5th Congressional District, a conservative bastion and a stronghold for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Members of Congress face deeper scrutiny and calls for greater accountability after high-profile sexual misconduct scandals have led elected officials on both sides of the aisle to resign before possible expulsion votes. Some lawmakers have called for new rules on how harassment and abuse claims are handled on Capitol Hill.
"I'm very, very sad, all the way around," said former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, a member of the LDS Church who represented the same area in Congress during the 1990s and 2010s. "Years ago, things were a lot different. But today, the Trump endorsement kind of trumps everything else."
What are the allegations against the former sheriff?
One woman said Lamb told her he would send state police after her if she didn't stop posting about their relationship, The Republic reported. She supported those claims with screenshots of texts and social media messages.
Another woman said Lamb got in her face and tried to bully her into silence after she reported his conduct to the LDS Church. The church investigated the allegations, The Republic found.
Lawyers for Lamb's congressional campaign called many of the claims against him "baseless and harmful." They declined to offer specifics in an April 18 letter.
Political rivals call on Lamb to exit House race
Rumors about Lamb's personal life had circulated among Arizona political veterans for years, conservative consultant Chuck Coughlin said.
The accusations against Lamb have drawn in the LDS Church, his 2020 reelection campaign workers, and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, County Attorney's Office and the Board of Supervisors. They bubbled up again when he started considering a campaign for Congress last year.
Lamb's political opponents seized on The Republic's findings.
His Republican rival, construction business owner Daniel Keenan, put out a statement calling on Lamb to end his campaign.
"This behavior is utterly unacceptable from someone who aspires to represent us in Congress. We need someone we can be proud of, not someone who will embarrass us," Keenan wrote.
Lamb's long-shot Democratic opponents said the former sheriff should "step down immediately."
"Beyond showing the hypocrisy at the heart of his public image built on supposedly 'traditional values,' the investigation shows someone eager and willing to abuse their power and to leverage public office for personal gain," Democrat Chris James said in a news release. "That is exactly the opposite of what Arizonians need in the 5th District or anywhere else for that matter."
Democrat Elizabeth Lee put out a video on social media calling the investigation "damning."
"Here we go again with another elite, entitled man who thought he could use his political power and his fancy badge to intimidate women," she said.
State Republican leaders had little to say.
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, who is vacating the congressional seat to run for governor of Arizona, did not return a request for comment.
Biggs, like Lamb, is endorsed by Trump and Turning Point. But he has not endorsed the former sheriff's campaign for Congress. Biggs' campaign has not offered an explanation.
Allegations come in more permissive political climate
The allegations against Lamb come at a time when Republicans are increasingly permissive of candidates facing scrutiny of their personal or professional lives.
Trump's own litany of sexual misconduct allegations did little to slow his meteoric rise in politics. And he has dodged a full reckoning over his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
Trump on May 19 endorsed Ken Paxton, Texas' scandal-plagued attorney general, in the 2026 race for the state's open U.S. Senate seat. Paxton was impeached in 2023 by the state's Republican-led House over allegations of corruption. And his ex-wife, a state senator, publicly accused Paxton of adultery in 2025 and filed for divorce.
In the past, national politicians often apologized, stepped down or faced backlash from their party when sexual misconduct claims surfaced in the media.
"In today's politics, is anything really shocking anymore?" Coughlin said.
The White House and an aide to Trump did not return requests for comment.
Salmon, the former congressman, said he was not surprised by the muted response to the allegations against Lamb. The power of Trump's endorsement tends to quiet any Republican critics, he said.
The LDS Church may stay quiet on the allegations, Salmon added, because of church officials' duty of confidentiality and their desire to "bring the sinner back into the fold" rather than publicly embarrass them.
The claims will follow Lamb even if he wins his upcoming elections, Coughlin said, especially if the church decides to weigh in.
"That's a very heavily conservative, heavily Christian, heavily Mormon district that has a deep background in those character issues," he said. "I can't imagine it just going away."
'I have read enough to want to investigate'
The allegations against the former sheriff undercut Lamb's carefully crafted image as a family man.
Lamb has made "faith, family, and freedom" the focus of his campaign for Congress. It's a message that resonates with his supporters.
Ogg said he has long admired Lamb as a model of upstanding conduct. He said Lamb restored the traditional values flouted by Paul Babeu, Lamb's predecessor as Pinal County sheriff, whose political career ended under the shadow of a sex scandal.
"You don't want your sheriff to be running around bald in a pair of leopard undies," Ogg, the Queen Creek cowboy, told The Republic at Lamb's campaign launch in November. "There is a certain standard of professional conduct expected from people."
The allegations against Lamb were hard for Ogg to believe. He said the claims were "inconsistent" with the man he has come to admire. He was struck by how closely the controversies mirror Babeu's. But he wasn't ready to withdraw his support.
"I'm definitely not at that level yet," Ogg said, but "I have read enough to want to investigate."
