U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, a Republican representing Arizona's 1st Congressional District, and allies from his 2022 Congressional campaign settled lawsuits on Monday related to campaign materials that implied his Republican opponent was gay.
During the 2022 primary campaign cycle, a number of Schweikert associates made allegations insinuating one of his opponents, Elijah Norton, was gay and unfit for office. At one point, Schweikert's reelection campaign sent voters in the district a mailer that showed Norton with another man at a bar with the caption "Elijah Norton Isn't Being Straight With You".
Norton, the founder of vehicle warranty company CarGuard Administration, said the "vulgar" and "vile" attacks made against him hadn't even been made in a presidential race, normally.
Norton told ABC15 he hoped his decision to file the lawsuits "deters people from engaging in disgusting and despicable behavior in a political campaign."
"Campaigns are expected to get nasty," he said. "But there's a certain level of nastiness that you can't go down toward."
A pro-Schweikert super PAC also took aim at the CarGuard Administration, claiming it targeted the vulnerable and engaged in robocalls. The company later sued Schweikert over comments he made about the business.
Norton said he had settled for $50,000 with Jonathan Huey, a political consultant who was in charge of a political action committee that targeted Norton. In screenshots from social media, an anonymous social media account can be seen making explicit comments seemingly referring to specific sexual activity he alleged Norton had engaged in. Huey later admitted to running the account.
Norton says the comments were "totally false," and Huey later confirmed that he was unaware of what Norton's sexuality was.
"I can take a punch if someone wants to say something ridiculous like that, something that's immaterial to a political race? Fine," Norton said. "But when you go into the gutter and you start saying that I engage in vile things that I've never even heard of, that I have to google, that's where I draw the line."
As part of the settlement, Huey released a public statement apologizing for his actions and admitted that his claims were "lies" that were "not based on any facts."
Norton said the close of his legal proceedings with Schweikert had been "amicable."
Norton, who lost the primary to Schweikert by more than 10 points, said it was hard to say if Schweikert's claims had impacted election results.
"I can say that the polling data we did suggests that some of the attacks about my company's alleged - false - allegations about my company did, I think, have an impact and did move voters to maybe say 'Okay well, I don't know if I want to vote for this guy because I've heard all these bad things,'" he said.
The man Norton was pictured with in the attack ad also sued over its contents.
Norton added that the attacks "brought in other people who didn't ask to be brought in," a factor in his own decision to file the suit.
"I think we need to have campaigns that are above the fray and don't go into the gutter like that," Norton said.
Norton is currently volunteering as the Arizona Republican Party's treasurer. He said he had not ruled out a future run for office but he remained happy focusing on his business' international growth for now.
Schweikert's congressional office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Tuesday.
