Ordinarily, when members of Congress lose or give up their seats, they don’t try to return to Capitol Hill. But this year, the public has seen a variety of former members announce comeback bids, some of which might very well succeed.
In New York, for example, former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones is running anew for the U.S. House. Former Republican Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina also hopes to return to Congress, as does former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan.
But former Republican Rep. Trent Franks’ comeback bid in Arizona is far more surprising than the others.
“I truly believe the 2024 election is vital to the survival of a free, prosperous, and strong America in the world,” Franks said in his announcement. “I have never believed these things more than I do now. Thus, I have chosen to run for Congress again with the very deepest prayer in my heart being, God’s Will Be Done.”
For those who might not recall why Franks left Congress in the first place, let’s revisit our coverage from December 2017.
The then-GOP congressman was generally known as a far-right culture warrior and ardent Donald Trump ally, but as his career imploded, Franks became infamous for an entirely different reason. Politico reported at the time:
Arizona Rep. Trent Franks allegedly made unwanted advances toward female staffers in his office and retaliated against one who rebuffed him, according to House GOP sources with knowledge of a complaint against him. The allegations, which reached Speaker Paul Ryan and top GOP leaders in recent days, led to Franks’ sudden resignation this week.
According to the Arizonan’s version of events, he didn’t have any physical relationships with his aides, but as Franks put it, he apparently made some of his staffers uncomfortable by asking if they’d consider becoming birth surrogates for his family.
The House Ethics Committee wasted little time in launching an investigation, which was curtailed when Franks resigned under a cloud of controversy.
A special election to fill his vacancy soon followed, and Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko won the seat. Lesko announced a couple of weeks ago that she’s retiring, and now Franks wants to succeed his successor.
This would’ve been difficult to imagine in the recent past. As recently as 2018, The Washington Post was still referring to Franks as a “disgraced former congressman.” But in 2023, the Republican is under the apparent impression that GOP voters have a high tolerance for scandal. As for whether Franks is likely to succeed, his comeback bid certainly won’t be easy. For one thing, it’s likely that plenty of voters remember why he quit in the first place — and if locals have forgotten, they’ll soon be reminded. For another, the primary field in Arizona’s 8th district is already crowded. As my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones noted this week, failed U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, failed state attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh, and Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma are among the many Republicans already running in this ruby-red part of the Grand Canyon State. Franks, in other words, has a lot of work to do. Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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