UPDATE: See Adams' response to House Speaker Age-Gate here.
Former Arizona House Speaker and current Congressional candidate Kirk Adams issued a press release recently claiming he was "the youngest speaker in Arizona history."
The release says Adams "shocked the Republican establishment and political class, winning
the speakership at only 35 years of age and one full term in office --
making him the youngest speaker in Arizona history."
Adams was certainly young to be Speaker, but he wasn't the youngest.
AZ Fact Check took the claim to task and found the following:
Records in the Arizona State Archives indicate Raymond G. Latham was actually the youngest House speaker. He was born on June 2, 1918, and was 31 when he became speaker in 1949.Paul Keefe was 34 when he was speaker in 1921, and J. Melvin Goodson was the same age as Adams, 35, when he was speaker in 1939.
Cathy Griffin, reference librarian for the Arizona Law and Research Library, said the archives also show Harwell Henderson Linney was 31 when he served as House speaker during a special legislative session in 1913.
Bottom line: Adams was not the youngest speaker in Arizona history.
Adams is vying to replace outgoing Congressman Jeff Flake -- who's running for the Senate -- in Arizona's 6th Congressional District.
Another GOPer in the race is Joe Arpaio-approved former Congressman Matt Salmon.
Arpaio endorsed Salmon earlier this week, despite years of bad blood between the two.
In a 2005 New Times article, written by former NT scribe John Dougherty, when asked about Arpaio, Salmon said the following: "I don't respect him. I don't think he's playing with a full deck."
However, in a press release announcing that his candidacy for the District 6 Congressional seat was now Joe Arpaio-approved, Salmon said the following:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been a tireless advocate for the safety of Maricopa County citizens for almost two decades. He understands how important it is to protect our national borders against illegal immigration and he knows I will make that a top priority in Washington. I am grateful for his confidence in my ability to represent the best interests of our communities.
As we noted yesterday, the only thing that's changed since Salmon said Arpaio's not "playing with a full deck" is the fact that Salmon's now running for Congress, and an endorsement from the sheriff in Maricopa County
Salmon's camp, unfortunately, refuses to explain the switcheroo. We've sent several emails to Salmon's campaign spokesman Adam Deguire asking for an explanation. His response: crickets. We've received precisely zero responses.
If you'd also like an explanation as to why a Congressional candidate, who once said he had no respect for Joe Arpaio, would refer to the sheriff as a "tireless advocate for the safety of
Maricopa County citizens for almost two decades" now that he's running for Congress, email Deguire at [email protected]
