Jake Hoffman is making money off candidates he recruited
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State Sen. Jake Hoffman speaks at a 2025 event to announce the candidacy of Kimberly Yee (left) for superintendent of public instruction. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
A political communications firm owned by influential GOP state Sen. Jake Hoffman has made more than $200,000 so far off of two statewide candidates he recruited to run in the 2026 election, campaign finance data shows.
Why it matters: The money spent on Hoffman's Forged Communications — by prominent candidates Kimberly Yee and Alexander Kolodin — raise conflict of interest concerns with political observers and ethics experts.
Follow the money: A Gilbert Republican who heads the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, Hoffman recruited Yee and Kolodin to run last year.
- Currently the state treasurer, Yee is running for superintendent of public instruction, while Kolodin is a state lawmaker vying for secretary of state. Both won their primaries, with Yee knocking off an incumbent.
- Through June 30, their campaigns have paid more than $200,000 to Hoffman's firm this cycle — $121,000 from Yee's campaign and nearly $90,000 from Kolodin's.
- Forged Communications is by far the largest payee for the two campaigns, representing about two-thirds of the expenditures for each.
The other side: In a statement sent via text, Hoffman said Yee and Kolodin are "undoubtedly the most qualified candidates in their respective races" and accused Axios of "cooking up wild conspiracy theories about phantom conflicts of interest."
- Seemingly addressing a question about whether Arizona should enact restrictions on lawmakers who also work in political campaigns, Hoffman adds that doing so would "trample the First Amendment protections for freedom of association."
- Yee did not address her association with Hoffman in a text to Axios, saying that she was recruited to run "by hundreds of families all around the state."
- Neither Yee nor Kolodin answered questions about why they picked Hoffman's firm.
Context: Arizona has a part-time, low-paid Legislature, and many lawmakers have full-time jobs, including in the realm of political consulting.
- But Hoffman's central role in kickstarting Yee's and Kolodin's statewide runs could give the appearance of a powerful lawmaker using his influence to funnel clients to his private business, ethics experts tell Axios.
What they're saying: "There's a bunch of potential conflicts," says Republican consultant Tyler Montague, a critic of the far-right and the president of the Arizona Public Integrity Alliance, a nonprofit election law watchdog.
- "The appearances are not good if he's picking people who use his businesses," adds Richard Painter, the former chief ethics attorney for President George W. Bush. "Because there are competing businesses."
- The Arizona Secretary of State's Office, which investigates campaign finance complaints, did not respond to a request for comment.
What we're watching: What the next round of campaign finance reports (due in October) show about Yee's and Kolodin's spending, and whether hitching themselves to Hoffman's businesses leads to wins in November.