Scoop: Maricopa County never OK'd lawmaker's "excellence award"
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State Rep. Matt Gress. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
In late September, GOP state Rep. Matt Gress touted on social media that he'd been given the "Maricopa County Excellence Award" — only the county board of supervisors never voted to establish any such honor.
Why it matters: The pseudo-award shines a spotlight on Gress, who faces perhaps the toughest re-election fight of any state lawmaker.
- Gress and Maricopa County Supervisor Mark Stewart, a fellow Republican who handed out the award, defended it to Axios, saying it was an award from Stewart's district and not the county as a whole.
Zoom in: Gress was one of eight honorees on Sept. 25 at a Stewart-organized summit on teen violence, which has been a problem in Stewart's East Valley district.
- Gress tells Axios he understood the award was in recognition for his role in passing Preston's Law, which cracked down on group assaults like the 2023 attack that killed 16-year-old Preston Lord in Queen Creek.
- Gress went on to post about receiving the award on social media.
Yes, but: A review of Board of Supervisors agendas and meeting records shows the body never voted to create, or even considered creating, a "Maricopa County Excellence Award," much less give it to Gress.
- The four other supervisors declined to comment through a county spokesperson.
The other side: Stewart tells Axios that he received the certificate's template from the county's communications staff and notes that "it says District 1 under my name where I signed it."
- He also notes that the honorees — which included a teacher, a therapist and other non-politicians — were selected by a local youth mental health advocate and not by him.
- Gress adds that, despite the award's name, the certificate was "never presented as an award from the entire county" at the event.
Between the lines: Stewart's relationship has sometimes been tense with his fellow supervisors on the GOP-dominated board, particularly during the board's election administration dispute with the county recorder. But on the award, he says, "nobody's raised an eyebrow with me."
What we're watching: Gress didn't respond when asked if he'd remove or edit his posts about the award.
- As of Tuesday morning, his posts about it were still up on X, Facebook and Instagram.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show Preston Lord was killed in 2023 (not 2013)