A Republican political committee aligned with President Donald Trump used photos of the wrong man in a television ad attacking a Navajo congressional candidate.
Ads produced by the No Going Back PAC described former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, who is running against incumbent GOP Rep. Eli Crane in Arizona's 2nd Congressional District, as "backed by liberal politicians" and "pushing higher taxes."
But the ads showed photos of Myron Lizer, who served as Nez's vice president from 2019 to 2023, according to a copy of the video archived by the tracking firm AdImpact.
"Arizona can't afford Jonathan Nez," the ad reads, alongside a black-and-white photo of Lizer.
The ads were scheduled to go live on a range of local Arizona television stations
throughout mid-October, leading up to the Nov. 3 general election, according to disclosures filed with the Federal Communications Commission.
Alex Pfeiffer with Watchtower Strategy, a Trump-aligned public affairs firm, told The Arizona Republic the ad is no longer airing.
They were produced as part of an independent effort by the Trump political group and were not formally authorized by Crane's campaign.
Press contacts for Crane and Nez did not immediately return requests for comment.
That the ads were produced at all is a sign of the headwinds facing Republicans during the 2026 midterms.
The attack blitz was part of a $600,000 expenditure by the Trump-aligned group targeting the district, according to AdImpact, an eyebrow-raising sum in a district that Republicans won in a landslide in 2024. Fundraising and spending in the race has been ramping up months, a stark contrast to the 2024 cycle when the district was widely viewed as outside of a competitive range and saw scant political advertising.
This is a developing story. Check www.azcentral.com for updates.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GOP ad attacks Navajo candidate Jonathan Nez with photo of wrong man
