A Shanked Field Goal: Jay Feely’s Attack on Joseph Chaplik Is a New Low in the CD-1 Primary

There is an old football saying: you can tell a lot about a team’s character when the game gets hard. Jay Feely, the former Arizona Cardinals kicker turned congressional candidate, just showed voters who he is when things got hard. It is not a flattering picture.

Feely’s campaign recently attacked primary opponent Joseph Chaplik over missed votes during his final weeks in the Arizona Legislature. The implication was clear: Chaplik was derelict in his duties, absent without cause, running from his responsibilities.

There was a cause. Chaplik was at the out-of-state bedside of his dying mother…and then at her funeral.

The Attack That Should Never Have Been Thrown

Photo Source: Arizona Mirror

Chaplik has since made clear that his absences coincided with his mother’s final days and death. He was there for her when she needed him most. Any candidate with a shred of human decency would have known that before launching a political attack based on vote records; and if they found out after, they would have immediately apologized.

A mass text message response from the Chaplik campaign

Feely has done neither.

This is the kind of political play that gives campaigns a bad name. Feely entered this race with considerable advantages: Trump’s endorsement, name recognition, and the fundraising that comes with both. He did not need to go low. He chose to.

Wide Right

In 2003, Feely famously missed a potential game-winning field goal for the Cardinals in overtime. It was a tough moment, but football is a game and those things happen. This is different. Attacking a grieving son for missing votes to be with his dying mother is not a missed kick; it is a kick in the wrong direction entirely.

Jay Feely. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Feely has positioned himself as a values-driven candidate, a family man shaped by faith and community service. That framing rings hollow when his campaign is weaponizing a man’s grief for political points.

What Voters Should Take From This

CD-1 is one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country. The Republican primary winner will face a serious Democratic challenger in November. Voters deserve to know what kind of representative they are sending to Washington.

Chaplik has genuine legislative experience in this district. Feely has a Trump endorsement and a television career. Based on this episode, he also has a serious character question to answer.