Meet the candidates for U.S. Congress from Arizona District 4

By MacKenzie Brower
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X: @mbrowerjourno

Candidates officially filed their petitions April 1 to run in the 2024 primary election for the United States Congress from Arizona District 4.

Congressional District 4 incorporates part of south Phoenix, all of Tempe, and half of Chandler and Mesa.

Greg Stanton is the incumbent representative, challenged by Kelly Cooper, Jerone Davison, Dave Giles and Dr. Zuhdi Jasser. Primary election day is July 30. 

Kelly Cooper, Republican

Kelly Cooper is a Marine Corps veteran, local business owner and community leader. His parents divorced when he was young and his mother became the sole breadwinner for him and his sister, which changed the direction of his life. His mom’s sacrifice and dedication to her kids shaped Cooper and forged in him a determination crucial to his success. While in the Marines, Cooper adopted its moto “Semper fidelis,” which is Latin for “always faithful” or “always loyal.” Cooper then became a bartender at TGI Friday’s and eventually opened and managed several different restaurants in the Midwest and East coast. He earned the opportunity to become a Melting Pot restaurant franchise partner and is now the owner of two, as well as the owner of BKD’s Backyard Joint in Chandler. Cooper is the founder of Maricopa County Republican Veterans Club. He partners with diverse community groups and fundraises through his businesses and often shares community needs with state and federal legislators. His top priority is his wife and two children and the never-ending quest to leave the world a better place. Never one to run from hard things, he is ready to take on the tough issues America faces.

Jerone Davison, Republican

Jerone Davison is a professional athlete, published author, public speaker, Christian pastor, father and content creator. As a former ASU student athlete and NFL player, he travels the country sharing inspiration, passion, faith and his story of the American Dream. Davison grew up in the deep south in the small town of Picayune, Miss. He dropped out of high school, but enrolled at community college in California, where he broke records on the football team and was inducteed into the school’s Football Hall of Fame. He accepted a full-ride scholarship from ASU and was selected by the Los Angeles Rams. Davison has a strong faith in God and is a family man with five children and two grandchildren. He stands with Constitutionalists because people have natural, God-given rights that should be protected by the government. Some of the issues he’s running on are internet censorship from Big Tech corporations, education and the 2020 “election fraud.”

Dave Giles, Republican

Dave Giles is an economics engineer and business consultant with decades of international experience in power generation, power transmission, strategic operations, and technology in the business sector. While working abroad, Giles held many senior engineering, consulting, and strategic management positions with the largest oil company in the world, Saudi Aramco. He’s an international businessman who served as executive advisor/consultant to the Saudi Oil Minister and President of Saudi Aramco. After returning to the U.S., Giles served as a consultant for Wells Fargo’s corporate offices in Chandler and Scottsdale. Giles has a master’s in business administration, Master of Arts in theology and Doctor of Ministry. He is a commercial instrument pilot and has a federal firearms license. He is also a life member of the National Rifle Association and Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, as well as a member of several legions and aircraft associations. Giles’ parents instilled in him family values, loyalty and duty to country. His father dropped out of school to volunteer for World War II, earning nine battle stars and multiple ribbons. His parents were recognized by President Bush and Pope St. John Paul II on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary.

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, Republican

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser is a former U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, small business owner and primary care physician in Phoenix for over 25 years. He brought together his dreams to serve in the military with his medical ambitions by accepting a full medical school scholarship with the U.S. Navy Health Professions. He’s served the Office of the Attending Physician of the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court for which he received the Meritorious Service Medal. Jasser has also served two terms as the U.S. Senate appointee and vice chair on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Boards he’s previously or currently served on include the American Conservative Union, Maricopa County Board of Health, Area Agency on Aging, Arizona Medical Association, and NotMyKid. He’s proud to have founded in 2003 the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, which received national attention for its Muslim rally against terrorism. This catapulted Jasser into the (inter)national conversation on radical Islam. In 2015, he co-founded the Muslim Reform Movement. He’s a trusted subject matter expert for several congressional committees and was awarded the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award in 2007 for his work on counterterrorism. Jasser is a husband, father of three children, and son of Syrian political refugee immigrants who instilled in him deep patriotism.

Greg Stanton, Democrat

Serving as Phoenix mayor from 2012 to 2018, Greg Stanton focused on building an economy rooted in innovation and trade. Stanton has earned a reputation for working across the aisle to get things done. His biggest accomplishments in Phoenix were passed with bipartisan support: the city’s investment in biosciences and higher education, support for small businesses, and national recognition for leadership on LGBT equality. In 2015, Stanton won reelection and successfully led one of the most ambitious transportation initiatives in the country—a bipartisan, voter-backed plan to extend Phoenix’s light rail system, expand bus service, and improve thousands of miles of roadways over the next 35 years. During his time in Congress, Stanton has focused on planning for the state’s water future, investing in public transportation and infrastructure, building Arizona’s economy of the future and lowering costs for working families. He has been a member of multiple committees for transportation, aviation, water, foreign affairs, and New Democrat Coalition. Before his election as mayor, Stanton served nine years on Phoenix City Council and as Arizona’s Deputy Attorney General. He attended Marquette University on the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, and earned a law degree from the University of Michigan.

MacKenzie Brower
Lead News Reporter | Town of Paradise Valley mbrower@iniusa.org MacKenzie Brower has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northern Arizona University and specializes in visual storytelling. She was previously the director of photography and Editor-in-Chief of The Lumberjack at NAU, breaking news intern for The Arizona Republic and column writer for FlagLive! MacKenzie studied abroad in Prague at the beginning of 2021, where she practiced landscape and portrait photography. She is passionate about protecting the world’s environment and human rights and hopes to inform social change through reporting. You can find her portfolio at mackenziebrower.photoshelter.com.