Former West Valley Congressman Trent Franks is throwing his hat into the ring to replace retiring Rep. Debbie Lesko, six years after he resigned following allegations he proposition two staffers to be surrogates for his family.

Franks, who resigned in 2017, said in a statement he left congress to avoid putting his family through a media firestorm but that he believes now is the time to return.

Elected first in 2003 following the resignation of longtime Rep. Bob Stump, Franks won a split party primary among several prominant Republicans at the time before easily being elected in the heavily Republican district at the time.

Franks had a long history in Arizona politics prior to being elected to congress. He was first elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 1984 before serving in the cabinet of Gov. Evan Mecham, who was impeached by the Arizona Legislature roughly 15 months into his term in 1987 on obstruction of justice and misues of government funds.

His political career came to a grinding halt in 2017 when reports cam out that he offered $5 million to a female employee to be a surrogate for his family, according to the New York Times.

At the time of his resignation, there were two women who believed Franks wanted them to carry his child, according to the Times.

Lesko announced last month she was stepping down after six years in congress to spend more time with her family.

The open seat in a reliably Republican district has draw plenty of interest, from Blake Masters, who failed in his bid to unseat Sen. Mark Kelly in 2022, to Peoria Mayor Jason Beck's chief of staff, Brandon Urness.