Gress touted a 'Maricopa County Excellence Award' the county board never created
Based on reporting by Zach Buchanan for Axios Phoenix, published October 14, 2026.
In late September, Republican Rep. Matt Gress posted on social media that he had received the "Maricopa County Excellence Award." Axios Phoenix reports that the county Board of Supervisors never created such an award by vote, and never even considered one.
Supervisor Mark Stewart, a Republican, gave out the certificate on Sept. 25 at a summit he organized on teen violence, which Axios says has been a problem in his East Valley district. Gress was one of eight people honored there, a group Axios says included a teacher and a therapist. Gress told Axios he understood the honor recognized his part in passing Preston's Law, a crackdown on group assaults named for Preston Lord, a 16-year-old killed in a 2023 attack in Queen Creek.
Axios checked board agendas and meeting records and found no vote to create the award. The board's other four members declined to comment through a county spokesperson.
Gress and Stewart both defended the award to Axios, saying it came from Stewart's district, not the county as a whole. Stewart said county communications staff supplied the certificate template and that District 1 appears under his signature, and he said a local youth mental health advocate picked the honorees. Gress said the certificate was "never presented as an award from the entire county" at the event.
Axios says Gress may have a harder reelection race than any other state legislator. He did not answer when Axios asked whether he would take down or change his posts about the award, which remained on his X, Facebook and Instagram accounts as of Oct. 13.