Arizona man running for office accused of misrepresenting his military service

NAVAJO COUNTY, Ariz. - The Navajo County Republican Committee is calling on a candidate to drop out of the race for state office.

Steve Slaton is running for a seat in Arizona's House of Representatives to represent Legislative District 7.

He's accused of misrepresenting his military record by claiming to be a Cobra helicopter pilot. A veteran group says he was actually a mechanic.

Slaton maintains he was a combat veteran.

He recently made recent headlines for hosting an event for U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake. It was at his Trump-themed store in Show Low with a confederate flag on the wall.

Slaton responded to the call to drop out of the race with a statement that reads, "I am a Vietnam combat veteran - no left wing smear campaign will ever deny that fact. These people doing this are doing to me what the liberals did to the Vietnam Veterans decades ago when they returned - spitting on us and mocking us. These are the same people who opposed patriots like Kari Lake, President Trump, Eli Crane and Wendy Rogers. They are a bunch of establishment Chamber of Commerce RINO hacks who support Democrats more than Republicans. It is about 10 losers with no real power to do anything. They get everything wrong and are about as irrelevant as the paper their phony letter is printed on."

The Navajo County Republican Committee says on its website, "The mission of the Navajo County Republican Committee (NCRC) is to help meet the goals of the Arizona Republican Party and the Republican National Committee. We support the principles of the Republican Party Platform and the Constitution. We support our Party’s candidates who uphold these beliefs and promote the political education of Republicans in Arizona."