A Republican challenger has emerged to face freshman Rep. Eli Crane in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District.

Former Yavapai County Supervisor Jack Smith filed paperwork to run on the GOP ticket in CD2, according to the Arizona Republic.

In a fundraising email sent on Sunday, Crane claims Smith’s candidacy is retribution for his vote to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Crane was one of eight Republicans — also among them, East Valley Congressman Andy Biggs — who joined Democrats last year in a vote to depose the California Republican.

Now McCarthy and his allies are reportedly working to oust Crane and others who voted against McCarthy’s leadership.

“I kept my word when I stood up to the GOP Establishment, and voted to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker,” Crane wrote in his email. “But doing the right thing in a place where the status quo is reliant on wrongdoing never earns you too many friends. In fact, it has now earned me a primary challenger that has the full backing of the RINO establishment.”

Crane is the only first-term member of Congress who voted to oust McCarthy, and, according to Politico, has been identified by McCarthy allies as one of the eight who’s most vulnerable in a primary.

Smith, who filed a statement of interest with the Secretary of State’s Office on Friday, could not be reached for comment.