By Staff Reporter |
The monsoon season rains are anticipated to wind down in Arizona, but the political attack ads are picking up.
Arizona residents have likely received campaign mailers at this point in the election season. Some of those mailers have a disclosure that they were paid for by the Arizona Democratic Party, thanks to funds by Arizona Public Service (APS) and Elevance Health (operating as Wellpoint, formerly Amerigroup).
These mailers appear to be targeting voters in swing districts throughout the state.
One mailer reflected opposition to Republican state legislative candidates seeking to represent Legislative District 13: Julie Willoughby for State Senate, and Kevin Hartke and Janet Weninger for State House. This mailer claimed Willoughby, Hartke, and Weninger would cost taxpayers more through school choice funds.
Another mailer reflected support for Willoughby’s Democratic primary opponent, Kristie O’Brien. This mailer claimed O’Brien would lower costs for the community.
Both mailers stress affordability, but they were financed by the same companies which have sought or imposed double-digit rate increases for Arizonans’ utilities and healthcare.
According to state campaign finance records, Elevance Health donated $25,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party last May. They have never donated prior to that time. As reported previously, Elevance Health was one of the top single donors last year to the heavily indebted Arizona Democratic Party.
APS donated $40,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party in three installments: June 2025, September 2025, and June 2026. The earliest APS donations on record to Arizona Democrats occurred in 2024, totaling $80,000.
As reported previously, Pinnacle West Capital Corp., the owner of APS, was one of the top donors for Gov. Katie Hobbs’ secretive inaugural and litigation funds.
As far as state campaign finance records go online (back to 2002), neither Elevance Health nor APS has ever donated to the Arizona Republican Party.
Both organizations have made headlines over the past year for raising their rates by double digits.
Elevance Health recently raised its premium rates by 24% across its Affordable Care Act and Medicare plans. It also requested an additional 17% increase in rate hikes for 2027, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company is also looking to cut down on the offerings within its affordable healthcare portfolio. It has signaled that it will exit underperforming Medicaid programs in multiple states by the end of 2027, following its recent departures from Louisiana and the Washington, D.C., markets.
Similarly, APS has requested to increase its rates by 14% to 16% for residential customers and more than 45% for large load users like data centers and manufacturing companies. APS is also petitioning to implement a new formula that would allow for automatic rate adjustments annually.
This financial support from Elevance Health and APS has boosted Democrats’ ongoing efforts to flip key seats in the Arizona legislature, which would result in Republicans losing their slim majority.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is targeting 17 races throughout the state, including in Legislative Districts 2, 4, 13, and 17 in the Senate and Legislative Districts 2, 4, 13, 16, 17, and 23 in the House.
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