By Staff Reporter |
Attorney General Kris Mayes is styling her campaign to show bipartisan support; her latest endorsement comes from a “lifelong Republican” former mayor who misused the 911 system.
Mayes opened her latest campaign ad with the endorsement of Sam Campana, the former mayor of Scottsdale from 1996 to 2000.
“I’m voting for Kris Mayes because Arizona deserves better than politics as usual,” said Campana.
Mayes has encouraged a public perception of nonpartisanship on the campaign trail and the debate stage.
During her debate against Republican nominee Warren Petersen last month, Mayes presented herself as apolitical. Petersen disagreed with that characterization and revisited actions by her office that he claimed were evidence of political lawfare, such as her refusal to defend a state law banning boys from girls sports.
“Whether it was a Republican president or a Democratic president, our criteria is the same: has the Constitution been violated? Has the state been harmed?” said Mayes. “And that has happened all too often over the past two years.”
“Kris Mayes is the most political and partisan AG that this state has ever had,” replied Petersen. “She’s got [more than] 50 lawsuits against her political opponents. She has weaponized the office.”
In furtherance of that goal to present herself as nonpartisan, Mayes this week featured an endorsement from Campana, Scottsdale’s first female mayor who previously identified as a Republican.
Some Arizona voters were quick to point out that the chief law enforcement officer had chosen an endorser who misused 911 on more than one occasion.
While mayor, Campana repeatedly called 911 for directions to city functions when she couldn’t get an answer in time from non-emergency lines.
Campana continued calling 911 despite being asked by local police leadership to cease calling the emergency line for driving directions.
Campana eventually relented from calling 911 for directions according to reports, but stated at the time that she continued to call police for navigational assistance.
“I only use it under duress,” said Campana.
The former mayor also told the Arizona Progress Gazette in a 2020 interview that she helped to ensure that women were hired over men during her tenure, giving the implication that she participated in sex-based hiring discrimination.
“It was an exciting time on the Mezzanine of City Hall when all the mayor and council staff were women! Mostly it was because we hired the most capable person for the job, but in a case or two it was a nudge to give a woman an opportunity who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten it,” said Campana.
Campana was among several self-identified lifelong Republicans in this latest campaign ad who said they viewed Mayes as one of their own, since the attorney general was a registered Republican until 2019.
Although Campana described herself as a lifelong Republican, she has endorsed Democratic candidates for years and was a member of Republicans for Harris.
Campana endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020, Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2022, and Kamala Harris in 2024.
This year, Campana supported Solange Whitehead and Raoul Zubia for Scottsdale City Council, and Marlene Galan-Woods for Congress — all Democrats.
“Principled, public policy-minded, cares about Arizona, steady at the wheel and a proven statewide candidate who has delivered every time,” said Campana of Hobbs in her 2022 endorsement.
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