by Staff Reporter | Jul 18, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
One of the Arizona Democratic Party’s (ADP) political crown jewels has been arrested for breaking into a former romantic partner’s home with a knife.
Phoenix police arrested Brianna Westbrook, 41, former ADP vice chair and current education coordinator, last Friday for allegedly breaking into a former partner’s home brandishing a knife and carrying gloves and duct tape.
Westbrook, formerly a Peoria-area car salesman named Mike McDanel, allegedly forced himself into the victim’s residence, where he pushed the victim onto a couch. It was allegedly only after the victim screamed that Westbrook fled the scene.
Westbrook alleged that the incident was part of consensual roleplay, a “big misunderstanding” — a narrative the alleged victim denies.
A judge set Westbrook’s bond at $15,000.
Apart from the disputed nature of the alleged home invasion, Westbrook does have a history of advocating for violence.
As AZ Free News reported previously, Westbrook applauded a call for gun violence in the wake of the 2023 Nashville school shooting in which three children and three adults were slain by a transgender-identifying woman, Aiden Hale.
The year prior, Westbrook publicly expressed opposition to Blue Alerts, communications sent to the public and law enforcement notifying them of suspects who have assaulted, critically injured, or killed law enforcement officers.
It was around 2017 that Westbrook began a rise to prominence among Arizona Democrats as the state’s first federal elected official to identify as transgender. Westbrook told the Phoenix New Times that he began identifying as transgender about five years earlier at the age of 27. Westbrook once operated a YouTube account, since deleted, which reportedly documented his gender transition.
Westbrook has run for office multiple times since 2017, when he announced his campaign for what was then the 8th Congressional District as the first openly transgender candidate for federal office in Arizona.
Westbrook was not Arizona’s first transgender candidate overall: that title belongs to 2004 candidate Amanda Simpson, a Raytheon executive from Tucson who ran for the state legislature believed to be the first openly transgender presidential appointee. Neither could he claim the title as the nation’s first openly transgender federal candidate: that would be 2016 candidates Misty Snow, running to represent Utah in the Senate, and Misty Plowright, running to represent Colorado in Congress.
Westbrook lost in the general election to Republican candidate Debbie Lesko, the former congresswoman currently serving on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Following a protest in 2018 in the thick of a congressional campaign, Westbrook publicized his alleged mistreatment at the hands of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office following his arrest for trespassing at former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake’s office.
Westbrook argued in an ACLU blog post that the sheriff’s office should have complied with his request to jail him with other women, not men. Law enforcement ultimately put Westbrook in a solitary cell, according to his account.
Westbrook went on to serve as a vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) from around 2019 to 2024.
Westbrook had also served as the at-large officer for Phoenix Democratic Socialists of America around the same time, and has belonged to the Democratic Socialists of America for years.
Westbrook ran for the Arizona House of Representatives in 2022, but lost the primary to former lawmakers Amish Shah and Jennifer Longdon.
In 2024, Phoenix Democrats nominated Westbrook and two others for the legislative seat vacated by Longdon. The County Board of Supervisors declined to select Westbrook.
As of this report, ADP has Westbrook listed as its education coordinator.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Apr 22, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) is heading into the second quarter of this pivotal election year with a negative cash balance exceeding $720,000.
Their latest campaign finance report, filed last week, reflected total-to-date expenditures that nearly tripled their income: over $2.8 million compared to $1 million.
For this first period, ADP’s expenditures did fall below their income: about $67,500 compared to $151,500.
ADP experienced much stronger fundraising in the first quarter of 2022, the last midterm election year. The party’s reported income was over $370,000 and expenditures were $146,000 in that first quarter.
A stark difference was evident between ADP’s campaign finances for the last two off-years as well.
The party’s campaign finance report data for all of 2025 reflected income just below $857,000, but expenditures totaling over $2.7 million. In the first quarter of 2025, the party raised only about $210,000 and spent nearly $360,000.
Comparatively, by the end of 2023, ADP had $1.5 million more in income than expenditures. In the first quarter of 2023, ADP raised nearly $1 million and expended about $227,000.
Some among ADP leadership did warn last summer that the party would go broke by the end of the year. The party has dealt with publicized infighting for about a year.
Unlike other transfers listed, shared expenses with the Navajo County Democratic Committee (NCDC) were categorized as an “unlimited transfer” routing arrangement for ADP funds.
NCDC has a surplus of nearly $1.6 million. Since the beginning of last year, NCDC has sent over $61,000 to ADP.
In that same time period ADP sent back over $107,000 to NCDC, or $46,000 more than NCDC has sent. Their cycle to date reported a cash flow between the two totaling nearly $150,000.
Navajo County accounted for ADP’s second-largest expenditure last year.
AZ Free News contacted ADP about the state of their finances and their fiscal arrangement with NCDC. ADP didn’t respond to our inquiry.
Apart from NCDC, ADP’s number-one expenditure last year by far was $1.7 million last August to the Copper State Values PAC, established and run by Gov. Katie Hobbs’ campaign manager Nicole DeMont and treasurer Dacey Montoya. Since DeMont set up the PAC in December 2024, its primary function has appeared to be a funding arm for the Hobbs reelection campaign.
The PAC sent back $94,500 a few months later, last December.
Discounting the $49,000 received from NCDC last year, ADP’s biggest sources of income were:
- United Food and Comm Workers (UFCW) Union Local 99, the largest private-sector union in the state: $100,000
- Estate of the late Janet Delesanti: $49,000
- Arizona Public Service: $30,000
- Elevance Health Inc (formerly Anthem), an Ohio-based insurance company: $25,000
- Donalyn Mikles, former attorney for the defunct Arizona Summit Law School and director of the California-based Kling Family Foundation: $20,000
- Moms Fed Up, a D.C.-based political activist organization: $20,000
- William (Bill) Roe, former chair of the Arizona Democratic Party: $15,000
- Pam H. Grissom, founder and longtime (not current) board member for Arizona List: $15,000
- AFSCME People, AFSCME’s D.C.-based political action arm: $15,000
The following donated about $10,000 each: University of Phoenix, PMI US Corporate Services, Nextera Energy Resources, Arizona Education Association Fund for Public Education, Arizona State Association of Electrical Workers, and Daniel T. Ling.
None of the Democrats’ other legislative districts or county parties in the state have reported a negative cash balance, with the exceptions of Santa Cruz County Central Democratic Committee and La Paz County Democratic Central Committee.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Jonathan Eberle | Jul 23, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
In a tense and disorganized special meeting last week, the Arizona Democratic Party voted to remove Chair Robert Branscomb after just six months in office. The ouster followed months of infighting, public disputes with elected officials, union clashes, and growing concerns over the party’s financial health heading into the 2026 election cycle.
Branscomb, who was elected chair in January after unseating incumbent Yolanda Bejarano, faced mounting criticism from party leaders and lawmakers. Arizona’s top Democratic elected officials—including U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, Governor Katie Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes, and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes—issued a rare public rebuke earlier this year, expressing a loss of confidence in his leadership.
Despite technical problems that plagued the meeting, 476 party committee members voted to remove Branscomb through the party’s preferred voting method, surpassing the two-thirds threshold required by Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) bylaws. Some members cast votes by email due to glitches in the party’s online voting system, though the total vote count remains unclear.
“Today’s recall effort is rooted in misrepresentation, divisive tactics and does not reflect our democratic values,” Branscomb said during the meeting. He argued that his removal was not about party unity but about “distraction and dividing us at a time when unity is more important than ever.”
Several lawmakers and party officials cited concerns over Branscomb’s ability to lead Democrats to victory in the next election. “Donors have told me directly they’re sitting out until the party gets its act together,” said State Representative Aaron Márquez.
The July 16 meeting stretched on for hours as frustrations mounted over procedural confusion and technical failures. Several members said they did not receive links to vote on the quorum, raising fears that they would be disenfranchised. Over two and a half hours were spent troubleshooting the party’s online voting platform.
Much of the confusion appeared to stem from tensions between party officers and ADP Executive Director Michael Ruff, who was tasked with managing the voting system. Some staff members claimed in Zoom chat messages that they had offered to help with the process but received no response.
ADP Vice Chair Melissa Galarza criticized the disorganization, saying, “I just feel like this was not well planned, the staff was not prepared for it, Michael Ruff did not prepare us, we had a lack of conversation about this meeting.”
A new election to select the party’s next chair is scheduled for September. Branscomb has the option to challenge his removal in that meeting. Until then, ADP Vice Chair Kim Khoury will serve as interim chair.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Jun 1, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) will go broke by the end of this year, according to the party’s own leadership.
News of the party’s financial woes emerged after ADP’s executive committee rejected a budget from the party’s new chairman, Robert Branscomb, in a recent meeting per Arizona Republic reporter Mary Jo Pitzl.
ADP’s committee reportedly cited the current state of spending and low fundraising for the diminishing funds.
This new development emerged shortly after Branscomb suspended his vice chair, Kim Khoury, through email. Branscomb accused Khoury of working against him — accusations he’s leveled against others early on in his leadership.
“[You engaged] in political activity directed against party leadership while holding an executive officer role,” said Branscomb.
And in recent months, there were reports of infighting between party leadership and the state’s top elected Democrats.
In a tell-all email issued last month, Branscomb provided a 90-day “candidate update” in which he accused his predecessor, Yolanda Bejarano, of undermining him and both U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego of threatening him over his decision making. Kelly and Gallego were supportive of Bejarano’s reelection, as were Governor Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, and Attorney General Kris Mayes.
In a joint response to the accusations, Fontes, Gallego, Hobbs, Kelly, and Mayes said they had only sought to support Branscomb from the beginning.
“We’ve spent the last several months meeting regularly with the chair and working to support the party through the transition,” read the statement. “Unfortunately, his statement today includes many false claims and is the kind of bad-faith response we’ve come to expect from the new leadership over the last several weeks.”
ADP is facing financial struggles despite the millions in heavy outside spending given as assistance in key state legislative races across the state last fall — expenditures that surpassed the more successful Republicans, even.
In January, ADP faced accusations of financial wrongdoing from one of the ADP vice chairs at the time, Will Knight. The former treasurer, Rick McGuire, was accused of “self-dealing.” Bejarano denied Knight’s request for an audit of the party’s finances, and denounced the accusations as “defamatory” and “false and damaging.”
ADP’s troubles are consistent with the issues facing the national Democratic Party. Although Democrats outraised and outspent Republicans in last year’s election, they gained only one seat in the House and lost four seats in the Senate — resulting in a Republican control of the Senate that reflected the most gains for either party in a decade.
Major donors to the Democratic Party vented their frustrations to mainstream media this week.
“Why would I write a check when we’re losing everything? We’re losing the airwaves. We’re losing the tech battle. We’re losing the ground game. They have yet to prove that they have learned any real lessons yet,” said one donor anonymously. “So either people start to wake up or we lose again.”
A survey in March of Democratic voters by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found only one-third felt optimistic about the party’s future.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Apr 22, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) is strained by infighting, with party leadership and top elected Democrats at odds.
ADP Chairman Robert Branscomb issued a tell-all email over the weekend revealing the politics within the party. Branscomb’s email — styled as “a candidate update on the past 90 days” — focused primarily on accusing his predecessor of undermining him and both U.S. Senators of threatening him over his decision making.
Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego supported Branscomb’s opponent for the chairmanship, Yolanda Bejarano — as did Governor Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, and Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Branscomb accused the party’s former executive director, Morgan Dick, of resistance and “outright obstruction” during the transition. Branscomb alleged false accusations were made against him in staff chats; banking information was withheld; the state party workspace was emptied of computers, furniture, and transitional documents; and staff were encouraged to resign. For those reasons, Branscomb said, he let Dick go and replaced her with political director Michael Ruff. Dick denied Branscomb’s allegations.
Following Dick’s removal, Branscomb alleged Senator Kelly attempted to control his staffing decisions. Then, following Ruff’s appointment, Branscomb alleged both senators threatened to withdraw their support for the party.
“Let me be clear: no state party chair should be threatened or intimidated by any elected official for making a decision in the best interest of our party,” said Branscomb. “The idea that both Arizona Senators would withdraw support because I did not choose their preferred candidate is not only troubling — it’s a threat to the integrity and independence of our party. I will not be coerced, and I will not be silenced.”
Kelly, Gallego, Hobbs, Fontes, and Mayes issued a joint response disputing Branscomb’s claims. The state’s top Democratic elected officials vowed they had met with Branscomb regularly and supported him through the transition. However, they didn’t express surprise at the publication of Branscomb’s letter.
“We’ve spent the last several months meeting regularly with the chair and working to support the party through the transition,” read the statement. “Unfortunately, his statement today includes many false claims and is the kind of bad-faith response we’ve come to expect from the new leadership over the last several weeks.”
Following the Saturday letter from the ADP chair, LD22 Democrats experienced a more localized form of infighting at their Monday meeting. The Arizona Republic’s Mary Jo Pitzl reported precinct committee members had attempted unsuccessfully to remove their district’s entire board, specifically citing displeasure with newly elected district chair Leezah Sun.
Sun couldn’t attend the LD22 Democrats meeting in person due to an active restraining order against her. Sun earned the restraining order following workplace harassment complaints filed by city of Tolleson employees; a Maricopa County Superior Court judge found Sun to be a threat to the employees’ physical safety and barred her from contacting the employees or entering the Tolleson Civic Center.
Sun was formerly a lawmaker in the state legislature. Sun resigned from the House last February to avoid expulsion after the House Ethics Committee found she violated ethics rules with a pattern of disorderly behavior. Undeterred by effectively having been ousted from the legislature, Sun ran for and won a seat on the Tolleson Union High School District governing board. The board also elected her to be their president.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
