Maricopa County’s long-awaited drop of 71,000 ballots on Monday night locked in three key races for Democrats: governor, secretary of state, and senator. The vote results remain unofficial, with two statewide races remaining close.
Republicans easily won the state treasurer’s race with incumbent Kimberly Yee at the helm, leading Democratic challenger Martín Quezada nearly 56 to 44 points.
THANK YOU, ARIZONA!
I am so honored that you have elected me to serve another four years as your State Treasurer. I pledge to continue to live up to the trust Arizonans have placed in me to responsibly and prudently manage our state’s finances. 1/ pic.twitter.com/2TK7890ZxA
Quezada retweeted political commentary indicating that the Democratic Party didn’t offer him enough support, financial or otherwise.
No. I voted for Martín. He’s a great guy. But, the Democratic Party (they seldom run someone for Treasurer) didn’t rally around Quezada like they did their other statewide candidates. Fundraising was difficult. Too many Dems believe that the office is inconsequential. It’s not.
Democrat Katie Hobbs will be Arizona’s 24th governor, becoming the fifth woman to do so. Hobbs pulled in 50 percent of the vote to Republican opponent Kari Lake’s 49 percent. Hobbs announced that she won on Monday, but Lake didn’t concede.
Rather, Lake questioned why Maricopa County’s top election officials, Recorder Stephen Richer and Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates, launched a political action committee (PAC) to defeat certain Republicans.
Shouldn't Election Officials be impartial? The guys running the Election have made it their mission to defeat America First Republicans. Unbelievable. https://t.co/Lz12h9VRX1
Democrat Adrian Fontes prevailed over Republican Mark Finchem in the Secretary of State race, bringing in 52 percent over Finchem’s 47 percent. Fontes declared victory on Monday morning, long before the ballot drop that night.
This morning I proudly declared victory in this election for the office of Secretary of State. Thank you, Arizona! pic.twitter.com/eWbmADT1La
Finchem refused to believe the results of Monday’s ballot counts. He reminded voters that the polls didn’t reflect the results at all, challenging the ballots’ validity.
Polling said only 7% of Fontes supporters were going to vote on election day. https://t.co/FrvoHVGxTV
— Mark Finchem #JustFollowTheLaw VoteFinchem.com (@RealMarkFinchem) November 15, 2022
Several races remained too close to call. In the race for superintendent of public instruction, Republican Tom Horne leads Democrat incumbent Kathy Hoffman by .02 percent — just over 6,400 votes. In the attorney general’s race, Democrat Kris Mayes also leads Republican Abraham Hamadeh by .02 percent: nearly 3,200 votes.
Greenlee and La Paz counties had 100 percent of their votes completed. Yavapai and Gila counties had over 99 percent of their votes completed as of Monday night. Maricopa County had nearly 99 percent of votes completed. Yuma and Pima counties had 98 percent of votes completed. Coconino County had 97 percent of votes completed. Pinal and Navajo counties had 94 percent of votes completed. Cochise County had nearly 91 percent of votes completed. At the rear, Apache County had 74 percent of votes completed.
A Lake Havasu Unified School District (LHUSD) husband and wife teacher duo became unemployed earlier this month for a porn video filmed in a classroom outside of school hours.
Samantha Peer, who went by the porn alias Khloe Karter, taught eighth grade science at Thunderbolt Middle School. Her husband, Dillon, was a fourth-grade teacher at Nautilus Elementary School. In a “statement” video, Peer blamed low teacher pay for her filming pornography and other explicit content. LHUSD hired Peer in January, paying her a salary over $18,000; the district hired her husband in August on a $31,000 salary.
Peer claimed that she was denied salary increases despite qualifying for them over the course of five years, and her family couldn’t survive on her and her husband’s income alone. Nowhere in the video did she apologize.
“My children are the most important thing to me, and I’m already spending countless hours outside of my contract time on extra school activities and I don’t think it’s fair that I have to sacrifice my own children’s time because our professional salary did not pay enough,” said Peer. “I created the content at the beginning of the summer in order to earn extra money on the side in order to pay for our basic necessities that our salaries were no longer meeting.”
Peer took on the extra positions in August and September, months after she began her porn side hustle. Peer reported in the video that she advised the yearbook club and STEM club, as well as mentored new teachers. Peer received a $500 stipend for advising the yearbook club and $800 for mentoring the teachers. LHUSD documentation didn’t reflect Peer advising the STEM club.
LHUSD documents also reveal that Peer’s husband, Dillon, received nearly $1,000 in an educator induction grant in mid-August.
Peer didn’t teach at LHUSD for a consecutive five years. After her fourth year at Thunderbolt Middle School, Peer took a two-year hiatus beginning in 2020 to teach in Houston, Texas. Peer was a science teacher at Dekaney High School at Spring Independent School District.
Peer also claimed that her gym terminated her membership due to harassment from those who’d seen her content. Peer featured her former gym in some of her explicit alias accounts.
“The gym owner chose to terminate my membership although I’d been a member for four years because other juvenile members were harassing me by taking my picture and videotaping me while I was trying to work out,” stated Peer.
Peer hasn’t deleted her explicit social media accounts; she advertises them publicly across both her personal and alias accounts. TikTok did ban her porn alias account earlier this week, but Peer created a new account. Peer also has a public Instagram account for her porn alias featuring her workouts, as well as a Linktree featuring links to her other explicit social media accounts like Reddit as well as a link to her sex toy and lingerie wish list.
After she was fired, Peer posted a TikTok mocking parents upset by her content.
“When they judge you for having a spicy account, but it pays more than your vanilla job,” stated Peer.
Her first TikTok video posted October 10 depicts her lip-syncing about how she’s crazy.
“You call me crazy like I didn’t warn you. Yeah, did you think I was just joking? Did you think I was just playing around? No, honey. We’re not well,” mouthed Peer.
In a TikTok lip-sync video posted October 26, Peer stated she would cause problems on purpose for not getting enough attention. This was two days after LHUSD placed Peer on paid administrative leave and probation pending investigation, following a community member filing a complaint about her explicit social media accounts.
“In response to not getting the attention I deserve, I’ve decided I will cause problems on purpose,” mouthed Peer.
Watch Peer’s video here:
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Monday, the Democratic candidate in the Maricopa County Attorney’s race, Julie Gunnigle, conceded.
Gunnigle’s opponent, incumbent Republican Rachel Mitchell, earned 52 percent of the vote to Gunnigle’s 48 percent. In a statement, Gunnigle said that Maricopa County deserved better than Mitchell.
“This isn’t the result we were hoping for because what it means is a continuation of the legacy of corruption within the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office,” wrote Gunnigle. “The change we need won’t happen this year, but we aren’t deterred. We vow to keep our eye on this office and, along with the community, continue to demand better for all of Maricopa County.”
Mitchell’s victory statement focused on thanking the voters and the staff of her office.
“Public safety isn’t partisan. All Arizonans demand safe communities in which to live, work, and raise their children,” stated Mitchell. “I will continue working with law enforcement and community leaders to hold criminals accountable, increase the use of treatment to rehabilitate where appropriate, deliver justice for victims, and put the safety of Maricopa County residents first.”
Thank you, Maricopa County!
As a lifelong Arizonan who has dedicated my career to the safety of our neighborhoods and families, I am deeply honored this community has overwhelmingly shown its support and trust in my leadership of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. 1/
— County Attorney Rachel Mitchell (@Rachel1Mitchell) November 14, 2022
National attention was fixed on the race, mainly for the fact that the county is the fourth-largest in the nation and had the potential to be led by another George Soros-backed prosecutor.
As AZ Free News reported in August, Gunnigle received over $6,500 from Way to Lead Arizona — a political action committee (PAC) funded primarily by its national counterpart, Way to Lead PAC. That PAC received millions from Soros, his family, or the organizations he’s either founded or funded. Gunnigle denied benefiting from Soros funding in May.
This marks Gunnigle’s third campaign loss: she lost in the 2020 general election for Maricopa County Attorney and lost in the 2018 general election for the State House. Gunnigle first began running for office as her former employer, Arizona Summit Law School, faced accreditation troubles.
Although Gunnigle no longer serves as the shuttered law school’s Dean of Students, she continues to receive support from them.
Gunnigle received thousands in funding from an attorney for Arizona Summit Law School. The donor, Donalyn Mikles, listed her employment as the law school’s attorney. Mikles was one of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs’ top ten donors, after Jennifer Allan-Soros and Planned Parenthood. In all, Mikles has donated over $476,000 to Democratic candidates and political organizations in Arizona and $450,000 to Democratic candidates nationwide
Gunnigle’s loss comes after indications that Democrats appeared to be distancing themselves from her. As AZ Free News reported earlier this month, former minority leader for the state legislature and Democratic consultant Chad Campbell said that Gunnigle’s campaign resembled that of failed 2018 gubernatorial candidate David Garcia. Campbell called Garcia’s campaign the “worst campaign” to have occurred over the last 30 years.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The left’s network of dark money appears to have successfully influenced voters in passing Propositions 209 and 308.
Prop 209, the Predatory Debt Collection Act, was passed by voters overwhelmingly, 72 to 28 percent. It’s a California-union backed effort to eradicate all debt collection in the state; the political action committee (PAC) driving support for the measure received the vast majority of its $12.7 million from the California union, Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers (SEIU-UHW). They’re rooted in the leftist infrastructure of dark money, since they don’t disclose the source of their millions in funding.
Marketing for Prop 209 promised a protection against medical debt collection. However, the measure goes much further by encompassing all other debts. The measure essentially makes all debt collection futile.
It took our membership of 1,600+ Arizonans talking to voters across AZ to win #YesOn209— and now this historic victory will change the lives of so many families. Now is the time to join our movement to fix healthcare & become a member of Healthcare Rising! https://t.co/JzCMl1Qubzpic.twitter.com/DPc19GDLpW
Prop 308, which would award in-state college tuition rates to Dreamers, was passed narrowly, 51 to 49 percent. According to the campaign finance data, the proposition was backed by at least $1.2 million in out-of-state dark money, such as NextGen, SEIU-UHW, United We Dream, and American Business Immigration Coalition Action.
Another $1 million came from Chicanos Por La Causa, a Phoenix-based organization, though their tax returns indicate that neither their organization or their political action arm raise anywhere near that amount in revenue respectively.
Those millions together make up the vast majority of the $2.6 million raised, $1.8 million spent to back the measure.
An undocumented student at ASU spent weeks talking to voters about Prop 308. "It makes a difference having a Dreamer at your door telling you about their story," she says. Prop 308 results are too close to call right now. https://t.co/yJ3jIi2o7T Story by @themariagarcia_
In-state tuition rates for Dreamers will add onto the increasing cost burden faced by Arizona’s public schools. As AZ Free News reported in September, illegal immigrant children cost Arizona public schools over $748 million in 2020.
The influence of leftist dark money will likely only grow in strength in the coming years, thanks to the success of another proposition.
Prop 211, the Voters’ Right to Know Act, was also passed by voters overwhelmingly, 72 to 27 percent. It proposes to remedy the influence of dark money in the state. However, it establishes neat carveouts ensuring leftist dark money isn’t affected: corporate media, Big Tech, labor unions, and “nonpartisan” PACs.
The main financier of the measure, David Tedesco, is the founder and CEO of the Phoenix-based venture capitalist firm, Outlier.
Tedesco donates heavily to both Democrats and Republicans according to state and FEC campaign finance records. He spent $211,600 backing Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s failed Senate campaign. He’s given at least $116,400 to Democrats for this election: $100,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party, over $5,000 to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs, over $5,000 to Congressman Greg Stanton (D-AZ-09), and over $5,000 to failed Democratic candidate Aaron Lieberman.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Newly re-elected State Senator Ken Bennett criticized Maricopa County’s handling of this election as one full of missteps and gaffes. In a Thursday interview with “The Conservative Circus,” Bennett called Maricopa County’s handling of this election “disheartening.”
Bennett promised to introduce legislation that would ensure elections could be more “transparent, trackable, and publicly verified.” This election marks Bennett’s return to the state legislature, having served for nearly a decade from 1999 to 2007.
“Especially with the focus and scrutiny that’s been on our entire state and on Maricopa County for the last two years, this was the election that we had to begin reinstalling confidence that we know what we’re doing in elections,” said Bennett.
Ken Bennett discusses the Maricopa County elections Department failures for the 2022 midterm and how confidence mus https://t.co/n7cyvfXldT
According to Bennett’s platform, the newly re-elected state senator promises to see through legislation requiring counties to publish their list of registered voters by name, address, and precinct before each election, followed by a list of who voted in the election by name, address, and precinct, as well as ballot images and cast vote records.
Bennett’s insight comes from his time as the secretary of state. He oversaw 12 statewide elections, and one recount. In 2010, one of the ballot propositions led by 126 votes and triggered a full statewide recount of two million ballots. Only 12 votes changed. He said that elections should have that level of accuracy.
Bennett further stated that the Election Day fiasco wasn’t caused by the tabulation machines as initially thought — it was the printers. Bennett said that this was good news, since that means the tabulation machines require precision.
“They rejected the ballots because the darkness of the ink printed on there wasn’t even enough,” explained Bennett.
The secretary of state’s office wasn’t to blame, according to Bennett, although he noted that there could be better preventative measures put in place to ensure Tuesday’s issue doesn’t reoccur.
The secretary of state’s office included two main responsibilities, one of which includes ensuring a month before the election that county machines are spot-checked for accuracy. Based on the Election Day fiasco, Bennett suggested that the on-demand printers receive more scrutiny during the spot-checking process.
Bennett served as the liaison to the State Senate’s controversial Cyber Ninjas-led audit of the 2020 election. His time in the role was fraught with issues that would prompt him to step down and later continue to haunt the Cyber Ninjas.
During this election, Time sought out Bennett and a fellow former secretary of state, Democrat Richard Mahoney, to obtain their perspective on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs’ oversight of her race. Both Bennett and Mahoney suggested that Hobbs recuse herself.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
