Arizona Democrat’s nominee for the 6th Congressional District refused to elaborate this week on why she opposes a measure that would prevent males from entering female-only spaces and sports.
JoAnna Mendoza ignored public questioning when asked about her opposition to Proposition 318, a ballot initiative that would require schools and athletic associations to restrict individuals to private spaces and sports teams designated for their biological sex.
The proposition, titled “Require Schools and Athletic Associations to Restrict Use of Restrooms, Locker Rooms, and Other Privates Spaces Based on Sex,” would also define sex as the biological status as male or female recorded at birth on the original birth certificate.
Yesterday, YES on Prop. 318 – Protect Girls Sports released a new video entitled "Pretending.” Please watch and share.
The opposition's website copies the YES on Prop. 318 website- violating Arizona election law, as well as, consumer protection and copyright laws.
Mendoza indicated in a statement to American Journal News last month that she opposed the proposition. Mendoza implied that the question shouldn’t be decided by a ballot vote but should instead be decided by parents, coaches, and sports associations.
“As a mom, I know that parents just want to protect their kids on the playing fields and across Arizona,” said Mendoza. “Rules about keeping sports fair and safe for young people should be made by the people who know the most — parents, coaches, and sports associations — not politicians.”
Mendoza is running for the 6th Congressional District to unseat its Republican incumbent, Rep. Juan Ciscomani.
Mendoza had previously stated during the 2020 campaign for the state legislature that legislation requiring strict biological gender adherence for sports teams was “toxic” and non-inclusive. In deleted interview footage, Mendoza said public schools and sports needed to be inclusive of transgenderism.
“And I believe that we need to ensure that our students from all backgrounds from the LGBTQ community should feel accepted and safe in their environments and at school,” said Mendoza.
The National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Ben Petersen said Mendoza was a “far-left lobbyist” that has strategically toned down her rhetoric on these politicized issues.
“Lobbyist Mendoza called concerned parents ‘toxic’ for wanting to protect girls’ sports, and now she won’t even explain why she opposes this common sense ballot initiative,” said Petersen.
It was also during her 2020 campaign that Mendoza advocated for legalizing prostitution, especially for transgender women of color and other communities she characterized as marginalized.
Mendoza has received backing from major Democratic donors.
Mendoza raised more than $7.3 million. Some of her biggest single contributors have been the House Victory Project 2026, JStreetPAC, New Politics Next Mission Fund, Dem Rising 2026, Emily’s List, Invest to Elect Illinois Battleground Support 2026, and VoteVets Hellcat Victory.
Mendoza also received funding from the Soros family via George Soros’ son Jonathan Soros.
In recent weeks, Mendoza has faced questions over her campaign salary and financial disclosures changes. In her 2026 candidate financial disclosure filed last month, Mendoza reported receiving a salary of more than $35,000. Other campaign finance filings reflecting regular payroll payments to Mendoza indicated that she was compensated much higher: approximately $102,000 annually before taxes.
OpenPolitical’s federal campaign finance data reflected that Mendoza’s campaign reported nearly $300,000 in payroll-related expenditures.
Ciscomani has raised more than $6.1 million. His biggest single contributors so far have been the Ciscomani Victory Fund, Grow the Majority, Defend Our Majority, and Emmer Majority Builders.
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The Biden administration publicly lauded the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine — but privately, they shared concerns similar to those they worked to dissuade.
A text exchange released during an ongoing congressional investigation into Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, revealed that the doctor was aware that COVID-19 vaccines could cause miscarriages. Fauci texted Rochelle Walensky, former Centers for Disease Control director, that the side effects from the vaccine could be severe enough to kill an unborn child.
“[A]nother issue came up that you need to be aware of,” wrote Fauci. “Since many people have significant cytokines storm and fever after the second dose, this theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.”
And yet, several months later, Walensky issued a public advisory urging pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine and claiming it was safe for their unborn children.
“Importantly, no safety concerns were observed for people vaccinated in the third trimester or safety concerns for their babies. As such, CDC recommends pregnant people receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Walensky.
Despite privately texting with Fauci about their concerns regarding COVID shots for pregnant women, Rochelle Walensky told the public on April 23, 2021:
President Joe Biden gave Fauci a full and unconditional pardon for any federal offenses in which he may have committed or participated from Jan. 1, 2014, to Jan. 19, 2025.
Last week, a Senate committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee called Fauci to testify on his handling of COVID-19. Fauci refused to answer most questions. He invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent more than 100 times during the three-hour hearing.
Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ-05) was not only one of the first to condemn Fauci for his refusal to engage with Congress — he was one of the first elected officials to push back against the COVID-19 response under Fauci.
Biggs spoke early and often during the COVID-19 pandemic advocating against prolonged shutdowns and enforced mandates.
In April 2020 — just one month into what would become a three-year emergency declaration peppered with mandates of masks, vaccines, quarantines, curfews, and shutdowns — Biggs issued an op-ed urging the federal government to end the shutdown.
“It’s time for a new approach, one that values and protects all life,” wrote Biggs at the time. “We must give hope to the public and set forth a plan to reopen the economy and remove oppressive government restrictions. Right now, the cure is proving worse than the disease itself.”
For the first few years of the pandemic, Biggs chaired the House Freedom Caucus. While in that role and as a member of the Congressional Task Force on Reopening the American Economy, Biggs challenged the growing responsibilities of bureaucrats regarding the pandemic. Biggs demanded the disbanding of the Coronavirus Task Force in July 2020 on the claim that Fauci and his cohorts were intentionally undermining Trump’s efforts to roll back COVID-19 restrictions and reopen the economy.
Biggs was also one of the few in Congress to vote against the COVID-19 relief funds that now, years later, have gone beyond their pandemic purpose and been farmed out to fulfill various elected officials’ policy wish lists, like Gov. Katie Hobbs canceling medical debt and her rumored lieutenant governor pick John Giles establishing a homeless housing program that coincided with a 31% surge in homelessness.
Biggs then co-authored another op-ed in May 2020, again calling for an end to the shutdown and accusing Fauci of intentionally curbing American freedoms. In the early days of the pandemic, Fauci had promised the shutdown would last two weeks to flatten the curve.
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The Democratic nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Teresa Leyba Ruiz, says Arizona’s school choice funds should be reverted back to the public schools.
Ruiz, the former president of Glendale Community College, told “The Mike Broomhead Show” on KTAR that Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) funds should be converted to public school funding under her administration of the Arizona Department of Education (ADE).
Ruiz said that she would like to use ESA funds to pay for a literacy coach in every single classroom. Ruiz said if Arizona spent more on its schools, parents would be “fighting” to stay in public schools instead of leaving.
“Right now, in Arizona, there’s over $350 million dollars being stockpiled for future use, for college perhaps. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we took that money and invested it in our schools?” said Ruiz. “If we just invested in our schools — remember this is 50 years of underfunding and not prioritizing our public schools.”
The state spent more than $13.4 billion on public schools in the past fiscal year, an increase of $300 million from the prior fiscal year. Per-pupil spending was more than $12,000, and the average teacher salary was more than $65,600.
Instructional spending declined for the third consecutive year to 52%, the lowest rate since state monitoring began in 2001.
Ruiz also told KTAR on the “AZ Political” podcast that ADE would save money by creating an automated denial system for ESA funds.
“Over $650 million of our taxpayer dollars have flown out the door, unchecked and unchallenged. No oversight on the front end, and that’s something we would put an end to,” said Ruiz. “We’re talking about having a modern, automated system that can quickly process transactions that are appropriate and flag and stop inappropriate transactions.”
According to the current superintendent, Tom Horne, ADE automatically approved expenditures under $2,000 due to lack of staffing. Problematic expenditures under that cap would be subject to review post-approval.
Ruiz said it was for a lack of leadership that Horne had that problem. She claimed that ADE could have shifted resources from one aspect of the department to another to make up for understaffing within the ESA expenditure approval team.
Ruiz served on President Joe Biden’s Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics, specifically the committee for Advancing Higher Education and Hispanic Serving Institutions. The commission was part of the Biden administration’s reestablishment of the Hispanic-Serving Institution programming, which used federal funding to incentivize higher education institutions to intentionally prioritize Hispanic students within admissions.
Ruiz’s commission resulted in the July 2024 creation of the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity Through Hispanic-Serving Institutions, which formally prioritized Hispanic-serving institutions through federal recruitment, federal resources, and federal funding.
The commission also successfully convinced the Biden administration to expand federal TRIO programming to illegal alien students classified as Dreamers; TRIO programming has historically provided low-income American citizens with support services such as college campus visits, tutoring, and assistance with college and financial aid applications.
Ruiz also served in the Aspen Institute’s 2018-2019 Presidential Fellows Program; as reported previously, the Aspen Institute played a major role in covering up the Hunter Biden laptop scandal ahead of the 2020 election.
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Arizona will be home to a new facility to combat screwworms following intervention by Republican Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ-05).
Brooke Rollins, the secretary of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), announced the new sterile fly dispersal facility at the Douglas Port of Entry last week. The facility will target the burgeoning threat of the New World screwworm, which feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals.
The USDA pledged a $25 million investment toward the new facility as part of preparedness measures to reopen the port to livestock trade later this month. The facility will also benefit from existing investments from Texas, Mexico, and Panama.
Biggs predicted in a press release that the new facility would further improve the already significant decline in New World screwworm cases over the past year.
“Arizona is leading the way in prevention efforts, and I am grateful that this administration answered my call for assistance,” said Biggs. “I know how hard our state’s ranchers and farmers work for America’s economy and supply chain, which is why I’m doing all I can to protect their cattle.”
The USDA and the Arizona Department of Agriculture will determine the location and operational plan for the facility. The USDA estimated that construction of the facility “could be completed in as little as several months.”
According to the USDA, over the last year its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has worked alongside Arizona officials to trap and submit approximately 1,000 flies for testing — none of which were identified as the New World screwworm.
The southern livestock ports are slated for coordinated, phased reopening contingent upon Mexico’s continued adherence to the administration’s Joint Action Plan to combat the New World screwworm. The USDA selected the Douglas Port of Entry as the first to reopen due to the reported strength of livestock in adjacent Sonora, Mexico, and the port’s ability to implement enhanced inspection protocols.
The USDA announced the first confirmed case of New World screwworm in early June. Days afterwards, Biggs led fellow congressmen Abraham Hamadeh (AZ-08), Eli Crane (AZ-02), Paul Gosar (AZ-09), and Juan Ciscomani (AZ-04) in a letter advising Rollins that Arizona was uniquely positioned to assist USDA response efforts in combatting the burgeoning screwworm threat.
In that letter, the congressmen identified the state’s historic Douglas sterile fly facility site and scientific capabilities within the University of Arizona and the Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
“[The site] remains a strategically valuable location for future production capacity and strengthens Arizona’s ability to support national containment efforts,” stated the congressmen. “The state’s border access, transportation networks, livestock expertise, and university-led research efforts position Arizona to complement USDA’s ongoing investments and make our state an essential partner in preventing an outbreak, safeguarding producers, and strengthening long-term regional stability before this pest can take hold on American soil.”
According to Cochise County officials, a city librarian with the Douglas Public Library, Margaret White, uncovered records earlier this year revealing that Cochise County had helped uncover the sterile insect technique that ultimately eradicated the New World screwworm from the 1960s through the 1980s.
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Scottsdale City Council candidate Bob Littlefield withdrew from the race this week to avoid splitting votes among candidates seeking to stop the Axon development.
Littlefield, a three-term councilman from 2002 to 2014, dropped out of the race just days after expressing gratitude for winning in the primary. Littlefield expressed a desire to have more votes in the general election go to fellow, likeminded candidates Barry Graham and Michelle Ugenti-Rita — all three have been vocal in their desire to prevent a development effort by Axon Enterprises.
Dear Friends,
Today I made the difficult and personally painful decision to withdraw from the City Council race and return to my position as the Chairman of TAAAZE (Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions). I made this decision based on the results of the recent…
Raoul Zubia, the fourth primary victor, and incumbent Councilwoman Solange Whitehead, have expressed support for the Axon apartment development, though they have lamented the legislative intervention that thwarted a ballot referendum.
Littlefield, Graham, and Ugenti-Rita have opposed Axon, citing concerns with overdevelopment. The trio recently accused the company of engaging in a pay-to-play scheme to sway the council election. They claimed certain Axon executives funneled more than $1 million into cohort-run political action committees (PAC) dedicated to ensuring only development-friendly candidates were elected: Arizonans for a Better Future, and Better Together.
Arizonans for a Better Future has collected more than $1.1 million, which included $500,000 from Axon, $500,000 from Axon CEO Rick Smith, $100,000 from Axon President Josh Isner, and $20,000 from Axon Chief Legal Officer Isaiah Fields.
In June, the PAC gave $225,000 to American Perspective, a Virginia-based PAC, and spent around $30,000 for communications, more than $16,700 for polling and research, and $1,500 for legal services.
Better Together has raised more than $335,000 from National Horizon, a Virginia-based conservative super PAC. Better Together has spent approximately $200,000 to oppose Littlefield, Graham, and Ugenti-Rita, and $62,000 to support Whitehead.
“Bottom line, if Axon defeats the candidates who told them ‘no,’ Axon will never hear ‘no’ from the Scottsdale City Council again,” said Littlefield in June.
Dear Friends,
For 25 years, overdevelopment has been the dominant issue in Scottsdale elections — and the biggest threat to our city’s character and quality of life. Clogged roads, blocked views, higher taxes, and strained infrastructure are its lasting legacy.…
The city council approved a deal with Axon to fast-track its headquarters expansion last November following the company’s legislative intervention against grassroots opposition. Axon executives had initially called it quits on the city last summer after declining to break ground on its new headquarters early last year.
A ballot referendum led by Littlefield, Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAZE), had gained enough signatures to appear on the ballot and allow voters to decide on the rezoning.
TAAZE emerged following a lame-duck city council agreement in 2024. The group had accused Axon of paying petition blockers to prevent Scottsdale residents from signing petitions to put Axon’s apartment development to a vote on the November 2026 ballot.
TAAZE raised 26,000 signatures and was poised to put the fate of the development to a vote.
Axon Referendum Update: I am happy to report our effort to collect the necessary signatures to refer the massive Axon apartment complex to the ballot is ahead of schedule. This in spite Axon's efforts to undermine our petition drive by deploying blockers to harass our petition… pic.twitter.com/opxb1Qaec6
However, in the months following the petition signature dropoff, Axon successfully lobbied the legislature to pass a bill preventing certain municipalities from allowing residents to decide land zoning measures pertaining to hoteling and housing. Gov. Katie Hobbs signed that bill into law in April 2025.
In May, the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled the law to be constitutional.
Littlefield promised to continue to fight the Axon apartment development from outside the council.
Turning Point COO Tyler Bowyer commended Littlefield for withdrawing.
“Huge props to Bob Littlefield for putting Scottsdale ahead of himself, which he has always done,” said Bowyer.
True! 🇺🇸
Huge props to Bob Littlefield for putting Scottsdale ahead of himself, which he has always done
Ugenti-Rita commended Littlefield’s decision as “sacrifice” and an exemplar of leadership.
“For decades, Bob has been one of this city’s fiercest and most principled advocates, always willing to stand up to special interests and fight for the residents of Scottsdale, no matter the personal or political cost,” said Ugenti-Rita
I want to honor Bob Littlefield for his extraordinary service to #Scottsdale. For decades, Bob has been one of this city’s fiercest and most principled advocates, always willing to stand up to special interests and fight for the residents of Scottsdale, no matter the personal or… https://t.co/jpvAHbL8eE
— Michelle Ugenti-Rita (MUR) (@MichelleUgenti) August 5, 2026
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