by Staff Reporter | Jul 24, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Congressional candidate JoAnna Mendoza is staying silent on new allegations against her fellow Democrat, Sen. Ruben Gallego.
Gallego has been accused of engaging in sexual relationships with at least two congressional staffers which were believed to have occurred between his two marriages. These allegations were detailed in an exclusive report by the New York Post lastweek.
According to three anonymous sources cited by the outlet, Gallego had sexual relationships with two staffers working under Democrat members of Congress from Texas while he was in the House. Members of Congress may not have relationships with their own staffers; though the rules don’t prohibit staffers of other offices, some questioned to what degree consent was possible due to Gallego’s position of authority.
Gallego divorced his first wife Kate Gallego, mayor of Phoenix, in early 2017. He married his second wife, Sydney Barron Gallego, in 2021.
Gallego was elected to the Senate last year.
While other Democrats have made a point to go public with disavowals of those elected officials and candidates facing allegations of sexual impropriety — like Gallego’s longtime best friend Eric Swalwell, or a Senate candidate he endorsed and defended, Graham Platner — Mendoza has not commented on these new allegations.
Mendoza’s campaign received over $7,000 from Gallego through his Juntos PAC as well as the Future Forum PAC, a political action committee involving him and Swalwell. She has expressed their support of her as a point of pride for her campaign, though she declined to disavow Swalwell.
Swalwell faces accusations of sexual misconduct, sexual assault, and rape.
Mendoza has a spotty past with romantic relationships as well. The professed bisexual combat veteran and “single mom by choice” was married for two weeks to a Syrian national, Tariq Alrawwass, according to marriage records obtained by the Daily Mail earlier this month.
Mendoza and Alwrawwass reportedly married in Syria: a fact that raised questions over how the two met, since Mendoza was between enlistments and had not yet served overseas as part of her military service. A March 2001 court filing by Mendoza noted that Alrawwass had relatives in California at the time, and indicated that he could have either been in Syria or the U.S.
Marriage records further reflect that Mendoza and Alrawwass wed in April 1998, about three years after Mendoza had left the Navy and one year before she joined the Marine Corps.
Mendoza’s court records, filed in California, stated that she returned to the U.S. in May 1998, describing it as approximately one week after her marriage, though she didn’t file for divorce until October 2000. A court granted a default divorce judgment several months after Mendoza filed that declaration of her separation from Alrawwass.
Also in recent weeks, Mendoza made headlines for using her official campaign account on Instagram to follow multiple accounts dedicated to erotica and witchcraft. Among those Mendoza followed was former Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) leader Brianna Westbrook, the first openly transgender candidate for federal office in Arizona.
Westbrook’s Instagram profile is public and displays BDSM content and links to Westbrook’s sexual services as his alter ego, Harley DeVil. Westbrook was a former ADP vice chair, congressional candidate, and Democratic nominee to a seat in the state legislature. He was arrested earlier this month for an alleged violent home invasion of a former romantic partner.
Citing these recent and past actions, the Republican National Committee questioned whether Mendoza was fit for elected office. A statement from RNC spokesman Nick Poche said Mendoza’s hesitation to condemn Swalwell and Gallego raised concern.
“Mendoza keeps finding herself connected to the weird, the bizarre, and the downright disgusting,” said Poche. “If she refuses to condemn Gallego and reject his endorsement, Mendoza is endorsing his behavior.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
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 Corinne Murdock | Apr 4, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) Vice Chair, Brianna Westbrook, signaled support for gun violence following the Nashville, Tennessee school shooting last Monday.
Westbrook indicated support in a call for violence against “transphobes” on Monday following the Nashville, Tennessee school shooting. Westbrook liked a tweet from Gov. Katie Hobbs’ now-resigned press secretary Josselyn Berry.
Berry had tweeted a GIF of a woman walking forward with two guns raised with the caption, “Us when we see transphobes.”
Westbrook identifies as a transgender woman and is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. His former name was Mike McDanel.
This wasn’t the first incitement to violence from Westbrook. Following the summer of Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots, Westbrook concurred with fellow activist — Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona board member Chris Love — that blue alerts shouldn’t exist. Blue alerts are issued when a suspect poses an imminent or credible threat to law enforcement, or an officer is missing.
Westbrook’s response to the Nashville school shooting isn’t unique among trans activists. In the aftermath of the tragedy, other transgender activists have issued public responses ranging from apathy to celebration. Three children and three faculty were killed by the shooter, a woman who sometimes identified as a transgender man.
Other transgender activists have appeared to call for more bloodshed.
The shooting occurred days before a planned “Trans Day of Vengeance,” scheduled to occur on April Fool’s Day. The event was planned by the Trans Radical Activist Network (TRAN); a day after the shooting, the group issued a statement that it would continue the event as planned. However, the group canceled the event on Friday, citing a “credible threat” of violence.
The organization, who subsequently made their Twitter account private following backlash on the event and their remarks, indicated that the shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, was a victim as well. TRAN erroneously referred to Hale as “Aubrey.”
“Hate has consequences,” wrote TRAN.
Twitter users who shared images of the poster, even with the attempt to raise awareness or issue a warning, had their accounts suspended. This included the accounts of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, who quoted the Bible in response to the threats of violence.
Some media were also banned if they attempted to share their reporting on or speak to the planned call to arms.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jul 18, 2022 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Maricopa County Attorney candidate Julie Gunnigle has campaigned alongside a man and a woman that mocked Blue Alerts: a safety protocol enacted to counter law enforcement murders. The exchange occurred between Planned Parenthood of Arizona (PPAZ) Board Chair Chris Love and gender dysphoric Arizona Democratic Party leader and state legislature candidate Brianna Westbrook. The two tweeted criticism against the safety protocol in response to a Blue Alert for a man ambushed and shot at Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) troopers in September 2020.
Brian Anderson, founder of the research company Saguaro Group, rediscovered the Twitter exchange between Love and Westbrook. He shared the posts in response to a recent tweet of Gunnigle’s, in which the candidate wrote over a t-shirt from her 2020 run to read “Gunnigle 2022.” Love and Westbrook supported Gunnigle during her 2020 run as well.
“F**k your Blue Alert,” wrote Love.
“Blue alerts shouldn’t exist,” replied Westbrook.
“Blue Alerts” are information lines dedicated to communications on violent criminals who pose a threat to law enforcement. The Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) will issue a Blue Alert when a suspect kills, assaults, or imposes serious or life-threatening injuries on an officer; the suspect is deemed an imminent threat to the public and other officers; and the suspect’s vehicle license plate number or detailed description of the vehicle exists.
Love has consistently called for and celebrated violence against those she dislikes. In May, Love bragged about her husband assaulting a supporter of former President Donald Trump.
Westbrook has approved of controversial protest tactics as well.
In response to the protesters that followed Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) into the bathroom last October, Westbrook denounced condemnation against the protesters as the invalid complaints of “white folks.”
Westbrook was also one of a small group of activists protesting for “housing rights” outside Governor Doug Ducey’s home in December 2020.
In 2018, Westbrook was charged with criminal trespass for protesting against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination outside former Senator Jeff Flake’s office.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story accidentally listed Julie Gunnigle as the Maricopa County Attorney. She is currently a candidate for that office, and the story has been corrected.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
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