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 Staff Reporter | Apr 16, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) announced he has raised nearly $3 million to date, and has over $1 million cash on hand.
Following the aggregate donations of multiple contributors, the biggest donations to Biggs’ campaign came from Biggs’ federal campaign, Biggs2016, amounting to $50,000, and the Freedom Club PAC which gave over $16,000.
Arizona campaign funding data reports fellow Republican congressman and gubernatorial candidate David Schweikert as having raised nearly $900,000, and having nearly $300,000 cash on hand.
Schweikert’s top donors came from Schweikert’s own coffers. $572,00 came from Schweikert’s federal campaign committee, Friends of David Schweikert. $115,000 came from Schweikert himself.
Even combined, the pair doesn’t come close to the amount in the Democratic governor’s campaign coffers.
Incumbent Gov. Katie Hobbs has raised over $5.7 million since last year, and has over $6 million in cash on hand.
Unlike Biggs and Schweikert, Hobbs had multiple large donors outside of multiple contributor aggregates, mainly unions: Unite Here Tip Campaign Committee ($11,000), United Food and Commercial Workers Union of Arizona Local 99 ($11,000), AFSCME People ($11,000), Arizona Education Association ($11,000), and Hollywood star Jennifer Garner ($10,000).
Hobbs also received nearly $250,000 in non-contribution income from Copper State Values, a political action committee established and chaired by Hobbs’ campaign manager, Nicole Demont.
Demont established the PAC in December 2024, and teamed up with leading dark money handler Dacey Montoya (“The Money Wheel”), who serves as the PAC’s treasurer. Funds from the PAC began benefitting Hobbs’ campaign last June.
Other than a few contributions to outside organizations, it appears Copper State Values functions as a funding arm for the Hobbs campaign.
Copper State Values has made payments to a number of companies which Hobbs has paid for services, including $150,000 to the California-based Capital Strategies, which has Hobbs listed under its clientele; nearly $7,000 to Pingdex for calls; and $40,000 to Monteverde Strategies.
The non-contribution income covered shared expenses between the Hobbs campaign and the PAC: acquisition, office supplies, insurance, professional services, rent, finance consulting, payroll, postage, mailers, utilities, fuel, food and beverage, fundraising event, travel, and health insurance.
Multiple donations came from the health sector: Centene Management Company, the Missouri-based largest Medicaid managed care organization in the nation; PhRMA, the D.C.-based biopharmaceutical trade association; 7WireVentures, an Illinois-based backer of digital health companies; Paradise Valley healthcare executive Reginald Ballantyne; Scottsdale-based Priority Ambulance; Ohio-based Elevance Health; UnitedHealth Group; CVS Health.
Others donations coming from special interests included Google, NextEra Energy Resources, a Florida-based wholesale electricity supplier; DraftKings, the Massachusetts-based online sports gambling giant; Sports Betting Alliance; DoorDash, the food delivery service giant; Casey Wasserman, with the major California talent agency Wasserman; Green Valley-based cell tower and telecommunications attorney John Pestle; California-based solar developer Mark Boyadjian for Arevia Power; Tempe-based Carvana; and California-based clean energy developer Clearway Renew Consolidated Devco.
Multiple donations to the PAC came from the real estate sector: California-based Klein Financial Corporation; Verde Investments, a Tempe-based real estate firm; James Edward Pederson, a Phoenix-based founder of the Pederson Group; Mark Breen, and Scottsdale-based president of Atlantic Development & Investments.
Other sizable donations came from the Arizona Beverage Association; Marcia Grand, Tucson retiree and wife to late trial attorney Richard Grand; the Salt River Pinta-Maricopa Indian Community; Arizona Democratic Party; Democratic Governors Association; D.C.-based Laborers International Union of North America; and Illinois-based racial justice group Communities United.
Karrin Taylor Robson, who suspended her campaign earlier this year, accumulated over $4.7 million for her gubernatorial run. Over $2.2 million of that came from her own pockets. Her cash balance sat at $1.1 million.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Terri Jo Neff | Jan 24, 2023 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
The public relations and legal fallout continues after the nonprofit which accepted donations for Gov. Katie Hobbs’ public inauguration ceremony released the names of donors and the amount of each donation.
Hobbs was officially sworn in Jan. 2 during a private ceremony. She then held a public inauguration ceremony on Jan. 5. The information about who paid for that ceremony via the Katie Hobbs Inaugural Fund was finally released several days later, after attorney Tim La Sota threatened to sue Hobbs for violating public records laws.
The Katie Hobbs Inaugural Fund was registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission on Dec. 13 by Hobbs’ campaign manager Nicole DeMont as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit social welfare organization. DeMont is currently listed as the only director on ACC records.
DeMont and Hobbs have come under scrutiny for accepting $1.5 million from roughly 120 donors, including $250,000 from utility giant Pinnacle West Capital Corp., the owner of Arizona Public Service Co. (APS). But the event cost less than $210,000, according to public records.
Government transparency watchdogs are calling for an investigation into whether Hobbs’ inauguration team had a pre-event budget worked out and whether more money was intentionally accepted than needed. But La Sota says there also remains a question of whether Hobbs violated another Arizona law by using the state’s website to solicit money for her inauguration.
“That’s definitely a no-no,” La Sota told KFYI’s James T. Harris this week. “That’s no different hardly than just putting a link on the governor’s official state website to her campaign account and saying, ‘hey you know do you want to support me politically, go to my campaign.’”
La Sota also told Harris that donations to DeMont’s nonprofit reportedly entitled donors to preferred access and seating at Hobbs’ inauguration event held on public property.
Questions surrounding the inaugural fund have also led some Democrats across Arizona to express dismay, behind the scenes, that Hobbs put them in the position of having to publicly ignore the $1.5 million controversy, just years after leaders of the Democratic Party called for an investigation into the funding of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
There is also growing pushback to utility companies like APS getting so heavily involved in politics; public records show APS donated $850,000 to the failed gubernatorial campaign of Kari Lake.
APS responded to criticisms about its donation to the Katie Hobbs Inaugural Fund with a statement that the money came from shareholder funds and not from customer payments. However, the company’s image has taken a hit in the court of public opinion given the fact APS is currently seeking a rate increase.
Another large donor to the inauguration was Blue Cross Blue Shield, which anted up $100,000, as did the lobby arm of the National Association of Realtors along with Arizona Realtors. There was also $100,000 donated by Sunshine Residential Homes Inc., a for-profit company that contracts with the State of Arizona to provide some child welfare services.
The rest of the donations ranged from $10 to $50,000; several were from entities like Union Pacific, the Arizona Dispensary Association, and Salt River Project which have dealing with various state agencies.
So what happens to the $1 million plus left on the books of the nonprofit created for Hobbs inauguration?
According to the IRS, the money can be spent on anything DeMont desires, provided it falls under the very broad category of promoting social welfare within the IRS code for a 501(c)(4).
“To be operated exclusively to promote social welfare, an organization must operate primarily to further the common good and general welfare of the people of the community (such as by bringing about civic betterment and social improvements),” according to the IRS.
In addition, seeking legislation germane to the nonprofits programs is a permissible means of attaining social welfare purposes.
“Thus, a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization may further its exempt purposes through lobbying as its primary activity without jeopardizing its exempt status,” the IRS rules state.
There has been much public consternation that DeMont will use some of the inaugural fund donations for political activities. This is permissible under IRS rules provided engaging in politics is not the “primary activity” of 501(c)(4).
The only other stated restriction under IRS Code is that the political activity cannot involve “direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.”
The code makes no mention of restrictions to referendum or initiative measures that might come before voters.
Therefore, it is possible that donors to the Hobbs’ inauguration could end up seeing DeMont use their money against own their political interests.
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
by Corinne Murdock | Sep 12, 2022 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
On Monday, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake requested that Democratic opponent Katie Hobbs have an “open invitation” for a debate. Even if the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (AZCCEC) allows an open invitation and extends their deadline, it’s unlikely Hobbs would agree to a debate.
That’s because Hobbs again rejected a traditional debate offered by the AZCCEC on Sunday, after a previous rejection last month. The AZCCEC decided during a meeting last Thursday to grant the two gubernatorial candidates another week to come to an agreement on a debate format. Hobbs’ campaign manager Nicole DeMont responded to the AZCCEC that she couldn’t agree to any debate format featuring Lake, accusing her opponent of using the debate platform inappropriately.
“Unfortunately, debating a conspiracy theorist like Kari Lake — whose entire campaign platform is to cause enormous chaos and make Arizona the subject of national ridicule — would only lead to constant interruptions, pointless distractions, and childish name-calling,” wrote DeMont.
If the AZCCEC doesn’t grant an extension and Hobbs doesn’t change her mind, then Lake will have a televised 30-minute Q&A session with Arizona Horizon host Ted Simons on October 12 instead of a debate.
In her letter petitioning the AZCCEC for an open invitation for Hobbs, Lake claimed that Hobbs had a “paralyzing fear” of debating her.
“It’s disturbing that Hobbs, who currently serves as our Secretary of State and administrator of our elections, thinks so little of the voters and the democratic process that she would rob them of their one chance for a fair and informative debate,” wrote Lake’s campaign. “Kari Lake will not protest if Hobbs agrees to show up for the debate in the 11th hour — even if it’s the day of — and it is our hope that the Commission won’t either.”
Hobbs is the first candidate to refuse a Clean Elections debate since the AZCCEC’s inception in 2002.
Instead of a debate, Hobbs requested that AZCCEC host two back-to-back town halls. The AZCCEC rejected that proposal.
Hobbs didn’t address mainstream media criticisms over her Sunday decision to reject the AZCCEC debate.
Rather, Hobbs carried on with her campaign activities, which included a visit to Flagstaff to meet with Mission AZ, an organization that helps elect Democratic candidates, as well as Northern Arizona University’s (NAU) chapter of the Arizona Education Association (AEA) and Young Democrats.
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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