Legislation to separate election officials from political action committees is working its way through the Arizona Legislature, though receiving mixed signals from Democrats on their support for the proposal.
HB 2378, sponsored by Representative Leo Biasiucci, “prohibits the Secretary of State, a member of a county board of supervisors, a county recorder or any other officer in charge of elections, or their employee, from being a chairperson, treasurer or other member of a political action committee (PAC),” according to the purpose provided by the Arizona Senate.
The bill passed the House Committee on Municipal Oversight & Elections (MOE) back in January, receiving a unanimous and bipartisan vote of 10-0. It later cleared the House Rules Committee with a 5-3 vote. On the House floor, Biasiucci’s legislation gained 49 votes in support, and only 11 votes in opposition.
After HB 2378 made it past the House MOE Committee in January, bill sponsor, Representative Biasiucci, tweeted: “My bill, HB 2378, just passed the House Municipal Oversight and Elections Committee 10-0. Republicans and Democrats agree, you shouldn’t be involved in a PAC if you also oversee any significant aspect of election operations.”
My bill, HB2378, just passed the House Municple Oversight and Elections Committee 10-0. Republicans and Democrats in Arizona agree, you shouldn't be involved in a PAC(political action committee) if you also oversee any significant aspect of election operations. 🇺🇲
Representative Austin Smith also celebrated the bill’s approval by the House MOE Committee, writing, “An individual who is an elections officer or employee who oversees any significant aspect of election’s operations may not serve on a PAC board.”
The House Committee on Municipal Oversight & Elections just passed @Leo4AzHouse’s HB2378.
An individual who is an elections officer or employee who oversees any significant aspect of election’s operations may not serve on a PAC board.
Earlier this month, HB 2378 was heard in the Senate Elections Committee and received more opposition from Democrats there than in the House – perhaps predicting a frostier reception to the policy if and when it arrives on the Senate floor for a vote. Democrat Senator Anna Hernandez explained that she believed “this bill is overly broad” when casting her vote against the legislation in committee. Fellow Democrat Senator Juan Mendez complained that HB 2378 was “only a symbolic measure,” and Democrat Senator Priya Sundareshan said that “this seems to be a particular measure to punish a particular someone in an intraparty dispute.”
Senator Sundareshan’s comments were a veiled reference to Republican Maricopa County Recorder, Stephen Richer, who, in late 2021, formed a political action committee named Pro-Democracy Republicans of Arizona. The PAC posts its mission on its website: “The Arizona election wasn’t stolen. We Republicans simply had a presidential candidate who lost, while we had many other candidates who won. It’s time we Republicans accept and acknowledge that fact. Candidates come and go. But our democratic institutions are long-lasting, and peaceful transitions of power are a hallmark of the United States. We should not abandon this history in favor of conspiracy theorists and demagoguery. To that end, we are launching this PAC to support pro-democracy Arizona Republicans. We hope you will join us. We will win some races. We will lose some races. But either way, we will be strengthening the processes that have long undergirded Arizona and the United States.”
Richer’s creation of this PAC, while serving as Maricopa County’s top election official, angered many Republicans during the 2022 election cycle.
Senate Elections Chair, Senator Wendy Rogers, cast her vote in support of the bill, arguing, “If someone is in a position to influence the outcome of an election, thank you Rep Biasiucci for calling out the need to separate that kind of person from a PAC which is brought together to assert influence as well.”
HB 2378 awaits a vote in the Arizona Senate.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
AZ Free News sampled 46 legislators’ latest campaign finance reports of the state legislature and found that 22 of 47 legislators sampled received 50 percent or more of their campaign contributions from either lobbyists or PACs.
PACs and lobbyists have significant footing in the legislature. That would explain why the first week of January is known as “hell week” within the legislature — not because they’re in preparation for the new session kicking off, but because lobbyists are scrambling to fundraise for legislators. Arizona law prohibits legislators from receiving lobbyist campaign contributions while in regular session.
The following are state legislators that receive 50 percent or more of their campaign funds from PACs and lobbyists combined:
In the House, Richard Andrade (D-Glendale), about 51 percent; Ben Toma (R-Peoria), about 56 percent; Lorenzo Sierra (D-Avondale), about 62 percent; Steve Kaiser (R-Phoenix), about 64 percent; John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills), about 64 percent; Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa), about 64 percent; Diego Espinoza (D-Tolleson), about 66 percent; Joanne Osborne (R-Goodyear), about 74 percent; David Cook (R-Globe), about 75 percent; Justin Wilmeth (R-Phoenix), about 79 percent; John Fillmore (R-Apache Junction), about 83 percent; Tim Dunn (R-Yuma), about 87 percent; and Kelli Butler (D-Paradise Valley), about 96 percent.
In the Senate, Vince Leach (R-Tucson), about 53 percent; T.J. Shope (R-Coolidge), about 56 percent; David Gowan (R-Sierra Vista), about 71 percent; Rosanna Gabaldon (D-Sahuarita), about 73 percent; Lupe Contreras (D-Avondale), about 75 percent; Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu City), about 79 percent; Tyler Pace (R-Mesa), about 82 percent; Sine Kerr (R-Buckeye), about 90 percent; and David Livingston (R-Peoria), about 91 percent.
Of note, all of Gowan’s 32 contributions came from outside of his district — 28 came from Maricopa County. Additionally, $5,000 of Gowan’s $8,950 non-lobbyist contributions came from Phoenix Coyotes owner Alex Merulo.
Butler received over $10,000 from the Tucson branch of one of the largest labor unions in the country: the United Food and Commercial Workers (UCFW). Her PAC contributions totaled $13,000, and $150 of her individual contributions were from lobbyists. There were several inactive lobbyist donors among the individual contributions totaling $250. In all, Butler’s total contributions were over $13,700.
Wilmeth’s ten non-lobbyist donors included three inactive lobbyists and one wife of an inactive lobbyist.
Five legislators sampled reportedly received less than 10 percent of funds from PACs and lobbyists: Morgan Abraham, about 4 percent; Quang Nguyen, about 7 percent; Judy Burges, about 7 percent; Amish Shah, about 7 percent; and Joseph Chaplik, about 8 percent.
There were several legislators sampled that we couldn’t review because their reports haven’t been filed yet — even though they were due well over two months ago.
State Representative Alma Hernandez (D-Tucson) still hasn’t filed her campaign finance report due April 15. Hernandez has been late consistently since her first year in office (2018), accruing $3,500 in fines altogether. Her latest campaign finance report, which she has yet to file, is 76 days late and she owed $1,675 currently — her highest single fine to date. It took Hernandez 69 extra days to file her 2021 cumulative finance report: it was due January 15, but she filed it March 25.
Just over half of Hernandez’s individual donors from her last report, the cumulative one for 2021, were from out of state and made up the majority of those contributions: $5,980 versus the $3,920 from Arizona. Among them were several prominent figures in the Jewish community including acclaimed author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s son, Elisha Wiesel, as well as Broadway star Jonah Platt.
State Senator Stephanie Stahl Hamilton (D-Tucson) did file her report on time — but like Hernandez, over half of the individual contributors on her latest campaign finance report were from out of state.
It appears that the Hernandez siblings are alike when it comes to campaign finance reports. Since the year his sister took office, Hernandez grew increasingly tardy with filing the reports. For two separate 2020 reports, he accrued over $5,100 in fines. His 2021 cumulative report was filed late by 67 days, and he was fined $1,450 for that. Both the Hernandez siblings are 76 days late on their first quarter report.
Another perennially tardy filer is State Representative César Chávez (D-Maryvale). Like Hernandez, he is 76 dates late and owes $1,675, but for his senate campaign’s first quarter report. Chávez was also late by 58 days to file his senate campaign’s 2021 cumulative report, owing $1,225.
Similarly to Hernandez, Chávez has a history of late filings, the highest of which were 121 days late to file his 2020 pre-general election filing, 163 days late to file his 2016 pre-general election report, and 953 days late to file his 2016 first report for the fourth quarter and post-general election report.
One interesting campaign finance report came from State Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff). The report totaled nearly 600 pages, with 586 dedicated to individual contributions alone that totaled nearly $360,000. No lobbyists could be discerned among the over 7,000 contributors, and over 1,600 of them were Arizonans. A vast majority were retired, nearly 4,500 of them, bolstered by the self-employed and small business owners.
Only one PAC donated to Rogers: the Save America PAC gave one contribution of $5,000 in January.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
