School board elections in Arizona are a non-partisan race, by law. In an ideal world, candidates should be focused on the well-being of students, academic achievement, and facilitating as much parental involvement as possible. That’s definitely true in Mesa, where the school board should be comprised of members who want to ensure that students are educated rather than indoctrinated.
But a recent news item by the local NBC affiliate chose to highlight partisan political party affiliation instead of focusing on how each candidate views their role as a potential Mesa school board member.
The story focused on three candidates running for the Mesa School Board as a slate: Courtney Davis, Josh Chilton, and Lacy Chaffee. Courtney Davis, in particular, is a current board member who was appointed by Steve Watson to replace Laura Ellingson in August 2023. The night she was sworn in was the first time she had ever attended a Mesa School Board meeting. The legacy media conveniently left this out. But that’s not all they left out.
In a typical biased move that’s become commonplace for the legacy media, the two opposing candidates—Sharon Benson and Ed Steele—were not offered an opportunity to be interviewed for the story. On top of that, they were given only a few hours to respond before the segment aired.
But here’s the truth about the three slate candidates. Davis, Chilton, and Chaffee have focused their campaign on social issues rather than actual student achievement. All three candidates have endorsements and stated positions that run counter to the values that are expected of elected school board officials. They all support males in female spaces, special transgender rights, Critical Race Theory, and eliminating school choice.
Davis, Chilton, and Chaffee have also been endorsed by Legislative District 9 Democrats, the anti-school choice group “Save Our Schools,” and the teachers’ union, Mesa Education Association.
Digging deeper, the Arizona Education Association endorsed legislative candidate Lorena Austin who promotes drag show fundraisers for her campaign. They have also endorsed Proposition 139, which will allow abortion up to fetal viability and would allow minors to get an abortion without any parental involvement, including notification.
Right now, the Mesa School District faces some significant headwinds with declining enrollment, reduced funding, and competition for students and teachers from charter and private schools. Shouldn’t that be the top priority rather than radical social issues?
Fixing Mesa’s problems requires new board members like Sharon Benson, who brings both a teaching background and small business expertise, and Ed Steele, who brings a wealth of business expertise and problem-solving ability to tackle the problems facing the Mesa district. Both Sharon and Ed have had children enrolled in the Mesa district and have a vested interest in keeping the district at the forefront of educational excellence.
Their goal is to support academic excellence, parental involvement, fiscal responsibility, teachers, safety, transparency, and accountability.
For this election, voters need to decide what they want: a radically aligned slate that is more interested in indoctrinating rather than educating students, or Sharon Benson and Ed Steele, who have the expertise, conservative values, and vision to keep Mesa Public Schools a leader in public education.
Dennis Liles is a Mesa resident and Precinct Committeeman in Legislative District 10.
Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick responded to a formal complaint against him to the Commission on Judicial Conduct from Save Our Schools Arizona (SOSAZ) regarding comments he’s made while campaigning for retention in the 2024 Election. Justice Bolick summarized his response in three words before addressing it more fully: “Bring it on.”
In a press release, SOSAZ claimed that Justice Bolick’s comments at a campaign event covered by Politico violate “several provisions of the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct.” The group suggested that his speech at a Pentecostal Church in Sun City stating he would continue “fighting for conservative principles,” while standing near a cardboard cutout of President Donald Trump, breached public confidence in his “independence, impartiality, integrity, and competence.”
The activist group wrote, “SOSAZ’s written complaint asserts that Justice Bolick’s active campaigning at a Republican Party event violates several provisions of the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct, which states that judges ‘should aspire at all times to conduct that ensures the greatest possible public confidence in their independence, impartiality, integrity, and competence.’ Justice Bolick’s appearance and comments at this Republican Party meeting certainly do not meet this standard, and we should expect better of our judges, especially those sitting on the state’s highest court.”
Speaking with KJZZ, SOSAZ Executive Director Beth Lewis told the outlet, “It’s not impartial and judges really do need to act with impartiality at all times.”
“Bolick has politicized the courts. It’s also been shown in his decisions, which are directly related to our work at Save Our Schools Arizona,” Lewis claimed. “His ideologically-based decisions have directly impacted our ability to fund our schools for many years.”
I honestly cannot describe the feeling of voting “NO” on Judge Clint Bolick tonight. Bolick has repeatedly politicized the Court and devastated public education.
😡As part of Ducey’s packed Court, he overturned #Prop208, which would have sent $800M per year to AZ classrooms 🧵 pic.twitter.com/ENg1AuCdMC
SOSAZ is running an extensive “do not retain” campaign against retaining Justice Bolick and fellow Justice Kathryn King. Bolick and King are the only two Supreme Court Justices facing retention votes this year. According to the Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review, both Bolick and King received extremely high marks to meet the standards on the merits of their decisions.
In an email statement obtained by AZ Free News, Bolick responded to SOSAZ’s complaint:
“A political organization that is opposed to my retention as an Arizona Supreme Court justice has reportedly filed a judicial ethics complaint against me. My response: Bring it on.
I have spent much of my career as a lawyer and judge defending and protecting free-speech rights. I am glad to have the chance to stand up for my own and other judges’ free-speech rights.
Judges necessarily enjoy fewer free-speech rights than others. But we have the right to forcefully defend ourselves against an unprecedented campaign to replace judges solely for political reasons.
In doing so, I adhere meticulously to judicial ethics rules. Judges cannot endorse candidates for office, and I do not (not even my wife). Judges cannot ask for money to support their campaigns, and I do not. Judges may not talk about pending cases or issues that may come before the Court, and I do not. In short, we are forced to ‘campaign’ with one arm tied behind our backs. Our opponents have no such restraints.
The rules do allow us to speak at partisan events, although we cannot serve as party officers and cannot endorse candidates. That is no problem for me, as I have been a registered independent for more than two decades and am the only independent to ever serve on the Court. Since the campaign to remove Justice Kathryn King and me from the Court, I have spoken at both partisan and nonpartisan events.
During the retention campaign, I feel like I spend half my time defending against liberal critics over judicial opinions they do not like, and the other half against conservative critics of opinions they do not like. My colleagues and I were ‘censured’ by the Maricopa County Republican Party executive committee for voting against their wishes in election cases. As a judge committed to the rule of law, I see criticisms from both sides as a badge of honor.
The group’s news release makes clear this is about politics, not judicial ethics. Its executive director, Beth Lewis, tweeted that her vote against me was ‘personal,’ ‘gleeful anger,’ and ‘revenge.’ Filing a judicial ethics complaint for ‘revenge’ is an abuse of process.
But I hope they will pursue it even after the election because we need a clear precedent protecting the free-speech rights of judges to defend themselves, and I will be proud to have my name in the caption.
-Clint Bolick
One minor factual correction in the complaint: I was the last justice appointed to a five-member Court, which later was expanded to seven.”
Voters will forever be disadvantaged if they keep believing school board races are “nonpartisan.” As a formality, progressive candidates David Sandoval, Melissa Girmscheid, and Mikah Dyer are registered with no party declared. Don’t be fooled by this. They fully intend to unleash a far-left agenda if they secure seats on the Peoria Unified Board of Education this November.
All three candidates are endorsed by the sleazy, nonprofit hack Save Our Schools Arizona (SOS). SOS is a radical, union-loving, anti-parent organization with a special hatred for school choice. They even dedicated an entire page to demonizing empowerment scholarship accounts (ESA). One bullet point under “Get the Facts,” says, “The minimum ESA voucher is $500 higher than the state per pupil funding to district schools.”
To that I say, the year-over-year state ranking of 48 to 50 confirms that our public schools are a failed government experiment. At the same time, by some estimates, Arizona ranks #1 in school choice. One source said the average homeschooled student scores 15-30% higher on standardized academic achievement tests. So, it appears that $500 is well spent.
In April 2024, a columnist for The Washington Postfound that Arizona spends about $13,500 per public school student compared to an ESA average of $7,143. This prompted the writer to declare, “[I]f everyone opted for ESAs, the state would save money.” Wow, that’s a difference of nearly $6,400 in favor of parents’ choice! I promise not to hold this little discrepancy against SOS members who graduated from Arizona public schools (especially since recent state test scores show math proficiency at 34%).
Board candidate Dyer—who graduated from PUSD in May 2024—is also anti-parent. Of course, this is a rite of passage for teenagers. In an article by The Courier, Dyer spoke against the conservative parent organization Moms for Liberty, a group that was founded around the time Dyer “graduated” from middle school. Dyer told the Courier that he thinks students know how to best serve the majority of their classmates.
Sorry, Dyer, kids don’t know what’s best for kids, and neither do government schools. This is why we have parental rights legislation affirming the ultimate authority of primary caregivers. Children don’t make final decisions on anything they’re not mature enough or financially stable enough to manage on their own, especially K-12 education.
In the same article, Dyer claimed that students were “not worried about what’s happening in the restrooms” on campus. This statement effectively silenced all the PUSD students who spoke out at school board meetings last year and lined up to protest the cross-dressing boy who was allowed to use the girls’ bathrooms. I remember Dyer attending those board meetings. He even made public comments in opposition to those students’ concerns. So, I’d say he’s out of touch with his adolescent peers.
Not only is Dyer’s worldview shaped by a school district that prefers “rainbow libraries” over academics, he’s also campaigning alongside current PUSD board member David Sandoval—a leftist who discriminates against Christians. Sandoval’s claim to fame is his tenure on the board. Despite winning a seat in 2016, and re-election in 2020, he has little to no achievements in the ways of sound district policies, student safety, or academic improvement.
Sandoval voted in favor of permitting males to invade female spaces. He has no issue giving unlicensed, psycho-emotional grifters access to students’ mental health. In a hostile climate of school shootings and bullying, Sandoval doesn’t consider Student Resource Officers a high priority. If teachers and staff want to bypass state law and travel for CRT/DEI/SEL conferences, Sandoval’s vote is guaranteed. Circling back to math proficiency, within a year of Sandoval’s swearing-in, PUSD students were testing at a failure rate of 49%. On his watch, that dropped to 37% by 2023. Notwithstanding various uncontrollable factors and administrative issues, Sandoval is fundamentally lacking in leadership capabilities.
Board candidate Melissa Girmscheid is a cut above the rest having previously taught math and science in PUSD. She’s running a clean campaign to the untrained eye, but let’s be real: Girmscheid’s ideological roots and the party’s agenda won’t let her focus solely on academics. Her “endorsements and distinctions” tell the story of a candidate beholden to hazardous teachers’ unions, LGBTQ and sex-ed advocacy groups, and a “social change” movement that exists to “promote feminist ideals.” Furthermore, Girmscheid earned a seal of approval from “the only organization in the nation focused on recruiting, training, and electing Democrats with a background in science to public office.”
Earlier this year, the trio participated in a candidate forum hosted by Secular AZ—an anti-God club fixated on mythical interpretations of “separation of church and state.” During the interview, all three candidates gave a resounding “yes” to the question of reintroducing sex education curriculum. They agreed that PUSD educators should be discussing “reproductive health” and “consent” with students as young as 10 years old. There’s only one word to describe an adult who thinks about innocent children in this context: evil.
If Peoria residents want a school district that’s centered on safety, academics, and fiscal responsibility—Jeff Tobey and Janelle Bowles are the trustworthy candidates. We must reject any contender who will prioritize special interests above students, infringe upon parental rights, and plunge our education system further into darkness.
I’ve done my due diligence by bringing all this to your attention. Spread the word.
A liberal Democrat is attempting to maintain her representation of a middle-of-the-road Phoenix-area legislative district for another term in office.
State Senator Eva Burch of Arizona Legislative District 9 is seeking to make a return to the chamber for the next term of office, running for reelection in the upcoming November General Election.
The incumbent Democrat proudly displays several endorsements from left-leaning organizations on her campaign website, including Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Save Our Schools Arizona, Moms Demand Action, Climate Cabinet PAC, Emily’s List, Human Rights Campaign in Arizona, Arizona List, End Citizens United, and Sierra Club.
Burch is staunchly in the camp of her open-borders colleagues in the legislature – as her voting record indicates. Last year (2023), Burch voted no on HCM 2007, which expressed the legislative desire that Congress enact the State Immigration Enforcement Act, which would allow states or political subdivisions of states, to enact, implement, and enforce criminal penalties that are prohibited in the criminal provisions of immigration laws.
This past legislative session (2024), Burch voted against SB 1231, which would have made it unlawful for a person who is an alien (unlawful immigrant) to enter Arizona from a foreign nation at any location other than a lawful port of entry. She also opposed SCR 1042, which proclaimed the Legislature’s support for the people and governor of the state of Texas in its efforts to secure our nation’s southern border. Additionally, she voted no on HB 2157, which would have prohibited a court from using a defendant’s deportation as the sole reason for early termination of probation or intensive probation.
More recently, Burch refused to support a legislative effort to refer a border security measure to the ballot in this November’s General Election – HCR 2060, voting against the bill when it was considered by her chamber. The proposal, if passed by voters in the fall, would empower local law enforcement to better secure their communities from the increasing calamities from the border crisis. A recent poll from Noble Predictive Insights showed that over fifty percent of Democrat respondents support the measure.
The Democrat lawmaker has also established a clear voting record for opposing bills that seek to lower taxes and reduce burdensome red tape for Arizona businesses. In 2023, she voted no on SCR 1018, which was a resolution restricting counties, cities, towns, municipal corporations, and political subdivisions from imposing a tax, rule, or law based on vehicle miles traveled. Burch also voted against SB 1156 that year, which would have increased the amount of the individual income tax subtraction for unreimbursed adoption expenses.
In the 2024 legislative session, Burch returned to her anti-small government ways, voting against SB 1056, which would have prohibited city councils or county board of supervisors from increasing an assessment, tax or fee without a two-thirds vote. Also, she voted no on SB 1153, which would have prohibited a proposed rule from becoming effective if the proposed rule is estimated to increase regulatory costs by more than $500,000 within five years.
Burch is also a soft-on-crime legislator. Over the past two years, she has opposed several bills that would strengthen Arizona statutes against crime and increase penalties for lawbreakers and those who seek to perpetrate harm on innocent men, women, and children. In 2024, she voted no on SB 1414, which would require a person who is convicted of a third or subsequent organized retail theft offense to be sentenced as a category two repetitive offender. She also voted against HB 2591, which would have prohibited a public power entity or public service corporation from entering into a contract with a person or company that uses forced labor or oppressive child labor.
Last legislative session, Burch voted no on SB 1583, which would have mandated that a level one sex offender who commits specified sexual offenses is required to register on the internet sex offender website if the offender was sentenced for a dangerous crime against children. Additionally, she opposed SB 1323, which would have made an employee or independent contractor of a public school who refers students to or uses any sexually explicit material in violation of existing statute criminally liable for a class 5 felony.
Arizona Legislative District 9 is one of the most competitive in the state, with a 2.6% vote spread between Democrats and Republicans over the past nine statewide elections, according to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. Out of those nine contests, Democrats have won five compared to four for the Republicans.
Burch ran unopposed in the July 30 primary election. She is facing off against the winner of the Republican primary, Robert Scantlebury. In the 2022 General Election, Burch defeated Scantlebury by more than 3,000 votes to assume her seat.
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A progressive Democrat incumbent legislator is key to her party’s hopes of flipping both chambers in Arizona.
Mariana Sandoval is running for reelection to the Arizona House of Representatives in Legislative District 23. She was first elected in November 2022 and has served alongside Republican Michele Peña in the state House over the past two legislative sessions. In the House, Sandoval is a member of the Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee and the Ways & Means Committee.
On her campaign website, Sandoval proudly promotes endorsements from left-leaning organizations, including, Human Rights Campaign PAC, Save Our Schools Arizona, Living United for Change in Arizona, National Organization for Women Arizona Political Action Committee, Sierra Club, Arizona Education Association, Climate Cabinet, Moms Demand Action, and others.
Over her first term in office, Sandoval has proven that she does not share the values of many of the men and women who she represents. In 2023, she voted no on SB 1063, which would have “prohibit[ed] a city, town or other taxing jurisdiction from levying a transaction privilege tax, sales, use, franchise or other similar tax or fee on the sale of food and certain beverage items intended for home consumption.” After Republicans passed the bill out of both chambers, Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed it, writing, “From potential cuts to service – including public safety – to increased property taxes, it’s clear that this bill doesn’t actually eliminate costs for our residents.”
When Hobbs rejected the proposal, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen blasted her decision in a statement. He said, Senate Republicans have been working toward introducing legislation necessary to provide financial relief to all Arizonans, especially low-income families who are feeling the tremendous burden of inflation. It’s very clear the governor has no interest in helping with that financial burden.”
Sandoval also opposed legislation that protected Arizona’s children. In February, she voted against HB 2586, which would have “add[ed] a new section of statute regulating the publishing and distribution of material harmful to minors on the internet.” Hobbs vetoed this bill, claiming that it went “against settled case law.” Other advocates for the proposal disagreed with Hobbs and her Democrat allies, including Arizona Women of Action. Amid the legislative process, the organization posted, “This nonpartisan bill needs SUPPORT. It would effectively protect AZ kids from accessing pornography. Age verification is a must.”
Terry Schilling, the president of the American Principles Project, also weighed in on the governor’s action. She said, “Up until now, protecting kids from online porn had been a cause with nearly unanimous, bipartisan support. Polls have shown the vast majority of American voters, across the political spectrum, back these laws. Both Democrat and Republican governors in a dozen states from Louisiana to Utah to Virginia have signed this legislation. And many more are on track to join this list shortly.”
This week, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (@katiehobbs) vetoed HB 2586, which would have required that adult websites implement age verification in order to prevent minors from accessing pornographic content. pic.twitter.com/Mb8myTVpdD
Additionally, Sandoval opposed efforts to enhance safeguards for law-abiding Arizonans who have increasingly fallen prey to the rising tide of criminal activity across the state. This year, she voted against SCR 1021, which would “statutorily require an adult who is convicted of a class 2 felony for any child sex trafficking offense to be sentenced to natural life imprisonment.” The measure was passed by the Arizona Legislature and transmitted to the Secretary of State for inclusion on the November General Election ballot.
When the legislation was introduced, Senator Shawnna Bolick, the Republican sponsor of the effort, said, “We believe in holding traffickers accountable for their heinous crimes, and that’s why we’ve filed legislation for a ballot referral to put convicted child sex traffickers behind bars for life. Our message is clear: our children are not for sale, and we will not tolerate heinous crimes against them. Join us in this fight to protect our most precious resource – our children. Perpetrators, not here, not now, not never.”
According to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, Legislative District 23 has a competitive vote spread of 16.9% between Democrats and Republicans over the past nine state elections. Out of those elections, Democrats have won all nine contests.
Sandoval will run in November’s General Election alongside Matias Rosales, who emerged from the July 30 Primary Election for the Democrat Party. She obtained 9,194 votes, and Rosales acquired 6,811 votes. James Holmes finished third in the primary, garnering 2,919 votes.
Both Sandoval and Rosales will face off against Peña. In November 2022, Peña had more votes than either of her Democrat opponents with 12,850, compared to 10,101 for Sandoval and 8,030 for Jesus Lugo Jr.
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