Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) recently blasted the Arizona Republic as a “dying newspaper. The congressman accused the outlet of “covering for” Democratic congressional candidate JoAnna Mendoza through its framing of a report about property-tax benefits she received on two homes.
“The Arizona Republic, a dying newspaper, is at it again!” Hamadeh wrote. “This time they’re covering for Democrat candidate JoAnna Mendoza, Congressman Juan Ciscomani’s opponent.”
The Arizona Republic, a dying newspaper is at it again!
This time they’re covering for Democrat candidate JoAnna Mendoza, Congressman Juan Ciscomani’s opponent.
They use these words and framing in the headline to cover for her.
Hamadeh criticized the newspaper’s use of the terms “mistake” and “acknowledged the error” in its coverage of Mendoza’s receipt of Arizona’s State Aid to Education property-tax reduction on two residences categorized as her primary home.
“If I sneezed the wrong way 20 years ago, these propagandists would write a nasty story about me,” Hamadeh wrote. “But all they do is cover for DEMOCRATS. Because they are an unofficial arm of the Democrat Party.”
Hamadeh said the article should have been presented under the headline: “Democrat candidate JoAnna Mendoza unlawfully takes tax benefit and claims primary residency in two counties, drawing scrutiny.”
“These people aren’t journalists, they’re activists and propagandists — and have zero credibility,” Hamadeh wrote.
The criticism followed an Aug. 13 Arizona Republic report by Laura Gersony. The version republished by the Arizona Daily Star carried the headline, “House candidate Mendoza wrongfully took home tax credit.” The report described the dual property classifications as an error and quoted Mendoza’s campaign calling it an honest mistake.
A tax filing mistake is drawing attention in a Southern Arizona House race after a candidate acknowledged the error. https://t.co/Lpb6fFZ4EB
According to the report, Mendoza purchased a central Tucson home for approximately $330,000 in 2021 and received the State Aid to Education reduction on that property. She purchased another home in Red Rock for approximately $337,000 in 2023 and later began renting the Tucson residence.
Both properties remained categorized as primary residences, leading Pima and Pinal County officials to apply the reduction to each property. The Tucson classification saved Mendoza $404.29 in 2024 and $415.87 in 2025, a combined $820.16. Her 2026 property-tax bill was not yet publicly available.
Arizona’s State Aid to Education program reduces qualifying school-district property taxes on owner-occupied residential property. The reduction is calculated through a parcel’s property classification and is generally capped at $600 under.
Arizona law classifies residential property occupied by its owner as a primary residence as Class Three property. Residential property used solely as a rental is classified as Class Four property.
County assessors are required to review residential property classifications and investigate parcels that may be rented while classified as primary residences. If an owner fails to respond to the notices prescribed by law, the assessor must reclassify the property and could impose a civil penalty equal to the additional state aid paid on the parcel during the preceding tax year.
Mendoza acknowledged to the Republic that she did not submit the necessary paperwork after she began renting the Tucson property and moved to Red Rock. Records cited by the Republic showed that she contacted Pima County officials on Aug. 10 to have the Tucson home reclassified.
“JoAnna is already in touch with the county assessor to correct the filing mistake,” campaign spokesman Kyle McCarthy told the Republic. The campaign said Mendoza would pay the amount county officials determine she owes.
The Republic also reported that Mendoza disclosed approximately $20,000 in rental income when filing her congressional financial disclosure.
Mendoza is challenging incumbent Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06) in the general election. Federal Election Commission records showed Mendoza had raised approximately $7.35 million through July 1, compared with approximately $6.17 million raised by Ciscomani.
Arizona taxpayers can’t catch a break from their local governments. From water rates and utility bills to property taxes and sales taxes, city councils have spent the last several months approving one increase after another. No matter the justification, the result is always the same: higher costs for the people paying the bills.
Here are some of the top offenders of the last couple of months:
Florence
In the Town of Florence, the town council approved a multi-year water and wastewater rate hike plan that starts with roughly 6–8% increases but compounds over several years into what many residents estimate will amount to around a 64% increase in total utility costs. At a time when families are already struggling with affordability, approving rate hikes of that magnitude is a serious burden on Florence residents. With increases that steep, one would think they’re trying to compete with Gilbert (100%+ increase over 3 years). The increases will start on July 1st, just in time for summer, so get your pocketbooks ready, Florence residents.
Tempe
Tempe has their own slew of problems that deserves an article of its own, self-imposed by mismanagement, obviously. The Tempe City Council recently voted on sending a 0.5% sales tax increase to the ballot for voters in November. This will tax all non-grocery food and is said to give 0.3% to public safety, 0.1% to transit such as light rail and buses and 0.1% to Tempe PRE, a city run free preschool.
As usual, local leaders are putting all blame on the legislature. One Tempe councilmember said, “Let me remind you what we set out to do with this initially: to address a … deficit that was created not by us but by the Arizona Legislature and the federal government.”
Meanwhile, this is occurring while the council has decided on things like a $2 million “Mill Ave” sign. Just plain, silver metal. Nothing special or aesthetic and $2 million is going towards this thing? Right, and it’s the legislature’s fault that they are in a budget deficit of about $24 million. It’s almost as if they didn’t spend your tax dollars on stupid things, they wouldn’t need to keep raising taxes…
Vice President JD Vance will appear next week in Arizona to deliver remarks and speak with residents about America’s future.
Vance will speak in the Tucson area on Monday. The vice president will discuss the future of the Republican Party and its next steps to continue putting America first.
Arizona Republican Party Chairman Sergio Arellano told AZ Free News that Vance has been very involved in electing solid candidates across the country, and that this event would be an opportunity for Arizonans to participate in that effort.
“I am thrilled to invite my fellow Republicans to join us as we hear from our great vice president of the United States,” said Arellano. “The vice president and President Trump have done a remarkable job of bringing peace and prosperity to the globe. I am excited to hear about his plans to make sure that Republicans can continue to make America great again.”
Vance will address Arizonans fresh from handling the rapidly evolving effort to secure peace in the Middle East, after a tentative ceasefire agreement and the cancellation of anticipated talks between the U.S. and Iran on Friday. The vice president was scheduled to visit Switzerland for those talks, but that trip was postponed.
During a Thursday press briefing at the White House, Vance warned Israel against criticizing President Donald Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled opposition — reportedly expressing it more frankly in private — to the president’s peace plan.
“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” said Vance. “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 18, 2026
Trump has promised in talks with reporters and on social media that the U.S. remains focused on achieving peace through a complete ceasefire.
Vance has not ruled out a presidential run altogether. The vice president revealed in an interview with CBS earlier this week that the fate of his presidential aspirations would be tied to future conversations with his wife following the midterm elections later this year.
“[T]he way that I make decisions is that I try not to make them until I absolutely must,” said Vance.
Under Arellano, the Arizona Republican Party has focused its involvement in issues relevant at both the local and national scale, like bolstering election integrity and combating the homeless epidemic.
The Arizona Republican Party also hosted the head of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz, last month in Mesa to address the waste, fraud, and abuse of Medicaid funds, another pressing topic for taxpayers concerned with the adequacy of government program oversight.
The Tucson speaking event with the vice president is scheduled for Monday, June 22. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., with programming to begin at 11:30 a.m. Individuals interested in attending must register in advance, with one ticket available per person on a first-come, first-serve basis.
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Tucson Democratic State Senate candidate Rocque Perez is facing renewed scrutiny following resurfaced social media posts containing violent rhetoric and new attention to earlier allegations involving disputed online activity and deleted social media accounts.
The controversy comes as Perez seeks the Democratic nomination for Arizona’s Legislative District 20 Senate seat, where he faces state Rep. Alma Hernandez in a July primary.
Archived posts tied to Perez’s X account included violent political rhetoric dating back to 2020. The posts reportedly included statements such as “So kill them, do your duty baby girl” in response to complaints about conservative family members and “Someone throw this b—- off the capitol building roof please” in response to a post by Ivanka Trump. Other archived messages reportedly encouraged violence toward political opponents and referenced harming individuals in online settings.
The posts were first published by the California Globe in October and later independently corroborated through Archive.org.
Perez, now 27, told the Arizona Republic he was aware prior to entering politics that his past online activity would likely face public scrutiny and argued that the posts originated when he was 20 and 21 years old. At the time, he worked as a student employee at the University of Arizona in multicultural advancement and research communications roles, according to university employment records cited by the Republic.
“You wouldn’t be asking me these questions if this was any other 19, 20-year-old at the time,” Perez told the Republic.
Hernandez sharply criticized the rhetoric and rejected Perez’s explanation.
“To brush it off and say you were young and dumb, that’s not an excuse,” Hernandez told the Arizona Republic, calling the posts “unacceptable for anyone seeking public office.”
The resurfaced posts have also revived attention to earlier reporting involving Perez’s online presence.
Alleged Sex Worker Tied to Adelita Grijalva Scrubs Social Media Accounts.
In February, the California Globe reported that social media accounts allegedly connected to Perez and others tied to Tucson-area political circles had been deleted or scrubbed following scrutiny. The publication later published screenshots from an X account it alleged Perez used to promote an OnlyFans account known as “ThatLocalBoy,” citing material supplied by a source. According to the report, the account included photographs of Perez and sexually explicit promotional content linked to OnlyFans activity.
Another Gay Activist With Ties to Rep-Elect Adelita Grijalva Scrubs Social Media.
Perez denied those allegations when questioned by the Republic and said he never operated an OnlyFans account.
“Not at any point did I put out anything like this,” Perez told the newspaper.
The Republic reported it could not independently confirm Perez operated the alleged OnlyFans account and noted that the account in question no longer exists. Perez further declined to specifically confirm or deny whether photographs and sexually oriented posts associated with the account belonged to him, telling the paper he was “not going to relegate what was me or not me.”
Perez graduated from the University of Arizona in 2022 with a degree in political science. He previously served briefly as an appointed Tucson City Council member, and currently serves as the executive director of the Southern Arizona Education Council, formerly known as the Metropolitan Education Commission.
This November, Tucson voters are being asked (again) to approve a 25-year franchise agreement between Tucson and Tucson Electric Power (TEP). Franchise agreements are generally standard arrangements that allow utilities to use public rights-of-way for poles, wires, and infrastructure. But there is nothing standard about this deal. Bundled with it is an “Energy Collaboration Agreement” that will quietly embed climate policy into Tucson’s governance for the next quarter century. Voters should read the fine print (and the price tag) before checking the box.
If Tucson voters are having déjà vu reading this proposal, it’s because it is awfully similar to what they have already said no to. In May 2023, Proposition 412 put a nearly identical TEP franchise agreement before the public, and voters rejected it by a 55-45 margin. That deal included a new 0.75% “community resilience fee” on top of the existing 2.25% franchise fee, with proceeds earmarked for undergrounding utility lines as well as funding the city’s Climate Action Plan. Despite voters already telling the city they don’t want it, city leaders and TEP have assumed residents really just want a more expensive version of the same thing – rebranding and trying to ream through for a second time the same agenda but at a cost of $64 million instead of $56 million.
What the franchise agreement really does is help TEP maintain infrastructure, expedite permitting, and improve outage response. But TEP can still operate without a franchise agreement, meaning this vote is not about whether Tucson continues receiving electricity. Instead, it creates the legal foundation for a broader political partnership between the city and the utility…
