Primary Prepping: LD27 House Republicans
Newcomers and a familiar face … Of politicians, for politicians, by politicians … And Trump’s right flank, you say?
The voters of Legislative District 27, which includes most of northwest Phoenix, Peoria and Glendale, have historically elected Republicans to represent them in the state House.
This year, both of LD27’s current representatives are running for new positions. Rep. Ben Toma is running for Congress, while Rep. Kevin Payne is seeking the district’s Senate seat.
Four Republicans are vying to take their places, including three newcomers and former Rep. Tony Rivero.
The other three candidates — Linda Busam, Lisa Fink and Brian Morris — have racked up endorsements heading into the primaries.
Busam’s endorsements include U.S. Rep Debbie Lesko and Sen. Shawnna Bolick. Morris espouses endorsements from several law enforcement organizations and Peoria Mayor Jason Beck. Fink earned the approval of former Phoenix City Council Member Sal DiCiccio and Rep. Steve Montenegro.
The winners of the July 30 primary will face one Democratic challenger in the November election.
Linda Busam
Busam was once the second vice chair for LD21 and is an alumna of the Peoria Citizens Police Academy. She ran a failed campaign for the Peoria Unified School District Board in 2020.
What else?: Busam is a member of the Western Maricopa Education Center Governing Board and a former at-large member of the Maricopa County Republican Committee. On her campaign website, she declares “I’m not a politician!”
Fun fact: Busam has posted a series of conspiracy-laden memes to her Facebook page, but our favorite is this gem suggesting how Nancy Pelosi prepares for floor speeches.
Campaign website: www.busam4arizona.org
Lisa Fink
Fink works as a dietician and is the board president of Choice Academies, Inc., which runs a group of schools that provides “traditional, back-to-basics education.”
Plus: She’s also president of the Protect Arizona Children Coalition (PACC), which aims to warn parents and policymakers of “the serious harms of explicit comprehensive sexuality education programs,” according to its website. Fink is a member of Mommy Lobby AZ, a group of parents trying to promote parental rights in educational settings.
Fun Fact: She chaired the Hometown Christmas Parade in Glendale and is a high school volleyball coach.
Campaign website: www.lisafinkaz.com
Brian Morris
Morris is the owner of We Fix Ugly Pools, a pool remodeling and repair service. He ran for LD27’s House seat in 2022 but lost in the primary.
More career history: Before running a pool repair empire, Morris worked for a fitness service called Plexus Worldwide, according to his LinkedIn.
Fun fact: Morris says his concerns for declining school performance stems from watching both his parents teach in the Glendale Union High School District.
Campaign website: www.brianmorris.com
Tony Rivero
Rivero was elected to one of LD21’s state House seats in 2015 and served three terms. Before going to the state Legislature, Rivero was a City Council member of Peoria's Acacia District.
Career experience: He is the CEO and founder of Global Connect Group, a consulting firm. Rivero used to work for the Peoria City Manager's office and interned for former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl.
Fun fact: The Republic ranked Rivero as the third-most absent lawmaker in 2018.
Campaign website: www.tonyriveroforhouse.com
Clarification: Before we ran our article Friday about the huge bonuses the Attorney General's Office gave out, the office told us all of those bonuses were handed out this spring, and that Kris Mayes hadn’t given out bonuses last year because former Attorney General Mark Brnovich gave two rounds of bonuses in 2022.
After publication, the office said they were wrong. The $11 million in bonuses came in two separate rounds within the last 12 months, but across two calendar years.
Laws are written by politicians: Arizona’s fake electors are relying on a new law that protects politicians from lawsuits as part of their legal defense strategy. The “anti-SLAPP” law expanded the concept of protecting officials from lawsuits for their speech and applied it to criminal cases, the New York Times explains. The law was written by one-time Donald Trump campaign attorney Kory Langhofer and signed by Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022. Kari Lake already unsuccessfully attempted to use it to defend herself in the defamation case by Maricopa County Stephen Richer.
The flipping point: The Arizona Legislature is among the five legislatures most likely to change partisan hands in the upcoming election, Politico declares. The outlet puts us alongside New Hampshire, where Democrats hope to take the majority, and Michigan and Minnesota, where Republicans are angling for control, and Pennsylvania, where Democrats hold the House, Republicans hold the Senate and both are up for grabs.
“From the presidential race all the way down the ballot, Arizona is arguably the most important state in the 2024 election,” Politico declares.
It’s good to be a swing state: The Biden administration and campaign have been sending a lot of surrogates to Arizona. Vice President Kamala Harris is coming to Phoenix today to mark the anniversary of the Dobbs decision. United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra stopped in Tucson and Phoenix Thursday as part of a pro-choice campaign, per Arizona Public Media’s Paola Rodriguez. And Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, was stumping for Biden in Flagstaff Friday, per the Arizona Mirror’s Shondiin Silversmith.
JuDiCiAl AcCoUnTaBiLiTy: Activists attempting to oust two Arizona Supreme Court Justices for supporting the state’s territorial-era ban on abortion are now suing to block lawmakers’ attempt to protect the judges, Capitol scribe Howie Fischer reports. Lawmakers put a constitutional change on the ballot that would nullify any votes to get rid of the judges, Kathryn King and Clint Bolick, and end Arizona’s current judicial retention election process. But the group, Promise Arizona, says the referral is misleadingly titled the “Judicial Accountability Act of 2024” and it breaks the state Constitution’s “single-subject rule.”
WoRkEr PrOtEcTiOn: A group backing a minimum wage increase for tipped workers is suing over a competing measure to decrease wages for tipped workers that lawmakers sent to the ballot, the Mirror’s Caitlin Sievers writes. The real pay increase is the “One Fair Wage Act” and lawmakers’ version is the “Tipped Workers Protection Act,” which opponents say is an illegally misleading title.
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Who polices the police?: The City of Phoenix has proven it’s unwilling to reform its violent and racist police force, and court oversight, which the city has vowed to fight, is the only way it’s going to address the problem, the Republic’s editorial board wrote on Sunday.
“Can we trust Phoenix and police brass to reform themselves? The answer is no. … Will leaders in Phoenix do it voluntarily? We don’t think so. They have fought federal review at every turn. That’s why a consent decree is a must,” the editorial board wrote.
Why we can’t have nice things: A third party audit found a host of financial problems in the Maricopa County School Superintendent's Office, confirming many of the findings of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors last year, including that it illegally sold land and improperly spent the $6.4 million in revenue, the Republic’s Nick Sullivan reports. Superintendent Steve Watson is up for reelection this year. Meanwhile, Nogales International’s Angela Gervasi dives into the FBI’s ongoing investigation of the Santa Cruz County Treasurer’s Office, attempting to answer some questions like “How much more money is missing? Has (former county Treasurer Liz) Gutfahr been arrested? How long will the investigation take?”
Can’t get enough of us?: Tune into this week’s edition of 12News’ “Sunday Square Off” with Brahm Resnik to hear Nicole and Hank gab about the winners, losers and surprises in the new state budget.
Our political calendar is getting pretty full, so we’re going to run a calendar section every day this week, rather than trying to cram it all into the Monday edition.
As a reminder, you can check out the public calendar here.
Add it to your own Google calendar here.
And send us events through this form, or email us at info@arizonaagenda.com. As long as it’s Arizona politics-related and has all the info, we’ll post it.
At noon today, you can watch CD1 Democratic hopeful Andrei Cherny speak to the Democrats of Greater Tucson
At 4 p.m., tune into the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission debate between Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and his two Republican challengers.
After that, you can slide over to the Arizona Democratic Campaign Committee fundraiser at Wilderness in Downtown Phoenix at 5 p.m.. But RSVP first.
And if you dip out early, you may still be able to catch the National Organization for Women’s online forum at 6 p.m. to hear from some of their endorsed candidates like Judy Schwiebert, Christine Marsh, Stephanie Simacek, Kelli Butler, Karen Gresham, Julie Cieniawski, Laura Metcalfe and Ginny Dickey.
The Washington Post’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Isaac Arnsdorf have the weirdest story you’ll read today.
Arizona’s “America First” delegates to the Republican National Convention, where Republicans will officially select Donald Trump as their presidential nominee, hatched a plan to block Trump’s nomination and otherwise sow chaos. Trump’s campaign swooped in to replace them over the weekend.
The exact purpose of the plan was “not clear” and “left some delegates puzzled and alarmed.”
Among their goals could have been to block a potential vice presidential running mate that they didn’t like or swap Trump out for Michael Flynn because Trump has surrounded himself with the “deep state” and they fear he may be in prison by the time the election rolls around.
The effort was led by Shelby Busch, who runs the election conspiracy PAC “We the People AZ Alliance,” which is closely aligned with Kari Lake, the Post notes.
Fun fact about LD27: although past elections there have favored Republican legislative candidates, Adrian Fontes got more votes there than his Trumpy opponent. So it just depends. The single-shot Democrat running there is Deborah Howard, who has an impressive background and is knocking on roughly a gazillion doors (to use a technical measure).
Yvonne Sanchez' article makes me realize I need an Insanity Manager more effective than Mescal. Sky Harbor gonna be busy...it is great to be a Swing-State.