The city of Mesa will hold a special recall election for District 2 Councilmember Julie Spilsbury on Nov. 4.
A recall petition was submitted by Mesa resident JoAnne Robbins in January. The petition had 3,858 verified signatures, which exceeded the minimum of 3,070 required by Arizona law.
Spilsbury will have to defend her seat in the November election. Her term ends in January 2029, and whoever wins among qualified candidates will fill the remainder of her term.
The call for a special election passed as part of a multi-item consent agenda voted on by the Mesa City Council at their July 8 meeting. The vote passed 5-0 with Councilmembers Francisco Heredia and Alicia Goforth absent.
Robbins cites three “yes” votes Spilsbury made between 2023 and 2024 as grounds for a recall in the petition.
“Julie Spilsbury, as an elected official, used her political office to advance private interests: voted yes on Nov. 6, 2023 for Ordinance 5817, authorizing a change in use from a hotel to a social service facility for temporary homeless housing; voted yes on Dec. 2, 2024 for Ordinance numbers 5832 to 5838 to be adopted which raised Mesa utility rate structures; voted yes on Dec. 11, 2024 for ordinance 5840 raising city council salaries,” the recall petition states.
In a response released on the the city of Mesa’s website, Spilsbury alleged that the real reason for the recall is because she defeated Melody Whetstone in the 2024 city council primary elections in July 2024, and that this recall is politically motivated.
“Let’s be clear: this recall isn’t about wrongdoing. It’s because I defeated the group’s preferred candidate last July,” Spilsbury said. “They want to overturn that result and are willing to waste hundreds of thousands of your tax dollars to do it.”
In her response, Spilsbury defended her voting record and said she will continue to support Mesa’s vulnerable populations.
“The recall petition cites three of my votes on the City Council. Two of those votes were approved unanimously (7–0), including support from Mayor Mark Freeman,” Spilsbury said. “The third vote funded emergency shelter for homeless domestic violence survivors, children and veterans. I will always support Mesa’s most vulnerable.”
At the July 8 City Council meeting, Mesa resident Robert Taylor, a member of Spilsbury’s district, spoke in support of the recall effort. He said Spilsbury’s votes do not align with what her constituents want.
“That time she was asked ‘How do you vote, and why do you vote the way you do’ and she said ‘I vote by my conscience,’” Taylor said. “Well, I come from a country that believes in we the people. And as constituents and being very conservative in that area, it’s not what I voted her for and I’d like to see her removed.”
Mesa resident Mark Kimball agreed and said Spilsbury is ideologically opposed to the conservative residents in her district.
Throughout the meeting, Spilsbury’s support of democratic candidates such as Kamala Harris and Ruben Gallego during the 2024 elections was brought up by multiple members of the public as a betrayal to her constituents.
“Councilwoman Spilsbury was elected by conservative members of her district based on her campaign platform,” Kimball said. “Voters have been disenfranchised with her supporting and promoting ideology that is diametrically opposed to what she originally ran on. Voters and constituents feel betrayed.”
Brian Dille, a political science professor at Mesa Community College, opposed the recall and spoke at the meeting saying that much of what Spilsbury was criticized for was actions she engaged in prior to her re-election in July 2024. Therefore, according to Dille, Spilsbury’s constituents were aware of her voting record and had chosen to re-elect her willingly.
Dille also spoke on outside influences on the recall effort.
“They know that if they can get rid of Julie using their money and their influence, then they can go to any state legislature or city council around the state and say, ‘Do what we say or else,’” Dille said. “This is not a recall election. This is a hostile takeover.”
Dille said this recall effort goes against why recalls were introduced to the state in the first place, which is to remove an elected official for corruption and malfeasance.
“If the founders of the state could see how an a national interest group could cynically use this tool that was given to the people of Arizona, designed to protect us from the influence of outside interest groups, they would be deeply disappointed with this generation and the way we’ve used this right that we have,” Dille said.
Spilsbury voted to approve the recall election, saying that while she does not agree with its premise, she is voting to comply with state law.
“I do not support the purpose behind this recall. It does not serve the public good and I strongly disagree with the premise on which it was initiated,” Spilsbury said. “This vote is not a judgment of merit on the recall itself. It is a fulfillment of my responsibility as a public servant.”
Spilsbury said that she was elected multiple times by wide margins and accused the petition of being a project by out-of-state influencers rather than a grassroots movement.
“Unfortunately, a special interest group, according to all of the flyers they passed out, funded by out-of-state dark money and relying on paid petition gatherers, has now launched a recall against me,” Spilsbury said. “Recalls are meant to protect the public from elected officials who have committed serious ethical or legal violations. That is not the case here.”
Rich Adams, a conservative councilmember from District 1, questioned if the recall was a local effort.
“My observation, not scientific, but I leaped through all those pages, was that about 40% were gathered by volunteers who live in the following communities: Marana, Surprise, Glendale, Pine, Scottsdale, Tempe, Phoenix, Chandler, Tolleson, Apache Junction, Queen Creek, Sun City, Fountain Hills and Tucson,” Adams said. “So Mesa’s grassroots apparently cover a lot of territory.”
Adams said that the recall seems “a little” disingenuous.
“I do believe that she has been targeted with the intent of making an example of her for breaking political ranks,” Adams said. “She didn’t toe the line. That’s what this is about. And speakers have confirmed that.”
District 4 councilmember Jen Duff voted to approve the recall election, but was hesitant about why taxpayer money would be used on an effort like this.
“I believe it is a waste of taxpayer dollars without just cause,” Duff said. “Issues around partisan politics is outside the purview of city government, a nonpartisan body. We need to keep outside interests outside of local governance.”
In a statement released to social media platform X, Mesa Mayor Mark Freeman said that while he personally does not support recall elections, he respects the Arizona Constitution which grants citizens that right.
“I personally do not support recall elections. However, I respect the Arizona Constitution, which grants citizens the right to recall elected officials,” Mayor Freeman said. “I believe this is a decision that the voters of Council District 2 are entitled to make on their own.
The election will be mail-only, scheduled for Nov. 4. Only voters from District 2 will be eligible to vote. As of July 15, one candidate statement of interest has been filed by Dorean Taylor.
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