Arizona LD13 House, Senate candidates raise funds in variety of ways
Metro Creative
Chandler-area candidates for office ranked in various places in the Legislative District 13 races in fundraising, as of the July 15 second-quarter reporting deadline.
Chandler-area candidates for office ranked in various places in the Legislative District 13 races in fundraising, as of the July 15 second-quarter reporting deadline.
With the primary election set for this week on July 21 and the general election on Nov. 3, these financial filings provide, in some races, an updated picture of how each candidate intends to win over the Legislative District 13 electorate.
Arizona voters select two representatives from each of its 30 districts in even-numbered years for two-year terms in the legislature. The top two vote-getters in the July 21 primary in each party advance to the Nov. 3 general election, when two representatives are chosen by voters, regardless of party.
There are three Republicans in the House LD13 race this year.
In many cases — such as with the Democratic Party in LD13 this year — there are two or fewer candidates on the ballot for the party, so both automatically advance to the general election.
There are only one Democrat and one Republican running for the lone LD13 Senate seat this year, so while July 21 primary votes will be somewhat informative of turnout by party, it’s not necessarily an indicator of head-to-head partisan general elections.
District 13 includes most of Chandler, Sun Lakes and other small unincorporated patches of southeastern Maricopa County small western parts of the Town of Gilbert.
In the LD13 House race, Kevin Hartke, the two-term Chandler mayor, had the most cash on hand among the five LD13 House candidates as of June 30, with almost $120,000. He took in $62,000 in donations in the second quarter to add what was already a $70,000 pot at the end of the first quarter, as he only spent about $13,000 in the second quarter.
Some of Hartke’s political action committee contributions are from Pinnacle West, the parent company of Arizona Public Service, or APS; Freeport McMoran Inc., Waste Management and Realtors of AZ.
Mike Michelson of Paradise Valley gave Hartke’s campaign $5,000. Notable recent lesser contributors include sports magnate Jerry Colangelo and Peoria mayor and businessman Jason Beck.
The top-fundraising Democrat in the LD13 House race has been Racquel “Rockee” Armstrong. After trailing Hartke in total contributions by more than $25,000 through the end of March, Armstrong’s campaign got $82,000 in donations this past quarter, as she and Jacob Weinberg have no third Democrat opponent and will both appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Armstrong had more than $114,000 cash on hand as of June 30.
Only $14,500 of Armstrong’s donations in the second quarter came from PAC donations, with the top contribution being $5,500 each from a Council of Carpenters PAC and the woman-candidate-focused Juno Fund.
Armstrong’s $67,000 from hundreds of individual donations in the quarter that ended June 30 had only a handful of contributions above $1,000. There are a few contributors who list northern California cities of residence, including tech entrepreneur and angel investor Ross Boucher, who gave $4,000.
The second-most fundraising among the three GOP hopefuls in the race this past quarter was done by Debra Schnike of Chandler. She started the second quarter with about $30,000 to spend, and with a competitive primary looming, she spent all of that cash and most of what she took in.
Schnike’s $17,000 in donations and $46,000 in expenses left her with less than $900 cash on hand, as of June 30.
Her campaign has taken out more than $17,000 in loans, including $9,000 in new loans within the final two weeks of June.
Schnike, a Chandler Citizens Police Review Board member, former fraud prosecutor and a precinct and Republican state committeewoman, got donations in the second quarter from dozens of individuals, though Peter Martens of Marwest Services’ $3,000 was the largest.
Janet Weninger stated she took in $38,000 in the quarter, spending only about $16,000 to finish with a balance of about $42,000. The founder of a foundation and co-owner of restaurants with her husband and outgoing LD13 House Rep. Jeff Weninger, Jane Weninger has secured donations from some of the same individual and PAC sources as Hartke.
Weninger secured more than $10,000 in PAC contributions in the second quarter.
Jacob Weinberg of Chandler is the only other Democrat in the LD13 race this year. With the top two in each party advancing to the general election, Armstrong and Weinberg are essentially running against the Republicans already.
Weinberg, a U.S. Army veteran and Arizona National Guard leader, rolls into the general election cycle with more than $42,000 on hand after a productive second quarter — especially on the small-contribution side.
Hundreds of contributors donated less than $50 each, with only a handful putting in $1,000 or more.
His only two PAC contributions — from Climate Cabinet and VoteVets Federal — totaled just $2,500.
The two LD13 Senate candidates, each running unopposed for their party’s nominations, have raised funds in somewhat different ways.
Kristie O’Brien found hundreds of Democratic Party supporters willing to contribute a total of more than $33,000 in individual donations in the second quarter. Her biggest PAC donation was $7,000 from the AFSCME PEOPLE government employees union PAC.
But O’Brien’s $58,000 second quarter haul only brought her cash on hand, after modest expenses, to $79,000, while Republican candidate and current LD13 Rep. Julie Willoughby has about $194,000 in the bank as the primaries wrap up.
With neither candidate having spent much this cycle, Willoughby’s haul of $65,000 in the second quarter has her poised to build off of what’s already a strong social media and roadside sign presence around the district.
Willoughby didn’t draw any new PAC money during the quarter, but did get more than $29,000 in medium-sized donations from a total of only 17 people. Marilyn and Dave Alexander, who each put in $5,500, contributed nearly half the contributions for the quarter.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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