Queen Creek board candidates react to controversial Facebook posts

The two Queen Creek School District Governing Board candidates supported by board member James Knox are reacting to the public outcry surrounding some of his Facebook posts.

Knox has thrown his support behind candidates David M. Dehority and Heidi Lee who are running for two of the three seats on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Incumbents Jennifer Revolt, Patty Campbell and Matt Riffey are running for reelection.

In an email, Dehority stated he was at the QCUSD board meeting when the Facebook posts were brought up. He added he wondered whether the matter should have been “handled in private in an email or telephone call to Mr. Knox. Was the public outcry because of some of his stances? We may never know the reason.”

“Should that be on his private page? The voters can decide next election cycle in 2026. As a public figure, perhaps he should be more aware of what memes he shares or make his page private,” Dehority stated. “I do not always agree with Mr. Knox but support First Amendment rights for everyone. I have seen memes all over social media I … could find offensive or do not agree with and just scroll on by without a second thought.”

Lee stated that there were bigger issues to deal with locally and nationally “than what someone posts on their social media.”

“My stance is that we need to focus on the issues in the district and work to fix them,” Lee stated. “Mr. Knox has supported my run for school board not because I share his beliefs but because I am willing to discuss issues and work for solutions.”

During the QCUSD board’s Aug. 6 meeting, a district employee called Knox’s posts “vile” during public comments.

“We respect everyone’s right to free speech and personal political views however the memes Mr. Knox has been posting are vile, sexist, misogynistic and borderline racist,” Connie Romano, who was joined by two other district employees, told the board.

Knox did not deny posting the material and added that it was on his personal Facebook page.

Revolt, the QCUSD governing board president, stated the “posts sent to me from (Knox’s) profile depict a woman crouching down and holding on to men’s genitals and a children’s book about ‘Hookers and Blow Save Christmas.”

“To be clear, this isn’t about who we support politically or freedom of speech, which we all have a right to — this is about the explicit sexual nature of the posts,” Revolt stated in an email “I want to make it clear that I do not condone this behavior from someone who is supposed to serve as a professional leader of children as well as every family in the Queen Creek Unified School District.”

Revolt’s descriptions of the posts were confirmed through screenshots captured by a member of the public. A few of the sexually oriented memes were about Vice President Kamala Harris.

Knox, who homeschools his children, was elected to the board in 2022.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org.