Two incumbents and four challengers filed signatures with the Chandler City Clerk by the March 23 deadline to run for the three seats up in the July 21 primary election.
Only candidates who receive a certain percentage of the vote, using a state formula, will win seats on the primary date. If there aren’t three winners, the top candidates votes -- one more candidate than the number of undecided seats -- will compete for those seats in the Nov. 3 general election.
Here are the six candidates, in alphabetical order by last name:
Lisa Askey
Askey has lived in Chandler for more than 35 years. She and her husband, Joshua, have been married for 26 years and raised three boys, all of whom graduated from the Chandler Unified School District.
Askey has a bachelor’s degree in business management. She launched her first business in Chandler in 2000, and since 2009, she has owned RocketChics Marketing Co., a business that focuses on providing marketing services and business materials.
In addition to many hours of volunteer work, Askey has worked as both a full-time and part-time substitute teacher in Chandler schools.
In politics, Askey has worked on various campaigns and issues with several organizations for the past 15 years, including SBA List and Women Speak Out, a political action committee that supports pro-life candidates.
Askey’s priorities focus on maintaining a strong economy and providing smart leadership as Chandler approaches full buildout, supporting businesses of all sizes, making thoughtful decisions that sustain growth, prioritizing public safety by ensuring police and fire departments have sufficient resources and promoting transparency.
Angel Encinas
Raised just a few blocks from Chandler City Hall, where he still lives to this day, Encinas manages an immigration consulting firm and also is a Realtor.
Encinas is a product of Chandler public schools and holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Arizona State University with a minor in sustainability.
Encinas, first elected to council in 2022, was chosen by the council to be vice mayor for the 2026 calendar year.
As vice mayor, he serves on the city subcommittees devoted to community safety, connectivity and economic vitality.
In the community, he serves on the Chandler Commerce Education Workforce Development Coalition, the Chandler Chamber Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Education & Workforce committees, the board of directors for the East Valley Dream Center and the Phoenix East Valley Partnership Board of Directors.
At the national level, Encinas was recognized by the National League of Cities as part of its Under 40 Impact Awards for his leadership in revitalizing the downtown neighborhood of Pueblo Viejo, championing Chandler’s first pride flag-raising event in June 2024, engaging local teens through high school MEChA clubs and engaging the Latino community by working with city staff to coordinate Somos Collective, a platform for community leaders.
Joe Granado Jr.
Granado Jr. states he is a U.S. Air Force veteran. He grew up in Chandler and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Benedictine University.
Granado Jr. founded Uni-Tech Mechanical in 1996. He also states he served in the 161st Air National Guard.
He states he has taught classes at Arizona State University.
He states the city must become more pro-business and his key issues are responsible growth, affordable housing, public safety, smart planning, keeping government fiscally conservative, accountability of elected officials and government employees, transparent spending and renovating aging infrastructure.
Ron Hardin
Hardin grew up in the Kansas City area and relocated to Arizona in 1995 after attending Rockhurst University. He holds an information management master’s degree from Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business.
Hardin also earned a certificate in “The Governance of Enterprise IT.” He has worked in information technology for a few different Valley firms and he founded the investment firm LE Ventures of Arizona in 2021.
Hardin ran for the Republican nomination for Arizona House District 13 in 2022, finishing third — one position out of the two-candidate nomination. He also has served on Chandler’s Transportation Commission and the Arizona Workforce Development Board.
Hardin states his priorities include balanced economic development, adhering to the city’s general plan, changing service to meet demographic shifts, collaborating with public schools and affordable housing.
Cicely Rocha-Miller
Rocha-Miller and her husband, Joe, have been married for 20 years and have lived in Chandler for more than 10 years, where they are raising their two children.
She holds a degree in nonprofit administration and communication from Arizona State University and states she has more than 25 years of experience in leadership, budgeting and community-focused work.
Rocha-Miller is the founder and principal of Life Design Events, launched in 2005, and is the “principal” at ROCHA, an industrial services company specializing in compressed air and lubrication systems, where she supports marketing, human resources and accounting operations.
Rocha-Miller states she has spent her career working alongside nonprofits, small businesses and community organizations, helping raise funds.
Her focuses are on strengthening public safety, supporting local businesses, enhancing quality of life, ensuring local government should be accessible, responsive, and grounded in the voices of the community it serves and ensuring thoughtful, responsible growth that reflects the needs of Chandler residents.
Jane Poston
Poston grew up in the East Valley and owns J2 Media, a video production and communications company established in 2000, in partnership with her husband, Jason.
Together, they have raised a family and built their business in Chandler. She states they have managed and grown her successful small business through times of prosperity and times of national crisis.
Poston serves on the city’s connectivity, economic vitality and neighborhoods subcommittees, National League of Cities Public Safety & Crime Prevention Committee, and the Maricopa Association of Governments Transportation Policy Committee.
She also has served on the city’s 2021 Citizens Bond Committee-Airport, the Arizona Council on Economic Education, the board of the Arizona Center for Blind & Visually Impaired, the AZCEND board, president of the Chandler Education Foundation Board of Directors and was the Chandler Chamber of Commerce 2021 board of directors chair.
A onetime city of Chandler employee, Poston states she’s an advocate for fiscal responsibility, government transparency, communication and responsiveness.
Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
INDEPENDENT NEWSMEDIA
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.
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here