Opinion: Bitter attacks and billionaire spending mar Arizona's midterm campaign

Campaign 2026 is almost over, making it appropriate to reflect on highlights and lowlights — mostly lowlights — of what we have had to endure on the way to voting.

– Inflammatory language from candidates continued despite a 2025 Gallup survey that 69% of Americans believe Republicans and 60% believe Democrats have gone too far. Recently, Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes called Republican opponent Alex Kolodin a “bona fide, found-guilty-of-lying liar.” Kolodin said Fontes was “lying to voters because he doesn’t respect them.”

– Vote-fraud falsehoods abounded among Republicans, including Kolodin, who proposed Proposition 144 to eliminate noncitizen registration and voting. It’s unnecessary because numerous checks of state voter rolls have shown single-digit numbers of noncitizen registrants and nothing affecting election results. Republicans’ claims are the fraud.

– GOP gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs told some stretchers himself, saying he is bipartisan despite belonging to the extremist House Freedom Caucus and being supported by Turning Point USA, a conservative white Christian organization. In Congress, he opposed certifying Joe Biden’s election and voted against Biden initiatives, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which he called a “socialist slap in the face.”

– Likewise, Republican U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani waved the bipartisan flag. His record of consistent support for the current president’s agenda belies that. For example, he opposed Medicaid cuts, then voted for them, and wanted permanent legal status for Dreamers but would not support the bill for it.

– If money is speech, as the U.S. Supreme Court has absurdly ruled, billionaires shouted while the rest of us whispered. A political action committee backed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg spent $1 million-plus for Democrat JoAnna Mendoza in her 6th Congressional District race against Ciscomani. Billionaire Elon Musk’s PAC supported Ciscomani with nearly $550,000, the Star reported.

– Warren Petersen, Republican candidate for attorney general, campaigned with his Mexican immigrant wife, saying, “I love immigrants and immigrants are welcome here. ... (but) they should follow the law.” At the same time, he supports the president’s ruthless immigration crackdown, and he filed a complaint against Democratic state Sen. Analise Ortiz for posting online where immigration officers were active.

– U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly responded to a heckler at an Oct. 21 Phoenix event by following him out of the room for a conversation that ended with a handshake, if not agreement. The president responded the same day at a South Carolina rally after a supporter punched a heckler: “That was great, man. Wow. Man, I loved that. I watched that. That was incredible. Wow. That was unbelievable. Is everybody OK? Who’s the guy that threw that punch?,” The Guardian reported.

– Republicans pushed culture war propositions. Included is a proposal to ban transgender athletes, although only little more than a dozen have sought to play between 2017 and 2022 among 100,000-plus Arizona high school athletes. Another measure would restrict diversity, equity and inclusion in schools in our increasingly diverse state; the U.S. Census Bureau says 48.8% of Arizonans are people of color. Discrimination remains a societal problem that schools can help ameliorate through DEI initiatives and education.

Overall, the campaign’s tone has been more negative than ever, even outright disgusting, and many other lowlights surfaced. Now it’s time to vote, if you haven’t already.

Vote early at any of nine locations listed online at recorder.pima.gov/dropboxes. Drop mailed ballots or vote in person on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at any of the126 polling places listed at pima.gov/pima-votes.

Don’t allow the lowlights of this year’s fraught campaign lead you to surrender your most precious democratic right — voting.