The race for Arizona’s Legislative District 20 state Senate seat has become one of the most heated local campaigns in this election cycle.
Nicole Camacho sat down separately with Democratic candidates Rep. Alma Hernandez and Rocque Perez to discuss the wild allegations flung around over the last six months, tensions between the two campaigns, and how the race has impacted them.
With less than two weeks to go, this might be our last story on the LD20 state Senate race.
To read the transcripts of the interviews, head over to our website here.
Alma Hernandez and Rocque Perez
We start our story at the beginning of the campaign when Perez launched his campaign in an op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star. There were whispers about him running even before that, and Perez has been clear throughout the campaign that he believes LD20 “deserves better” representation.
“When I came into this race I knew that I would be up against someone who has historically been one of the most vicious Democrats in the Arizona State Legislature,” Perez told us. “I’m not really beating around the bush in this particular campaign because I mean, to be frank, I knew that she wouldn’t either.”
Hernandez rejects the label of being vicious, describing her last four campaigns as largely focusing on the issues. She could have gone on the offensive, but said she has held back.
“Aside from me sharing the article about his online political violence rhetoric and his pornography, other than simply sharing that article, I could have gone on the attack, sent multiple messages, and blasted it all over social media. I’m not doing that because that’s not my job,” Hernandez said.
Perez counters that there have been plenty of nasty attacks about him from his rival and her supporters.
“I think along the campaign trail, she has made numerous posts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook all pointing to me as kind of like a source of like violence against the Jewish community,” Perez said. “There’ve been instances where her people have literally grabbed me and held me in place so that way they could ask me questions about Israel.”
This allegation is met with a blanket denial from Hernandez, who has called Perez an antisemite but doesn’t condone threats or any type of physical violence.
Last year, someone fired a gun toward Hernandez’s home during the Congressional District 7 election.
Hernandez also accuses Perez of “doxxing” her, but that gets into a messy discussion about whether the home addresses of politicians should be kept private.
Absent being purposely sealed under a specific state law for politicians, there are a number of public documents that contain the addresses of candidates and elected officials — including campaign records, contributions to other campaigns, voter file records, and, if they own their home, property records.
For his part, Perez also accuses Hernandez of doxxing him.
Anyway, online fights on social media aren’t the way to win elections, Hernandez said.
“I’ve had other elected officials respond and say, ‘I wouldn’t be able to be as quiet and as civil as you are with some of the things that have happened,’” Hernandez told us.
But, to be frank, Hernandez doesn’t hold back on social media. She’s also had plenty of mic drops from the floor of the House this year and in her posts on Twitter.
Despite the fiery rhetoric and accusations, neither candidate has called law enforcement. Instead, they’re taking precautions, but otherwise continue to campaign.
“I think a lot of this comes as a part of, unfortunately, like the normal landscape of running for office, but it’s obviously just the more extreme side of things,” Perez said.
Hernandez is more concerned at the moment about vandalism, which she blames on Perez’s supporters.
“The Jewish Federation actually put something out recently because it was reported by members of the community. They’re going around writing ‘Zionist bitch’ in red letters across my face on my signs,” Hernandez said.
Both seem to blame the other for the ugly attacks in the race, although it’s hard to argue that there isn’t serious public concern about who should be the Democratic nominee in LD20 in two weeks.
“If the question is whether I take accountability for this race becoming so toxic, absolutely not. There’s been nothing on my end that has contributed to this,” Hernandez said. “It doesn’t pay you a lot … but I love what I do, and no amount of negativity or attacks against me are going to make me change my mind about running or serving in office.”
Perez said there are a lot of passionate supporters concerned about Hernandez’s support for Israel.
“I think there’s a lot of passionate issues of interest in this race. The underlying issue is Israel and how Alma is the biggest proponent of pro-Israel legislative action in Arizona,” Perez said. “But simultaneously to this, she’s taking money from weapons manufacturers, including Raytheon.”
Ballots are already out, but a deadline is fast approaching. The last day to mail your ballot back is July 14. Otherwise, you will need to drop off your ballot in person at an early voting center or one of the county’s ballot drop boxes.
Would you change your political party in order to get a $100,000 job with the county?
At least two of the nine people who put their names in for the Pima County treasurer appointment did just that.
In a review of voter registration records yesterday, we found that both Daniel Dempsey and Derika Louk changed their registration last month from “party not designated” and joined the Democratic Party.
That’ll be important in a minute.
Former Pima County Treasurer Brian Johnson announced on June 12 that he was going to resign effective June 15.
Dempsey changed his registration on June 12, while Louk changed hers on June 16.
While we were only able to review roughly three years’ worth of records, we’ll note that Louk was a Democrat until 2023, when she registered as an independent.
The seven other candidates for treasurer have been Democrats for at least the last three years.
With Johnson stepping down, the Pima County Board of Supervisors must appoint someone from the same party that Johnson belonged to — in this case, the Democratic Party.
And, as we’ve been saying for months, it only takes a day to change your political registration.
Another one bites the dust: It’s been a rough few weeks for Tucson’s restaurant scene. Since early last month, the owners of Brother John’s Beer, Bourbon & BBQ announced they were closing, as did the owners of Tucson Tamale Market. And, now, the summer slowdown is starting earlier and earlier for Dante’s Fire on Grant Road. The restaurant’s owner says he’s closing up shop this month, the Arizona Daily Star’s Cathalena Burch reports. Owner Ken Foy also pointed to the uncertainty coming with the Grant Road expansion and the building owner’s plan to remodel. The expansion also pushed the owner of American Antique Mall to decide to close next year after three decades in business, Marc Monroy reports for KGUN.
Small victories: Attorneys at the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project scored a win in federal court when a judge granted their petition for habeas corpus on behalf of nine immigrants who have been stuck in detention for six months or more. Each one of the detainees had been granted protection, such as under the Convention Against Torture, but the Trump administration kept trying to deport them to countries other than their own, the Florence Project said in a news release.
End of an era: As the City of Tucson shifts from fireworks to drone shows for future Fourth of July celebrations, the Arizona Luminaria’s Summer Williams goes behind the scenes of the city’s last fireworks show. Williams spoke with the pyrotechnics experts who set up nearly 1,000 aerial shells and the firefighters who made sure Sentinel Peak didn’t get engulfed in flames.
It’s hot out there: If you were expecting to get some news from the Tucson City Council meeting yesterday, don’t hold your breath. The council canceled the meeting “due to an anticipated lack of quorum.” It’s all part of the summer doldrums that also left meeting chambers empty at Pima County and local school boards last week. But the South Tucson City Council is still in action, and dealing with a budget deficit. School boards in Flowing Wells, Tanque Verde and Sahuarita are gearing up to pass their budgets before the July 15 deadline, as Tucson Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock notes.
The Agenda hasn’t had to deal with “an anticipated lack of quorum” because of our readers’ support.
Reining them in: The commanding officer at Fort Huachuca had to ban military personnel from going to St. Elmo Bar in Bisbee, along with several other establishments that were “adversely affecting the health, safety, morals, welfare, morale and discipline” at the fort, per KGUN. Military personnel were also banned from going to several weed dispensaries and smoke shops, as well as Good2Go Shuttle service.
You can expect to see more of these signs as we get closer to November.
Which is great, because they’re usually a lot funnier than the staid political messaging from candidates.
Like this one Joe saw in Green Valley, which conveys about as blunt a political message as you can with only four words.
Technically, the sign isn’t advocating for a candidate — it is criticizing two-term Republican Juan Ciscomani’s lack of leadership in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District.
Or if you’re more literal, a lack of spine.
These types of signs live in a legal gray area, where they make a political point, but they don’t say who paid for the signs.
For the policy wonks, this sign doesn’t pass the magic words test of most campaign material as defined by the Supreme Court decision in Buckley v Valeo. Those magic words include: Vote for, elect, support, cast your ballot for, vote against, defeat and reject.
There’s nothing about spines in the 50-year-old SCOTUS decision.
Also, you don’t have to register a political action committee if you don’t spend more than $1,500 in an election cycle.