In Arizona's July primary election, the candidate who received the most votes statewide was a Mesa school board member — who had sued her school district — running for the Arizona Corporation Commission.
The five-member commission, which regulates most water and power utilities, will have three seats open in November. Three Democrats, three Republicans and two write-in candidates from the Green Party are vying for the open seats. Democratic candidates have said they would focus on clean energy, while Republican candidates want a more diverse energy portfolio.
One candidate in the commission's Republican primary received the most votes of any race statewide: Rachel Walden, a member of the Mesa Public Schools governing board. Along with the other two Republican candidates, she ran unopposed in the Republican primary race for the commission (voters could select three candidates).
Walden received 512,073 votes. That was more than any candidate in the primary races for U.S. Senate — former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake received 409,313 votes to beat Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb in the Republican primary, and U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, got 498,705 votes.
Unlike Lake, Walden did not have to split the vote with anyone else. And the gap between Walden and Gallego — though Gallego's race was far more high-profile — can be partially explained by voter makeup. Arizona has more Republicans than Democrats, and in Maricopa County, which contributed more than 57% of the ballots cast statewide, Republican races garnered 434,041 ballots, compared with 298,105 in Democratic races.
But Walden also received far more votes than each of the other two individuals running unopposed in the Republican primary election for Arizona Corporation Commission — former Chandler City Councilman Rene Lopez and incumbent Lea Márquez Peterson — who received 450,458 and 429,800 votes, respectively.
Walden's goal for the commission, she said, is to "allow all sources of energy to operate in Arizona" and to let "the free market determine what's available for us" in the interests of ratepayers. She supported the commission's February decision to direct staff to draft rules that would repeal the state's renewable energy and energy efficiency standards, she said.
Walden, who managed institutional retirement accounts at Vanguard before leaving to care for her daughter full-time, said the results of the primary election reflected the work she put into the campaign. Since filing to run in May 2023, she "put 27,000 campaign miles" on her car and visited all Arizona counties except one, stopping by county fairs and parades.
"I didn't just campaign at Republican clubs or legislative districts," she said. "A lot of these communities ... don't usually get statewide candidates that come visit them, and so going out to these events, the response was overwhelmingly positive."
Walden credited her endorsem*nts as well, which according to her campaign website, included Republican Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, Republican Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, and state Rep. Justin Heap, a member of the Arizona Legislature's far-right Freedom Caucus who beat incumbent Stephen Richer in the Republican primary race for Maricopa County recorder.
Walden said she also was the only candidate to receive endorsem*nts from sitting Republican Corporation Commissioners Nick Myers, Kevin Thompson and Chairman Jim O'Connor, as well as former Corporation Commissioner Justin Olson.
"That gave some weight to my campaign," she said, adding that she volunteered for Myers' and Thompson's campaigns in 2022.
On school board, Walden sued district, opposed funding elections
Walden joined the governing board of Mesa Public Schools, the state's largest school district, in January 2023.
In November, she sued the district over its guidelines for supporting transgender students — which permit transgender students to access facilities consistent with their gender identity and to use names and pronouns that reflect their identity — arguing that they violated Arizona's parents' bill of rights law. She was represented by America First Legal, a conservative legal group led by former President Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller.
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit in July, saying that Walden did not have the legal authority to sue.
The lawsuit cost Mesa Public Schools approximately $35,000 in legal fees, not including the time staff spent on the lawsuit, according to a district spokesperson. After the judge’s decision, Walden said in a post on X that she planned to appeal the ruling.
During her time on the governing board, Walden has also voted against several behavioral health services for students and proposed a policy that would ban the display of any flag "which conveys political, social, or ideological messaging" by district employees and students.
She was the sole board member last year to oppose plans to call for a maintenance and operation budget override election and a bond election, which are school funding measures paid for by property taxes. The district's override — used to support staff salaries and student programs — succeeded, while its bond measure, which would have funded capital expenses like building renovations and safety and security enhancements, failed.
'I believe in the limits of government'
Now that Walden's daughter is starting school, she doesn't think her role on the school board — which she said takes up about 10 hours per week — would conflict with her responsibilities on the commission if elected, she said.
Walden didn't always have the time to discuss her school board experience when campaigning for Corporation Commission. But she said she believes it helps to have a voting record that shows "what kinds of things you're willing to stand up for," she said.
She noted her role in the board's unanimous decision to adopt measurable board goals related to academic achievement. "A lot of people want school to just be school," she said. "Fighting for academic achievement, fighting for student outcomes and fiscal responsibility."
"That messaging helped people understand that I believe in the limits of government and government staying in its lane," she said.
Reach the reporter at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com.
