Chandler’s Freaky Friday

A look inside LD13’s game of musical chairs … Don't feed the animals … And mostly good reading.

As we continue to reel from the 2024 elections, Arizona’s politicians are already eyeing their 2026 prospects.

While most of Arizona’s lawmakers are running for reelection, the three spots opening up in one district have turned into a game of musical chairs.

In fact, by the time 2027 rolls around, none of the state legislators representing the Chandler-based Legislative District 13 will hold their current offices.

Instead, Republican Rep. Jeff Weninger is running to be the next Chandler mayor. Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke is running for Weninger's seat at the Capitol. And LD13’s other legislators are leaving the office or switching chambers.

Our art intern, ChatGPT, thinks Mayor Kevin Hartke and Rep. Jeff Weninger can save some money by swapping name plates if they win their elections.

At least part of the impetus for the seat-swapping is that Chandler has been going through a city charter crisis: Hartke's 2022 mayoral opponent filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming his two terms as mayor violate the charter’s term limits clause.

Arizona lawmakers can serve four consecutive terms in either chamber, per the state Constitution. But by switching from House to Senate or vice versa, they can reset the clock. It’s pretty common for representatives and senators to quietly trade places to extend their time in office.

It’s a little less common to see a mayor and state lawmaker swap, however.

But Weninger said the duo trading places wasn’t coordinated.

“He told me he was going to announce, and we all want to do things on our own timeline,” Weninger said. “I didn't rush to do it. I wanted to get out of session, give it some more thought, and then make a decision.”

Hartke¹ doesn't have much choice if he wants to remain in politics. He originally filed paperwork to run for city council in 2026, but switched gears to a state House seat over the Chandler term limit debacle.

“I still believe that I'm supposed to be serving, and this is an opportunity for me to do so,” he told us.

Hartke served two terms on Chandler’s City Council and is currently in his second term as mayor. The city charter says no one can be elected to more than two back-to-back terms as a councilmember, two back-to-back terms as mayor or a combination of both that adds up to more than two consecutive terms. If that explanation confused you, don't worry — it also confused the city attorney.

Chandler is holding a special election in November to ask voters to clear up the language. If approved, the new charter would let Chandler’s elected officials hold office for 16 consecutive years and confirm Hartke’s tenure was legal.

Next year, Chandler voters will face another choice: Who should represent them at the Capitol? About 238,000 people live in LD13, which also includes parts of Gilbert and the Sun Lakes community, and 182,000 of those residents are old enough to vote. It’s one of Arizona’s few competitive legislative districts, but it leans Republican.

Hartke and Weninger used to serve on the Chandler City Council together. Weninger joined the council in 2006 then switched to the Arizona Legislature in 2014. He served three terms in the state House, ran an unsuccessful bid for state treasurer in 2022, then won another term representing the Chandler area.

LD13 Rep. Jeff Weninger’s campaign website for Chandler Mayor.

He’s not termed out of his second spurt in the House yet. But Weninger said he wants to “get back to (his) roots.”

“I think there are certain times where you just feel you're needed somewhere … the city of Chandler is a great city, but it's kind of at a crossroads,” he said. “And I think with my small business experience, my experience being on the Chandler council for eight years and at the Legislature, I think those things combined will lend itself to me being a great leader for Chandler.”

LD13’s other House member, Republican Rep. Julie Willoughby, is attempting to switch chambers to the Senate next year. She’s not termed out yet, but LD13 Republican Sen. J.D. Mesnard is.

Mesnard has been an Arizona lawmaker for nearly his entire adult life. He was a Senate staffer before he landed a House seat in 2010, became House speaker for two years, and switched to the Senate in 2020.

This time, he’s not switching chambers and told us he’s “still working on (his) plans,” but that running for another office is “under consideration.”

Mesnard’s departure and Willoughby’s attempt to move to the Senate leave Republicans one candidate short of being able to fill the district’s two House seats. In other words, we expect at least one more Republican to join the race for the House.

Willoughby was appointed to take over for Liz Harris in 2023 after the former lawmaker was expelled for spreading conspiracies about her House colleagues, and won a seat in her own right in last year’s election.

Willoughby has seen a lot of success since she was elected to a LD13 House seat, and House Republicans chose her as their majority whip this year. She didn’t return our calls to ask why she’s moving to the Senate, but a lot of lawmakers consider a Senate seat an upgrade.

Meanwhile, Chandler City Councilmember Matt Orlando is challenging Weninger for the mayor’s spot, but he won’t be able to run if voters reject the charter language change on term limits. He’s in his second four-year term.

Although they sat on the council together years ago, Hartke said he doesn’t know if Weninger would be a good mayor, but said the lawmaker “is certainly a solid, rational guy.”

Weninger had a similarly unconvincing answer when we asked him if Hartke would be a good state representative.

“Kevin's a good guy. We're different,” he said. “I don't know the other candidates and people that are in, but Kevin works hard. We'll see how the rest of the field shapes.”

After 17 years in city government, Hartke said he’s never had legislative ambitions before. But as mayor, he’s worked closely with the Legislature and he’s the current president of the Arizona League of Cities and Towns.

“For me, it's certainly starting over with a totally different element,” Hartke said. “I don't have any kind of a war chest going into the state elections, since city money can't travel up. So I'm sure that (Weninger and I) will certainly be talking as we get going here.”

Millions not well spent: Karrin Taylor Robson outraised Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs as the two prepare to square off in the 2026 GOP gubernatorial primary, Capitol scribe Howie Fischer reports based on the latest round of campaign finance reports. But that’s only because Robson loaned herself $2.2 million. Gov. Katie Hobbs pulled in the most actual donations in the reporting period, at $1.3 million, and has $4.7 million cash on hand, compared to Robson’s $876,000 war chest and Biggs’ $437,000.

We don’t know how else to say this, folks: PLEASE STOP FUNDING THE POLITICIANS.
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Awkward: Republican Sen. Vince Leach posted a meme on Facebook decrying the fact that there are 32 foreign-born members of Congress, the Arizona Mirror’s Jerod MacDonald-Evoy notes, including Republican U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, who represents Leach in Congress. Not to mention that six of his colleagues in the state Legislature were born in another country, including House Speaker Steve Montenegro.

If at first you lose by 10 points…: Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is running for Congress again against Republican U.S. Rep. Eli Crane, who defeated Nez by nearly 10 percentage points last year, per the Navajo Times’ Donovan Quintero.

No solar for you: Among the folks not stoked about President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” budget are Hopi leaders who were hoping to build community-scale and utility-scale solar to provide desperately needed electricity for tribal members, the Navajo-Hopi Observer’s Chez Oxendine reports. But those projects relied on clean energy grants and loan programs that were cut under Trump’s budget.

“We’re disappointed in leaders that don’t look beyond their nose when it comes to those communities that rely on moving forward with this technology. We’re in 2025 right now and we still have homes that are not electrified,” Hopi Tribal Chairman Timothy Nuvangyaoma told Oxendine.

Bock bock bock: The Springerville Town Council attempted to adopt an ordinance restricting residents to only 19 chickens (including one rooster) in their backyards, as allowed under a state law approved last year that says residents can keep at least six chickens in their backyards, per the White Mountain Independent’s Jenn Moreira. But townspeople didn’t want any regulation, and the council backed down.

“If there’s no ordinance now and nobody’s complaining, why do we need one?” one resident asked.

Why don’t you come to your senses…: Paradise Valley Community College’s annual Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival is the latest local casualty of Trump’s war on DEI, Lookout’s Tuesday Mahrle reports. The festival had been running for 16 years, but organizers killed it off this year, noting that continuing it would risk the school’s federal funding, including student aid.

We’re in this book?: Longtime local reporter Christina Estes’ second novel, a political murder mystery titled "The Story That Wouldn’t Die,” is available for preorder or on Kindle and features a host of Phoenix landmarks, the New Times’ Geri Koeppel writes. It’s a sequel to her first novel, “Off the Air,” which won a Tony Hillerman Prize. We just started reading it (book review incoming!) and we hear there’s a (very minor) character named Hank in here somewhere.

Spotted at Luana’s Coffee and Beer.

When free readers upgrade to a paid subscription, they have the option to leave a little note about why they decided to upgrade.

Those notes are the highlight of our day — they’re truly heartwarming.

Here’s a recent one, from subscriber George, to give you a feel for how they usually go.

“I've wanted to support a good source of local journalism that is easy to access and helps make sense of local politics (state level and below) - impressed with what I saw in the free newsletter, so I signed up. I realize that it is through local journalism that a light is shined into the halls of government and helps to keep the political process accountable to the people and serving the people.”

But a recent note from Republican Sen. Vince Leach didn’t quite stick to that model of over-the-top praise.

It’s still praise, but that “mostly” seems to be doing a lot of lifting.

1. Fun fact: Hartke placed second in our political March Madness competition last year.