It may be easy to get caught up in the tumult of an election year, but no one should sleep on school board races.

They may be decidedly unsexy (downballot, nonpartisan, unpaid, entry-level) and easy to ignore.

Most voters don't actually pay attention to them.

However, those positions are often used as resume filler for people seeking higher office.

As school board positions are low profile resume filler, they tend to be easy for anti-public education folks to infiltrate.  Particularly when they're aided and abetted by the county school superintendent.

And Maricopa County's school superintendent is Shelli Boggs, a MAGA/pro Cheeto person who seems to absolutely hate public schools.

While she isn't in charge of elections, she  *does* appoint people to fill vacancies on school boards, and she has a track record of appointing people who are less about education than they are about ideology.

One of the people she appointed was Jeremiah Cota.  I assume he attended a school at some point, but his employment history included stints working for Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, and the Arizona Republican Party.

He was appointed by Boggs to fill a vacancy on the Phoenix Union High School Governing Board.

He has since resigned because of his attendance at a party with Nazi ties.

From the article, from the Arizona Republic, written by Erick Trevino, via the State Journal Register -

[snip]

Ceysha Napa, a Phoenix Union governing board member, said she wasn’t surprised that Cota portrayed himself as a victim. His time on the board would have been different if he wasn't so blatant about the disrespect he had for the community, she said.

"Being held accountable can also feel like persecution," Napa said. "I'm the first Indigenous person to serve on that board. Never at any point in time did I feel like I wasn't welcome."

Cota, a conservative Republican, was appointed to the Phoenix Union governing board in June by Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs to fill a vacant seat. He represents Ward 1, which covers south Phoenix, Laveen and the Gila River Indian Community. Cota did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[snip]

In 2025, the district solicited the community's input to fill a vacancy on the seven-member governing board, according to Napa. A list of potential candidates was shared with Boggs, but under Arizona law there is no legal obligation for the superintendent to consider any of the district's candidates.

[start sarcasm]

Nazi leanings and worked for Gosar and Biggs?

I'm shocked! Shocked! I say.

[/end sarcasm]

I'm not worried that one of Boggs' appointees will need to replaced by another appointee - I have faith in her ability (and willingness) to find another MAGA/Nazi type for the gig.

Note: Just because someone has filed a Statement of Interest (SOI) for a school board seat already does NOT mean that they will appear on a ballot, and just because someone has not filed an SOI yet does not mean that they won't appear on a ballot.

Maricopa County SOIs are here.

Pima County SOIs are here.

Pinal County SOIs are here.

Yavapai County SOIs are here. (go to the bottom of the page)

Coconino County school board candidates are here.

Mohave County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

La Paz County SOIs are here. (includes candidates for all offices; also, these may be for the primary races only)

Yuma County SOIs are here.

Cochise County SOIs are here.

Santa Cruz County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

Gils County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

Graham County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

Greenlee County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

Apache County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

Navajo County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

While I couldn't locate SOIs in every county, the counties I did locate them in covered over 85% of the state's population.

I have to reiterate and restate my previous advisory - voters should pay attention to school board races; some of the candidates for those offices will eventually be candidates for other offices.

Schweikert jumps out of the CD1 race and into the AZGovernor race: that sound you will soon hear will be dominos falling

This is a "horserace-y" kind of post.  I will criticize the MSM for focusing on horserace issues in their stories on politics, but I'm not MSM so I can do this.

While most of the stories/talk about David Schweikert's impact on the Republican primary for Governor of Arizona, but his switch of primary races affects more than a single contest.

While his move affects many, even all, races on the ballot (open seats in Congress are rare, so everyone and their grandmother is looking at entering the race), I'll just focus on two here - Congressional District 1 (CD1) and Legislative District 3 (LD3).

All of the incumbents in those districts are currently Republicans.

The voter registration advantage in CD1 favors Rs, but is seen as poachable by Ds.

Perhaps less poachable now that the ethically-challenged Schweikert has stepped aside, but still poachable.

A lot of people, mostly Democrats, are looking at the race; however, *many* Rs are rumored to be considering entering the race.

Among the folks being talked about: Gina Swoboda, current chair of the AZGOP, and at least two sitting state legislators, Joe Chaplik and Matt Gress.  Others may be looking at the race, self-funding business folks and Cheeto-friendly celebrities, but I don't know who they are yet.

CD1: These are the people who have filed Statements of Interest (SOIs) with the AZ Secretary of State (AZSOS) and/or formed committees with the FEC:

*** = Incumbent and announced candidate for Arizona Governor.

The date listed is the date the potential candidate filed the SOI and/or most recently formed a committee with the FEC.

The ID Number for committees is the number given to them by the FEC.

The LD3 district basically covers North Scottsdale and Fountain Hills as is [ahem] less poachable (OK, I think it's a safe R district) -

LD3 State Representative: These are the people who have filed Statements of Interest (SOIs) with the AZ Secretary of State (AZSOS) and/or formed committees with the AZSOS

* = Incumbent

** - Incumbent and announced candidate for Arizona SOS.

The date listed is the date the potential candidate filed the SOI and/or most recently formed a committee with the AZSOS.

The ID Number for committees is the number given to them by the AZSOS.

This race, already wide open with incumbent Alexander Kolodin running for AZSOS, may be further upended if incumbent Chaplik chooses to mount a campaign for CD1.

The incumbent State Senator, John "I never met a government check I don't like...for me, anyway" Kavanagh of Fountain Hills, may be too old for a run at Congress (far from a sure thing); even if he won, he may not want to deal with the cross country travel necessitated by such a victory.

Note: not everyone who files an SOI or forms a committee will appear on a ballot.  In fact, many probably won't.  Also, it's still early - people not on either list may yet enter one of these races.

Candidate update time

Note: forming a committee and/or filing a Statement of Interest (SOI) with the AZSOS does NOT mean that will appear on a ballot going before voters.

Q: What do former politicos do when they lose a race?

A: Run for office again.

In 2022, legislator John Fillmore (R-Whackjob) lost his primary race for state house.  Now he's filed an SOI for a run at Democratic Congressman Greg Stanton. As of this writing, he has not formed a committee with the FEC.

In 2024, soon-to-be ex-legislator Anthony Kern (R-Another Whackjob) came in fifth in a seven-way primary race for Congress (actually, one was a write in candidate, so he was fifth of six ballot candidates).  Now he's looking to return to the legislature.

He hasn't formed a new committee with the AZSOS, but he may by using an old committee for this run.

It's not just former politicos, though.

Former placekicker (NFL and Arena Football League) Jay Feely (R-very Wide Right) has declared his candidacy to replace Andy Biggs in Congress.

His SOI, from the AZSOS -

His committee with the FEC -

All you need to know about him can be summed up in one pic -

From Sports Illustrated

This pic may help him in his primary race, but I don't care.