The Mesa City Council set a date for a recall election of one of its members, Julie Spilsbury, who will face off on November 4 against a candidate selected by her opponents.
Spilsbury, a Republican, angered conservatives by endorsing Democrats Kamala Harris and Ruben Gallego, as well as taking other positions aligned with Democrats. Turning Point Action, which is a 501(c)(4) organization founded by Charlie Kirk, helped collect signatures for the recall.
Disappointed constituents collected over 5,000 signatures, 3,858 survived the verification process. In order to automatically trigger the recall, 3,070 verified signatures were required.
In a lengthy social media post, Spilsbury recounted her reaction to receiving the petition. She wrote, in part, “I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I was crushed that not one of them showed me the care or respect to have a conversation with me before signing.”
Voters in her District 2, which includes central and east Mesa, will decide the election.
The petition to recall Spilsbury, submitted by Mesa resident JoAnne Robbins, alleged that Spilsbury “used her political office to advance private interests.” The document lists her votes in favor of converting a hotel into a homeless housing project, increasing city council salaries, and raising city utility rates as reasons why people wanted to recall the embattled council member.
Mesa’s city council voted in favor of increasing city council salaries and raising utility rates.
The 7 percent pay increase applies to all council members and the mayor and will be automatically adjusted every two years. Council members earned $40,582 annually before the hike, and the mayor received $83,551. In contrast, Arizona legislators earn $24,000 annually, and some council members in other cities and towns receive salaries as low as $12,000 (Town of Queen Creek). Similar to state legislators, the Mesa City Council is a part-time job.
Additionally, Spilsbury voted in favor of a nondiscrimination ordinance. The ordinance goes beyond traditional nondiscrimination laws. It includes “gender identity,” “sexual orientation,” “marital status,” and “familial status.” Businesses are required “to allow individuals to use the restroom of the gender with which they identify.” It applies to employers with five or more employees, with limited exceptions for religious organizations. The penalty is $300 per offense, stackable up to $2,500.
Spilsbury said her vote wasn’t necessary to get it passed — only two of the seven members, which includes the mayor, voted against it — so she could have voted against it without defeating it. She admitted that 800 out of 1,100 people who emailed her about the ordinance opposed it. Spilsbury said she considers herself an ally of the LGBTQ community.
The conservative Center for Arizona Policy and Resolute Group opposed the ordinance. Resolute Group warned on its United for Mesa website that businesses and citizens could be fined for:
- Excluding biological men from a women’s domestic violence shelter
- Operating a women’s sports league that does not permit biological males as athletes
- Protecting the safety and privacy of women and girls in facilities like locker rooms, bathrooms and showers
- Making private decisions regarding transgender issues in businesses, housing and facilities
United for Mesa attempted to refer the ordinance to the ballot, but proponents challenged the submitted signatures, finding enough invalid ones to prevent it from going to the voters for a decision. Former Mesa Mayor John Giles, who has also angered conservatives with his support of Democratic candidates, contributed $5,000 to the effort supporting the ordinance. He was mayor at the time and used his John Giles for Mayor account. The City of Scottsdale has also enacted a similar broad nondiscrimination ordinance.
Spilsbury ran for office on a conservative platform. One of her four priorities was “Protecting Public Safety.” Another was “Make Mesa Affordable,” which included “work[ing] to keep taxes and utility rates affordable for our residents.” She listed as her accomplishments advocating for small businesses and starting a faith-based organization that “saved taxpayers thousands of dollars.” In an interview with Faith Matters Foundation, she said God pushed her to run.
The mainstream media often singles Spilsbury out for quotes, portraying her as supposedly representative of Mormon Republicans. The Los Angeles Times published an extensive interview with her and her husband a month before last fall’s election. The article discussed how the pair attended a “Latter-day Saints for Harris-Walz” vice presidential debate watch party.
Her husband Jeremy told the paper regarding LGBTQ, “I was just amazed by how wonderful these people were, you know? I had all these preconceived notions growing up in the church. They’re perceived as a threat, you know, their lifestyles.”
A chart from Ballotpedia analyzing recall elections nationwide shows that in 2024, there were 387 recall efforts. Of those, 100 led to recall elections, with 77 officials successfully voted out of office, and 33 officials kept their seats.
The election will be conducted by the Maricopa County Elections Department using all mail-in ballots.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter. Email tips to .
Photo “Julie Spilsbury” by Spilsbury for Mesa.
The post Recall Election Set for Mesa City Council Member Julie Spilsbury first appeared on The Arizona Sun Times.