West Valley Results 2024
Big wins and losses in the General Election. West Valley Families breaks down developments regarding the local candidates and issues we've been following for several years.
Big changes are on the horizon for the West Valley. We’re diving into the latest races to see what’s ahead. Plus, we’ll explore how school board elections stack up against student proficiency rates in this rapidly growing area of the country.
You can look at the numbers as they’ll be updated over the next days and up to reported two weeks. Here’s the link to the Maricopa County Election Results.
STATE-WIDE RACES IN THE WEST VALLEY
As of Wednesday morning, November 6th, Arizona State Senate District 23 is on the verge of fliping red. This is monumental.
Brian Fernandez out of Yuma, Arizona was appointed to Arizona House of Representatives District 4 by the Yuma County Board of Supervisors in November 2021. He won re-election to the Arizona State Senate to represent District 23 in 2023 after redistricting.
His sponsored bills include repealing the near-total ban on abortion from 1864, and appropriation of $10,000,000 from the state General Fund to the Arizona Department of Transportation to distribute to the City of Goodyear to improve the Estrella Parkway Bridge.
Republican Michelle Altherr currently holds the lead for LD23 - which I hear is unexpected. My source says the Arizona GOP didn’t pour much money or effort into her campaign. BallotPedia shows her funding contributions mostly self-funded and less than $20,000.
Altherr appeared on OAN discussing border security.
Arizona House of Representatives LD23 incumbents Michele Peña (R) and Mariana Sandoval (D) are poised to win re-election.
WEST VALLEY SCHOOL BOARDS AND BONDS
Alright, let’s dive into the races that really impact our daily lives—school boards. I’ve always said school boards play a crucial role because their decisions shape our future workforce and influence taxes. Strong school districts contribute to thriving neighborhoods by creating the amenities we all want: well-maintained parks, safe streets, and orderly communities.
AGUA FRIA UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
As of this writing, Agua Fria Union High School District’s bond is on thin ice. Currently failing at 50.14%, 132 votes. Way too close to call. The $138M bond was touted as not raising the tax “rate”, and would “help fund critical repairs, priority upgrades, safety capital projects, technology, student transportation vehicles, workplace development programs, and site- and community-specific school needs.”
Incumbent Kristen Acton leads the pack for AFUHSD governing board. Notable, Acton was vetted and endorsed by Arizona Women of Action. This decision did not come lightly. As I’ve reported previously, Acton approved thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded board member and administrative staff travel requests and did not favor a spending limit on travel for governing board members.
Another AZWOA-endorsed candidate, Sara Lewis-Silk, is in 2nd place. In her candidate statement, Lewis-Silk writes, “My experience as an educator and principal has taught me how incredibly important it is to recruit and retain highly effective teachers. It’s crucial that we dedicate significant time and effort to selecting qualified teachers and providing a supportive environment with the resources needed for professional growth.”
BUCKEYE UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
In neighboring Buckeye Union High School District, its $155,000,000 bond is failing at 58%. This is a huge blow to the West Valley. It would have helped fund the district’s fourth school… an issue I’ve been covering since superintendent Dr. Bebee first mentioned it publicly in a meeting I attended and wrote about in May 2022.
When I shared the bond numbers on X last night, a conservative account expressed, “People are frustrated by the wasteful spending they see in school administrations and are hesitant to approve additional funding until there’s more accountability.” BUHSD governing board member Nathan Madden responded, “@BuckeyeUnionHSD has been highly accountable in its spending. In fact our spending efficiency is far and above the state average all while providing high quality service and an increase in proficient pupils YoY [year over year].”
One of the very first stories I wrote on Substack was about Buckeye Union High School District’s lack of communication and biggest challenge in reaching voters. The district faced major cuts and a loss of 9 teachers after closing schools, forcing students and teachers online, and suspending after school sports during the pandemic.
In a May 2021 citizen advisory committee meeting, HighGround advised the district put a Budget Continuation up for vote… but not a bond, and suggested the problem with messaging is hindered by the electorate’s politics. HighGround noted, “the voters in this district are older and heavily Republican,” and blamed older electorate for only getting their information from Fox News.
My concern at the time was that the district’s use of social media and digital communication with the voters was subpar. Had it put more effort into showing the electorate why the money was needed, (such as photos of aging infrastructure and facilities), it would have been better strategy, IMHO.
Losing this bond money would mean plans are on hold for Estrella Foothills High School to get a second entrance into campus and bus drop-off area, AC unit replacements, restroom remodels, and fire alarm & Intercom system replacement. At Buckeye and Youngker high schools, the extra funding would be put toward Science, Art, Band & Culinary renovations/expansions, laptops, and security cameras.
I asked the community why they felt the bond was struggling to gain support.
I’ve been saying for years that Buckeye Union High School District really needs a dedicated social media and communications specialist, but it still hasn’t happened. And, judging by the comments this morning, you can see how that decision is impacting its funding.
Let’s not forget when this happened. The Buckeye Union High School District’s Twitter account blocked West Valley Families in October 2022 as we continued investigating its spending on a literacy program called “Educational Epiphany.”
The district’s superintendent’s X account is no longer in existence.
LIBERTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Liberty Elementary School District is pretty much turning out the way I thought it would, especially after all the unfortunate and immature behavior over the past six weeks. There’s way too much drama to cover here, but you can get a sense of it in the latest article from the AZ Republic.
This summer, I first reported in a series of videos about Liberty 25’s bold steps to do away with Common Core math due to dismal proficiency scores. Back then, board members Bryan Parks and Michael Todd talked about a range of topics, making it seem like everything was good between the two of them and that the district was heading in the right direction.
After a student was assaulted in the district, Todd stepped down but stayed in the race for re-election. Now, he’s trailing newcomer Sarah Schmidt. Meanwhile, audio recordings of current board president Parks recently surfaced, sparking outrage from teachers and parents at the October board meeting. The AZ Republic reported, “Parks confirmed to The Republic that it was his voice on the recordings but said his words were taken out of context.”
With all the noise going on, I still haven’t seen any clear plans from the top candidates on how they’ll tackle student proficiency scores. I’ll keep watching to see how it all unfolds. Wishing the governing board members the best—they definitely have a lot of work ahead.
PEORIA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
One other race worth noting this morning is in the Peoria Unified School District. This has been a hotly contested race over the past several months.
Board president Matthew Sandoval might be voted off the dais, and former student Mikah Dyer is trailing behind the other candidates. Last spring, while he was still a senior, Mikah gathered signatures to secure a spot on the ballot for a seat on the Peoria Unified School Board.
JEN’S TWO CENTS
I’ll continue to follow the major local races in the West Valley. Please give me a follow on X as Facebook doesn’t seem to show my journalistic posts... Facebook likes my restaurant and entertainment posts more. Ha ha…
Thank you so much for the continued support! I keep my Substack free because I genuinely believe this information is important, and everyone deserves access to what's going on in the often-overlooked West Valley.