The Corporation Commission race includes people who have pushed false claims against LGBTQ+ people

The races for three seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission might be one people overlook on a lengthy 2024 election ballot, but it has significant economic consequences for Arizonans and even the state’s LGBTQ+ community, Democratic candidates in the race said.

Five people are elected to the commission, which oversees utility rates and licensing for businesses. This year, three seats are up for grabs in what is currently a supermajority of Republicans (only one Democrat currently sits on the commission).

Two of the six candidates running—Rachel Walden and Rene Lopez—have a history of anti-LGBTQ+ platforms and rhetoric: Walden attempted to sue the Mesa Unified School District for having trans-affirming policies, and Lopez has said he is against statewide LGBTQ+ protections. 

Those past statements and actions give insight into how they could make decisions on regulating LGBTQ+ businesses and price increases on a population that already experiences higher rates of poverty, other candidates said. 

“The ACC impacts every single Arizonan,” says candidate Ylenia Aguilar, who’s running on a platform of increasing the state’s renewable energy and protecting consumers. “Whether you're a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Latino, black, LGBTQ, everyone's impacted.”

Arguably, the commission’s most important responsibility is dictating the prices of water, electricity, and gas for homes and businesses statewide. 

Aguilar said the current ACC has allowed for sizable rate increases and approved harmful laws that have hurt the Arizona economy and residents who don’t have a say in the prices of their utilities.

Those living in poverty are affected most.

Nationwide, LGBTQ+ people experience living in poverty more than their straight peers. A study done by the Williams Institute of UCLA found that in 2021, 36% of LGBTQ+ families lived in poverty. For single queer people, they experienced poverty five percentage points more than straight populations. 

It’s unclear if there has been any similar study done for Arizonans. 

“People can't afford the substantial amount of increases that the current commission—which has been in Republican leadership for over 20 years—continues to approve,” Aguilar said.

However, the issue stems beyond just the higher rates, Aguilar said, because the current committee is not representing Arizonans.

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In 2023, Walden—a former Mesa Public Schools governing board member—filed a lawsuit against Mesa Public Schools over the district's guidelines for supporting transgender students. That lawsuit was backed by the legal group created by Stephen Miller, a former Trump advisor. 

The case states that a school district policy to assist and encourage trans students was “an astonishing situation that once would have been unthinkable.”

The district and its superintendent Andi Fourlis assured the guidelines for supporting transgender and gender nonconforming students were "intended to help schools ensure a safe learning environment free from discrimination and harassment.”

Two months before filing the suit, Walden posted transphobic remarks to her Twitter account.

Another candidate, Rene Lopez, opposes adding “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” or “gender expression” to the protected classes of race, religion, age, sex and ancestry in nondiscrimination law, according to the Arizona Voter Guide, a nonpartisan guide created by the conservative and anti-LGBTQ+ lobbying group Center for Arizona Policy. 

Lopez has also shared posts on his X account from Libs of TikTok, an alt-right social media account that has made incendiary and violent claims against LGBTQ+ people and is a source for conspiracy theorists who believe schools are "transing" children, which is not happening.

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To be clear, the ACC can’t alter laws on LGBTQ+ rights. However, the commission is supposed to represent those who are “voiceless,” Aguilar said.

“If they're anti-LGBTQ, they're anti-immigrant, they're anti-Muslim, they're anti-everything,” she said.

Neither Walden nor Aguilar responded to requests for comment.

But there is an added responsibility with the ACC that Joshua Polacheck, another commission candidate, said could harm LGBTQ+ businesses: registering and approving businesses. 

Because the ACC is responsible for licensing and approving corporations and limited liability companies, Polacheck said the ACC could start forcing out companies that have environmental, social, and governance policies. ESG policies can include LGBTQ+-affirming policies for staff and their families. 

“They have talked about banning corporations that currently have, or have ever had, ESG policies,” Polacheck said. “The economic impact of that, just to win some political point, is deeply, deeply concerning.”

Earlier this year, the ACC voted to draft rules to repeal existing rules and mandates for renewable energy, limiting companies’ push to meet ESG goals.

Polacheck, who is endorsed by the political action committee LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, said elected officials have a responsibility to represent all citizens, especially if the official works in a portion of government that may be less known, such as the ACC. Polacheck said Walden’s lawsuit and Lopez’s stance on the LGBTQ+ community is “not American.”

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“It's wrong, and to do it in such a way where it has nothing to do with the office you're running for, normalizes it as a way to take power,” Polacheck said. “In some ways, that's worse.”

Polacheck also said that once someone is elected to the ACC, or any local position of power, it could put them in line to be elected for a more prominent position of power, where they could have the power to directly impact marginalized communities.

But a seat on the ACC isn’t a powerless position, despite there being perhaps less understanding of the commission among Arizonans, Polacheck said. He said it was crucial to understand how the ACC could impact Arizona communities, especially marginalized ones.

“If you are unhappy with what your electricity bill or your Southwest Gas bill is… the utilities understand with this (Republican) majority on the Corporation Commission, they can basically push for a 10% increase in the bill every single year forever,” Polacheck said. “So imagine that in line with your household budget.”

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