Mesa councilwoman concedes defeat in a recall election triggered by Turning Point USA

Mesa Councilwoman Julie Spilsbury was defeated Tuesday night in a recall election sparked by conservative activists with Turning Point USA.

Spilsbury conceded defeat in her head-to-head race to challenger Dorean Taylor, a fellow Republican backed by Turning Point activists who accused Spilsbury of not being conservative enough.

The loss marks an early end to Spilsbury’s second term on the nonpartisan Mesa City Council — she overwhelmingly won reelection in 2024.

But Turning Point swiftly gathered signatures to trigger the recall election, citing her endorsement of Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential race.

Camryn Sanchez

/

KJZZ

Spilsbury has defended her endorsement.

“We do not serve a party; we serve the people of Mesa,” she said at a summer council meeting. “That's how I've approached every vote, every decision and every congregation: with the goal of doing what’s right for our entire community regardless of political affiliation.”

Spilsbury’s opponents have also criticized several of her votes on the council — including decisions to raise utility rates, increase council members’ salaries and use a hotel for homeless housing.

But Spilsbury is the only council member that critics sought to recall — even though two of those votes were unanimous.

Spilsbury’s defeat is a flex by Turning Point in Arizona politics, as the movement spearheaded by the organization’s late founder, Charlie Kirk, has sought to expand its influence on local and national races.

“I didn't lose to Dorean Taylor. I lost to Turning Point,” Taylor told 12 News after initial election night results were posted. “And I think a lot of people in Mesa are going to be mad that an outside group came in and told us how to deal with our city, and that's not OK.”

“The recall would never have been successful without Turning Point’s employees, over 30 of them, out knocking (on) doors, that are not from Mesa,” she added.

Going forward, Spilsbury told 12 News she’s “politically homeless” as a Republican who doesn't support President Donald Trump.

As for Taylor, the political newcomer said Tuesday afternoon she was grateful for Turning Point’s involvement, and that partisanship does matter in local races.

“I think party affiliation is important when you're running for anything, because everyone will have a bias no matter which party they’re in,” she said. “I think it’s important to tell that to your voters so that if they don't talk to you, they kind of have an idea of which way you're going to vote.”

Taylor added that partisanship shouldn’t be the way to determine votes on certain issues like maintaining roads, but it should be a big factor in matters like tax decisions.

Hear Camryn Sanchez on The Show with host Lauren Gilger

Listen • 7:34

KJZZ's Camryn Sanchez joined The Show on Wednesday morning to talk about the race.

Full conversation

LAUREN GILGER: Did you get much sleep there, Camryn?

CAMRYN SANCHEZ: I got like four hours, but that was not the election's fault. I stayed up late for no reason.

GILGER: Ah, OK. So let's dive in here, starting with this recall effort in Mesa. Julie Spilsbury and her challenger are both Republicans, so these are nonpartisan races, right? But Spilsbury wasn't, basically, conservative enough for the folks at Turning Point USA. What'd she do?

SANCHEZ: No, she didn't pass the test anymore. Back in 2024, she endorsed a couple of Democrats — that was Kamala Harris and Ruben Gallego. And that did not play well. Because even though the Mesa City Council is nonpartisan, they felt that she was not being a good enough Republican and was sort of betraying the party.

Part of the recall effort cited also some votes that she took on a couple of different issues. But she was not the only one who voted that way, and, obviously, she was the only one who had this recall effort against her. So, you know, it's generally concluded, including by her, that that was the main reason that they went after her.

GILGER: That's interesting. There's a bit of a history of this kind of Republican politics in Mesa in particular, right?

SANCHEZ: Right. John Giles, the former mayor, and he is kind of known for being what they call a RINO, or "Republican in name only," because he was willing to endorse Democrats and is not a fan of President Trump. Although he still considers himself to be a Republican. And I think they're very much intertwined, because Spilsbury said that it was Giles who actually came to her and asked her to run in the first place.

You know, they're somewhat affiliated, they know one another. And it's sort of an instance, I think, of history repeating itself with that type of Republican.

GILGER: What did she have to say about this loss? You spoke with her yesterday, right?

SANCHEZ: I did.

JULIE SPILSBURY: I don't want partisan politics to come into our city. I don't want them to come onto our City Council. I think it's really important that we have different opinions, different ideas, different political parties, different backgrounds.

GILGER: It sounds like she was a little emotional about all of this.

SANCHEZ: She was. And I mean, that's not really surprising, right? She was not expecting, of course, to have to run this race in 2025, in this local election. She had just been reelected in 2024 with, like, 65% of the vote, which is pretty high, pretty overwhelming. And now, you know, about a year later, she's losing to this person who's coming out of nowhere.

GILGER: Yeah. OK, so you also spoke with the challenger here who won the race, who's been pretty mum until now. What did Dorian Taylor have to say?

DORIAN TAYLOR: Everyone will have a bias no matter which party they're in, whether you're independent, you're Democrat, you're Republican, you're green. So I think it's important to tell that to your voters, so that if they don't talk to you, they kind of have an idea of which way you're gonna vote.

GILGER: So tell us more about what she had to say, Camryn.

SANCHEZ: So she said that partisanship does matter because even though Mesa City Council and other city councils are nonpartisan offices, it gives people, like she just said, a sense of what you stand for. But on the other hand, she said that partisanship shouldn't be the main point in how you're voting on certain things, like keeping roads clean and safe, and fixing potholes, stuff like that.

But on issues like finances, for example, or taxes, she says it's important for voters to know if you're going to be, what she calls, "fiscally conservative" or not.

GILGER: OK. So partisan politics making its way into city government here. There was also pretty high turnout for this race, right?

SANCHEZ: Yeah. I mean, in these off-year elections, I mean — this is a local election, it's not high profile races like president or governor, so we don't typically see super high turnout. It's unsurprising to see turnout in the teens. But for this race, yeah, it was relatively high. It was, I think, 30-something percent turnout.

GILGER: OK. This also came on a night, Camryn, as I outlined at the top there, when Democrats on a lot of these national races, you know, did really well. And these were races that, you know, a lot of politicos are watching.

So this race in Mesa ... one of the leaders of Turning Point USA, Tyler Boyer, called this one of the most important races in the country. Does this seem like, to you, Camryn, that this race was a bellwether for Arizona voters?

SANCHEZ: I think this race is a really important case study because — well, for several reasons. But I mean, Turning Point is obviously very high profile now nationwide because of the death of Charlie Kirk recently. Aand here in Arizona, you know, they've been a presence for a long time, but I think people are more aware of it than usual.

And Turning Point has a huge presence. So they were able to send in, you know, volunteers and put out this massive, massive effort against Spilsbury. Which she really, you know, couldn't compete with. And so I wonder if that's, you know, a sign of things to come. Maybe for more local elections like this, there's going to be more of an effort to make them partisan, more of an effort to recall folks who don't toe the line properly, stuff like that.

And also kind of a test, a show of Turning Point's power in the wake of the assassination. And, you know, Tyler Boyer's the head of their political arms, so his statement putting a lot of importance on this makes it seem like this is where their focus is.

GILGER: Yeah, it's really interesting stuff. OK, so there were also a lot of other issues on the ballot yesterday. Voters weighed in on a variety of bonds and overrides. It seems like two mixed results. We'll talk more about that later.

But let's talk briefly before I let you go, Camryn, about Prop 409. This was the only issue on every Maricopa County voter's ballot yesterday. It's an effort to pass an $898 million bond for Maricopa County's safety-net hospital, Valleywise Health, and to fund mental health, behavioral health care. It's narrowly passing as of this morning?

SANCHEZ: Yeah, just squeaking by there, which is, I think, interesting for a few reasons. This is such a huge price tag attached, right? That sounds like so much money — $900 million, even though it's over the course of several years. But it's showing that voters are interested in going forward with this Valleywise system.

And they approved something back in 2014, which was a smaller price tag, but for the hospital, and so it looks like that's continuing. Although, I believe, back in 2014, that measure passed with a much higher percentage. So it seems like maybe the price tag is putting people off a little bit, but not so much that they weren't willing to continue to invest in Valleywise expansion.

GILGER: OK, last question for you. I got to my polling place, locally, last night, just kind of before it closed, to drop off my ballot, and I was surprised. There were a lot of voters there. There was a line of cars coming in, people directing traffic. What did turnout look like in this, kind of, off-year election? This was usually very low turnout, right?

SANCHEZ: Usually very low turnout. And also, these are mail elections, right? So everyone gets their ballot in the mail, whether you asked for it to come in the mail or not. And so you have the option of sending it back. I think part of it is procrastination. You know, we're all human. Maybe people wanted to drop off last minute.

But, in general, I do think that there was a larger turnout. So I think it's a mixture of people, you know, showing up in person more than maybe they usually would, and also being more interested. Whether it was a particular, you know, bond or override or other ballot measure that brought them out.

GILGER: Yeah. OK. Lots to watch for still, but some interesting results rolling in. That is KJZZ's Camryn Sanchez with our politics desk joining us. Camryn, hope you get some sleep tonight.

SANCHEZ: Thank you. Me too.