8 March 19th-March 25th, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | who their donors and supporters are, and screw everything else,” Montague said of Turning Point. “Here’s the question: Does this mean they’re trying to ingratiate them- selves with polite society in the Republican Party?” Money to burn Even if Google did back out due to the Turning Point connection, the Turning Point-supported slate will probably be fine. The most recent campaign finance report for Arizonans for Responsible Growth states that it has raised $219,000 to date, mostly from huge construction-related firms that stand to benefit from an energy boom that’s made the Valley a hub for energy- and water- guzzling data centers. Those donors include Tempe utility contractor VW Connect ($25,000), Phoenix’s Adobe Drywall ($10,000) and the massive Valley construc- tion company Willmeng, which has donated more than $50,000 along with its employees — such as Lindblom, who is a vice president at the company. Whether or not Google became queasy at Turning Point’s involvement, Lindblom’s business coalition sees Turning Point’s army of doorknockers as a force multiplier. As a 501(c)4, Turning Point won’t be held to the same reporting stan- dards as Lindblom’s group, and Turning Point’s legions of foot soldiers have allowed Lindblom’s PAC to scale back spending on a ground game. Moreover, the two entities seem to agree on the agenda promoted by Arizonans for Responsible Growth, which, according to its website, includes a diverse energy mix, ensuring reliability and “growing the economy.” They also agree on their mutual distaste for Kennedy, whom Bowyer called “a failed purveyor of our utilities.” Lindblom’s group has placed signs featuring a large QR code, which leads to a website attacking Kennedy. That website cherry-picks certain votes from Kennedy’s long career in public service, saying she “voted to raise our rates.” Notably, the items listed as evidence are mostly about smaller utilities that were at risk of going under or had other manage- ment issues, according to the articles cited on the website. Kennedy defended those votes to New Times, saying she was always willing to help out “mom-and-pops so that they could continue to operate,” but that she looked askance at rate increase requests from “the biggies,” she called them. That was certainly the case when it came to SRP’s most recent rate increase — which upped the monthly bills of the average residential customer by 3.5%, though data centers saw only a 1.5% bump — Kennedy and her fellow clean energy stalwarts on SRP’s board of directors voted against the hike. It still sailed through 10-5, according to minutes of the Feb. 27 meeting. Several who voted in favor of the rate hikes are running in the SRP elections and have been endorsed by Lindblom’s pro-business PAC. Naturally, Kennedy doesn’t like the proliferation of QR code signs, which still boast Google’s support. But she said the website itself won’t fool anyone who knows her. “I’ve always fought for the little people, and I’ve always made the big corporations do what they should do,” she said. “You can’t buy me.” This story is part of the Arizona Watchdog Project, a yearlong reporting effort led by New Times and supported by the Trace Foundation, in partnership with Deep South Today. Tyler Bowyer is the chief operating officer of Turning Point Action. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0) Sandra Kennedy. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0) Refund, Please from p 6
