Candidates vying for the Arizona State Senate seat in Legislative District 9 vacated earlier this month by a Democratic lawmaker have offered their responses on five key political issues.
The questionnaire from the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors asked each candidate to explain how they would not engage in disorderly conduct, any ethical or disciplinary actions they incurred in any prior elected positions, their approach to combating and condemning anti-Semitism in their community, and their proposed reforms for addressing the county’s ongoing with housing and elections.
The three candidates in the race — Laura Metcalfe, Kiana Sears, and Ryan Winkle — all offered responses.
LD 9 candidate responses to the questions I sent are linked below. The public has a right to know their views on these important topics. Here are the responses from Laura Metcalfe, Kiana Sears, and Ryan Winkle. https://t.co/mGzt3DSp18 https://t.co/ICEHHaGVCv
— Thomas Galvin: Chairman, Maricopa County BOS (@ThomasGalvin) March 24, 2025
Metcalfe said she had never had any ethical or disciplinary actions within her 30 years of public service. She cited her possession of an Arizona Class 1 fingerprint clearance card from the Department of Public Safety since 1995 as evidence of her good ethical conduct. Metcalfe condemned anti-Semitism and recognized the October 7th incident as a terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas. Metcalfe called reductions to municipal zoning restrictions and facilitated construction of more small- and medium-sized housing units as “a great starting point,” and committed herself to bipartisanship on solving the housing crisis. Metcalfe also stressed bipartisanship for improving elections, expressing support for removing the requirements for ID and affidavit signing for early and in-person voters, replacing emergency voting with additional time for early voting, and allowing ballots to be counted and signature verified throughout the day on Election Day.
Metcalfe ran and lost last year in the Maricopa County Superintendent race. Metcalfe sits on the East Valley Institute of Technology District’s board.
Sears said she didn’t have any ethical violations or disciplinary actions related to her term in office. Sears said respect was one of her highest values, derived from her reverence for God. Sears cited her work with the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Arizona State University’s Hillel student organization, and Mesa and East Valley Schools “No Place for Hate” campaigns as proof of her commitment to anti-Semitism. Sears said she would step away from Rapid ReHousing models studied in Washington, citing their lack of success in Arizona, as well as relying on data from the legislature’s research staff in order to solve the housing crisis. Sears advocated for modernizing ballot-processing equipment capable of handling higher ballot volumes and allowing earlier counting of mail-in ballots to expedite elections. Sears also advocated for additional training for paid poll workers.
Up until January, Sears was a member of the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board and president of the East Valley NAACP. Sears is the assistant director of Faith Based Outreach and Community Partnerships at Arizona State University. Sears lost her race for the North Mesa Precinct judge of the Maricopa County Justice Court last November. Previously, Sears ran for the Arizona Corporation Commission — in that race, she came under investigation for allegedly violating state campaign finance law for failing to disclose several LLCs. The attorney general’s office later found that Sears did fail to disclose the LLCs, but determined it to be a minor and unintentional violation and dropped the case.
Winkle admitted to incurring a DUI during his first few months on the Mesa City Council in 2017. Winkle pledged to uphold the legislature’s code of ethics and civility by avoiding partisan politics and prioritizing constituents. As proof of his dedication to good ethics, Winkle cited his decade of community involvement consisting of the Arizona Fair Housing Center, Arizona Asian Chamber, Mesa Urban Garden, and RAIL CDC. Winkle condemned anti-Semitism, as well as “all hate language or threats” pertaining to “religious persecution, racism, and discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability.” Winkle cited his expertise as executive director of the Arizona Fair Housing Center to advocate for incentivizing affordable multi-family housing, updating zoning for mixed-use and infill development, streamlining permitting processes, limiting home acquisitions by large corporations, implementing eviction prevention, expanding rental assistance, and implementing equitable planning development. Winkle advocated for bipartisan election reforms, such as early tabulation of mail-in ballots, updated ballot processing technology, increased election worker training, and increasing transparency.
Although Winkle claimed to oppose anti-Semitism in the questionnaire, his Instagram profile reads “Free Palestine.” In addition to serving as the Arizona Fair Housing Center executive director, Winkle is the new principal CEO of Max Search Visibility Pro.
Glad to see #3 thank you for asking this important question! I am glad to see the responses but I am not buying the response of someone who has #freepalestine on their social media accounts…
— (((Rep.Alma Hernandez))) (@almaforarizona) March 24, 2025
The Mesa City Council voted Winkle off the council after his misdemeanor DUI arrest. Winkle had a previous extreme DUI conviction in 2008. In a 2016 candidate survey, Winkle used similar phrasing as he did in this latest questionnaire to promise he would not get another DUI — though just months later, he did just that.
“[I] learned my lesson and grew from the experience,” said Winkle.
Last year, Winkle ran and lost in the primary for Mesa’s mayoral race.
Democratic State Sen. Eva Burch quit earlier this month, just four months after narrowly winning reelection. Burch blamed the low salary of a state lawmaker for her decision to call it quits.
