The Red Mayor: The Key Figure in Maintaining Arizona's Blue Status
John Giles is making an effort to persuade his fellow Republicans to support Harris in Arizona. Is there anyone paying attention?
TroibNews 
The gathering had the usual elements typical of a Harris fundraiser: sharp critiques of Donald Trump, worry over his possible return to the White House, and enthusiastic commendations for his Democratic opponent. However, there was a notable twist: the attendees were all Republicans.
The highlight of the evening was John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona. Dressed in a dark blazer with clear-frame glasses, Giles is slender and energetic. Despite Mesa being a staunchly conservative city, he has become one of Harris’ primary advocates among right-leaning voters in this key state.
“Kamala Harris is a much better Republican than Donald Trump,” he declared to the small crowd of fellow Republicans in downtown Phoenix. “She governs from the center. She's pragmatic. She'll help us to solve problems.” The room responded positively to Giles, though his “better Republican” remark drew laughter.
The event was hosted by a pro-Harris PAC called “Arizona Republicans Who Believe in Treating Others with Respect.” Attendees, including a school principal, a retired nurse, a former state legislator, and Giles’ wife Dawn, gathered in a law firm’s high-rise office for this pro-Harris fundraiser in mid-September. Suzanne Lunt, a kindergarten teacher and co-chair of the PAC, distributed cookies wrapped in plastic, each carrying the message, “Country Over Party.”
“This election is going to be so narrow in Arizona,” Giles noted as the sunset cast an orange hue across the Superstition Mountains outside. “Every opportunity we have to exert any kind of influence is important to take advantage of because it's going to come down to the narrowest of margins.”
Giles, 64, speaks with a gentle Midwestern accent and tends to avoid ingratiating small talk. He describes himself as “a bit of an anxious person,” which can be apparent in his mannerisms. One-on-one, he occasionally gazes off to the side while speaking. He aimed to encourage those present to expand their efforts, urging them to reach out to conservative networks and advocate for the Democratic candidate — or at least to make the Republican case against her opponent.
“I'm trying to convince Republicans to not leave the ballot blank,” he shared. “I’m trying to give them aid and comfort on coming to terms with voting for Vice President Harris.”
Giles was brought into the Harris campaign’s nationwide Republicans for Harris initiative to help maintain blue support in the state. His mission is to persuade moderate Arizona Republicans to switch their allegiances by November. “I'm accepting all the invitations I'm getting,” he said.
Robin Shaw, a former Republican state legislator collaborating with Giles and the Harris campaign, summarized her role succinctly: “My one job is to hand Harris [Arizona’s] 11 electoral votes,” she asserted. “If we were able to just get 1 out of every 4 [Nikki] Haley voters, that would be 26,000 more votes and we win this thing.”
In a remarkably close 2020 election, Joe Biden narrowly secured Arizona by just 10,457 votes, marking the first time since 1996 that a Democrat won the state.
So far, the small PAC that Giles spoke to has raised $100,000, according to co-chair Dan Barker, a former appellate judge. Barker expressed his excitement over Giles' involvement: “It’s huge. It’s been terrific that he’s been involved. It’s hard to look at him and say he’s any kind of extremist, that he’s some liberal going off the deep end.”
While Giles hasn't lost his footing, he finds himself navigating politically precarious waters. During Trump’s first term, more than 130 Senate and House Republicans either left their positions or announced their retirements, often citing their distaste for Trump. Others, perceived as insufficiently aligned with his ideology, lost reelection bids against more Trump-aligned candidates. Few Republicans in Congress or among mayors have publicly criticized Trump.
This places Giles in a rare position: a Republican with a promising political future who not only opposes Trump but actively campaigns for his Democratic rival. His stance has invited criticism from both Trump and many voters in his divided state.
Giles and his supporters recognize the risks involved. “He's toast in terms of running for political office as a Republican in Arizona,” Barker stated. “The Arizona Republican Party is Kari Lake and Andy Biggs. This is hardcore MAGA.”
Yet this may position him as either a relic of a bygone GOP or a potential blueprint for its future. “There's a lot of people like me that, frankly, we're not Democrats, we're not progressive socialists,” Giles remarked. “But we are turned off by what we see in the MAGA party, this very negative, contentious, mean-spirited, thinly veiled bigotry.”
“We are essentially politically homeless,” he added. “I don't know how long that situation can persist. We've got to find a place to land at some point.”
Giles is among the 6 percent of Arizonans who identify as Mormon, and he credits his faith with shaping much of his aversion to Trump’s approach. “I was taught in my faith that we should look at the character and the integrity of individual candidates,” he explained. “I don’t think the ends justify the means.”
His unease with Trump's style dates back prior to his presidency. In 2011, while managing a law firm in Mesa, Giles co-chaired a successful campaign to recall the far-right legislator Russell Pearce, a leading figure in Arizona's anti-immigration movement. Pearce’s actions had gained notoriety through S.B. 1070, legislation seen by critics as promoting racial profiling. Giles was particularly aggrieved that Pearce justified his policies using his Mormon faith. This recall effort revived Giles’ political ambitions and set him against the Arizona GOP, which condemned the recall as a Democratic initiative.
Two years later, when Mesa Mayor Scott Smith stepped down to pursue the governorship, colleagues on the city council encouraged Giles to run for mayor. He won decisively in 2014 with 72 percent of the vote and went on to run unopposed in 2016 and secure 66 percent in 2020. Under his leadership, Mesa has experienced significant growth, with its population swelling by 17 percent between 2010 and 2020, surpassing that of major cities like Miami and Atlanta. Numerous multinational corporations have established offices in Mesa, leading to unprecedented commercial development.
As Mesa evolved, so too did its political landscape. Once more conservative due to its founding by Mormon settlers, the city maintained a moderate ethos characterized by fiscal conservatism and social traditionalism. However, with the rise of Trumpism and its populist undertones, support has shifted in both directions. Trumpist Republicans and moderates like Giles now coexist in a somewhat tense environment. “The whole Republican spectrum is represented in Mesa,” noted conservative activist Tyler Montague.
When Trump assumed the presidency, Giles initially held hope for federal infrastructure investments in Mesa, as Trump had campaigned on making this a priority. However, those investments failed to materialize. “This whole infrastructure week thing was kind of a joke during the Trump administration,” Giles stated. “We kept being promised, much like his health care plan, that it was just a couple of weeks away. It just never happened.”
Giles began speaking out against Trump shortly after he took office. He didn’t endorse Clinton in the 2016 election but was caught on a hot mic in 2017 calling Trump “an idiot” during a conversation with then-Senator Jeff Flake. This led him to identify publicly with the Never Trump movement. Though he didn’t formally endorse Biden in 2020, he supported Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs against Kari Lake in 2022 and backed Democratic Senator Mark Kelly that same year.
Under President Biden, Arizona has seen considerable investment via the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, significantly benefiting Mesa as private investment surged. “It was apples and oranges,” Giles remarked. “It’s a very stark contrast.”
His campaigning for Harris started in July with an op-ed endorsing her in the Arizona Republic. He soon introduced Harris at a campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona, and spoke during a prominent slot at the Democratic National Convention in late August.
Beyond political governance, Giles is troubled by how Trump has altered Republican politics, allowing demagoguery to flourish. “I have seen it change,” he said of the party. “You literally have someone like Kari Lake who's telling non-MAGA people to get the hell out of the room. It hasn't been a subtle shift. It's been a personal invitation to leave the party.”
Giles was preparing to introduce Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, at a rally focused on the presidential debate when he spoke in a hallway at the Mesa Convention Center. His presence underscored the campaign’s focus on Arizona and its relationship with Giles. A crowd of enthusiastic supporters braved the sweltering 110-degree heat to fill the center, displaying blue shirts and features like a digital banner stating “Arizona is Kamala Country.” As one rally-goer passed him, she smiled and patted his arm, encouraging him with a heartfelt, “You’re the best,” prompting an embarrassed response from the mayor.
In Arizona, there’s a notable openness to anti-Trump rhetoric aimed at GOP voters. Recent polling shows that nearly 13 percent of Arizona Republicans, or about 185,900 voters, have expressed their intention not to support Trump. Additionally, a Wall Street Journal poll indicated that while 96 percent of Democrats in the state back Harris, only 88 percent of Republicans support Trump. “The game for Democrats is to win enough old McCain Republicans,” noted Michael Bocian, the Democratic pollster involved in the survey. “There’s more crossover vote in this state than anywhere else.”
In this fragile scenario, conservative figures like Giles play crucial roles as persuasive allies.
Giles explains his approach as providing “permission,” saying, “Let's figure out a way to give our Republican brothers and sisters permission to cross that divide” and vote for Harris.
His advocacy offers uncertain voters “conscientious air cover in their decision-making,” according to Chuck Coughlin, an experienced political consultant and founder of HighGround. “I think it just gives people approval. That's all. I’m not sure it's moving a great number of people. But holy moly, it’s not going to require to move a whole lot of people to move the needle out here. It’s going to be close. Every little bit helps.”
Alongside presenting Harris as a “better Republican,” Giles frames his advocacy in moral terms. Following the Walz rally, he expressed his views at a private fundraiser in the affluent Phoenix area of Arcadia. Earlier that day, Trump had held a rally in Tucson, branding migrants an “invasion” and claiming, “We’re being conquered and we’re being occupied by a foreign element.”
“Silence is not an option when you're confronted with these types of moral dilemmas in life,” Giles asserted. Around 80 similarly minded conservatives filled Robin Shaw’s stylish home, where “STOP TRUMP” signs mingled with various cheerful knick-knacks, including a plastic cow head and floral artwork. Olivia Troye, Mike Pence’s former national security adviser, was among those present. The room erupted in applause when Democratic Senatorial candidate Ruben Gallego arrived.
During a brief Q&A session, an audience member inquired about gay marriage. “As I try to speak to my Republican colleagues, another topic that comes up is the LGBT community,” she began. “As we know, Trump removed the part from the Republican platform that used to say, ‘We believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.’ He removed the man and a woman part, so he's open. That is another one that’s tossed out the window.”
Giles navigated the delicate subject by redirecting to the CHIPS Act. “Our entire economy is being recreated because of this bipartisan legislation that has invested in infrastructure,” he responded. “Do Republicans think it's the proper role of government to invest in infrastructure? Yes, we do. So who’s the better Republican?”
His adept maneuver reflected the complex political landscape Giles and the campaign are trying to navigate. They face various sensitive issues, including abortion, LGBT rights, and “woke” ideology, which are not typically strengths for Harris from a conservative viewpoint. However, the underlying discontent with Trump could prove to be a powerful motivator for voters.
Giles’ anti-Trump stance renders him worse than any liberal to many constituents in Mesa. Typical comments on his Facebook page include critiques like, “I blame you for the destruction of this country” and “Does Soros pay you to be anti-American?”
Giles has faced censure from state GOP branches three times, during one of which the Mesa branch even sent him a registration form to switch from Republican to Democrat, as recounted by former local chair Ian Murphy.
As he terms out next year, Giles is uncertain about his future. “I couldn’t win a Republican primary for dog catcher,” he sighed. “I could see maybe staying in government at the state level or somewhere else.” Speculation has arisen about a possible role for him in a future Harris administration, similar to how Flake was appointed as Biden’s ambassador to Turkey.
For now, Giles remains devoted to his mission.
“I hope that [another Trump loss] causes an uproar in the party,” he said. “I hope that, contrary to what Donald Trump promised, where we get sick of winning, we get sick of losing and people can see that this party is in a downward spiral to irrelevancy if they continue to back a MAGA faction.”
“I’m hoping that’s what happens,” he added, though expressing uncertainty about his optimism in that regard.
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
The highlight of the evening was John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona. Dressed in a dark blazer with clear-frame glasses, Giles is slender and energetic. Despite Mesa being a staunchly conservative city, he has become one of Harris’ primary advocates among right-leaning voters in this key state.
“Kamala Harris is a much better Republican than Donald Trump,” he declared to the small crowd of fellow Republicans in downtown Phoenix. “She governs from the center. She's pragmatic. She'll help us to solve problems.” The room responded positively to Giles, though his “better Republican” remark drew laughter.
The event was hosted by a pro-Harris PAC called “Arizona Republicans Who Believe in Treating Others with Respect.” Attendees, including a school principal, a retired nurse, a former state legislator, and Giles’ wife Dawn, gathered in a law firm’s high-rise office for this pro-Harris fundraiser in mid-September. Suzanne Lunt, a kindergarten teacher and co-chair of the PAC, distributed cookies wrapped in plastic, each carrying the message, “Country Over Party.”
“This election is going to be so narrow in Arizona,” Giles noted as the sunset cast an orange hue across the Superstition Mountains outside. “Every opportunity we have to exert any kind of influence is important to take advantage of because it's going to come down to the narrowest of margins.”
Giles, 64, speaks with a gentle Midwestern accent and tends to avoid ingratiating small talk. He describes himself as “a bit of an anxious person,” which can be apparent in his mannerisms. One-on-one, he occasionally gazes off to the side while speaking. He aimed to encourage those present to expand their efforts, urging them to reach out to conservative networks and advocate for the Democratic candidate — or at least to make the Republican case against her opponent.
“I'm trying to convince Republicans to not leave the ballot blank,” he shared. “I’m trying to give them aid and comfort on coming to terms with voting for Vice President Harris.”
Giles was brought into the Harris campaign’s nationwide Republicans for Harris initiative to help maintain blue support in the state. His mission is to persuade moderate Arizona Republicans to switch their allegiances by November. “I'm accepting all the invitations I'm getting,” he said.
Robin Shaw, a former Republican state legislator collaborating with Giles and the Harris campaign, summarized her role succinctly: “My one job is to hand Harris [Arizona’s] 11 electoral votes,” she asserted. “If we were able to just get 1 out of every 4 [Nikki] Haley voters, that would be 26,000 more votes and we win this thing.”
In a remarkably close 2020 election, Joe Biden narrowly secured Arizona by just 10,457 votes, marking the first time since 1996 that a Democrat won the state.
So far, the small PAC that Giles spoke to has raised $100,000, according to co-chair Dan Barker, a former appellate judge. Barker expressed his excitement over Giles' involvement: “It’s huge. It’s been terrific that he’s been involved. It’s hard to look at him and say he’s any kind of extremist, that he’s some liberal going off the deep end.”
While Giles hasn't lost his footing, he finds himself navigating politically precarious waters. During Trump’s first term, more than 130 Senate and House Republicans either left their positions or announced their retirements, often citing their distaste for Trump. Others, perceived as insufficiently aligned with his ideology, lost reelection bids against more Trump-aligned candidates. Few Republicans in Congress or among mayors have publicly criticized Trump.
This places Giles in a rare position: a Republican with a promising political future who not only opposes Trump but actively campaigns for his Democratic rival. His stance has invited criticism from both Trump and many voters in his divided state.
Giles and his supporters recognize the risks involved. “He's toast in terms of running for political office as a Republican in Arizona,” Barker stated. “The Arizona Republican Party is Kari Lake and Andy Biggs. This is hardcore MAGA.”
Yet this may position him as either a relic of a bygone GOP or a potential blueprint for its future. “There's a lot of people like me that, frankly, we're not Democrats, we're not progressive socialists,” Giles remarked. “But we are turned off by what we see in the MAGA party, this very negative, contentious, mean-spirited, thinly veiled bigotry.”
“We are essentially politically homeless,” he added. “I don't know how long that situation can persist. We've got to find a place to land at some point.”
Giles is among the 6 percent of Arizonans who identify as Mormon, and he credits his faith with shaping much of his aversion to Trump’s approach. “I was taught in my faith that we should look at the character and the integrity of individual candidates,” he explained. “I don’t think the ends justify the means.”
His unease with Trump's style dates back prior to his presidency. In 2011, while managing a law firm in Mesa, Giles co-chaired a successful campaign to recall the far-right legislator Russell Pearce, a leading figure in Arizona's anti-immigration movement. Pearce’s actions had gained notoriety through S.B. 1070, legislation seen by critics as promoting racial profiling. Giles was particularly aggrieved that Pearce justified his policies using his Mormon faith. This recall effort revived Giles’ political ambitions and set him against the Arizona GOP, which condemned the recall as a Democratic initiative.
Two years later, when Mesa Mayor Scott Smith stepped down to pursue the governorship, colleagues on the city council encouraged Giles to run for mayor. He won decisively in 2014 with 72 percent of the vote and went on to run unopposed in 2016 and secure 66 percent in 2020. Under his leadership, Mesa has experienced significant growth, with its population swelling by 17 percent between 2010 and 2020, surpassing that of major cities like Miami and Atlanta. Numerous multinational corporations have established offices in Mesa, leading to unprecedented commercial development.
As Mesa evolved, so too did its political landscape. Once more conservative due to its founding by Mormon settlers, the city maintained a moderate ethos characterized by fiscal conservatism and social traditionalism. However, with the rise of Trumpism and its populist undertones, support has shifted in both directions. Trumpist Republicans and moderates like Giles now coexist in a somewhat tense environment. “The whole Republican spectrum is represented in Mesa,” noted conservative activist Tyler Montague.
When Trump assumed the presidency, Giles initially held hope for federal infrastructure investments in Mesa, as Trump had campaigned on making this a priority. However, those investments failed to materialize. “This whole infrastructure week thing was kind of a joke during the Trump administration,” Giles stated. “We kept being promised, much like his health care plan, that it was just a couple of weeks away. It just never happened.”
Giles began speaking out against Trump shortly after he took office. He didn’t endorse Clinton in the 2016 election but was caught on a hot mic in 2017 calling Trump “an idiot” during a conversation with then-Senator Jeff Flake. This led him to identify publicly with the Never Trump movement. Though he didn’t formally endorse Biden in 2020, he supported Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs against Kari Lake in 2022 and backed Democratic Senator Mark Kelly that same year.
Under President Biden, Arizona has seen considerable investment via the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, significantly benefiting Mesa as private investment surged. “It was apples and oranges,” Giles remarked. “It’s a very stark contrast.”
His campaigning for Harris started in July with an op-ed endorsing her in the Arizona Republic. He soon introduced Harris at a campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona, and spoke during a prominent slot at the Democratic National Convention in late August.
Beyond political governance, Giles is troubled by how Trump has altered Republican politics, allowing demagoguery to flourish. “I have seen it change,” he said of the party. “You literally have someone like Kari Lake who's telling non-MAGA people to get the hell out of the room. It hasn't been a subtle shift. It's been a personal invitation to leave the party.”
Giles was preparing to introduce Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, at a rally focused on the presidential debate when he spoke in a hallway at the Mesa Convention Center. His presence underscored the campaign’s focus on Arizona and its relationship with Giles. A crowd of enthusiastic supporters braved the sweltering 110-degree heat to fill the center, displaying blue shirts and features like a digital banner stating “Arizona is Kamala Country.” As one rally-goer passed him, she smiled and patted his arm, encouraging him with a heartfelt, “You’re the best,” prompting an embarrassed response from the mayor.
In Arizona, there’s a notable openness to anti-Trump rhetoric aimed at GOP voters. Recent polling shows that nearly 13 percent of Arizona Republicans, or about 185,900 voters, have expressed their intention not to support Trump. Additionally, a Wall Street Journal poll indicated that while 96 percent of Democrats in the state back Harris, only 88 percent of Republicans support Trump. “The game for Democrats is to win enough old McCain Republicans,” noted Michael Bocian, the Democratic pollster involved in the survey. “There’s more crossover vote in this state than anywhere else.”
In this fragile scenario, conservative figures like Giles play crucial roles as persuasive allies.
Giles explains his approach as providing “permission,” saying, “Let's figure out a way to give our Republican brothers and sisters permission to cross that divide” and vote for Harris.
His advocacy offers uncertain voters “conscientious air cover in their decision-making,” according to Chuck Coughlin, an experienced political consultant and founder of HighGround. “I think it just gives people approval. That's all. I’m not sure it's moving a great number of people. But holy moly, it’s not going to require to move a whole lot of people to move the needle out here. It’s going to be close. Every little bit helps.”
Alongside presenting Harris as a “better Republican,” Giles frames his advocacy in moral terms. Following the Walz rally, he expressed his views at a private fundraiser in the affluent Phoenix area of Arcadia. Earlier that day, Trump had held a rally in Tucson, branding migrants an “invasion” and claiming, “We’re being conquered and we’re being occupied by a foreign element.”
“Silence is not an option when you're confronted with these types of moral dilemmas in life,” Giles asserted. Around 80 similarly minded conservatives filled Robin Shaw’s stylish home, where “STOP TRUMP” signs mingled with various cheerful knick-knacks, including a plastic cow head and floral artwork. Olivia Troye, Mike Pence’s former national security adviser, was among those present. The room erupted in applause when Democratic Senatorial candidate Ruben Gallego arrived.
During a brief Q&A session, an audience member inquired about gay marriage. “As I try to speak to my Republican colleagues, another topic that comes up is the LGBT community,” she began. “As we know, Trump removed the part from the Republican platform that used to say, ‘We believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.’ He removed the man and a woman part, so he's open. That is another one that’s tossed out the window.”
Giles navigated the delicate subject by redirecting to the CHIPS Act. “Our entire economy is being recreated because of this bipartisan legislation that has invested in infrastructure,” he responded. “Do Republicans think it's the proper role of government to invest in infrastructure? Yes, we do. So who’s the better Republican?”
His adept maneuver reflected the complex political landscape Giles and the campaign are trying to navigate. They face various sensitive issues, including abortion, LGBT rights, and “woke” ideology, which are not typically strengths for Harris from a conservative viewpoint. However, the underlying discontent with Trump could prove to be a powerful motivator for voters.
Giles’ anti-Trump stance renders him worse than any liberal to many constituents in Mesa. Typical comments on his Facebook page include critiques like, “I blame you for the destruction of this country” and “Does Soros pay you to be anti-American?”
Giles has faced censure from state GOP branches three times, during one of which the Mesa branch even sent him a registration form to switch from Republican to Democrat, as recounted by former local chair Ian Murphy.
As he terms out next year, Giles is uncertain about his future. “I couldn’t win a Republican primary for dog catcher,” he sighed. “I could see maybe staying in government at the state level or somewhere else.” Speculation has arisen about a possible role for him in a future Harris administration, similar to how Flake was appointed as Biden’s ambassador to Turkey.
For now, Giles remains devoted to his mission.
“I hope that [another Trump loss] causes an uproar in the party,” he said. “I hope that, contrary to what Donald Trump promised, where we get sick of winning, we get sick of losing and people can see that this party is in a downward spiral to irrelevancy if they continue to back a MAGA faction.”
“I’m hoping that’s what happens,” he added, though expressing uncertainty about his optimism in that regard.
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
