GOP rift at utility commission collides with rising bills and a hot November

Arizona Republicans are heading into November with a bruised ticket for the state’s utility regulator after Rep. Ralph Heap toppled sitting Corporation Commissioner Nick Myers in the July 21 GOP primary and Myers promptly torched the conservative groups that backed his rival. Commissioner Kevin Thompson finished first in the three-way race, setting up a mismatched GOP slate of Thompson and Heap against Democrats Clara Pratte and Jonathon Hill.

The fallout matters beyond party drama. The five-member Arizona Corporation Commission sets the rates customers pay for electricity, water and gas, a growing pocketbook pain as bills rise. Republicans warn that surrendering even one seat could reopen the door to what they call “Green New Deal” approaches that elevate clean energy goals over economic impacts, according to the Arizona Capitol Times reporting on GOP concerns.

The split on the right is landing as national Democrats put real money on the table. The Democratic Governors Association pledged $10 million to help Gov. Katie Hobbs’ reelection effort against Republican Andy Biggs, and said it views Arizona as the nation’s closest governor’s race, the Arizona Mirror reported. It is a reminder that while Republicans quarrel over regulatory seats, Democrats are investing statewide.

Myers lost to Heap by just over 16,000 votes and then unloaded on Turning Point Action, which endorsed Heap. “Let’s just say that you took out one of the most conservative Republic[an] utility regulators in favor of someone that has no experience and no money to run his campaign,” Myers posted on X, adding, “You literally handed [the] seat over to a Dem.” He also accused Turning Point of targeting him because he and Thompson “weren’t your puppets and we are working for the people,” and is now urging Republicans to “single-shot” Thompson in November rather than vote for Heap, per the Capitol Times.

Campaign finance records cited by the Capitol Times show Turning Point Action sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Keep Arizona Free PAC, which then spent nearly $10,000 on independent expenditures boosting Heap and attacking Myers. The paper reported Turning Point did not fund attacks against Thompson. The recruitment push for Heap came from Arizona Freedom Caucus leader Sen. Jake Hoffman and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, after Myers and Thompson defended Arizona Public Service’s closure of the coal-fired Cholla Power Plant. Those conservative leaders argued the incumbents were insufficiently aligned with President Donald Trump’s energy agenda and were jeopardizing a possible revival of coal in Arizona, according to the report.

Myers’ own record added accelerant. He is the commission’s chair and has repeatedly drawn heat over statements online and from the dais. In 2025 he faced backlash after an online dispute with the son of an APS customer who died following a power shutoff for nonpayment; Myers argued shutoffs should proceed even when extreme heat could make them fatal, the Capitol Times recounted. In a 2024 hearing on a formula rate policy statement, he told objecting stakeholders they might simply not be very good at their jobs. “He’s just been very outspoken in a way that may not have been helpful in this situation,” said Autumn Johnson, a lobbyist and attorney who works on solar issues at the commission. “He has a tendency to say things in open meetings that sometimes get picked up by the media.”

Heap brings his own complications. He is currently unable to access public campaign funding from the Citizens Clean Elections Commission while an investigation is pending on a complaint that he failed to properly disclose spending on political signs, the Capitol Times reported. His attorney, Tim La Sota, told Clean Elections he is still reviewing the matter and “unable to concede the allegations in the complaint letter.” Heap did not respond to an interview request for that story.

Strategists split on whether Republicans can stitch this together. Longtime GOP consultant Stan Barnes said Heap had more name recognition than the incumbents counted on, calling him “a state representative with his own built-in network and name identification,” which helped in a low-turnout primary. He added, “Commissioner Thompson is a class act who is a responsible political guy and so is Representative Heap, and I think they will shake hands and move forward because it’s in their best interest.” Johnson countered that moderates and independents show up in November and “for the most part, they’re not feeling warm and fuzzy about where things are politically or economically, and that tends to not be good for incumbents and the party in power,” adding the odds look better for Democrats this year than in 2024.

For ratepayers, the practical stakes are simple: the commission regulates monopolies and sets rates. Republicans entered the cycle expecting two incumbents to cruise and preserve an all-GOP majority in the face of rising bills and public anger. Instead they have a pairing that did not run together, a top-of-ticket ally in Biggs focused on a statewide fight, and an ousted commissioner telling his own voters to withhold support from the party’s nominee. Neither Thompson nor Myers responded to interview requests for the Capitol Times story, and it is unclear whether Thompson will embrace Heap on a joint ticket given his friendship with Myers from their 2022 run and time on the commission.

One guardrail for the right: even if Democrats flip both seats this fall, the commission would still be controlled by Republicans, according to the Capitol Times. That does not make November low risk. A fractured ticket, a public-funding cloud over Heap, and Myers’ active opposition are all self-inflicted hurdles. Voters angry over bills do not have patience for intramural score-settling. They will want to hear which team will keep the lights on affordably in a state that punishes mistakes in triple-digit heat. Republicans have a few months to answer that with one voice, or watch Democrats try to do it for them.

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