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.”
