A local Republican candidate forum intended to connect voters with those seeking office is drawing scrutiny for excluding several candidates, elected officials, constituents and local media.
Pinal County Conservative Republicans is holding a “meet the candidates” event tonight at Province’s community clubhouse. It includes some national names, like Congressmen Andy Biggs and Eli Crane, as well as state candidates like Sen. T.J. Shope and Reps. Teresa Martinez and Chris Lopez.
The list also includes three of the seven Maricopa City Council candidates, a role that has remained nonpartisan. Councilmember AnnaMarie Knorr, along with seatmates Tena Dugan and James Singleton, were invited. Councilmembers Henry Wade and Vincent Manfredi, as well as candidates Chrystal O’Jon and Adam Leach, were not invited or were told they were not welcome to attend.
O’Jon and Wade are the only city council candidates who are not registered Republicans. Records show Wade is registered as a Democrat and O’Jon is not affiliated with a party.
Manfredi said his RSVP was declined. However, he added that even if he had been invited, he would have been unable to attend due to a Central Arizona Governments board meeting scheduled at the same time.
Leach, the first city council candidate to formally submit his paperwork, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, he questioned the lack of invitation online in early March when the event was first announced.
“If this is a private event but you are inviting Republicans and Independents to attend, I’m unclear why I would not be allowed to participate … I am a registered Republican and will be on the ballot for city council in the city of Maricopa,” he wrote.
Province resident Terry Clark, a long-documented critic of incumbent leadership, who helped organize the event on behalf of PCCR, declined to give a clear response, telling Leach to “just do your homework.”
Mayor Nancy Smith, who is not currently running for a seat, said she was also told she was not welcome to attend and questioned why such a race was being politicized.
“These types of events are critical to learning about candidates during election season,” Smith told InMaricopa, noting the invitation limited attendance to Republicans and Independents. “Why? The city council is nonpartisan, and all Maricopa residents should be allowed to attend.”
She emphasized candidates for at-large seats should be open to all voters.
“Candidates should insist that they want to be transparent to all voters, not selected voters,” she said. “Candidates should feel empowered to tell organizers that they want all who are interested in, be able to attend.”
Smith also reiterated the broader concern about partisanship seeping into a traditionally nonpartisan race.
“The importance of city council being nonpartisan is that they represent all residents regardless of political affiliations. It is important that the elements that are within the city council’s purview are vied from, ‘what is best for our community regardless of party politics,’” Smith told InMaricopa. “Making city council partisan adds another level of complexity that is unnecessary in city government.”
![A screenshot of an email correspondence between InMaricopa reporter Monica Spencer and event organizer Nancy Behm. [InMaricopa]](https://inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-01-164816-756x1024.jpg)
“You continually misquote conservatives and you report with a bias. We have been diligently working with the campaigns and their security teams. In reviewing records, you don’t show up as a Republican or Independent voter, which our flyer clearly states, so you don’t meet the clearly defined guidelines. Your request for an RSVP is rejected,” organizer Nancy Behm state in an email.
Three members of the Blue Copa Democrats group said their registrations were initially accepted but later rejected and said they believe organizers are screening attendees’ political affiliations, a practice organizers acknowledged.
“Well, obviously, I think that’s ridiculous,” Shope said upon learning some media, candidates and elected officials were not welcome. The Coolidge-based Republican said he wasn’t initially on the list of candidates to attend.
“Somebody reached out about three or four weeks ago and added my name,” he said. “I can’t say it’s anything I sought out; I don’t even have a primary.”
Martinez said she was unaware of the disinvitations and did not agree with the assessment of media bias.
“I think [InMaricopa] has been very fair in your coverage and I’m very surprised that you guys were disinvited, I’ll be honest,” she said.
However, she added that organizations have a prerogative to withhold invitations because it has happened to her, too.
“I’m sad about it, I’m disappointed about it and I feel like it’s a missed opportunity … but I just have to take the brunt of it and move on,” Martinez said. “I mean, you can’t be everything to everyone. If it’s a private event, then you simply just say, ‘Well, it’s a private event.’”
When asked about the event, Dugan and Knorr gave similar responses regarding their invitations.
“The event this evening is a privately organized gathering and my role is simply to attend and connect with attendees. I’m not participating in the formal program, which is focused on state and national races,” Knorr wrote in a statement.
Dugan added, “The reality is, these types of events are often limited and organized by different groups with their own priorities. Earlier in this campaign, there were events I was not able to attend as well due to space or invitation limits.”
She did not specify which events she could not attend.
Singleton said he was not told about any criteria for candidate participation but added that he believes “city council races should be about the residents, full stop.”
“I think limited access ultimately hurts everyone, including the candidates who benefit from it in the short term,” he told InMaricopa. “Voters want to compare and decide for themselves. I will note that I have been on the receiving end of this myself, both in forums that have already taken place and ones currently scheduled.”
He also did not specify which campaign events he was excluded from.
Despite that, Singleton said he was looking forward to the opportunity to reach out to voters.
“Any chance to connect with voters matters to me,” he said.
Editor’s note: Vincent Manfredi owns InMaricopa.
![Walmart wants to bring drone delivery services to Maricopa. [Bryan Mordt, Wing]](https://inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260622-walmart-drones-300x169.jpg)
![Members of Maricopa Little League girls 12U All-Star softball team celebrate their District 4 win on June 16, 2026. [Maricopa Little League]](https://inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260617-maricopa-little-league-1-300x225.jpg)
![Walmart wants to bring drone delivery services to Maricopa. [Bryan Mordt, Wing]](https://inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260622-walmart-drones-150x150.jpg)
35 Responses
Terry Clark is a whiny boomer crackpot… no surprise there. Sounds like a waste of time if you’re not letting everyone answer the publics questions.
Just including the name Terry Clark to the equation inserts a high level of ignorance into the equation. If I were an invited politician and got word that Clark was involved I’d withdraw and go take a safety shower.
🤣
Echo echo echo……..
Maricopa’s political field is like high school.
Honestly, InMaricopa does a really good job at reporting without bias towards a party. I see no good reason to accuse them of such.
Don’t worry, inMaricopa.com, I didn’t get invited either… weird…
That’s OK, I had a previous engagement which was much more important: Playin’ solitaire ’til dawn with a deck of 51, smokin’ cigarettes and watchin’ Captain Kangaroo…
Sounds like a bunch of snowflakes afraid of anyone challenging their worldview.
You know, it’s not often that I hear republicans, or right leaning people in general, get called snowflakes.
Ah but they so totally are.
I started calling them Snowflakes after their silly safe-space Kid Rock bullshit alternative Super Bowl halftime show.
“Wahhhhhh…. We can’t handle art presented in another language… wahhhh wahhhhhhhh” 🥲🤣
I’d like to think this was an April Fool’s joke, but I guess it really isn’t.
I’m sure there are others here who have no problem calling a spade a spade. Can we do that?
So there is a conservative get-together at Province. The real question that any of us should be asking is… who cares? That neighborhood simply represents the busybody association of retirees with literally nothing else to do but mill about. (Also, what’s the male version of a Karen called? There are a few of them there, too.)A possible upside to this… Fry’s might be less crowded when this party goes down. Small win there, right? (Note to self: I could park at Fry’s without having to wait five minutes for someone with their turn signal on because they want a parking spot thats 3 spaces closer to the door and ends up blocking the entire lane for anyone else to get by.)
But let’s be honest: the bulk of Maricopians who will be voting… they have jobs. They have families. They are stuck in traffic on the 347. They won’t be going to this thing anyway. It’s by Province, for Province, period. If you didnt get an invite or your RSVP was declined, let it go. They did you a favor. Just so you know– the folks that you want to impress won’t be there anyway. Let them have an awesome time, drink awesome shooters, listen to awesome music, and then just sit around and soak up each other’s awesomeness. Province doesnt represent our community, anyway.
InMaricopa.com is owned by a Republican and their editor has appeared on conservative AM talk radio.
They’ve been completely transparent about that.
They are unbiased and simply provide excellent journalism, which is admirable and refreshing in 2026.
To suggest that they are biased against anyone, especially the party they appear to identify with, is absurd and nonsensical.
MCET’s attempt at quasi gaslighting is beyond ludicrous.
Your attempt Sydd Finch to say anything relevant in not clear?
What political party exactly are you saying InMaricopa identifies with that is conservative?
this is the dumbest attempt at trolling I’ve ever seen.
Nevertheless the employees of InMaricopa are not respected enough in the profession they claim to engage in to be welcome to fairly cover a local event and were called out for it.
I’m sorry, I’m struggling here. My comment above is pretty clear. I don’t know how to dumb down my answer beyond that.
Maybe someone else can help you.
Good luck figuring it out! I’m rooting for you!
You are struggling BK, these are not conservatives in anyway at InMaricopa and are not unbiased when reporting anything conservative, just the opposite and were called out for it along with the conversative owner, pretty clear, maybe someone can help you figure this out, good luck.
TAB? Is that you???
But in what ways is InMaricopa biased? I for one would love to see examples of instances in which they were acting with bias.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for logical examples.
These people are Double Secret Conservatives, the only REAL conservatives!😅😂🤣
That means they keep a pen full of illegal immigrants and ride them around Province like ponies…
Yeah, Vincent Manfredi is literally a Republican. As I said before, InMaricopa never presents one side in a biased light. It’s always equal.
Anything with Terry Clark’s name involved is just another cluster flop
We do not employ influencers.
Although if you ever do, I would be interested in the position… 🤣
“23 comments” – only 12 comments visible.
Hmmm, so I guess those comments got removed.
Interesting how Monica Spencer has chosen what responses are visible! Check out the REAL article in The Maricopa MONITOR! It was truly a great event with over 200 people! Many of the candidates have posted pictures of the event. This article was posted PRIOR to the event because she wasn’t included. Just sour grapes.
Well the comments are all back now, so. Also, advertising your stuff on another news site is crazy work, man. I don’t think what you say should even be believed based on what all of the other commenters’s were saying about you.
The system it seems saw some comments as spam.
Ah, gotcha.
Terry, I have missed your weekly, rambling love letters calling me a minion and CNN employee. I hope you and Becky are well.
My goodness! I never expected to see beefing between news sources.
If so, I figure it’s their paper and therefore their comment section to edit as they please.
Though I can’t recall ever being edited on here, which is surprising as I basically use this forum as a playground for my id….