The Citizens Clean Elections Commission is a five-member cross-partisan commission within the Arizona state government that administers voter education programs, administers the public campaign finance system for candidate campaigns, and conducts campaign finance enforcement. 1
Proposition 200 on the 1998 Arizona ballot created the Citizens Clean Election Commission and established a public campaign financing program. The initiative established a 10 percent surcharge on fines and an annual fee on lobbyists to fund the program. 2
Background
The Citizens Clean Election Commission is an Arizona state agency that enforces the state’s Clean Elections Act, a law that includes the public campaign financing program. 1 The commission has five members, including two Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent. 2 No more than two members of the commission shall be residents of the same county. 3
The commission argues that its voter education plan focuses on the logistics of voting and how to be an informed voter, and is developed each year in consultation with election officials and stakeholders. 1
The Citizens Clean Election Commission provides an optional public financing program to qualified statewide and legislative candidates. Candidates must meet certain requirements, which include collecting a certain number of $5 qualifying contributions and agreeing not to accept contributions from political action committees and corporations. 1
The commission members elect their own chair and appoint an executive director. 3 State law says the Arizona governor can remove commission members with concurrence of the state Senate for substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office, inability to discharge the powers and duties of office, or violation of the authorizing law after written notice and opportunity for a response. 3
Funding for the Citizens Clean Elections Fund is comprised from a 10 percent surcharge on all civil penalties and criminal fines paid by candidates, and from the $5 qualifying contributions collected from participating candidates. 1
History
The Citizens Clean Elections Act of 1998, enacted under the ballot initiative Proposition 200 , created the Citizens Clean Election Commission to enforce the public campaign financing program created under the law. The initiative established a 10 percent surcharge on fines and an annual fee on lobbyists to fund the program. Proposition 200 passed with the backing of 51.2 percent of voters. 2 1
The commission was initially exempt from the state’s rulemaking requirements and was empowered to adopt its own rules to govern the commission as long as the rules were adopted in a public meeting following a 60-day public comment period. 2 Other agencies must finalize rule changes through the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council, a seven-member council established in 1981. 2
In 2018, voters approved Proposition 306, the Clean Election Account Uses and Commission Rulemaking Measure. This ballot measure prohibited candidates from using public financing accounts to give funds to political parties or tax-exempt organizations that are allowed to engage in activities to influence candidate elections. The measure also required the Citizens Clean Election Commission’s proposed rules to receive approval from the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council. 2
Two commissioner members Louis Hoffman, a Democrat, and Amy Chan, a Republican, sued the state in Maricopa County Superior Court over the certification of Proposition 306. Hoffman helped draft Proposition 200. 2
In 2018, the Citizens Clean Election Commission paid for a “Take Flight” mural along Roosevelt Row, an arts district in downtown Phoenix, to attract attention of younger voters. People could point their phone to the mural and get a QR code to register to vote online. The theme was to “spread your wings: activate your political power.” 4
In December 2018, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David J. Palmer struck down portions of the state’s 2016 campaign finance law, and transferred the authority to investigate campaign finance violations from the Citizens Clean Election Commission to the secretary of state. 5
2024 Senate Debate Controversy
The Citizens Clean Election Commission has traditionally sponsored candidate debates. In 2024, this prompted controversy when the Commission excluded Green Party U.S. Senate candidate Eduardo Quintana from a debate with Democrat Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake. 6
State Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), chairman of the Arizona state Senate Government Committee, opened an investigation in 2024 alleging the commission “clearly believes they’re above the law” and “chose to subvert the voter-approved process in an effort to deter participation of a candidate in a debate who will lawfully appear on the general election ballot.” 6
Commission executive director Thomas Collins, in a letter to Hoffman, said the commission did not violate any rules or laws. 6
Ahead of the debate, the commission determined that candidates invited to the debate must have secured at least 1,239 votes in their party’s primary, equal to one percent of all the votes cast in all primary races combined. Quintana tallied only 282 votes, but there were fewer than 3,400 registered Green Party voters in the state. In a letter to Hoffman, Collins wrote, “The rule does not say that the commission must invite everyone who may appear on the general election ballot. So, the discretionary decision about who to invite to the 2024 debates did not transgress an existing administrative rule.’’ 6
Leadership
As of 2025, Thomas M. Collins was serving as the executive director of Arizona’s Citizens Clean Elections Commission. Collins was previously an assistant attorney general for Arizona, focusing on election law, appeals, and attorney general opinions. He clerked for former Justice Scott Bales and the late Justice Michael Ryan on the Arizona Supreme Court. 7
As of 2025, Mark Kimble was serving as the chairman of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission. He is an independent from Pima County. Kimple was appointed to the commission by then-state Senate Democratic Leader Katie Hobbs in 2015. Kimble was a veteran journalist from Southern Arizona. He formerly worked for the Associated Press and for the Tucson Citizen newspaper where he had been a reporter, city editor, assistant managing editor, and associate editor in charge of the editorial page. After the Citizen closed in 2009, he worked as communications director for then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). In 2012, he became communications director for her successor, former U.S. Rep. Ron Barber (D-AZ). 7
Amy B. Chan is commissioner, and a Republican from Maricopa County. Hobbs appointed Chan to the commission. Chan was admitted to the state bar in 1999. She was an immigration attorney. In 2001 she began work as a legislative research analyst for the House Judiciary Committee. She was an administrative law judge for the Corporation Commission from 2005-2006 and then returned to the legislature as policy advisor and counsel to the majority for the state senate. In 2009, then-Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett (R) appointed Chan as State Election Director. 7
Galen D. Paton is a Republican commissioner from Pima County. Former Gov. Doug Ducey (R) appointed Paton to the commission. He has had a long career coaching high school and college softball, volleyball, and basketball teams in the southwest. 7
Christina Estes-Werther is an independent commissioner from Maricopa County. Estes-Werther is a partner at Pierce Coleman PLLC with a background in state and local government. She was a former State Election Director and a current certified election officer. She worked as a primary legal counsel for municipalities. She previously worked in the state Senate, Governor’s Office, and Secretary of State’s Office. Estes-Werther was also previously general counsel for the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. 7
Steve M. Titla is a Democratic commissioner from Gila County. Former state Senate Democratic Leader Leah Landrum Taylor appointed Titla. Titla is a partner in the Titla & Parsi law firm and is admitted to practice law both in Arizona and on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. The firm represents the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Previously, Titla was an attorney with the Navajo Nation Department of Justice. 7
Gina Roberts is the voter education director for the commission. She previously was elections manager for the Secretary of State. 7
Mike Becker is the policy director for the commission. He is the liaison between the commission and the Secretary of State’s Office and the Arizona state Legislature. Previously he was policy advisor to former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) on elections and special projects as well as being the liaison between the governor’s office and the Arizona Commerce Authority. He was also formerly a public information officer for the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, former chief of staff for a Maricopa County supervisor, and worked for former U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ). 7
References
- About. Citizens Clean Election Commission. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://www.azcleanelections.gov/
- “Arizona Proposition 306, the Clean Election Account Uses and Commission Rulemaking Measure.” Ballotpedia. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/Arizona_Proposition_306,_Clean_Election_Account_Uses_and_Commission_Rulemaking_Measure_(2018)
- Citizen Clean Election Commission Structure. Arizona Legislature. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://www.azleg.gov/ars/16/00955.htm
- Magana, Jennifer; Snell, Allison. “Clean Elections commissions interactive mural on Roosevelt Row to spur younger people to vote.” Cronkite News. Arizona PBS. July 30, 2018. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2018/07/30/clean-elections-youth-vote/
- “Campaign Finance Requirements in Arizona.” Ballotpedia. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/Campaign_finance_requirements_in_Arizona
- Fischer, Howard. “Clean Elections Commission claims no wrong doing by excluding Green Party candidate from senate debate.” Pina Central. September 13, 2024. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://www.pinalcentral.com/arizona_news/clean-elections-commission-claims-no-wrong-doing-by-excluding-green-party-candidate-from-senate-debate/article_6111a292-722c-11ef-a437-d756eac67678.html
- Members. Citizens Clean Election Commission. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://www.azcleanelections.gov/