Advancing Arizona, also known as Advancing AZ and Honest Arizona, is a left-of-center advocacy organization that seeks to defeat Republican candidates. Led by Democrats, Honest Arizona fundraises under the name Advancing Arizona and advocates for increased government spending, raising the minimum wage, increased government involvement in health care, and opposition to tax cuts. Described as a “Democratic dark money group,” ¹ Advancing Arizona/Honest Arizona supports the initiatives of the Biden administration, worked with left-leaning groups to defeat then-U.S. Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ), and attacks Republican members of Congress.  ²

History

Advancing Arizona was formed in 2019 as a social advocacy organization. ³ Advancing Arizona and Honest Arizona, while having different names are both funded through Advancing Arizona, a which uses both names. ⁴ The first executive director at the formation of Honest Arizona was Niles Harris who was the campaign manager for Katie Hobbs (D) in her election as Arizona secretary of state in 2018. ⁵ The communications director from 2019-2022 for Advancing Arizona was a former communications director at the Arizona Democratic Party. ⁶ Politico described Advancing Arizona as a Democratic dark money group. ⁷

Positions

Honest Arizona has published left-leaning fact sheets on U.S. Representatives David Schweikert (R-AZ)) and Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ). ⁸  Honest Arizona claims Rep. Schweikert voted to cut social security and Medicare, voted against lowering prescription drug prices, voted against raising the minimum wage, and voted to cut taxes for the rich. ⁹ Rep. Ciscomani has been accused by Honest Arizona of voting against the Inflation Reduction Act that would enable the IRS to go after tax cheats, voting to raise energy costs by not voting for the same act, voting to limit abortion access, voting against social security and Medicare, and voting for tax breaks for the rich. ¹⁰

Honest Arizona published a fact sheet stating the GOP only wants to give tax breaks to the wealthy and not the poor and middle class, cut funding to veterans, eliminate preschool slots for kids, threaten medical care for senior citizens, and jeopardize health coverage and access for Arizonians. ¹¹ Honest Arizona has authored three health care reports praising the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). ¹²

Honest Arizona has claimed surging grocery food prices were linked to the pandemic and accused grocery chains of price gouging. ¹³ Honest Arizona attacks clothing retailers, gas companies, farms and meatpacking facilities, and the auto industry for hiking prices purely for profit using the pandemic as an excuse. ¹⁴

Advancing Arizona spent almost $1.8 million to defeat then-U.S. Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ). ¹⁵ Steve Gomez, current president of Advancing Arizona, has appeared on an advertisement for the Democratic-aligned group Majority Forward. ¹⁶

Events

For Earth Day 2024, Honest Arizona printed and placed yard signs around Arizona touting the Inflation Reduction Act for helping the environment and lowering energy costs. ¹⁷

During Major League Baseball’s spring training, Honest Arizona attended a Diamondbacks game to give out a baseball-type trading card on U.S. Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) claiming he voted against social security and Medicare, protects wealthy tax cheats, and was most likely to raise costs on working families. ¹⁸

In November 2023, Honest Arizona along with the AFL-CIO and MoveOn protested outside the offices of Representatives Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) and David Schwikert (R-AZ) in opposition to federal budget cuts. ¹⁹ In 2020, Honest Arizona in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, Indivisible, and Arizona Health Care Voters collaborated to host an empty chair townhall to attack then-U.S. Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ). ²⁰

Funding

In 2022, Advancing Arizona received $2.75 million from the “dark money” group Sixteen Thirty Fund. ²¹ The Sixteen Thirty Fund, an organization controlled by the left-of-center group Arabella Advisors, also paid Advancing Arizona $8.75 million in 2021, $2,477,000 in 2020, and $3,950,000 in 2019. ²²

Finances

In 2021, Advancing Arizona had net assets of $484,211. ²³ In 2021, Advancing Arizona recorded $7,635,001 in revenue and had $7,351,876 in expenses. ²⁴ In 2020, Advancing Arizona raised $3,524,304 in revenue and had $3,895,678 in expenses. ²⁵

Leadership

Andrea Moreno is the executive director of Honest Arizona. ²⁶ Previously, Moreno spent over 23 years working for Salt River Project as a community outreach manager and community outreach representative. ²⁷

1. King, May and Zach Montellaro. “How the Census Bureau is Adapting to the Pandemic.” Politico. July 9, 2020. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-score/2020/07/09/how-the-census-bureau-is-adapting-to-the-pandemic-789053.
2. King, May and Zach Montellaro. “How the Census Bureau is Adapting to the Pandemic.” Politico. July 9, 2020. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-score/2020/07/09/how-the-census-bureau-is-adapting-to-the-pandemic-789053.
3.  Advancing Arizona, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2021.
4. “Honest Arizona.” Honest Arizona. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org; Lacy, Akela. “A Crop of Dark-Money Groups is Backing Democratic Efforts to Retake the Senate.” The Intercept. February 24, 2020. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://theintercept.com/2020/02/24/dark-money-democrats-senate-2020-elections/.
5. “Niles Harris.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/niles-harris-2a378b56/.
6. “Les Braswell.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/les-braswell-b2385b27/.
7. King, May and Zach Montellaro. “How the Census Bureau is Adapting to the Pandemic.” Politico. July 9, 2020. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-score/2020/07/09/how-the-census-bureau-is-adapting-to-the-pandemic-789053.
8. “Get the Facts About Key Issues Impacting Arizonans.” Honest Arizona. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org.
9.  “Get the Facts About Key Issues Impacting Arizonans.” Honest Arizona. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org.
10. “Get the Facts About Key Issues Impacting Arizonans.” Honest Arizona. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org.
11. “Get the Facts About Key Issues Impacting Arizonans.” Honest Arizona. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org.
12. “Get the Facts About Key Issues Impacting Arizonans.” Honest Arizona. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org
13. “Get the Facts About Key Issues Impacting Arizonans.” Honest Arizona. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org.
14. “Get the Facts About Key Issues Impacting Arizonans.” Honest Arizona. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org
15. Wilson, Reid. “Democrats Spend Big to Put Senate in Play.” The Hill. December 12, 2019. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/474196-democrats-spend-big-to-put-senate-in-play/.
16. “Steve.” Majority Forward. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0HCFfH4rS4; Lacy, Akela. “A Crop of Dark-Money Groups is Backing Democratic Efforts to Retake the Senate.” The Intercept. February 24, 2020. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://theintercept.com/2020/02/24/dark-money-democrats-senate-2020-elections/; Advancing Arizona, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2021.
17. Honest Arizona on Earth Day: Protect the Inflation Reduction Act to Save Arizonians Money, Mitigate Impact of Climate Change.” Honest Arizona. April 22, 2024. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org/news/honest-arizona-on-earth-day-protect-the-inflation-reduction-act-to-save-arizonans-money-mitigate-impact-of-climate-change.
18. “As Spring Training Winds Down, Schweikert Already Proving to Be MVP for Wealthy & Corporations.” Honest Arizona. March 25, 2024. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org/news/as-spring-training-winds-down-schweikert-already-proving-to-be-mvp-for-wealthy-amp-corporations.
19. “ICYMI: AFL-CIO, Honest Arizona, and MoveOn Demand Ciscomani, Schweikert Stop Unpopular Cuts, Keep Gov’t Open.” Honest Arizona. November 17, 2023. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org/news/icymi-afl-cio-honest-arizona-moveon-demand-ciscomani-schweikert-stop-unpopular-cuts-keep-govt-open.
20. Stevenson, Cameron. “It’s Been Three Years Since Sen. Martha McSally’s Last Town Hall Appearance.” The Copper Courier. February 19, 2020. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://coppercourier.com/2020/02/19/its-been-three-years-since-sen-martha-mcsallys-last-town-hall-appearance/.
21. Sixteen Thirty Fund, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2022.
22. Ludwig, Hayden. “Arabella Advisors’ ‘Dark Money’ Backs Biden – Expect Even More. Capital Research Center. July 21, 2020. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://capitalresearch.org/article/arabella-advisors-dark-money-backs-biden-expect-even-more/; Sixteen Thirty Fund, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2021; Sixteen Thirty Fund, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2020; Sixteen Thirty Fund, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2019.
23. Advancing Arizona, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2021.
24. Advancing Arizona, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2021.
25.  Advancing Arizona, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2021.
26. “As Spring Training Winds Down, Schweikert Already Proving to Be MVP for Wealthy & Corporations.” Honest Arizona. March 25, 2024. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.honestarizona.org/news/as-spring-training-winds-down-schweikert-already-proving-to-be-mvp-for-wealthy-amp-corporations.
27. “Andrea Moreno.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-moreno-07143084/.