Legislative candidate Mary Ann Mendoza silent on whether she wore blackface in photos
Two photographs released on social media claim to show Mary Ann Mendoza, a Republican candidate for the Arizona Legislature, at a party dressed in a brash "Aunt Jemima" costume with blackface.
Another claims to show her dressed as a Native American, her face painted brown.
Mendoza hasn't confirmed or denied the images are her since a left-wing news outlet published the photos and an article about them on Friday. She didn't return a text on Friday or a phone message on Saturday.
It's not clear when the photos were taken or if they are definitely of Mendoza. But her opponents have seized on the released photos as new evidence of what they say is a "part of a pattern" for Mendoza.
Democratic candidate Lorena Austin said in a statement emailed to the news media on Saturday that the "hate-filled" incident "wholeheartedly disqualifies Mendoza" from running.
"These photos are a display of violent racism," Austin said. "As a Chicanx and 5th-generation Arizonan, I know how behavior like this affects my community."
Austin also released a statement with her running mate, Seth Blattman, saying "this trend makes Ms. Mendoza unfit to become a legislator," though they did not elaborate. They seemed to hedge on whether the photos are of Mendoza, saying she should withdraw from the race "if these photos are what they appear to be."
Neither Austin nor Blattman, nor a spokesperson who emailed Austin's statement, returned phone messages on Saturday.
Face-off: This race for AZ Senate may be the most competitive in state
Mendoza, one of two Republican candidates seeking state House seats in west Mesa's Legislative District 9, is an anti-illegal-immigration activist whose police officer son was killed by an undocumented drunken driver. She has appeared onstage with former President Donald Trump as one of the "Angel Moms" he used to boost his hard-line immigration policies.
She fell out of grace with the GOP and gained bad press in 2020 when she was disinvited from the Republican National Convention for retweeting an antisemitic conspiracy theory popular with Qanon followers. Mendoza told The Arizona Republic that she hadn't read the tweet before retweeting it. But in the same interview, she also expressed belief that a Jewish banking family once “owned the United States."
Election guide: November 2022
City races | School boards | State | Governor
| Ballot measures | Federal races | How to vote
District is an election battleground
The district is a high-stakes battleground over Trump politics and abortion policy, featuring hard-right candidates Mendoza and Kathy Pearce and a Trump-endorsed Republican for state Senate — Robert Scantlebury — competing against three political newcomers well-funded by out-of-state donors.
Scantlebury, reached on Saturday, declined to comment about the matter. Pearce did not return a phone message.
The photos seem to have first appeared Oct. 17 on an anonymous Twitter account created in January 2022 with the handle @Tylerhereforfun. The account is now locked to outside users, but an archive.org search shows that it was used since February to tweet sexually suggestive and pro-left-wing messages to various Twitter users.
The post with photos that claim to be Mendoza tags CNN's politics desk, but it's unlike "Tyler's" other posts in that it doesn't reply to anyone.
The Copper Courier first reported about the photos on Friday, noting the anonymous source. The news site, previously part of Acronym, a digital advertising group that works with the Democratic Party, is now owned by Good Information Inc., a project of Democratic activist Tara McGowan and liberal donors.
Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on Twitter @raystern.
Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Legislature candidate Mary Ann Mendoza may have worn blackface
