Too extreme. Too partisan. Wrong for Arizona.
Kristie O’Brien calls herself a problem solver. Her record tells a different story: support for cutting police and immigration enforcement funding, trapping kids in failing schools, and a long history of alignment with the progressive left.
O’Brien calls herself a lawyer and disclosed a New York attorney license on her 2026 financial statement. But New York court records show that license was suspended in 2019 after she failed to satisfy required biennial registration rules.
The same research found her 2014 state-senate campaign was named in a 2016 Arizona state tax lien for unpaid taxes, interest, and penalties — with no recorded satisfaction as of July 2026.
Why it matters: Public officials write the rules everyone else must follow. Voters have a right to ask whether a candidate has kept up with her own legal and financial obligations.
In a 2014 candidate questionnaire, O’Brien put it in writing: she said she would decrease funding for police and corrections if elected to the state senate.
That is a direct pledge to pull dollars away from the officers and correctional staff Arizona communities count on to stay safe.
Why it matters: The State Senate needs a senator who will fully fund public safety — not cut it.
In January 2026, O’Brien promoted the defunding of federal immigration enforcement — the same instinct to cut the people charged with enforcing the law.
Why it matters: Arizona is a border state. We need leaders who back accountable enforcement, not attacks on it.
O’Brien has repeatedly attacked the school-choice options Arizona families use to get their kids out of underperforming schools — deriding them as a “fleecing of taxpayers” and calling for the state to roll them back.
Why it matters: Parents, not politicians, should decide where their kids learn. The State Senate needs a senator who gives families more options — not one who would trap kids in failing schools.
O’Brien is not an independent-minded moderate. She served as a vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party and has publicly supported national progressive figures and causes.
In 2015 she wrote, “Bernie is yelling at me! And I am listening.” She later backed Biden-Harris and Harris-Walz, and her 2026 campaign drew support from progressive labor and climate organizations.
She has also accepted over $26,000 in campaign contributions from progressive causes and groups.
Why it matters: Voters should judge candidates by the coalitions they build and the causes they champion. O’Brien’s record points toward the national progressive agenda — not the center of the State Senate.
Kristie O’Brien’s record is clear: a push to cut police and immigration enforcement, hostility toward the school choice families rely on, and deep ties to the progressive political establishment.
Chandler, Gilbert, and Sun Lakes deserve a senator who will keep communities safe, protect parental choice, lower the cost of living, and put Arizona families ahead of partisan ideology.