Glendale council candidates: Opponents' claim about 'far left radicals' is 'misleading'

Two of Glendale’s council candidates have launched partisan attacks on their opponents, painting them as far-left radicals or sympathizers who want to defund the police.  

There’s little to no evidence supporting such claims.

Yet, incumbent Councilmember Ian Hugh and his allies are pushing a narrative that his challenger in the Cactus District race, Lupe Conchas, isn’t friendly to law enforcement. They're pointing to Conchas' arrest in 2019 while protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Conchas, who’s running to unseat Hugh, and Lupe Encinas, a candidate running against fellow newcomer Dianna Guzman in the Yucca District, have trumpeted pro-police and firefighter policies in Glendale.

In their campaigns, Conchas and Encinas have advocated providing the Glendale Police and Fire departments with additional resources. Conchas, in particular, stated that he wants, among other things, to modernize police and fire stations, enhance their training academies and secure more vehicles.

Despite those initiatives, Hugh and Guzman have gone on the offensive in messaging to voters, casting Conchas as anti-police and associating Encinas with him.

A text message from the Guzman campaign to Republican voters accused Encinas of “aligning herself with far-left candidates.”

“This race is supposed to be non-partisan, but I cannot stand by when a defund the police candidate is on the ballot,” the text states, referring to Conchas.

Encinas and Guzman are vying to replace outgoing Councilmember Joyce Clark. The long-tenured official has endorsed Guzman, calling her the “only viable candidate in this race.”

Clark has used the same anti-police sentiment against Conchas. She also accused Encinas of allying with Conchas based on a photograph taken of the two at a fundraiser.

In a phrase, Encinas called Clark’s statements “more lies.”  

“It is very heartbreaking and disturbing to see how this nonpartisan race was made political by my opponent,” Encinas said in an email.

As for Hugh, he’s mailed flyers to support his bid for a fourth consecutive term in office. In it, Conchas is characterized as being anti-law enforcement and supporting open borders. He’s also called a “community organizer” for Black Lives Matter and the “Party for Socialism and Labor.”

Separately, Conchas and Encinas have strongly denounced the rhetoric and claims against them, each pointing to their support for Glendale’s public safety departments. Conchas on Wednesday said the tactic is meant to mislead and “fear monger."

“We both support police and fire,” Conchas said, stressing that he and Encinas are running two separate campaigns. “I think the people who are trying to maintain power on the City Council want to use these issues as wedge issues and paint us as anti-police, which is not true.”

How does a campaign flyer depict Conchas?

At the heart of Conchas’ concerns with Hugh's mailer is an image of the newcomer that was used. Conchas says it was doctored to make him “look more violent, dangerous and scary to voters.”

“I think it’s unethical,” he said, adding, “It makes me look like a mean person.”

Conchas acknowledged the source of the photo: the mugshot Phoenix police took when he was charged with unlawful assembly and obstructing a highway in July 2019.

In the original image, Conchas is smiling.

A black-and-white version used in the flyer, however, depicts Conchas with a frown and arched eyebrows.

“I believe that there is a racist undertone when it comes to this type of altering of my face,” Conchas said. “There is typically a racial stereotype to make Brown men look scary or like a criminal or unwelcoming. We see that in a lot of rhetoric from some folks.”

Conchas was one of 16 arrested in central Phoenix while protesting planned migrant roundups by ICE. The court dismissed the charges after he spent a night in jail.

He alleged to The Arizona Republic at the time that Phoenix police did not tell him why he was being arrested, and that he was not read his Miranda rights until an hour after the arrest.

Responding to questions about the photo, Hugh said he didn’t believe his campaign team altered the image, which was pulled “off the web somewhere.”

“What they told me is all the pictures came off the internet and they were public domain,” Hugh said. When pressed about the photo, he added: “Well, as far as I know, they used the picture off the internet. I don’t think they did anything to the picture.”

In the flyer, side-by-side comparisons are made between Hugh and Conchas based “on the issues.” Those issues include Glendale roots, career, politics, police and police support, fire and fire support and another called “cares about Glendale.”

One claim is that Conchas “recently moved to Glendale to run for City Council.”

Conchas said he came to Glendale in 2017. He also noted that he’s finishing up a four-year term on the Alhambra Elementary School District’s governing board, which represents parts of Glendale and Phoenix.

What does the mailer say about the police?

Under police and police support, the flyer states that Conchas is anti-police and notes his 2019 arrest. The source of the information: The Republic article.

According to Hugh, the anti-police claim stemmed from demonstrators’ calls to abolish ICE.

Councilmember Clark has stated in her personal blog that the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which she called “a Socialist/Marxist organization,” organized the rally.  

As reported in 2019, the group called AZ Resist organized the demonstration.

The Guzman campaign said “there is systemic evidence” that Conchas has espoused anti-police sentiment. The only example it could cite was Conchas’ arrest.

“He was arrested for protesting against ICE … ICE does fall under federal law enforcement," said Darius Biggs, Guzman’s campaign manager. "Now you might be protesting against what they’re doing, but it still falls under the law enforcement jurisdiction."

In 2019, Conchas said he attended the rally to protest the treatment that children and families seeking legal asylum faced at the border.

He reiterated the point this week, and added that while other groups joined the protest, he has “never been associated with them whatsoever.”

“The police were actually very nice to me, they did their job and I cooperated with them, Conchas said.

“For my opponent to use this as a wedge issue and paint me as anti-police or a communist or this or that, it’s a desperate attempt to save a campaign that doesn’t have anything to run on,” he added.

How does Hugh connect Conchas to BLM?

Comparing careers, Hugh highlighted that he’s been a local business owner for 47 years. He then claims Conchas has been an organizer for the Socialism party and for Black Lives Matter, commonly referred to as BLM.

Neither is true, Conchas said.

Underneath the claim, it cites Conchas’ LinkedIn profile as the source of the information. It also notes his employment with the two nonprofits ONE Campaign and Bread for the World.

The former is a humanitarian organization that U2 frontman Bono started in 2004 to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic. The latter is a Christian-based group that advocates for ending hunger.

Conchas is a regional organizing manager for ONE. He was the southwest regional organizer for Bread between 2019 and 2023.

Asked what affiliation either nonprofit has with BLM and the Socialist party, Hugh said he didn’t know and urged The Republic to “look up the source.”

He later said he got some information from Clark and the Fraternal Order of Police.

The law enforcement advocacy group’s Arizona chapter, or lodge, has endorsed Hugh and Guzman in their races.

Dave Goitia is the president of the Glendale Fraternity of Police, Lodge 12.

He acknowledged that he discussed The Republic’s article reporting on Conchas’ arrest with Hugh and “anyone who will listen to me” as the incident “is of great concern to me and the 430 members of the Glendale FoP Lodge that I represent.”

As for the claim that Conchas has organized for Black Lives Matter, Goitia denies ever stating that.

“I've never said that,” Goitia said. “I've never really looked into that. I don't really follow Black Lives Matter.”

What's next?

The Glendale Women's Club, a local chapter of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, is hosting a forum on July 16 with all four candidates. The forum, located at 7032 N. 56th Ave. in Glendale, is scheduled from 6-7 p.m., with doors opening at 5:30 p.m.

Shawn Raymundo covers the West Valley cities of Glendale, Peoria and Surprise. Reach him atsraymundo@gannett.com or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.