JoAnna Mendoza Maintains Support from Swalwell-Affiliated PAC

Democratic Congressional candidate JoAnna Mendoza, who is running against Representative Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), continues to highlight an endorsement from a political action committee (PAC) associated with disgraced former Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA).

Swalwell founded the Future Forum PAC in 2015, which intends to boost younger Democratic leaders. But with the accusations that he had sexually assaulted several women exploding over the weekend, Democratic figures and organizations are quietly scrubbing mentions of Swalwell from their webpages.

Mendoza, however, has not disavowed the Future Forum PAC, having received $1,000 from it for her campaign.

In a video posted to Instagram by the conservative influencer page Conservative War Machine, an interviewer approaches Mendoza, asking, "Are you still honored to have received the endorsement of the Eric Swalwell–founded Future Forum PAC? Will you drop that endorsement, Ms. Mendoza?"

Notably, Mendoza ignores the question.

Mendoza is not the only Arizona Democrat under scrutiny for associating with Swalwell, as Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), well known as a friend of the disgraced congressman, has landed himself in hot water for seemingly contradicting himself about how much he knew about Swalwell's behavior.

Allegations of Sen. Gallego's own impropriety toward women have surfaced, including instances of him yelling at an intern, divorcing his first wife days before she gave birth, and wiping earwax from an earpiece on the sweater of a rival congressman's aide after a TV appearance.

Mendoza, meanwhile, has also been accused of allegedly being in favor of defunding police, saying in a 2020 interview that "police reform is just one aspect of addressing systemic racism in our nation." However, Mendoza maintains that she does not support defunding police, arguing for more funding during an interview, saying, "I do not support defunding the police. Police officers are being asked to do too much. They're being asked to address issues because of the lack of resources in our communities."