The Mayes administration

Who is working for Attorney General Kris Mayes? I have the details.

Housekeeping: I will be taking Monday off for MLK day, but I’ll be back in your inboxes on Wednesday January 18.

Arizona’s newest attorney general is Kris Mayes. She’s a Republican-turned-Democrat and the first openly gay AG in state history. Mayes previously worked for the Arizona Republic years ago¹, served in the Gov. Janet Napolitano administration and was appointed and then elected to the Arizona Corporation Commission serving as its chair as well.

She also now has the distinction of winning a statewide race in Arizona by the tightest margin of victory. She defeated Republican Abraham Hamadeh by 280 votes after a state mandated recount.

Because of the lawsuits and recount, Mayes never got a proper transition into leading the state’s top prosecutor office and therefore will likely need a bit longer to adjust. As such, the public has not been keen on who Mayes has hired thus far.

I requested the senior staff list and their respective salaries as I did for the Arizona Department of Education. There was some confusion in the response, but I was able to clear up most questions I had.

Here is who is on staff as of January 12:

• Amy Love, Chief of Staff, Annual salary is $200,000.00; Love has been in Arizona government for awhile. She was the legislative liaison for the Arizona Corporation Commission at the time Mayes was commission chair, she worked at the Arizona Supreme Court for roughly nine years, did communications at the Maricopa County Superior Court and worked for Sen. Mark Kelly as his outreach director before landing the top gig under Mayes.

  ItalicizedConsulting @ItalicizedAZ

  I'm so excited for my friend Amy Love. ❤️

  

  Attorney General Mayes @AZAGMayes

  I was honored to attend the Navajo Nation inauguration ceremonies today with my Chief of Staff, Amy Love. Congrats to President @BuuVanNygren and first NN woman VP, Richelle Montoya! Our office looks forward to a strong partnership with all 22 Arizona Tribes + Native Nations. https://t.co/0rNeoDV3s7 https://t.co/9UC4wZ8ehH

• Criminal Division Chief, John Johnson, Annual salary is $181,500.18; Johnson is a holdover from the Mark Brnovich administration.

• Child and Family Protection Division Chief, Virginia Herrera-Gonzales, Annual salary is $181,500.18; Herrera-Gonzales is another holdover who moved into this role when Johnson was promoted in 2020.

• Civil Litigation Division Chief, Leslie Cooper, Annual salary is $181,500.18; Cooper also served under Brnovich, but worked at the AG’s Office in two different stints. First from 2010 to 2017 when she left to be the general counsel for Maricopa Community Colleges. Then she rejoined the AGO in 2021 for her current role.

• State Government Division Chief, Vanessa Hickman, Annual salary is $181,500.18; Hickman recently resigned as Peoria City Attorney where she worked since 2018. She previously served as Deputy General Counsel for Gov. Jan Brewer and Brewer then appointed her to serve as State Land Commissioner.

• Chief Operating Officer, Leslie Heathcotte, Annual salary is $161,700.24; Heathcotte has been in state government for awhile and is also a holdover from Brnovich. She previously worked for the Department of Administration and Department of Gaming and has been at the AG’s Office since 2015.

Two things I noticed from this list.

1. There was no communications person listed

2. Dan Barr was not listed.

The public records worker from Brnovich’s administration who apparently has remained on said “we no longer have a Communications Division” and that nobody had been hired as chief deputy.

I confirmed with Dan Barr that he will be in that role but his first official day is on January 17.

As for the communications issue, that has not really been resolved. I was told there are a few holdovers from Brnovich but none of them are true communications professionals more on the PR side of things who aren’t that used to dealing with the media. I was specifically told to go on the government website, search for press releases and find the media contact.

The media contact was listed as mediarequests@azag.gov meaning they expect all media to go through a generic line for one of the biggest offices in the state. In a state that has a lot of national stake and attention.

I was not told whether the office would hire a communications director, but if they don’t I can’t see this ending well.

There are so many legal issues that require comment from the AG’s Office and Brnovich’s communications director Ryan Anderson was well-equipped to handle the load for eight years. Not having a replacement for him would be a grave mistake for this office. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt given their inability for a true transition, but if March comes along and there still isn’t a real person with a name taking media requests, you can bet I will write about it here.

I did not find out Barr’s salary yet, but I will get the info an update this accordingly.

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1. Mayes’ election opponent tried to smear her and Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger of being biased because they both worked for the paper even though their employments were separated by multiple decades. It was and still is a ridiculous claim hurled by idiot misinformation peddlers who deserve no place near leading a government agency.