Arizona
Dueling yard signs, shifting loyalties and the quest for Mormon votes in Arizona
Jeremy Spilsbury never suspected that anything was off. He attended services at his local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ward, stayed for a meeting with the missionary committee and then bid them farewell — including his across-the-road neighbor.
But as Spilsbury pulled into his quiet, residential street in this Phoenix suburb of about 511,000, he noticed the neighbor’s new yard sign: “Cucks for Harris.”
Spilsbury did a double take. Then he googled the offending word.
A “cuck,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “often used as an insulting and contemptuous term for a man who has politically progressive or moderate views.” The word has sexual connotations, too, meaning a man whose female partner is unfaithful.
Jeremy and Julie Spilsbury, left, react with other Latter-day Saints who are supporting the Harris-Walz ticket as they watch the vice presidential debate on Oct. 1 in a private residence in Phoenix.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“When I found out what it meant, I was kind of appalled, because it’s obviously designed to be as offensive as possible,” said Spilsbury, who had a “Republicans for Harris-Walz” sign in his own yard.
The neighbor’s sign, while biting, underscored an emerging reality in Arizona’s sizable Latter-day Saints community — that while church members are overwhelmingly Republican, there is some erosion in their traditionally airtight support for Republicans.
“There has been a long-standing belief from people who have not been LDS that Mormons are homogeneous in their beliefs and their voting and the way they enact living their faith,” said Brittany Romanello, a cultural anthropologist at Arizona State University who has studied Mormon identity and was raised in the church.
Mormons were the most Republican-leaning religious group in the country, the Pew Research Center found in 2016. But “the politics and willingness to openly disagree with one another in these LDS spaces … is becoming more and more apparent,” Romanello said.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign team is hoping to collect any stray votes — especially in Mormon-heavy battleground states such as Nevada and Arizona, where the church numbers about 443,000 members and polling shows Harris and Trump neck and neck. Harris appealed to Latter-day Saints members at an appearance in Scottsdale Friday, saying, “I am committed to all of you to be a president for all Americans.”
Her campaign in Arizona launched a Latter-day Saints advisory committee weeks ago, and another one in Nevada on Monday. Trump’s campaign announced a Latter-day Saints for Trump group Tuesday.
The budding Latter-day Saints groups for Harris are an aberration, said Tara Rowland, the neighbor with the “cucks” sign.
After Mesa City Council member and Mormon Julie Spilsbury put up a “Republicans for Harris-Walz” sign in her frontyard, her neighbor across the street, who is a Trump supporter, put up this derogatory “Cucks for Harris” sign on Oct. 1 in Mesa, Ariz.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“They do not represent the majority,” she said. “There’s these few people in our congregation who everybody knows is full of it.”
The church takes pains to keep its official positions apolitical, and last weekend, one of its senior leaders, Dallin H. Oaks, encouraged members to be civil ahead of the November election. Despite its pledged neutrality, the church has waded into issues it considers moral, supporting conservative views on issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
“Mormon socialization from a very young age encourages you to participate in civic engagement. The importance of voting … of being prayerful,” Romanello said. “And that means that you don’t align yourself with a particular party.”
Like many church members, Rowland has been active in politics since she was 14, mostly supporting Republicans, though she has voted for non-Republicans in local elections.
Although Trump “says stupid, clownish things, and he’s a buffoon,” Rowland said, “he’s the best choice of the two.”
“I believe that family and religion and God and the sanctity of life is important, and Trump is the most in line with our values,” Rowland said, adding about her neighbors, “If they were voting their values, they would not be voting for Harris-Walz.”
LDS for Harris-Walz
About a dozen Mormons gathered in a church member’s Phoenix living room recently for a “Latter-day Saints for Harris-Walz” vice presidential debate watch party.
Latter-day Saints who are supporting the Harris-Walz ticket gather to watch the vice presidential debate on Oct. 1 in a private residence in Phoenix.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Within minutes of arriving, Jeremy and Julie Spilsbury were swapping names of congregants they shared in common with Bobby Parker, 79, who said he lost many of his ties to the community when he came out as gay about 20 years ago.
“It’s like being a Republican for Harris — you’re not supposed to fit!” Julie Spilsbury joked, and they all laughed.
For most of their lives, Jeremy and Julie Spilsbury were in step with their church’s political culture. They avidly listened to conservative talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. They voted Republican — including for Trump.
But things started to change around 2020.
“He always jokes, it’s because of Trump that we’ve changed a lot of our thinking politically, religiously,” Julie Spilsbury said of her husband. “It’s actually been a good thing for us in our personal growth.”
In 2020, Jeremy Spilsbury was serving as bishop of his ward, a volunteer role in addition to his job running a small arborist business. When one of his employees assumed he was voting for Trump again, Spilsbury knew he didn’t want to keep quiet.
He typed up what would become the first of several Facebook posts, alerting his community to his new political views.
The backlash was almost immediate. Though few people confronted him in person, Spilsbury said he heard that many thought he had been “deceived.” Rowland said he “caused such a division between our congregation.” Congregants asked for him to be “released” as bishop (his term expired in 2021).
But he was committed to his increasing outspokenness. Soon, he quit his job to go back to school and study peace and conflict. He refused to leave the church or Mesa.
“To use a religious term, I’m a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Spilsbury said. “There’s no one more dangerous than an insider pretending to be part of the group.”
Then Julie Spilsbury was elected to the Mesa City Council and a few months later, her first controversial issue reached the agenda: an ordinance prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations, employment and housing.
Mesa City Councilmember Julie Spilsbury, who is a member of the Latter-day Saints, is a Republican who supports the Harris-Walz ticket.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The ordinance caused consternation across Mesa, home of the state’s first Latter-day Saints temple and a concentrated Mormon community in Arizona. A local representative of the church weighed in, signing a letter along with other interfaith leaders and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) in support of the ordinance. But others, including Rowland, spoke against it at City Council meetings.
“Say a baker doesn’t want to make a cake for a transgender wedding or something like that,” Rowland said in an interview. “They should have the ability, that’s their business.”
“A lot of LDS people thought … ‘You’re doing something that’s contrary to our religious beliefs.’ When, in fact, that was 100% not true,” said Mesa Mayor John Giles, a Republican and church member. “The LDS church leadership is actually far more progressive than a lot of these traditional, kind of fundamentalist people in the church. And they just kind of refuse to acknowledge that they’re out of step with where the church is.”
The ordinance ultimately passed, and an attempt to put the issue to voters as a referendum was dropped.
“It’s something I’m very proud of, but I have a lot of people who hate me now because of it,” Julie Spilsbury told Parker at the watch party. She flashed her phone’s lock screen, featuring a bright, neon-colored rainbow flag.
“I was just amazed by how wonderful these people were, you know?” Jeremy Spilsbury said of the LGBTQ+ community. “I had all these preconceived notions growing up in the church. They’re perceived as a threat, you know, their lifestyles.”
“Lifestyle,” Parker repeated, chuckling. “I’m an old grandpa, great-grandpa. I like to wear short shorts, that’s my lifestyle.”
Mormon momentum
When Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee, a smattering of identity-based affinity groups burst into being, including the Latter-day Saints committees.
Mesa Mayor John Giles is part of Latter-day Saints for Harris-Walz and Republicans for Harris.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Then Giles, who ruffled feathers when he endorsed Democrats Gov. Katie Hobbs and Sen. Mark Kelly in 2022, came out with a pro-Harris media blitz: penning an op-ed in the Arizona Republic, appearing on major news networks and capping it off with a speech at the Democratic National Convention, where he said, “The Grand Old Party has been kidnapped by extremists and devolved into a cult, the cult of Donald Trump.”
Giles has repeatedly been censured by the local Republican Party. But he shrugged off the criticisms. More important, he said, choking up, are the people who approach him in grocery stores, thanking him for voicing their feelings about politics and the party.
“The fact that I have an opportunity to maybe influence the outcome of an election is something that is just too compelling for me to not participate,” Giles said.
Other prominent Mormon Republicans emerged for Harris, too, such as former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. While he hasn’t formally endorsed Harris, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney is a vocal opponent of Trump.
That momentum, plus the Spilsburys’ “Republicans for Harris-Walz” sign, was too much for Rowland. The “Cucks for Harris” sign went up.
Jeremy Spilsbury shot off a text to his neighbors: “Hey, I’d love to come over and talk to you tomorrow about the sign that you have in the front yard. Is there a time that works for you?”
The next day, Spilsbury found himself sitting on a couch across from Tara Rowland and her husband, who could not be reached for comment for this article. Spilsbury said he asked them to take the sign down.
After Julie Spilsbury put up a “Republicans for Harris-Walz” sign, her neighbor put up a derogatory “Cucks for Harris” sign.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“For the sake of the relationship that we have as neighbors and at church, this isn’t good,” Spilsbury recalled saying. “This doesn’t help our relationship, and I’d hope that that would be more important to you.”
“Yeah, unity is really important to me as well. But sometimes Christ goes into the temple and turns over the tables of the money changers. It’s not always kumbaya,” Rowland told a Times reporter.
She said she just wanted a simple answer: What was Spilsbury’s problem with Trump? “You can’t vote for somebody just because you hate somebody else. And voting for someone because of your hatred for someone else, that’s not unity either. That’s Satan.”
Spilsbury said later that he hadn’t intended to debate which candidate was stronger. He wanted to know why his fellow church member would post a sign so blatantly insulting.
The neighbors argued back and forth and “voices were raised,” Spilsbury said. After about 45 minutes, he walked home.
The Rowlands’ sign stayed put — along with a Trump banner and an upside-down American flag.
Arizona
Kroger, Albertsons sued by Arizona, seven other states seeking antitrust lawsuit expense reimbursement
Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. Inc. have been sued by Arizona and seven other states and the District of Columbia, all of which are seeking to be reimbursed for costs they incurred while fighting a merger between the two grocers that later failed on antitrust grounds.
The coalition of plaintiffs, which also includes the Federal Trade Commission, is seeking $10.3 million from Cincinnati-based supermarket giant Kroger and Boise, Idaho-based grocery rival Albertsons, according to the lawsuit filed March 31 in U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore.
Kroger is the parent company of Fry’s Food Stores in the Valley, and Albertsons owns the Safeway brand in Arizona.
Read more of this story from the Business Journal.
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The University of Arizona men’s basketball team closes out their historic season after losing to the University of Michigan in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats had a tremendous season, breaking program records and earning several different recognitions and awards.
Over the course of the season, the Wildcats dominated with a 36-3 run, breaking the program record for most wins in program history. Previously, this record was 35 wins during the 1987-98 season.
Many of Arizona’s players were recognized for their outstanding work during the season. Notably, senior Jaden Bradley was named Big 12 Player of the Year. Freshman Koa Peat and Bradley were selected to the West All-Region team. Peat also earned the Most Outstanding Player across the western regionals. Another notable recognition was Bradley and freshman Brayden Burries earning All-American honors.
Head coach Tommy Lloyd also received lots of well deserved praise for the way he led this team. He was named Big 12 Coach of the Year and Naismith Coach of the Year. After much discourse during the coaching carousel and the possible coaching job at the University of North Carolina, Lloyd recently agreed to a five-year contract extension with Arizona.
Regular Season Dominance
Right off the bat, the Wildcats showed promise in their team. The Red-Blue showcase was a great introduction to the team and demonstration of their talent for this upcoming season. As many predicted, they dominated in the preseason matchups against Saint Mary’s College and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, blowing both teams out of the water.
Arizona continued to exert this dominance in their non-conference start to the season in November against tougher opponents. Their first competition was against the reigning NCAA Champions, No. 3 University of Florida, in Las Vegas. The Wildcats took the win 93-87, which was just the start of what was to come. Koa Peat made his college debut with a bang and proved he was a force to reckon with. Peat recorded 30 points on his debut, which also turned out to be his career high. When Arizona took the win against Florida, this was eye opening for a lot of people about the promise and talent that this team had to offer.
They had a close call against UCLA about two weeks later, taking the victory by a mere 4 points, 69-65. Arizona jumped significantly in the rankings since playing Utah Tech, where they were ranked No. 13, to taking the No. 5 spot. They only continued to climb in the AP rankings, inching up one position at a time. They were ranked No. 4 when they took the victory against No. 3 University of Connecticut, who won the national championship back in 2024. This win was just five days after they beat UCLA.
The Wildcats jumped right past the No. 3 spot after the UConn victory to the No. 2 spot as they took on the University of Denver, Norfolk State University and No. 20 Auburn University at home. After these three games, the Wildcats hit double digits and were holding a 10-0 record.
Christmas came early for the Wildcats as they grabbed the No. 1 spot in the AP polls in early December before playing No. 12 University of Alabama. Arizona held the No. 1 spot for nine consecutive weeks, which broke the program record that was previously held at eight weeks. They closed out their 2025 by adding four more victories to their roster, along with that No. 1 position.
After a notable regular season run, the Wildcats established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. They became the first team in AP Poll history to beat five ranked teams in their first nine games.
Undefeated Conference Run
The Wildcats began their new year and conference season on the road as they took their first Big 12 victory, 97-78, against the University of Utah. The following Wednesday, the Wildcats returned home for their first conference game in the McKale Center to face another team of Wildcats, Kansas State University. They blew them out of the water, taking a 101-76 victory. Throughout the course of the season, Arizona had 17 wins where they took the victory by 20+ points.
They continued asserting their dominance on both their home court and on the road. The first rivalry game of the season against ASU was a close one, but Arizona came out unscathed taking an 89-82 win. The Wildcats picked up three more wins against the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati and West Virginia University before heading back to Utah to take on No. 13 BYU.
This was a close victory with the Wildcats beating the Cougars 86-83. The Arizona freshmen met their match with BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, who was a contender for the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft, but still is uncertain if he will enter the portal this season. Dybantsa recorded 24 points for the Cougars while Burries lead the Wildcats with 29. The Wildcats pulled through with a late rally to take the victory and remain undefeated in their season.
The Wildcats closed out January with another win against the school up north but this time in enemy territory. Following their game against ASU, Arizona took a victory against Oklahoma State University at home. This marked the Wildcats’ 23rd win, which was an Arizona program record, as well as achieving the best start in Big 12 history. Arizona and the University of Miami Ohio were the remaining undefeated teams at this point in the season.
Looking forward to their next game, they were taking on No. 9 University of Kansas on their home court. The Jayhawks handed Arizona their first loss of the season in a hard fight. Kansas was able to maintain their perfect home record on Big Monday, going 39-0 under head coach Bill Self. Going into this game, Arizona knew it would be a tough one as Kansas had home court advantage, but they also possess dominant freshman and veteran players. They were led by Flory Bidunga and Melvin Council Jr., who each collected 23 points.
After this loss on Monday, Arizona looked forward to their next home game against No. 16 Texas Tech University on Valentine’s Day. Not only was it a special day because it was Valentine’s Day, but it was also ESPN’s College Gameday, where 14,688 fans sold out the McKale Center to watch this nationally televised spotlight on the Wildcats.
This was the fifth time that Arizona has been the host, with the last time being in 2022. It was also the first time that a game was played in the new McKale Center at ALKEME Arena after the announcement of a 15-year naming rights partnership between Arizona Athletics and ALKEME Insurance. During this game, Arizona also honored former Wildcat guard Caleb Love who was welcomed into the Ring of Honor with a ceremony at halftime.
The Texas Tech game was a nailbiter, with the lead changing 11 times and having 11 ties. The game eventually went into overtime after Ivan Kharchenkov shot late free throws, but unfortunately the Red Raiders were too strong and took the win 78-75. JT Toppin collected 31 points and 13 rebounds while Christian Anderson recorded 19 points and six 3-pointers for Texas Tech. Arizona fought until the end and put up a good fight with both Burries and Tobe Awaka scoring in double figures.
Because of these two back-to-back losses, Arizona took a fall in the AP rankings from No. 1 for nine consecutive weeks to No. 4 as they prepared to take on No. 23 BYU for the second time this season.
Arizona managed to get back in the winning column to close out the rest of their season taking on some familiar faces like BYU and No. 14 Kansas for the second time this season, as well as new ones. They took victories against No. 2 University of Houston, Baylor University, No. 6 Iowa State University and University of Colorado, Boulder to round out the season. They managed to get redemption against Kansas and avenge their first loss of the season with a 20+ point victory margin 84-61 at home.
They secured the Big 12 regular-season title and earned the No. 1 seed heading into the Big 12 Tournament.
Big 12 Champions
After the Wildcats closed out their conference season against Boulder with another victory, they looked towards the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. Arizona was the No. 1 seed and automatically advanced to the quarterfinals, where they took on No. 8 seed UCF. It was a clean sweep victory 81-59 to advance to the semifinals.
In the semifinals, they faced No. 5 seed Iowa State for the second time this season. Bradley cemented his name as the Big 12 Player of the Year after shooting a 3-pointer buzzer-beater to win the game and send Arizona to the finals. The Wildcats won 82-80 in a crazy finale.
Arizona faced No. 2 seed Houston in the finals of the Big 12 Tournament before stamping their ticket to the NCAA Tournament after a close win 79-74. This was the first time that Arizona has won the Big 12 Championship title since joining the conference back in 2024.
March Madness
Because of their pure dominance throughout the season and the Big 12 Tournament, Arizona was the No. 1 seed in the western region for the NCAA Tournament. All of Tucson buzzed with excitement over the start of the tournament, and most people made their brackets with Arizona taking the victory at the end of it all.
They headed down to San Diego for the first round of the tournament, where they played against No. 16 seed Long Island University. They took their first victory of the tournament with over a 30-point margin.
Later that weekend, Arizona advanced to play No. 9 seed Utah State University to finish out their weekend in San Diego. This was another victory to add to Arizona’s roster with the Wildcats’ winning 78-66.
Arizona returned home to Tucson, where they were greeted by loving fans showing their support upon their arrival to McKale Center at ALKEME Arena. They had a quick turnaround, though, as they were headed up to San Jose for the second round of the tournament. That Thursday, they took on No. 4 seed University of Arkansas in the Sweet 16.
In this matchup, Arizona showed strong offense with both Burries and Peat scoring 21 points, Kharchenkov scoring 15 and Bradley, Awaka and Motiejus Krivas tallying 14 points each. The Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight after a 109-88 victory over Arkansas. This was their first appearance in the Elite Eight since 2015.
The Elite Eight matchup was against No. 2 seed Purdue University. Arizona got off to a slow start, letting Purdue take the lead for the majority of the first half and going into halftime. The Wildcats made a strong comeback in the second half to come out with the 79-64 victory taking them to the Final Four for the first time since 2001.
Arizona was heading to Indianapolis for the Final Four where they were set to play the No. 1 midwestern seed University of Michigan. Arizona fans migrated to the midwest to support their Wildcats as they ended the 25 year drought since they had played in the Final Four. Unfortunately, this game did not go as the Wildcats had hoped. They were unable to find their rhythm against Michigan’s tough defensive strategy with their strong offense and high shooting percentage.
Arizona fell to Michigan 91-73 in the Final Four round of the NCAA Tournament. Though they did not win it all after a very tough game, this does not diminish everything this team has done this season and everything they have done for the Arizona basketball program. This team will stand as one of the greats and did the Arizona and Tucson community proud on the national stage.
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