Arizona AG Mayes’ Office Reportedly Paid Campaign Consultant Nearly $248,000 Through No-Bid Contract

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office reportedly paid longtime political consultant Stacey Champion nearly $248,000 through a no-bid public-relations contract beginning shortly after Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes took office.

The Arizona Daily Independent reported that Mayes’ office entered the agreement with Champion approximately one month after Mayes began her term in January 2023.

Under the original contract, Champion received $10,000 per month to perform at least 80 hours of work involving public relations, research, consulting, and report writing. Extensions increased the compensation to $15,000 per month and required Champion to perform at least 120 hours of work each month, according to records described by ADI.

Champion earned nearly $248,000 during the approximately two-year agreement, which ended in January 2025. The Attorney General’s Office entered a separate project-based consulting arrangement with Champion the following month, according to the report.

The most recent purchase order identified in the report showed that the Attorney General’s Office paid Champion $5,000 for consulting and event-planning services performed between February and early March 2025.

Champion also received approximately $67,800 from Mayes’ political committee for consulting work during 2023 and 2025, according to Arizona Secretary of State campaign-finance records cited by ADI.

Those expenditures included payments of approximately $25,000 in January 2023, $18,000 in March 2023, $18,000 in April 2025 and $5,000 in July 2025. The January and March 2023 payments came around the beginning of Champion’s state contract, while the two 2025 payments followed its conclusion.

Arizona Mirror identifies Champion as the owner of Champion PR + Consulting, and her company’s website describes her experience in communications, public relations, public affairs, marketing and consulting. The Tennessee Star reported in September 2022 that Champion was working as a public-relations consultant for Mayes’ campaign for attorney general.

Champion has also been involved in environmental, sustainability and utility-rate advocacy. Her professional biography identifies previous service with progressive groups including Sustainable Arizona, ProgressNow Arizona and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, while her company describes its work as promoting businesses, people, causes and events through public relations and community connections.

Republican Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, who is challenging Mayes in the November general election, publicized the reported contract and accused the attorney general of directing taxpayer money to a friend and political consultant.

Petersen said Champion’s work for the Attorney General’s Office involved energy policies similar to those Mayes supported during her tenure on the Arizona Corporation Commission. In a separate post on X, he said taxpayers deserved an explanation for the arrangement.

Press release: Kris Mayes gave close friend and political consultant Stacey Champion nearly $250,000 of taxpayer money in no-bid contract. Taxpayers deserve to know why. pic.twitter.com/7RH6MEkKlu

— Warren Petersen (@votewarren) September 1, 2026

“Kris Mayes has built an unmistakable culture of politicization and corruption at the Attorney General’s Office,” Petersen said in the press release posted to X. “After taking office, Mayes gave her close friend a sweetheart deal at taxpayers’ expense to help advance the same costly energy agenda she pursued on the Corporation Commission: higher rates and expensive mandates for Arizona families. Voters across this great state are disgusted with the way Mayes has politicized her office, and they are demanding change. I will serve the interests of all Arizonans-not just those who support radical left-wing policies that belong nowhere near our state.”

Public records do not identify the procurement exception or written justification used by the Attorney General’s Office, and the contracts have not been released publicly.

As of this report, no finding has been released stating that the agreements violated Arizona procurement law.