US Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Tucson) says his Democratic opponent got rich as a lobbyist before running against him in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District. JoAnna Mendoza’s own financial filings tell a different story.
In a July 8 interview with the conservative radio show Live The Dream Media, Ciscomani accused Mendoza of being a millionaire through her consulting work.
“Not a lot of people know about her. She worked for Tom O’Halleran’s office for a while, but then she went on and just did lobbying, successfully, I would say, so became a millionaire lobbying, doing all that. And then she decided to run for office,” Ciscomani said.
But, is that true?
Conservative outlets first accused Mendoza of the claim after reviewing Mendoza’s 2025 Personal Financial Disclosure (PFD), a form candidates must file listing their financial ties. In it, Mendoza disclosed owning a stake worth between $1 million and $5 million in Radar Strategies, the political consulting firm she worked before running for Congress.
A year later, Mendoza filed an amended disclosure that lowered that figure dramatically. She wrote that she was a partner at the firm from February 2024 to April 2025 and forfeited ownership stake back to partners when she left. The amended filing values her stake at $50,001 and $100,000.
It’s common for first-time congressional candidates to make filing errors during a congressional run. In guidance from the House Ethics Committee, candidates are encouraged to amend disclosure statements in the event of a mistake or to disclose information previously not known. The guidance describes these errors as an ordinary part of the process, with amending the most common way filers correct them.
The 2026 disclosure also lists a college fund for her 10-year-old son, a $1-$1,000 stake in Poderoza Strategies, and a rental property in Tucson.
So, is Mendoza a millionaire?
According to the PFD, far from it. Mendoza’s net worth can be calculated as much as $309,996 in debt to $335,998 in assets. That modest financial picture may explain why Mendoza draws a salary from her campaign – a decision that has also drawn criticism from conservative media and Republican staffers.
Per her 2026 candidate financial disclosure, Mendoza reported receiving $35,602.50 in salary from her campaign committee, Mendoza for Congress, from Jan. 1, 2025, through May 15, 2026.
Taking a campaign salary isn’t unusual. A 2023 rule change by the Federal Election Commission (FEC allows candidates to pay themselves — a policy meant to let “ordinary working-class Americans” run for office without financial barriers, said Shana M. Broussard, a Democratic member of the FEC.
Mendoza’s team says the numbers don’t tell the full story.
Mendoza doesn’t come from money. As a child, she’d wake up at 4 a.m. in the summer to wait with her parents at a gas station for a bus to drive them to cotton fields, where they would pick cotton to make ends meet. She told The New York Times she rode her pink bike to the grocery store, using food stamps to get her family’s groceries. At 17, she enlisted in the US Navy to escape poverty; she later joined the US Marine Corps serving a combined 20 years across both branches.
Campaign spokesperson Kyle McCarthy defended the decision in a statement, saying it makes it possible for everyday people to run for Congress.
“Like most Americans, JoAnna can’t afford not to work – especially as Juan Ciscomani votes to raise costs on families at every turn. FEC policy allows candidates to take a salary while campaigning, which makes it possible for people with real lived experiences like JoAnna to run for office, serve their communities, and actually represent working class families.”
