Arizona State Representative Leezah Sun (D-Avondale) resigned from her seat on Wednesday after the release of a report by the Arizona House Ethics Committee this week, which determined she repeatedly leveraged her position to intimidate other government officials, threatened to kill a government official, and interfered in a court-ordered child custody transfer using a badge with her legislative title printed on it.
Sun (pictured above) resigned just one day after ethics committee members, including State Representatives Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale), Travis Grantham (R-Gilbert), Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), Christopher Mathis (D-Tuscon) and Jennifer Longdon (D-Phoenix), made their report public.
Through its investigation, the committee determined Sun “levied a death threat toward the Tolleson official while acting in her official capacity as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives,” “misused her title and position as a state representative when she knowingly prevented the execution of a lawful court order” when interfering in a transfer of children according to a child custody agreement to which she was not a party, and threatened to use her elected position to investigate a school superintendent over political disagreements.
Regarding the purported death threat, the committee determined Sun said she would “smack” City of Tolleson Chief Government Affairs Officer Pilar Sinawi ” in the face and throw her off this balcony to kill her” if she saw her at a public meeting.
In total, the report included 14 different exhibits, which led the representatives to conclude, “Sun engaged in a pattern of inappropriate behavior in her official capacity and under the color of her office as a state representative,” which “constitutes disorderly behavior in violation of Rule 1 of the Arizona House of Representatives.”
A House document reveals Rule 1 allows the House to “punish its members for disorderly behavior,” with punishments including expulsion if two-thirds of the House agree.
The Arizona House Democrats released a statement expressing gratitude to the ethics committee “for its diligent, intensive and transparent work on this report,” as well as the witnesses who contributed to its creation.
“The facts are overwhelmingly clear and speak for themselves, Representative Sun engaged in a pattern of disorderly behavior that damaged the reputation of the House,” said the Arizona House Democrats. They also called her resignation a “solemn day.”
Party leadership insisted that “Sun did what’s best for our state and for the integrity of this body” when resigning.
In an unrelated resignation, Longdon also announced she would leave the Arizona House of Representatives, effective Friday, and will instead be pursuing a job opportunity in health policy.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
is mental illness a requirement for a democrat rep?
So is she going to jail for her threats!