Axon Spent Big in Scottsdale and Lost Anyway: Dissecting a Failure

By Alexander Lomax

Scottsdale voters just handed Axon a lesson in the limits of money. By unofficial results, Michelle Ugenti-Rita and Barry Graham won the two open council seats. Raoul Zubia finished third. For the company and its allies, that was the worst case scenario, and it happened anyway.

The Warning Signs Were There

We saw this coming. In June, TAAAZE put Axon on notice over its election spending. Weeks later, we traced the Better Together PAC to its Axon-linked officers. Its chairman is an Axon lobbyist. Its treasurer is a former Axon spokesman. The same two ran an earlier PAC that took roughly $1.1 million from Axon and its executives.

Axon CEO Rick Smith. Photo Credit: Jim Poulin, Phoenix Business Journal

Better Together then spent more than $200,000 attacking Graham, Ugenti-Rita and Bob Littlefield. Every dollar came from a Virginia super PAC. Axon insists it was not directly involved, and filings never tied the money to the company. However, the pattern was hard to miss.

Pressure and Probes

Moreover, the tactics left a mark. Petition organizers accused Axon of intimidation during the referendum drive. A former planning commissioner said pressure landed on his private employer after he voted no. Then came the “Bye Bye Barry” signs. Finally, state officials found a reasonable likelihood that Better Together broke disclosure rules, and the Attorney General is reviewing the case. No wrongdoing has been determined.

Everything Lined Up, and It Still Failed

Consider what Axon’s side had. Zubia ran a tough campaign, and he led on election night. A Democratic tsunami rolled across Arizona. The plan was simple: back one candidate and hope conservatives split their ballots.

They did not. Graham and Ugenti-Rita finished 47 votes apart, with Zubia about 2,150 behind Graham. That margin is narrow. Even so, it came under the best conditions Axon could have asked for. Voters appear to have sorted by development, not by wave. A Data Orbital poll had warned the company about this exact opposition in early 2025.

Where Axon Goes From Here

The approved deal stands at 600 apartments and 600 condos. However, Graham has said the goal was to install loyalists who would let Axon return with a fresh application for more. That door just got heavier. TAAAZE has promised to fight any upsizing, and its lawsuit over SB 1543 continues.

The smart move is to retreat from proxy politics. Build the approved headquarters. Make the case in daylight, under the company’s own name. A business can be Scottsdale’s champion or its biggest campaign donor, but it cannot be both. Money bought Axon plenty of ads. It did not buy a single trusting voter.

Graham and Ugenti-Rita took on the bully and won. Kudos to them and the message it sends for the foreseeable future.