On the day of Congressman Raul Grijalva’s passing last March, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes sent $8,704 to a now-terminated political action committee run by one of Arizona’s biggest dark-money handlers.
Fontes sent the funds through Strong Democracy Foundation, his nonprofit, to Democracy’s Future, a political action committee that Dacey Montoya took over in January 2025 — treasurer to Gov. Katie Hobbs’ reelection campaign, along with a slew of other dark money-laden political action committees.
Fontes’ nonprofit, Strong Democracy Foundation, described its organizational mission as “working together and across movements to grow historically marginalized communities’ civic engagement” in its latest and only available tax filing, which was filed last November for the 2024 fiscal year.
A few days after those funds were sent, Fontes publicly announced his interest in taking over Grijalva’s seat. Although that interest would prove short-lived, his involvement with the political action committee would not.
The funds didn’t just go one way between Fontes’ nonprofit and the PAC run by Democrats’ top dark money handler.
From March through November 2025, Democracy’s Future paid Fontes nearly $60,000 for consulting and more than $3,000 in reimbursements for lodging and travel.
Fontes did not disclose this consulting gig in his financial disclosure statement for 2025. Instead, he described the nature of his services as that of an attorney.
Fontes has also not disclosed his role as the director of Strong Democracy Foundation in his financial disclosure statements covering 2023, 2024, or 2025, though Arizona Corporation Commission records reflect that he has been director of the nonprofit since its date of formation in 2023.
The secretary listed the address of his prior law firm, Dessaules Law Group (7243 N. 16th St. Phoenix, AZ 85020), as the address for contacting him.
The website for Democracy’s Future — still active as of this report despite its filer profile listed as “inactive” with the Secretary of State’s office — lists its mission as “target extremists.”
“We support campaigns and coordinate with groups to effectively hamstring the agendas of right-wing fanatics seeking office. We take our fight to every medium to ensure Democracy is protected,” states the PAC website.
The PAC also discloses on its website that it targets “low-propensity and swing voters” through advertising campaigns.
Since Montoya took over at the start of 2025, the PAC has paid about $70,000 to Nexus Strategy Group in Phoenix for communications production, consulting, and mailing services.
It has also paid more than $4,000 to Organic Garment Care, a dry cleaning business, written off as travel expenses; $370 for Arizona Diamondbacks seats, written off as seat sponsorships; $182 for car washes, written off as travel expenses; $170 for a grocery delivery service; $972 for travel expenses to Las Vegas; $2,774 for mobile auto repair; $131 for gas; $330 for live music tickets at a venue in Utah; $368 in gym memberships.
The PAC also appeared to pay more than $6,000 for individual or group meals that were not classified as catering for events, including more than $400 for a fine dining excursion at Cathedrale Restaurant in New York City, and more than $300 for a fine dining excursion at Karravaan in Washington, D.C.
In recent months leading up to the PAC’s termination (from September 2025 through March 2026), the PAC paid $3,215 to Verizon for “utilities.”
Montoya’s firm, The Money Wheel, received $52,560 for “compliance consulting.”
This more recent arrangement with Democracy’s Future PAC appears to reflect Fontes’ mastery of multitasking his elected obligations with his political ones.
The day that Fontes’ nonprofit was incorporated in 2023, Fontes had hired Gov. Katie Hobbs’ dismissed staffer, C. Murphy Hebert, and his equipment certification advisory committee had met to conduct testing on Arizona’s electronic voting system.
And in 2024, Fontes’ nonprofit reported $400,000 in revenue. Although it did not disclose its list of contributors, a separate filing by another nonprofit, the Institute for Responsive Government, reported that it gave Strong Democracy Foundation the $400,000 for “general support.”
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