Richard Corles

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Richard Corles

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Liverpool, 1967

Graduate

Hatfield Polytechnic College, 1974

Personal

Religion

Protestant

Profession

Consultant

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

Richard Corles (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Arizona House of Representatives to represent District 3. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Corles completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Richard Corles was born in Birmingham, England. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Liverpool in 1967 and a graduate degree from Hatfield Polytechnic College in 1974. His career experience includes working as a consultant, engineering manager, and wine distributor. He has been affiliated with the LD3 DEMS, the Black Mountain Democrats, the Foothills Democrats, the Fountain Hills Democratic Club, and the North Scottsdale Democrats.

Elections

2024

See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 3 (2 seats)

Incumbent Joseph Chaplik and incumbent Alexander Kolodin defeated Richard Corles in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 3 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joseph Chaplik (R)	39.4	93,596
✔		Alexander Kolodin (R)	37.3	88,693
		Richard Corles (D)	23.3	55,372

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 237,661
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 3 (2 seats)

Richard Corles advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 3 on July 30, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Richard Corles	100.0	18,040

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 18,040
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 3 (2 seats)

Incumbent Joseph Chaplik and incumbent Alexander Kolodin advanced from the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 3 on July 30, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joseph Chaplik	53.9	37,876
✔		Alexander Kolodin	46.1	32,368

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 70,244
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Corles in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Richard Corles completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Corles' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in Birmingham, England, an industrial city, where I played rugby and loved technology and science at an early age. I studied at the University of Liverpool and graduated with a degree in Mathematics. I went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Control Engineering. In 1975 my work at Honeywell moved from England to Arizona. For the first time in my life I was surrounded by sunshine year round! It made an impact and I planted roots here.

When I wasn’t working on engineering the latest products, I volunteered and got involved in the local soccer scene. I promoted girls’ soccer throughout the valley and strengthened their teamwork skills; something that would benefit them throughout their lives. In 1986 I became a United States citizen to contribute to my new country, community and home. After working on various products for industrial control with Honeywell for 30 years, my wife and I started a wine distributorship and together we ran it for 20 years. We grew from just us to a team of over a dozen. We ran the entire business, from sales and deliveries to vendor and client relations.

Laurie and I live in the Town of Cave Creek. When we moved here in 2003, I started working the polls for Maricopa County, filling all the various roles, including poll Inspector (the manager of the poll). I had helped at polling stations in England, this continued my fervor for democracy and its processes. I know how our elections run and believe in the results of our elections.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Women's Reproductive Freedom: I am hopeful that the Abortion Access Petition will pass, taking this out of the hands of the legislature. If not I will pursue bills to codify the AAP amendment.
• Education: Public education needs to be fully funded and voucher access curtailed, limited to families with financial need.
• Democracy: We need to repeal the various laws that have been or may be enacted that make voting more difficult and less accessible.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Affordable Housing: There are problems for the young and old. The young cannot afford to buy a house. The old, perhaps living on social security, may not be able to afford to rent or maintain a place to live. For first time buyers, providing assistance is being tried. For the elderly, rent subsidies are one way to help. For the more general population I would encourage towns, cities and
counties to include affordable housing within their boundaries. These are needed for service and government workers who otherwise are forced to commute long distances. The benefits of having a local workforce are: a reduction in carbon emissions from the commuting, a reduction in parking needs for commuters and better worker morale.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Isaac Newton. Based on work done by astronomers, that defined the motion of the planets, he developed the theory of gravity. I don't think it was the apple falling on his head! Along the way, he developed calculus and the laws of motion. Given what was understood prior, these were galactic leaps.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, transparency, accountability to constituents, open minded, fair, consensus builder, team builder.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

As a facilitator, I have developed the skills of using civility and fact-based problem solving, both of which
are needed at the State House.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Dialogue and consensus building with voters of all political parties and persuasions. Cooperation with and among all levels of government.

What legacy would you like to leave?

When I leave office, I would like people to ask themselves "What would Richard have done?"

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. I was 7 years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked on a bottling line at a brewery for six weeks between finishing high school and going to university.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Ipcress File by Len Deighton. He was quite prescient about the end of the cold war as a backdrop and recognized that all the characters saw things slightly differently.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

"In My Life" by the Beatles. The line "I often stop 'n' think about it" is the earworm.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

I believe that there should be a continuous dialogue to avoid the game playing by the current legislature.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Water, education, air quality, affordable housing.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

No. However, it is up to voters to decide whether they prefer experience over new ideas.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Absolutely. Nothing gets done without building a consensus between legislators - of both parties.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Winston Churchill

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

My aspirations do not go beyond the Arizona State House, though this does include being a State Senator.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

I did hear from a 9-11 call response operator who had worked for 20 years in this very stressful job. Though retired, she was unable to get health insurance or to survive on her pension.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson went on a camping trip in the Grand Canyon. After a good meal and a bottle of wine they lay down for the night, and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars.” "But what does that tell you?" persisted Holmes. Watson pondered for a minute. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?" Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke. "Watson, you idiot. Someone
has stolen our tent."

Should the legislature oversee or grant the use of emergency powers?

I agree that the legislature should be involved in the granting of emergency powers. However, for a true emergency, attempting to oversee every action by the governor is not appropriate. The governor is our elected leader and designated quarterback in emergency situations.

What is the first bill you would introduce if elected?

Amend the voucher legislation to limit giving money to people with household incomes over $100k.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

314 ACTION

AZ NOW PAC
AFSCME
American Promise
Arizona AFL-CIO

Also check my website for late breaking endorsements

https://www.richardcorles.com/feedback

What committees interest you?

Health and Human Services, Education, Elections. These line up with my principal interests, which are based on the most urgent needs in Arizona.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

I am a moderate Democrat, which includes fiscal responsibility. This means proposals have to be grounded in reality within the budget.

Do you support or oppose changes to the current state ballot initiative process? If so, what kind of changes would you consider?

The ballot initiatives that originate in the House of Representatives and Senate should be subject to approval by the Governor. Such a process would be subject to the same veto and override rules as any other legislation.
The ballot initiatives that originate with collection of signatures is sufficiently difficult today. Further hurdles are not needed.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Richard Corles campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Arizona House of Representatives District 3	Lost general	$49,405	$49,405
Grand total			$49,405	$49,405
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2024 Elections

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Candidate

Arizona House of Representatives District 3

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Arizona House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Steve Montenegro

Majority Leader:Michael Carbone

Minority Leader:Oscar De Los Santos

Representatives

District 1

Selina Bliss (R)

Quang Nguyen (R)

District 2

Stephanie Simacek (D)

Justin Wilmeth (R)

District 3

Joseph Chaplik (R)

Alexander Kolodin (R)

District 4

Pamela Carter (R)

Matt Gress (R)

District 5

Sarah Liguori (D)

Aaron Marquez (D)

District 6

Mae Peshlakai (D)

Myron Tsosie (D)

District 7

Walter Blackman (R)

David Marshall (R)

District 8

Janeen Connolly (D)

Brian Garcia (D)

District 9

Lorena Austin (D)

Seth Blattman (D)

District 10

Ralph Heap (R)

Justin Olson (R)

District 11

Junelle Cavero (D)

Oscar De Los Santos (D)

District 12

Patricia Contreras (D)

Anastasia Travers (D)

District 13

Jeff Weninger (R)

Julie Willoughby (R)

District 14

Laurin Hendrix (R)

Khyl Powell (R)

District 15

Neal Carter (R)

Michael Way (R)

District 16

Chris Lopez (R)

Teresa Martinez (R)

District 17

Rachel Keshel (R)

Kevin Volk (D)

District 18

Nancy Gutierrez (D)

Christopher Mathis (D)

District 19

Lupe Diaz (R)

Gail Griffin (R)

District 20

Alma Hernandez (D)

Betty Villegas (D)

District 21

Consuelo Hernandez (D)

Stephanie Stahl Hamilton (D)

District 22

Lupe Contreras (D)

Elda Luna-Nájera (D)

District 23

Michele Pena (R)

Mariana Sandoval (D)

District 24

Anna Abeytia (D)

Lydia Hernandez (D)

District 25

Michael Carbone (R)

Nick Kupper (R)

District 26

Cesar Aguilar (D)

Quantá Crews (D)

District 27

Lisa Fink (R)

Tony Rivero (R)

District 28

David Livingston (R)

Beverly Pingerelli (R)

District 29

Steve Montenegro (R)

James Taylor (R)

District 30

Leo Biasiucci (R)

John Gillette (R)

Republican Party (33)

Democratic Party (27)