Heather Rooks

Heather Rooks

Republican Party

Candidate, Arizona House of Representatives District 28

Peoria Unified School District, At-large

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

3

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Next election

July 21, 2026

Personal

Birthplace

Arizona

Religion

Christian

Heather Rooks is an at-large member of the Peoria Unified School District in Arizona. She assumed office on January 1, 2023. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Rooks (Republican Party) is running for election to the Arizona House of Representatives to represent District 28. She declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on July 21, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Heather Rooks was born in Arizona. She attended Glendale Community College.

Elections

2026

See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on July 21, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 28 (2 seats)

Barbara Fike (D) and Marc Graham (D) are running in the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 28 on July 21, 2026.

		Candidate
		Barbara Fike
	Submit photo	Marc Graham

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 28 (2 seats)

Incumbent David Livingston (R), incumbent Beverly Pingerelli (R), and Heather Rooks (R) are running in the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 28 on July 21, 2026.

		Candidate
		David Livingston
		Beverly Pingerelli
		Heather Rooks

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2022

See also: Peoria Unified School District, Arizona, elections (2022)

General election

General election for Peoria Unified School District, At-large (2 seats)

Heather Rooks and Melissa Ewing defeated Devon Updegraff-Day in the general election for Peoria Unified School District, At-large on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Heather Rooks (Nonpartisan)	36.4	42,442
✔		Melissa Ewing (Nonpartisan)	32.9	38,324
	Submit photo	Devon Updegraff-Day (Nonpartisan)	30.2	35,223
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	579

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 116,568
= 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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Endorsements

To view Rooks' endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Heather Rooks has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Heather Rooks, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

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2022

Heather Rooks completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rooks' responses.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Heather Rooks is a wife, mother of four children and Co-Creator of West Valley Parents Uniting in Arizona. Heather grew up in the Peoria Unified School District and is a proud graduate of Sunrise Mountain High School. Before becoming a wife and mother, she spent 3 years at Glendale Community College studying for an education degree. Heather started this journey when her autistic child was denied a mask exemption at school. From there, Heather met Devon Updegraff-Day and together they have spent the last year advocating for children’s education along with parental rights. Heather has attended board meetings in the Peoria Unified School District and she has found a way through public records to share the truth. Through this journey, she has met many parents who have also joined together to stand up for their own children’s education and choices. Her husband, Aaron Rooks and her family are supporting her candidacy for Peoria Unified School Board Member in the 2022 election. Together Heather Rooks and Devon Updegraff-Day will bring back academics, transparency and partnership with parents.

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?

• For the past three years I have been asking for information and questions to which answers should be readily available and yet are not. I witnessed parents trying to stand up for their parental rights in education to later be ridiculed for doing so. I was done listening to excuses and not having any resolutions. It is time for a board that listens to parents. I will stand up for student's academic education in Peoria Unified. I will stand up for parental rights, transparency and accountability.
• Academic performance is our biggest challenge. Overall, more than half of our students in PUSD are only partially or minimal proficient in language skills (ELA) (58%; pre-Covid 55%) and Math (64%; pre-Covid 52%). It seems like the longer a student stays in PUSD schools, the lower their performance — ELA 3rd grade 58%, 10th grade 66%; Math 3rd 57%, 10th 64% are only minimally or partially proficient. This is unacceptable to our parents, taxpayers and many legislators funding the system. We must support the students with their academic needs and work with the parents who are wanting support for their child. We need to bring in more classroom support like tutors and teacher assistants.
• This is a crucial time right now for Peoria Unified students who need academic support and parents who are wanting their rights to be protected. We have parents who ask for help because of what’s happening to their children in certain classrooms. We have employees who reach out to us for concerns of the way the Peoria Unified School District is headed. Many teachers have left because of the forced ideology by the district onto the teachers. There are two seats open this coming November and the only way we can save the children’s academic future, protect the parent’s rights and support the employees is if Devon Updegraff-Day and myself are both voted for on the ballot this election.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

In Arizona we have the Parental Bill of Rights, and I am a huge advocate for parent's rights. Parents know what is best for their child and that needs to be honored in the Peoria Unified School District. After this year, parents have realized Peoria Unified School District needs to restore the trust that has been broken. I have so many inspiring memories from growing up in the Peoria Unified School District. My learning experience was knowledgeable, memorable and I wanted the same experience for my own children.
Children these past two years have suffered tremendous learning loss due to unnecessary school closures and online learning. Peoria Unified School District has repeatedly shown their main focus is how their school's "look". This needs to change for our children's future. We can accomplish this by focusing on the core academics - Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Science and History. That is how students remain first. Curriculum Transparency has been a difficult concept for the Peoria Unified School District. Parents shouldn't have to jump through hoops to find out what their children are learning. State Standards, Curriculum, Online Resources, Textbooks, Library books and the SchoolNet Teacher Portal has to be easily accessible for parents to view. We need to have a better process of resource approval for classrooms. I will make sure to hold the district accountable for our staff, parents and community.

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

Family is everything to me. I look up to a lot of my family members who have wisdom, courage and advice. My mom has always taught me to have courage and be kind. She raised my sister and I to have respect for our Country and be thankful for what we have. So, I instill those values into my children with my Husband. I also look up to my grandmother who was a teacher and loved teaching me about History. Her excitement and joy when teaching her grandkids about the History of our Country and the world was always rememberable to me. My husband is a great father to our 4 children, and I look up to him often. His adventurous and outgoing personality inspires me to open up more when meeting new people. And the last person I look up to is my cousin who lives up North in Show low, Arizona. I know I can always call her up and she will listen to anything I am needing advice on. Her wisdom and courage are the examples I would like to learn from. I don't necessarily want to be a follower. I would like to be a leader and I think looking up to my family members I mentioned above will help guide me to better help the Peoria Unified students, parents, staff and community.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

"Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of

freedom"
2nd President of
The United States of America

John Adams

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

Integrity, Transparency and Courage are the most important principle to me as an elected official.

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

I was attending Frontier Elementary when September 11th happened, and it was the most horrific thing I remember as a kid. My mother had picked up my sister and I from school when it happened, and the school was crowded with parents getting their kids. We watched the news and our mother explained what had happened. I couldn't understand why anyone could hurt so many people and attack our country. I loved our country as a child and teach my kids about loving our country. My husband and I will make sure our children know of what happened on 9/11 because it's important to understand how awful that day was.

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

My first job I started as a hostess at age 16 at Top Shelf Mexican Restaurant. I worked there through high school and college about 9 years. I worked my way up to server.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

According to state statute, the elected governing board responsibilities include hiring and firing the superintendent, approving the district budget, and approving policy and contracts.

Who are your constituents?

The Peoria Unified School District voters

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

By providing an academic education and bringing in more support of areas that students are struggling in.

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

I believe the staff we need to hire should be based off of their ability to teach in the classroom or how they take on leadership roles.

What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?

The district has focused too long on thinking they are responsible to raise the child. The focus needs to be brought back to an academic education and leave the parenting to the parents. This has been in the way of a quality education the Peoria Unified students need.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

I would love to see more technical training and partnerships for apprenticeships. We need to create more opportunities for the students in Peoria Unified. I would also like to focus on reading levels for the younger grade levels with an emphasis on phonics and reading interventionists. I would also like to bring in more traditional learning and getting back to the basics.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

By holding the administration accountable and stop the insane amount of overspending. The legislature supports public education through funding which it has increased by approximately $600 million this last legislative session but it never reaches the classrooms to help the students or teachers.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

I will work on providing SRO officers to all schools in the Peoria Unified School District. We need to ensure students are protected and parents want to know that their child is safe at school. SRO officers are trained professionals and will provide the security schools need for the children.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

I believe the mental health needs to be addressed with involving the parents and suggesting to them outside resources that can help. The role of a school is to provide an education.

What are your views on how to address schooling during pandemic times?

I saw the horrible effects of closing down schools did to children and their academic education. I will not support closing down schools, quarantines or masking of children.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

We need to have more opportunities to bring parents to the table and listen to their ideas. I would like as a board member to have monthly meetings with parents who want to be more involved in the district.

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Campaign finance summary

Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.

See also

2026 Elections

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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

Alexander Kolodin (R)

Cody Reim (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)