JoAnna Mendoza wants voters in Arizona's 6th Congressional District to send her to Washington. Her official campaign Instagram account, meanwhile, was busy following OnlyFans models, accounts featuring sexually explicit content, and a collection of witchcraft and esoteric pages, until a reporter started asking questions.
The New York Post reported that Mendoza's campaign account, which boasts nearly 12,000 followers and follows 1,230 users, had trailed roughly a dozen accounts that regularly share sexually explicit material. Among them: OnlyFans creators who promised "an uncensored look into my life," a transgender socialist activist whose Instagram features BDSM gear and sex toys, and an account holder who maintains an 18-and-over Patreon page with adult imagery.
Once the Post began investigating and securing screenshots, Mendoza's account started quietly unfollowing some of those pages. The campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The Post identified several accounts by name. Carriejune Anne Bowlby and Shanin Blake, both OnlyFans users, were among the follows. Bowlby was unfollowed before press time. Blake was not. Nina Desoo, who runs an 18-plus Patreon account featuring adult imagery, also remained on the campaign's follow list as of the Post's reporting.
Then there was Brianna Westbrook, a transgender socialist activist who once served as a surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders. Westbrook's Instagram includes numerous posts with BDSM gear and sex toys, the Post reported. Mendoza's campaign account no longer appears to be following Westbrook, but only after the newspaper began its inquiry.
The pattern extended beyond adult content. Mendoza's campaign account also followed a string of witchcraft and esoteric pages. "Instant Witch" offers "beginner witch tips." "Mystic Primrose" bills itself as a "school for witches." "Eden Energy Medicine" reads "energy colors." "Crystal Spirit Readings" provides psychic readings. And "Sarah Elkhaldy, The Alchemist" purports to be a leader of the esoteric arts who instructs followers on how to "actualize our evolutionary potential."
Several of those witchcraft accounts were unfollowed before the Post contacted the campaign. The Alchemist page, however, remained on the follow list as of press time.
This is not some safely blue district where a candidate's social media habits are a curiosity and nothing more. Mendoza is running to unseat Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Republican first elected in 2023. The Cook Political Report rates Arizona's 6th Congressional District as a toss-up, one of just 18 toss-up House races in the 2026 midterm cycle.
Mendoza's biography reads like a candidate built for a competitive swing seat. She is a Marine veteran and former executive director of the Arizona Center for Economic Progress. She has worked in political consulting. On paper, the profile says "serious candidate."
The Instagram follow list tells a different story.
What makes this episode worse than a simple lapse in social media hygiene is the response, or, more precisely, the absence of one. The Post sent repeated requests for comment. The campaign said nothing. Not a word of explanation. Not a claim that an intern was responsible. Not even a boilerplate statement about reviewing account activity.
Instead, the campaign simply began unfollowing accounts. Some were dropped before the Post made contact. Others disappeared in the days that followed. A few remained. The selective cleanup suggests awareness without accountability, someone on the campaign knew the follows were a problem but chose to scrub quietly rather than address it publicly.
The open questions are obvious. Who manages Mendoza's official campaign Instagram? Did Mendoza herself follow these accounts, or did a staffer? How long had the campaign been trailing OnlyFans creators and witchcraft pages? The campaign's silence leaves voters to draw their own conclusions.
Campaigns are not private enterprises. An official campaign Instagram account is a public-facing tool meant to communicate a candidate's values, priorities, and judgment to voters. When that account follows a dozen sexually explicit content producers and a handful of witchcraft practitioners, it raises a fair question about the kind of judgment the candidate would bring to Congress.
Mendoza is asking swing voters in a competitive Arizona district to trust her with a seat in the House of Representatives. Those voters, many of them parents, churchgoers, veterans, and working families, deserve to know what their would-be representative's campaign was doing on social media while courting their support.
The fact that the campaign tried to clean up the mess only after a reporter noticed, and then refused to explain any of it, does not inspire confidence. Transparency is the minimum standard for a candidate seeking public office. Mendoza's campaign could not even clear that bar.
If you can't manage an Instagram account without following OnlyFans models and psychic readers, managing a congressional office might be a reach.
