Debbie Lesko’s pension would increase six-fold if she serves a term as county supervisor

Retiring U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko would take a pay cut if she wins election to Maricopa County’s Board of Supervisors, but the job could significantly boost her finances in the long run.

Lesko, R-Ariz., already is a member of Arizona’s retirement plan for elected officials from her time in the state Legislature, where she served in the state House of Representatives and the state Senate before winning election to Congress in 2018.

Arizona’s former elected officials’ pensions are determined based on their salary and time in office. For Lesko, who joined the Legislature before 2012, the formula is calculated using her highest average salary over 36 consecutive months, and how long she has served.

Lesko made $24,000 as a state lawmaker and served for nine years. That means she is set to receive a pension of $720 per month, or $8,640 per year, before taxes.

That figure could be six times higher if Lesko is successful in her bid for the Board of Supervisors.

Maricopa County supervisors currently make a significantly higher salary of around $76,600. Starting in January 2025, when Lesko would take office, their pay will increase to $96,600.

At that salary level, after serving one four-year term as a supervisor, Lesko would be entitled to about $4,200 in monthly benefits, or about $50,000 per year.

Reached for comment, Lesko said in a written statement that she is running for the new post "so I can continue to help the same great people I have served while in Congress and the State Legislature."

Lesko is running to represent District 4 on the Board of Supervisors, a conservative-leaning area that stretches across the northwestern Valley, encompassing some of the same geographic area as her congressional district.

"Just like Governor (Katie) Hobbs and other former state legislators who move from getting paid $24,000 a year as a State Legislator to another position of public service, it is common for retirement benefits to increase accordingly," she wrote.

The boost to her pension could be significant compared to the retirement benefits of her job as a U.S. representative. According to a Congressional Research Service report, lawmakers in Lesko’s age group are eligible for a federal pension if they serve for at least 5 years. Lesko, who was initially elected in 2018 to replace the resigning Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., reached that threshold last year.

A rank-and-file lawmaker's salary of $174,000, and around seven years of service, would translate into a pension of around $12,000 per year, according to the CRS formula for lawmakers covered by the retirement plan after 2012.

Before she entered politics, Lesko’s life included bankruptcies, an abusive relationship, and multiple lawsuits for unpaid bills, an Arizona Republic investigation found in 2020. A financial disclosure Lesko filed last year pegs the total value of Lesko's assets in the range of roughly $1 million to $2.5 million.

Christian Palmer, communications director with the state’s pension funds, confirmed that she has not yet cashed out her pension, meaning that additional time in office and contributions made to her retirement account would in fact increase her retirement benefits.

Once a lower-profile post, the Board of Supervisors has in recent years become a flashpoint for discredited, Republican-led challenges to the integrity of U.S. elections, which are mostly operated at the county level.

Lesko announced her run for the seat in mid-February, days after the incumbent, Supervisor Clint Hickman, said he would not seek re-election.

Laura Gersony covers national politics for the Arizona Republic. Contact her at lgersony@gannett.com or 480-372-0389.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: County supervisor term would boost Lesko's state pension six-fold