A Democratic state representative also serving as the president of the Tolleson Union High School District Governing Board is under investigation for alleged sexual harassment toward the district’s superintendent and creating a hostile work environment. 

The school district has hired an outside firm to investigate the allegations against Rep. Elda, Luna-Nájera, D-Tolleson, the board’s vice president Kino Flores said during a board meeting Tuesday night. 

District Superintendent Jeremy Calles said he filed a sexual harassment and hostile work environment complaint against Luna-Nájera, 12News reported on Friday. The board held a meeting Friday to consider Calles’ contract and he told the station he believed Luna-Nájera was retaliating against him for rejecting her advances and he believed she tried to get the board to terminate his position as superintendent.

“At no point has the board considered terminating the superintendent’s employment,” Flores said Tuesday. “That has never been on the table.”

The board’s Friday emergency meeting only had one agenda item the board members discussed in executive session, which was Calles’ employment. 

Luna-Nájera didn’t respond to requests for comment after Tuesday’s meeting. Calles told The Arizona Capitol Times he was unable to comment further on the matter while it is under investigation.

Calles told 12News on Friday that Luna-Nájera had made advances towards him from December to April. He called on her to resign. 

Two school board members of Littleton Elementary School District also called for Luna-Nájera’s resignation. Board members Markus Ceniceros and Rachel Barnett wrote a letter to the board Monday and expressed their concern with the “troubling” allegations against Luna-Nájera. 

“The misuse of power for personal gain, especially in a manner that creates a toxic environment, is unbecoming of someone in Dr. Luna-Nájera’s positions. It erodes trust in district leadership and sets a harmful example for our students,” Ceniceros and Barnett wrote in their letter. 

Ceniceros managed former state Rep. Leezah Sun’s campaign for state Senate during the primary 2024 primary election. Sun resigned from the House after the House Ethics Committee determined she threatened a lobbyist with the city of Tolleson and Luna Najera was appointed in February to the seat Sun vacated representing Legislative District 22. 

Barnett was also involved in a child custody dispute in which Sun improperly intervened in June 2023. Sun allegedly attempted to prevent the transfer of the children per a court order and Barnett was the mother in the case.

Barnett told The Arizona Republic in November that she spoke to Sun on the day of the transfer but did not ask her to intervene. 

Luna-Najera recently won her primary race to advance to the general election for a House seat in LD22 along with House Minority Leader Lupe Contrearas, D-Avondale. Luna-Nájera beat the runner-up in the race, Betsy Munoz, by about 2% of the votes. 

LD22 leans heavily toward Democrats and is not in the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission’s competitive range. 

“We know the integrity of this investigation is critical to our teachers, to our staff, to our parents and to the community that we serve,” Flores said. “We have reached no conclusion regarding the allegations. We will not rush to judgment and we have resolved to consider all information available and get all facts. Only then, will we take action.”