LD5 Executive Board | Executive Officers

Gina Maloney
Chairwoman
My name is Gina Maloney, and I’m an Arizona native. I grew up in a small town near Prescott, Arizona, where I finished high school at Bradshaw Mountain High. I moved to Phoenix and completed my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Grand Canyon University. After graduating from college, I worked at Motorola for the next thirteen years, managing operations in the semiconductor industry and planning and development.
I have been married for twenty-three years and I’m the mom of two conservative teenagers who attend ASU. My husband and I started a pool safety barrier company almost twenty-three years ago. We install pool fencing and safety barriers for pools throughout the valley. We have donated many safety barriers in the Phoenix metro area and work with the Phoenix Fire Department’s Adopt-A-Fence program. Drowning prevention has always been one of our passions alongside our passion for country.
I’ve been a Christian and deeply conservative my entire life. I love building relationships. The most significant contribution I can make is at the grassroots level to help our endless fight to ensure we keep our freedoms. America is the best country on Earth, and I will continue to fight for our freedoms as our founding fathers did for us. As Ronald Reagan famously stated, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

J.R. Rightnowar
1st Vice-Chair
In 2014, I was asked to consider becoming a Precinct Committeeman, and after a few meetings I knew this was something I wanted to do. There have been so many opportunities to work on different projects, with candidates, organizations and a few campaigns. Colleen and I have been married for 31 years, and we have four amazing adult children. Since 1994, I have been in the lumber business. I enjoy working with a team that is driven to succeed and has fun.

Charlotte Perez
2nd Vice-Chair
Charlotte Perez moved to Arizona in February 2020 to become the first Field Administrator for Turning Point Action. In 2019, Turning Point Action launched their project Students for Trump and Charlotte helped spearhead grassroots activism across the country in battleground states. After 2020, TPA pivoted to Precinct Committeeman recruitment successfully recruiting hundreds of Precinct Committeemen. Charlotte was honored to be appointed the Secretary to the Arizona Young Republicans and work alongside Chairman Austin Smith to help take back Arizona from the ground up. Charlotte’s experience and passion for politics is the driving force behind her immense work ethic and strong-willed attitude.

Melanie Hutchings
Secretary
I’m Melanie Hutchings and I’ve lived in Phoenix for 38 years. A proud, lifelong Republican from a small town in northeast Indiana whose parents taught me the true value of constitutional conservativism. Like many others, I never had an interest in politics, but the 2020 election compelled me to get involved in some way. While attending a rally, someone asked me to be a precinct committeeman and I had no idea what that was or what it entailed. After researching the subject, I decided I would give it a try. I became an appointed PC of the Yucca precinct and now I serve as LD5 Secretary. After being a salesperson in the party rental industry for 26 years, I now work as a sales and operations coordinator for a national heavy equipment rental company. My interests are traveling/camping, hiking, reading, spending time with my four cats and all things 2A. I’m also the librarian for the Camelback Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I look forward to serving my district and being part of taking back our country. God bless Arizona!

Darren Clift
Treasurer
My involvement in the Arizona Republican Party can be traced back to when I read Senator Barry Goldwater’s autobiography in high school when I grew up in Northern California. Not only did he influence my political philosophy of individual liberty and defending the Constitution, but he also put Arizona on the map for me. In large part because of his legacy and positive influence on the state, our nation, and our party, I eventually chose to move to Arizona years later.
I eventually moved here in March 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and began to see how quickly the force of the State can infringe on individual rights in the name of public safety. I got involved with the Arizona Republican Liberty Caucus (“RLC”) in 2021 and later became a PC for the old LD 24. In 2022, I was nominated and approved to be treasurer of both RLC and LD 5 after redistricting. My experience as Treasurer of LD 5 includes 2022 election financial reporting as well as overseeing LD 5 account transactions of over $300,000 in donations and committee expenditures.
I work as a Vice President at an Arizona based commercial bank, where I manage a portfolio of over $600 Million in commercial loan commitments. Prior to moving to Arizona in 2020, I had lived in Salt Lake City area of Utah where I started my professional banking career. My educational background includes a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University’s top-3 nationally ranked accounting program as well as a Foreign Language Certificate in Portuguese. Before moving to Utah for college, I grew up in the Sacramento area of Northern California where I was born.