Ken Bennett

Bill Montgomery Screwed Up Tom Horne Complaint, Second Judge Rules

I'm beginning to think Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery should enroll in some remedial law classes. Because now a superior court judge has agreed with an administrative law judge that Montgomery's office messed up the campaign finance case against Attorney General Tom Horne and his outreach ... More >>

Fred DuVal Is Runnin' for Governor

Democrat Fred DuVal has made his candidacy for governor official, as one of only two Dems whose names have been tossed around in the media for the seat in 2014.DuVal has a lot of titles you could use to describe him, like former underling to President Clinton and Governor Bruce Babbitt, lobbyist, un ... More >>

Ken Bennett's Explanation of Provisional Ballot Issues Disputed by Organizer

The cause of the provisional-ballot uproar has not been solved. At least, there doesn't appear to be an agreement over the cause.Although Secretary of State Ken Bennett said one of the people involved in an effort to register 34,000 new Latino voters admitted that they were checking the permanent ea ... More >>

Ken Bennett: Latino Voters May Have Cast Provisional Ballots Thanks to Those Who Registered Them

Despite activists' complaints that Latino voters were more likely to cast provisional ballots in this year's election -- and that elections officials were likely to blame -- Secretary of State Ken Bennett pointed a finger back at the activists.Bennett recently testified before the U.S. Senate Judici ... More >>

Tom Horne May Triumph in Court, but Don't Count on a Win on Election Day

Tom Horne's Hearings Rescheduled: Will the AG Beat the Rap?

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne's corruption is blatant, in your face, unrepentant. Yet, given the machinations of Horne's lawyers, who are battling both Horne's misdemeanor fender-bender charge with the City of Phoenix, and the civil, campaign finance law complaint brought by Maricopa County A ... More >>

Jan Brewer Times Three? Ten Reasons Jan Should Run for an Unconstitutional Third Term

Jan Brewer cannot run for governor again. There is no wiggle room in the Arizona Constitution. And if she tries, she is guaranteed to kiss the canvas with her plastic-surgery-gone-wrong gob, slapped down by the Arizona Supreme Court. See also: -Jan Brewer's Sniveling New Memoir Laughably Paints He ... More >>

Ken Bennett Says 192,337 Ballots Left, Democrat Mary Rose Wilcox Defends County Elections

There's light at the end of the tunnel, my friends. And I hope there's a beer with my name on it when we get to it. Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has released his latest update on the ballot count. Currently, there are 192,337 ballots left to be counted statewide, 28,550 of them early ball ... More >>

Ken Bennett Says 277,011 Votes Left Statewide, 168,000 in Maricopa County

Maricopa County's long march toward a final vote count slogs on, with county Recorder Helen Purcell today announcing that by late this afternoon, 47,351 early ballots had been tabulated. Purcell's statement noted that "approximately 46,000 early ballots still remain to be processed for tabulation." ... More >>

Rich Carmona 4.25 Points Down, Kyrsten Sinema Gains, and 524,633 Votes Left Statewide

As votes continue to be counted throughout Arizona, GOP candidate for U.S. Senate Jeff Flake's lead over Democrat Rich Carmona narrowed ever-so slightly, while in Maricopa County, Republican incumbent Joe Arpaio continued to dominate Democrat Paul Penzone in the sheriff's race. Both Carmona and Pen ... More >>

Arizona Republicans Found Out Barack Obama Won Re-Election, and Things Got Very Awkward

At the Arizona Republican Party's election-viewing party at the Hyatt Regency in Phoenix last night, the moment came that precisely none of the scheduled speakers was prepared for -- on a large screen to the right of the stage, Fox News declared that President Obama had won re-election.

Ken Bennett Says 602,334 Votes Left to Be Counted Statewide

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has just announced that as of late this afternoon, "an estimated 602,334 early and provisional ballots statewide" have not been counted. "State law gives the counties 10 calendar days to verify and process the remaining early and provisional ballots," the rele ... More >>

Bill Montgomery Entertains "Birther" Over Joe Arpaio's Probe of Obama's Birth Certificate

As evidenced by Secretary of State Ken Bennett's dabbling in the "birther" theories, elected officials around the state have probably received a decent amount of phone calls and emails asking them to help further the embarrassment of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's "investigation" into President Obama.One such ... More >>

SB 1070 Helper Kris Kobach Takes the Ken Bennett Route on the "Birther" Issue

See also: Kris Kobach Gets $300 Per Hour to Advise MCSOSee also: Kris Kobach's Misleading Statements on SB 1070Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has so much Arizona right-wing-nuttery in his blood that he ought to get tested.As one of the creators of Senate Bill 1070, he's part Russell Pearce. A ... More >>

Ken Bennett's Family Business Accused by Employee of Wage Violations

An oil company owned by the family of Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett is being sued for alleged wage violations and retaliation against a former employee.Bennett's Oil Company -- of which the Secretary of State is the former CEO and a current director -- is being accused by a former cashier o ... More >>

Ken Bennett Courts Ridicule with More Birther Nonsense

The fun begins around 6:55 inWhat in tarnation is wrong with Ken Bennett? Before he drank the birther Kool-Aid, then publicly spat it up, Arizona's Secretary of State was regarded as a moderate Republican with a lick of common sense.But a month after the flap over Bennett's asking the ... More >>

Rolling Stone Recaps the "Really Crazy Stuff" Going on in Arizona Politics

Rolling Stone did a wrap up about Arizona's "really crazy" political climate -- not that we needed a reminder. But, yeah, this is why the rest of the country is laughing at us. Bennett the Birther? Gould the Gunman? Kelly and his M-16s? Yee-ha! Read the Rolling Stone recap below:

Ken Bennett Apparently Making Up Rules as He Goes Along, Won't Verify Romney's Documents

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has officially become that kid no one wanted to play with because he just made up the rules to games as he went along.Bennett, as you may recall, decided to play ball with the "birther" crowd, taking the "extra step" to verify President Barack Obama's birth cer ... More >>

Ken Bennett's "Birther" Request Shows the Insanity of Arizona's GOP

Ken Bennett for Governor: Did He Just Help or Hurt His Chances?

We're not even through the 2012 election season, but let's talk 2014.Secretary of State Ken Bennett was the highlight of Arizona news this week, after taking up the request of "birthers" to ask the State of Hawaii to verify President Obama's birth certificate.The end to that was not so controversial ... More >>

Barack Obama -- Believe it or Not -- Was Born in Hawaii, According to Government Officials

Believe it or not (the "birthers" still won't), President Obama was born in Hawaii, according to the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General.Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett's appears to have convinced the State of Hawaii to "verify" the president's birth certificate, and as has been the cas ... More >>

Mitt Romney: Is He a Unicorn? More Than 17,000 People Want Ken Bennett to Find Out

Is GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney a businessman? Or is he really a unicorn? At the time of this post, more than 17,000 people would like Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett to find out.In response to the 1,200 "birthers" who asked Bennett to verify with the state of Hawaii -- yet again -- ... More >>

Rob Robb Drinks Birther Kool-Aid, Declares It's Not So Bad

If a large segment of a society believes in hocus pocus, then the irrational inevitably affects reality.Wars have been fought in the name of religion, i.e., the worship of supernatural beings that do not exist. People in some parts of the world still wear talismans to ward off "the evil eye."&n ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Investigating Obama's Birth Certificate at "No Cost to Taxpayers" -- Except for the Deputy in Hawaii Right Now

Dear Maricopa County taxpayers, you're currently funding a trip to Hawaii for one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies so he can help hunt for President Obama's birth certificate or something.Yes, the investigation that was billed as being at "no cost to taxpayers" happens to have some cost to taxpayers ... More >>

Ken Bennett's Had About Three Months to Give Hawaii a "Legitimate" Reason to Verify Obama's Birth Certificate

Last week, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett raised some eyebrows after saying he's not a "birther," but due to constituent concerns, he's just checking with Hawaii to make sure President Obama wasn't born in Kenya."They have yet to respond," Bennett's spokesman Matthew Roberts told New Times.T ... More >>

Ken Bennett Steps In It, and, Yes, "Plays" to Birthers

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, a relatively moderate Republican, wants to be Governor. But to have any kind of shot at the 19th Floor, he figures he must placate the activist base of Sand Land's GOP, which is deeply, rabidly insane. Hence, the predicament he finds himself in, having to ... More >>

Ken Bennett, Arizona Secretary of State: "I Am Not a 'Birther'"

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett just found out the reason why you're putting yourself in a difficult position when you appeal to "birthers" -- people are going to think you're a "birther."After people caught on to the fact that Bennett told the "birthers" that he was taking the "extra step" t ... More >>

Ken Bennett, Arizona Secretary of State, Plays to the "Birthers"

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who just recently filed the paperwork for an exploratory committee in the 2014 Arizona gubernatorial race, appears to be the latest Arizona politician to play to the "birther" crowd.In the mess that is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's "investigation" into ... More >>

Daniel Patterson Tries to Hand Seat Off to Democrat, Fails

While House Democrats were calling for now-former state Representative Daniel Patterson to resign or be expelled, Patterson changed his party affiliation to Independent, citing his disapproval of "party politics."When Patterson resigned from the House yesterday, he changed his party affiliation back ... More >>

Russell Pearce's Olivia Cortes Off The Hook in Petition Pros Scandal

Will questions about Pearce's Olivia Cortes scandal ever be answered? Not by prosecutors, it seems. Olivia Cortes, the sham candidate the Tea Party fronted in order to dilute the vote in the 2011 recall of ex-state Senate President Russell Pearce, will face no fines or orders to comply in regards to ... More >>

Libertarian and Green Parties Sue Arizona Over Omission on Voter Registration Forms

Image: Arizona State LegislatureState Senator Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, sponsored the change to Arizona's voter registration form.​ Omitting the Libertarian and Green parties as options to check on Arizona's new voter registration forms is unfair and has already led to confusion, the parties s ... More >>

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Removes Redistricting Chair, Calls Special Session

Our near-illiterate governor, Chuck Coughlin's water-bearer, with her right paw on the state constitution Governor Jan Brewer, no doubt under direct orders from her puppetmaster consultant Chuck Coughlin, has removed Colleen Mathis as chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, ... More >>

Fiesta Bowl Fiasco: Arizona Dems Make it Political -- Despite Some of Their Own Having Benefitted From John Junker's (Ahem) Generosity

​By now you probably know about the Fiesta Bowl's decision to ax CEO John Junker following an internal investigation into how he was spending the organization's money, but it's the alleged illegal contributions to the campaigns of Valley politicos that has Arizona Democrats fuming.Junker, the ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Signs Off on Ban Amnesty Now's Voter Suppression Efforts?

Kris Kobach? That's some "impartial" source you got there, SeanThe paranoia has been reaching a fever-pitch both in and over an e-mail recently sent out by the local nativist organization Ban Amnesty Now, which claims that "illegals" are looking to steal the upcoming midterm elections. The e-ma ... More >>

Secretary of State Candidate Chris Deschene Asks for Public Records from Political Opponent and Current SOS Ken Bennett

​Chris Deschene wants at least two things.First, the Democrat wants voters to elected him Secretary of State come November 2. Second, he wants Ken Bennett, his political opponent and current Arizona Secretary of State, to turn over public records such as e-mails to help determine Bennett's role in ... More >>

Arizona Republic Political Reporter Jumps Ship for Post in Secretary of State's Office and the Repub Seems a Little Bitter

​Arizona Republic political reporter Matt Benson was pegged last week as the newest addition to Secretary of State Ken Bennett's office.Benson, who has been a reporter for at the Republic since 2005, has joined team Bennett as the secretary's communications director. The move, however, seems fairl ... More >>

Deschene Announces He's Eyeing Run for Secretary of State

www.indnslist.org Representative Chris Deschene​Window Rock Democrat Chris Deschene announced Wednesday that he will file paperwork to form an exploratory committee for a possible run for secretary of state. Secretary of State is Arizona's second highest post and is currently hel ... More >>

New GOP Poll Shows Brewer to be Top Elephant in Gov Race

www.allhatnocattle.com​In a seemingly meager attempt to impress, the Vernon Parker Exploratory Committee issued a press release today about some "interesting" new poll results for the 2010 gubernatorial election.Before reading the release, we thought to ourselves "hey, maybe junior's got a shot ." ... More >>

Janet Napolitano's Last State-of-the-State Address: Did the Governor Cry?

Big girls don't cry, as the song goes. But Janet Napolitano came close on Monday during what was surely her last state-of-the-state speech as governor. On the verge of leaving for the wilds of Washington D.C. as Barack Obama's Homeland Security secretary (assuming she's appoi ... More >>

Letters From the Issue of Thursday, May 4, 2006

Minutewomen

The feathered fiend unloads on Mothers Against Illegal Aliens, Arizona Senate Prez Ken Bennett's brat and Suns play-by-play man Tom Leander's nicknaming fetish

Load of Crappioppoli

Maverick state Senator Jack Harper and shady Clinton administration bureaucrat Henry Cisneros are back and bitchin', which's ruffling tail feathers

Straitjacket Jan Brewer

Empowering the Secretary of State, especially this secretary of state, to decide when elections can be suspended is a crazy idea. Sanity must prevail in state government

Ballot Boxing

GOP honchos keep hiding the truth about election foul-ups, as it's learned that local ballots may be stored illegally

Rocking the Boat

GOP bigwigs and their pandering pals in the mainstream press are apoplectic about a state senator and New Times' fight to discover the truth. What're these pols trying to hide?

Ballot Box Breakdowns

An independent voting-technology expert finds serious problems in the Maricopa County Elections Department

Running Scared

There are a couple of reasons Janet Napolitano won't be on John Kerry's ticket

Double Exposure

Arizona's finally followed Utah's lead and launched serious action to stop abuses by polygamists

Slob Story

Even casual restaurants draw the line at crass

Culture War Heroes

William Bennett and the right make might at a Scottsdale resort