Just when you thought you could go one day without more shenanigans from the pro-Pearce crowd, here comes Anthony Tsontakis, attorney for sham recall candidate Olivia Cortes, with a desperate appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court, seeking to halt a Friday hearing where more evidence is to be introduced in…

It ain’t over till it’s over, and the lawsuit challenging the sham recall candidacy of Olivia Cortes ain’t over, yet.Though Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Edward Burke yesterday refused to remove Cortes from the ballot, on Friday at 3:30, he will allow the plaintiff’s lawyers, Tom Ryan and H. Michael…

Despite an 11th hour motion asking for a delay in a ruling in the lawsuit aimed at sham recall candidate Olivia Cortes, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Edward Burke denied the plaintiff’s application for a temporary restraining order, leaving Cortes on the November 8 ballot in Legislative District 18.In his…

UPDATE: Judge Burke has just ruled thrown out the complaint, despite this 11th hour effort by Wright and Ryan. Will post decision shortly.UPDATE 2, 1:30 PM: You can read Burke’s ruling, here.CORRECTION: The judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order. The lawsuit is still alive, though Cortes will remain…

Channel 5 ganks footage from Gilman, presents it as its own…The Gilman video KPHO swiped from…My colleague, indie videographer Dennis Gilman, founder of the PearceWatch Facebook page, is passionate about the YouTube videos he creates. Though he has a day job, in his off hours, he is essentially the Michael…

Butter wouldn’t melt in Constantin Querard’s mouth. Querard’s one of the sleazy backers of state Senate President Russell Pearce, and as you all now know, he’s suspected of being the “brains” behind the sham candidacy of recall queen-for-a-day Olivia Cortes. He also has a history in Arizona politics of shady deals…

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo playerThe McLeod video censored by YouTube and CBPWhen you’re member of the media and you want to hear about U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s latest drug bust, you get an almost instant return call from an agent eager to answer your every question.But if you want…

Election law attorney Tom Ryan may not get Legislative District 18 recall candidate Olivia Cortes booted from the November 8 ballot, but on Thursday, with the assistance of co-counsel H. Michael Wright,  Ryan effectively put the Tea Party on trial. And at least metaphorically, the verdict was guilty.Through the examination…

Russell Pearce gets the stuck pig treatment in this CBA ad.State Senate President Russell Pearce, a wholly owned subsidiary of sleazy fatcat lobbyists, with his hand out, ready to take pricey trips and football tickets for himself and his family, while cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in state aid…

Cortes talks to ABC 15Greg Western, Cortes’ “adviser,” chats with ABC 15Keep in mind as you watch these ABC 15 interviews, first with sham recall candidate Olivia Cortes, then with Cortes’ “adviser” and Pearce loyalist Greg Western, that Cortes’ sticking her face out the door of her humble condo is…

Olivia Cortes, the so-called “sham” recall candidate supported by backers of state Senate President Russell Pearce, will appear in Maricopa County Superior Court tomorrow before Judge Edward Burke in a hearing to determine whether she will remain on the November 8 ballot in Legislative District 18.Both Tom Ryan, the attorney…

Shananigans, shenanigans, and yet more shenanigans. Sham recall candidate Olivia Cortes and state Senate President’s knuckle-draggin’ supporters are the gifts that keeps on giving.Gone are the days, alas, when I had them all to myself. Now it seems every journalist in the Valley, and many beyond, are swarming around their…

Here’s the latest video from the Jerry Lewis for state Senate campaign, with those that recruited Lewis to run, including Mesa lawyer and Republican Dea Montague, who is first on the left, no pun intended. In it, Lewis repeats his no-gift pledge, which is a pledge I’d like to see…

Adding insult to injury, Olivia Cortes, the “sham” recall candidate whose paid petition gatherers admitted she was a pro-Russell Pearce plant meant to “dilute” the vote, is playing the race card in a press release published on the right wing Sonoran Alliance Web site.Titled, “Olivia Cortes: Racism is Alive and…

UPDATE 7:11PM IN A DISAPPOINTING DEVELOPMENT, TOM RYAN INFORMS ME THAT HE’S RETHINKING WHAT TO DO WITH THE LAWSUIT IN LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT THE BALLOTS HAVE BEEN PRINTED AND SOME HAVE ALREADY GONE OUT, AS IS MENTIONED BELOW. WHETHER OR NOT HE’LL CONTINUE TO PURSUE IT IN ANY…

Check out these two segments of a recent interview done by Channel 12’s Brahm Resnik of state Senate hopeful and conservative Republican Jerry Lewis, who is looking to topple state Senate President Russell Pearce in the Legislative District 18 recall election.In them, Lewis takes on the issue of immigration directly,…

The judge plays defense for Pearce loyalist Pat Oldroyd at a recent LD 19 meetingLester Pearce, brother to state Senate President Russell Pearce and longtime Justice of the Peace for the North Mesa Justice Court, allegedly has been campaigning on behalf of his embattled sibling, despite a prohibition on such…

Hot off the presses: A lawsuit brought by elections law attorney Tom Ryan on behalf of Legislative District 18 voter Mary Lou Boettcher, challenging the legitimacy of Olivia Cortes, the so-called “sham” recall candidate put forward by friends, family and supporters of state Senate President Russell Pearce.Ryan was responsible for…

The complaint filed by Democratic precinct committeeman and former candidate for state Senate in Legislative District 18 Robert McDonald in the ever-widening Russell Pearce/Olivia Cortes scandal has just been shot down by the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office.In a letter from State Election Director Amy Chan (formerly Amy Bjelland, Chan…

As I discuss at length in my column this week, state Senate President Russell Pearce wrestles almost daily with the truth, and so, too, do many of his supporters. So, not surprisingly, Pearce’s main challenger in the Legislative District 18 recall election, Mesa educator and Republican Jerry Lewis, has become the…

Bravo to Channel 12’s Brahm Resnik for tonight’s news segment where he pays a visit to the modest residence of Legislative District 18 recall candidate Olivia Cortes, and stops by the homes of some of state Senate President Russell Pearce’s relatives to ask them why they circulated petitions for Cortes.As…