The field of Democrats to replace retiring Congressman Ed Pastor in Congressional District 7 just got a little less crowded.State Senator Steve Gallardo announced that he’s going to run for a spot on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors instead of a seat in Congress…
A Republican congressional candidate says Democratic Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema is just waiting for Senator John McCain to be “carried out on a stretcher” so she can run for his Senate seat.Wendy Rogers, one of the Republican candidates vying to unseat Sinema in Arizona’s Ninth Congressional District, made the comment at…
Now here’s something you truly don’t see every day: a candidate for public office doing something beneficial for Democrats and Republicans.James Woods, a Democrat running in Congressional District 5, hosted a party over the weekend to get local political candidates’ campaign materials reproduced in braille, for blind and other sight-impaired…
Today in Found at the Border: Pot-smugglers are now short $1.2 million worth of product after trying to hide their stash in a load of jalapeños.This is hardly surprising, as the pot-in-the-jalapeños plot is one of the oldest tricks in the book of Mexican drug-smuggling…
It’s not exactly common for a congressional candidate to openly embrace his lack of religious belief, but Democrat James Woods has done just that.Sometimes Democratic Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema is called the only atheist in Congress, and although she was sworn in on the Constitution instead of the Bible, she rejects…
Governor Jan Brewer has now acted on all six gun-related bills passed by the Legislature this session — and vetoed half of them.Earlier this week, Brewer vetoed two of the bills, one that would have allowed guns in more public buildings and another that would have created more restrictions against…
Governor Jan Brewer has vetoed a bill pushed by the Center for Arizona Policy that would have created new property-tax exemptions for religious groups.Legislative budget analysts predicted the bill could have cost the state an additional $2.1 million starting in 2016…
Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a pair of pro-gun bills, just a few days after she signed two other pro-gun bills.The two she vetoed yesterday were House Bill 2339 and House Bill 2517. The first was another version of a bill she’s vetoed before, which would have allowed people to carry…
Today in Found at the Border: Three Phoenix residents were caught trying to bring back more than 1,200 pounds of marijuana to the United States in RVs, on the pot holiday of “4/20.”If the more seasoned drug-smugglers can get caught crossing the border by hiding drugs in specially fabricated compartments…
The Arizona Legislature has passed a bill that would replace the words “disabled” and “handicapped” in state law.Democratic Representative Stefanie Mach, who was seriously injured in a car accident nearly two decades ago, says in a statement that the current language is “offensive.” House Bill 2667, which passed the House…
The Arizona Senate approved a bill that would make it a felony to share someone else’s nude pictures without his or her permission.Although the House already approved the bill, it was amended in the Senate to classify the sharing of “revenge porn” as a domestic-violence crime, which essentially makes the…
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Arizona’s appeal of a lower court’s decision that blocked a provision of Senate Bill 1070.Despite the high court’s big 2012 ruling on SB 1070, several provisions of the law weren’t at issue in that case, and the American Civil Liberties Union and…
Governor Jan Brewer has vetoed a bill that would have outlawed “aggressive solicitation,” also known as panhandling.Arizona’s old anti-begging statute was found unconstitutional in federal court last fall, thanks to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union…
The Arizona House of Representatives voted down a bill that would have expanded the taxpayer-funded private school scholarships known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts.The ESA program is similar to a voucher program, but has been held up in court because it’s not quite a voucher program — the taxpayer money that…
Arizonans won’t necessarily have the right to keep chickens in their backyards.A bill intended to prohibit municipalities from creating zoning restrictions to prevent homeowners from keeping chickens easily passed the Senate in February, but was voted down by the House yesterday, by a 25-32 vote…
Unfortunately, the process of passing bills in Arizona isn’t as easy as the Schoolhouse Rock explainer, “I’m Just a Bill.”Remember House Bill 2305, the package of election-law changes passed last year by the Republican majority, which was then referred to the ballot thanks to Democrats and third-party supporters, before being…
No Arizona legislative session is complete without some attention paid to guns.The Senate this morning voted to approve five gun-related bills, the majority of which generally would be considered pro-gun bills, naturally…
Governor Jan Brewer has signed a bill that allows the state health department to search abortion clinics without an administrative warrant.Brewer didn’t make any public comments on her signing of the legislation, House Bill 2284…
A bill expanding tax exemptions for churches passed the Arizona Legislature yesterday, and could cost the state $2.1 million in lost revenue.The bill, House Bill 2281, is also the third bill pushed by the Center for Arizona Police that legislators have passed this session. Others include the notorious anti-gay Senate…
Yesterday was “Equal Pay Day,” the day that symbolizes how far into 2014 women have to work to earn the same amount as men did in 2013, as far as the gender pay gap is concerned.To mark the occasion, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and Councilwoman Kate Gallego announced an effort…
Arizona lawmakers approved a $9.2 billion budget yesterday.The budget, which still needs Governor Jan Brewer’s approval, shaved off roughly $25 million from Brewer’s proposal for Child Protective Services spending for next year. Between the scandal of thousands of cases getting ignored at CPS, and the growing foster-care system, Brewer’s made…
Ruben Gallego isn’t wasting any time amassing a campaign war chest, announcing earlier this week that he already has $160,000 in campaign contributions from more than 800 donors. Gallego is facing competition from Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and state Senator Steve Gallardo for the open seat in Arizona’s…
