By Ray Stern African-Americans partying at a downtown Phoenix bar were positively gleeful after Tuesday’s history-making election of the country’s first black president. Local black leaders and their supporters had gathered at Stoudemire’s at Second and Washington streets to watch election results. By 10:30 p.m., the full impact of the…
By Stephen Lemons With cries of Barack Obama’s “Yes we can” refrain still echoing in the Wyndham’s ballroom in downtown Phoenix, Tim Nelson conceded a hard-fought campaign against incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. “My disappointment in this election is more than overcome by my elation at the election of…
By Ray Stern The wedding’s off. Arizona voters have approved Proposition 102, which bans same-sex marriages and amends the state constitution to make it more difficult for supporters of gay marriages to change the law in the future. Nearly 92 percent of statewide precincts have reported results, and the proposition…
By Ray Stern Two Democrats will add to the mix on the five-member Arizona Corporation Commission, which previously had been an all-Republican affair. Tuesday’s election filled three empty seats on the commission. Sandra Kennedy, a small business owner and former state lawmaker, and Paul Newman (pictured at left), a lawyer…
By Benjamin Leatherman Governor Janet Napolitano began ecstatically cheering, clapping, and dishing out high-fives mere moments after CNN announced that Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. Napolitano was in attendance at a packed Democratic Party rally at the Wyndham Hotel in downtown Phoenix amidst hundreds…
By Jonathan McNamara For John McCain, the campaign trail ended at the Arizona Biltmore, where supporters mingled with news crews as election results poured in. See more shots from McCain’s campaign closer at the Biltmore in our slideshow…
By Ray Stern Change came to Washington, D.C., tonight, but not to Maricopa County. County Supervisors Don Stapley (pictured below left), Fulton Brock, Andy Kunasek, Max Wilson, and Mary Rose Wilcox all retained their seats without breaking a sweat. With 95 percent to 99 percent of precincts reporting, none of…
By Amy Silverman and Sarah Fenske Like John McCain, we’re going to keep this one short and sweet. Barack Obama is the next president of the United States, and while there are a lot of Republicans here at the Biltmore who aren’t happy about that, many were as gracious as…
By Paul Rubin Well ahead in the votes counted, Sheriff Joe Arpaio strutted into the Phoenix Civic Center South Hall a few minutes ago and had this to say: “This is not my last campaign! People hear me, not my last campaign! I don’t want to bad-mouth the media, but…
Hundreds of Thousands Flock to Obama Rally in Chicago See the event for yourself courtesy of this slideshow direct from Obama’s rally in Chicago. Barack Obama closed his campaign with a massive outdoor public event — a street party in downtown Chicago centered on Grant Park, near the Lake Michigan…
It’s pretty much over for Dan Saban this election year.
“We fought the right fight at the right time for the right reasons,” Saban told everyone. “We have energized people who would never vote in this type of election.”
By Sarah Fenske and Amy Silverman The phone rang a little while ago, and it was a friend in the Amsterdam area. “So it’s over,” he said. And we said, “What!?” Here in the Frank Lloyd Wright Ballroom in the Arizona Biltmore, McCain is doing just fine. Big & Rich…
By Ray Stern Democrat Tim Nelson was making a strong showing in early returns, but his Republican opponent, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, bounded to a respectable lead as polling station results came in about 8:15 p.m. Thomas had 53.01 percent of votes compared with Nelson’s 43.1 percent, with 32…
By Sarah Fenske and Amy Silverman Okay, dont tell anyone, but we snuck into the McCain party. Sadly, this is a little bit B-list — us and the foreign media and some really bad outfits. And Grant Woods, inexplicably, and at least three Congressmen. (As in Shadegg, Flake, and Franks…
By Sarah Fenske and Amy Silverman So here we are, armed with the world’s smallest laptop and the world’s largest cocktails (hey, when in Rome — we’ve gotta blend in here), ready to cover history as it unfolds. Well, as it unfolds behind the ginormous bleachers reserved for paying guests…
After receiving permission to remove the sign, which was critical of Huppenthal’s efforts to improve air quality at Tempe’s Corona Del Sol High School, Huppenthal proceeded to take the sign from its poles, the witness says.
Don’t be fooled — it’s possible you’ve gotten a bum steer on these initiatives by their promoters.
Planning ahead is more necessary than ever. In fact, once you’ve arrived at the correct polling place, the adventures continue.
By Sarah Fenske This just in: Congressman John Shadegg’s campaign appears to be using some pretty shady surrogates. And no, I’m not talking about Shadegg’s fellow Republican congressman, Rick Renzi, who’s awaiting trial on a host of felony counts. Or former Arizona Attorney General (and fellow Republican) Jack LaSota, who’s…
We snapped this shot of “Joe the Plumber” while driving around town the other day. Well, it’s possible this was just an enthusiastic supporter of Average Joes everywhere, and probably not the now-famous Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher. If it was Wurzelbacher, back in his old Valley ‘hood for a few days…
By Ray Stern The front of this preschool building on McDowell just east of 44th Street doesn’t look much better — a blotch of painted-over graffiti stains the wall near the front door. Sadly, this sign symbolizes the state of too many homes in the Valley, both in terms of…
