Arizona is known for a lot of things: the Grand Canyon, SB 1070, soaring summertime temperatures. But robust political polling isn’t necessarily one of them. That said, when stat hound Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight predicts something, folks take note. According to the FiveThirtyEight 2016 General Election Forecast unveiled this week,…
How much does it cost to stage an Islam-bashing festival for law enforcement, tick off the local Muslim community, and engender widespread condemnation from the press, the general public, and civil rights groups like the ACLU and the ADL? About the price of a brand-spankin’-new BMW 328i. Which is to…
About 50 people gathered in a crowded room at Greater Bethel A.M.E. Church on Wednesday morning to hear a 10-member panel of community and government leaders discuss why, in the aftermath of Arizona’s March 22 presidential preference election, the U.S. Congress must restore the Voting Rights Act before the general…
The other day, Associated Press Congressional reporter Erica Werner tweeted a sweet tweet, quoting Arizona-Senator-slash-Donald-J.-Trump-hater Jeff Flake’s response to a question about whether he intends to go to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland in mid-July. “‘No. I’ve got to mow my lawn.’ -Sen Flake on whether he’s attending…
Still frustrated about those long voting lines during Arizona’s March 22 presidential preference vote? Concerned about the state’s response to that and other polling-place fiascos? Worried about similar problems occurring in November’s general election? It seems U.S. Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick and Ruben Gallego are, too. So much so that the…
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a draconian Texas abortion law appears to be more than a symbolic win for Arizona’s pro-choice movement. At a Monday afternoon press conference, Jodi Liggett, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Arizona, called the ruling a landmark victory that “establishes…
According to one local Republican official, it’s time for the Donald Trump camp to dole out some mob-style justice. This past Saturday, during a radio show broadcast from the Old Pueblo, Bruce Ash, a Tucson businessman who is one of Arizona’s two elected Republican National Committeemen, suggested that three political…
A state grand jury has indicted Arizona Democratic lawmaker Cecilia “Ceci” Velasquez for allegedly ripping off the federal food-stamp program. Unsealed on Wednesday but signed on May 23, the indictment charges Velasquez, 42, with one felony count each of fraudulent schemes and practices, unlawful use of food stamps, and theft…
Given the amount of love and attention Donald Trump has heaped on Arizona in the past year, you’d think he’d have the state in the bag come November. Turns out, that just might not be the case. A new poll released this week by OH Strategic Communications and MBQF Consulting…
If there’s one thing Ann Kirkpatrick doesn’t want to talk about, it’s John McCain. On a recent Thursday afternoon, the congresswoman is seated at a long wooden table in a boardroom in Tucson. She’s just finished a round-table discussion with 20 men and women who work with veterans, and managed…
You know what they say: Fourth time’s…a bust? Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix was perhaps most notable for being nothing special. With promises of protesters and biker-gang militias patrolling the parking lot, the afternoon event seemed poised to become yet another headline-grabbing Arizona…
Social Media 101: If you’re a politician and you say something dumb, Twitter will pitilessly mock you for it. Case in point: U.S. Senator John McCain. While answering questions from reporters Thursday morning, McCain literally blamed President Barack Obama for the horrific events at a popular gay nightclub in Orlando…
Arizona’s most liberal Congressman, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, is now endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. Grijalva made headlines this past October when he became the first national politician to endorse Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and since then, the Tucson Congressman has been a vocal supporter and surrogate for his candidate: going…
U.S. Representative Paul Gosar, Tea Party Republican and professional tooth puller, is using the largesse of big government to assure his constituents that he’s, um, fighting big government. Granted, it’s a hard trick to pull off, but ol’ Doc Gosar is nothing if not baldfaced about it. He has been…
For more than a week, 47-year-old Sixto Paz has been living in a small room in the back of a Phoenix church. If he steps off the property, he risks being deported to Mexico, which would mean abandoning his family and the life he has had built in Arizona over…
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich today announced the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Secretary of State Michele Reagan’s failure to send out hundreds of thousands of “publicity pamphlets” to voters regarding a recent statewide special election as required by law. In a letter to Reagan dated June 2,…
You know things are heating up in Arizona when a) the mercury edges toward 120 degrees, or b) politicians start squawking about chemtrails. Try c) both of the above. Last month, Senator John McCain’s campaign released a series of attack ads linking his main GOP primary rival, physician and former…
Faster than a spinning lobbyist, more powerful than a strike-all amendment — it’s AZ Powergirl, celebrity cosplay model, swooping in to save the Arizona Legislature! Or so voters of Tempe’s Legislative District 26 can imagine, now that Cara Nicole Trujillo is officially in the race for the Arizona House of Representatives…
Just north of the Arizona border in San Juan County, Utah, copies of phony documents have been turning up at gas stations and post offices, aimed at local Native American tribes. The bogus handouts are filled with false information related to an actual pending proposal to establish a 1.9-million-acre national monument around…
A 12-year-old from Phoenix has been selected to compete on La Voz Kids, the Spanish-language version of NBC’s reality singing series, The Voice. Dulce Perez wowed the coaches during the blind auditions, when singers are chosen for teams based solely on vocal talent. Having made it through a pre-audition in…
A coalition of Arizona-based environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit this week against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for issuing a permit for a massive development project near the city of Benson that the groups say will devastate the San Pedro River…
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirms that there are four cases of chickenpox among the detainee population at the Eloy Detention Center, but immigrant rights advocates say there could be more. “We personally don’t believe that it’s only four,” Francisca Porchas, organizing director of the immigrant-rights group Puente Arizona,…
