Author: Rachel Alexander

Gosar, Biggs and Finchem Respond to Lawsuit from ‘Random Members of the Public’ Trying to Remove Them from Ballot for ‘Insurrection’

Rachel Alexander

An organization calling itself “Free Speech for People” filed lawsuits against three prominent Arizona Republican officials, asserting that they are unqualified to hold office due to their connections to the Jan. 6, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuits aim to stop Rep. Paul Gosar (R-04-Ariz.) and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-03-Ariz.) from running for reelection, and State Rep. Mark Finchem (R-Oro Valley) from running for Arizona Secretary of State, claiming the three engaged in “insurrection” which is prohibited by the Fourteenth Amendment. 

Jack Wilenchik, the attorney for Finchem, told The Arizona Sun Times, “The lawsuit is long on publicity but short on law. No convictions or congressional authority for suit.” He told Capitol Media, “We don’t allow random members of the public to accuse politicians of a crime and remove them from office.” He explained how it would open the floodgates for anyone to try and remove any elected official they disagreed with, from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton.

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Inflation Hits 10.9 Percent in Metro Phoenix, Highest of Major Metro Areas and Substantially Above National Average

Rachel Alexander

Inflation is soaring under the Biden administration, and it’s even worse in Phoenix. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation in metro Phoenix jumped 10.9% from February 2021 through February 2022, significantly more than the national average increase of 8.5% and higher than any other major metro area. This is one of the highest levels reported for Phoenix, the Common Sense Institute found.

The 8.5% inflation rate is the highest in the U.S. in 41 years. In 2020, the last year of Donald Trump’s presidency, it was only 1.5%. It began spiking as soon as Joe Biden entered office. The main goods driving the spike nationally are food, gas, and housing. 

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Arizona Democratic Party Requests Investigation of Redistricting, Claims It Protects Incumbent GOP State Senators

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Democratic Party submitted a complaint on Monday to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, asking him to investigate whether a couple of members of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) violated the Arizona Constitution by drawing district boundary lines to protect at least three incumbent Republican state senators. Executive Director Charlie Fisher, who signed the letter, also asked the attorney general’s office (AGO)to determine if the members violated Arizona’s Open Meeting law, and whether members, as well as senators and their staff, improperly used state resources and funds.

The moves may have been done to include significant Republican enclaves in heavily Republican districts, not to just grab a single senator’s residence. State Senator Vince Leach (R-Tucson), one of the senators who was accused of being gerrymandered into a heavily Republican district, explained to The Arizona Sun Times about the area he lives in that was included, “Catalina has always been in LD 11. Since the election of 2012.”

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Gov. Ducey Signs 12 Bills, Including Banning Unions from Politicking on the Taxpayers’ Dime, and Stopping Religious Discrimination in Adoptions

Rachel Alexander

As the 2022 Arizona Legislative season winds down, Gov. Doug Ducey is signing a slew of bills. On Wednesday, he signed 12, including the Goldwater Institute’s Release Time Reform Act and a bill protecting religious freedom in adoptions and foster care.

The Goldwater Institute (GI) drafted SB 1166, which was sponsored by State Sen. Vincent Leach (R-Tucson), to address the problem where public employees at the local, state, and federal level are “released” from their government responsibilities and instead are assigned to work for a private union — all while receiving full government pay, benefits, and retirement. 

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Maricopa County Admits They Used AI to Compare Voter Ballot Affidavit Signatures with Signatures on File

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich issued an interim report this past week on his investigation of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election in Arizona, which found “instances of election fraud by individuals who have been or will be prosecuted for various election crimes,” and a couple of days later he learned some more possibly troubling news. Attorneys for Maricopa County told him ballot tabulators used artificial intelligence to determine whether voters’ ballot affidavit signatures matched their signatures on file. 

During an interview with former Trump advisor Steve Bannon on Bannon’s War Room show, Brnovich broke the news. “We got another letter from their lawyer for the first time — and this is not in the report — admitted they are using AI to verify signatures,” he said. “And so the whole signature verification process, is something that I think that, regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, it should be troubling and concerning that they are trying to verify hundreds of thousands of signatures so quickly. And of course that raises the question, how is that even humanly possible?”

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Announces Prosecutions After Reviewing Maricopa County Ballot Audit, as Kari Lake Calls to Decertify Election

Rachel Alexander
Mark Brnovich

The highly anticipated first report from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s investigation into the results of the Maricopa County independent ballot audit are in, and includes criminal prosecutions. Addressed to Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott), who launched the independent audit, the letter referenced the work of his office’s Election Integrity Unit. Brnovich stated, “The EIU’s review has uncovered instances of election fraud by individuals who have been or will be prosecuted for various election crimes.” 

Leading gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who just called for the results of the 2020 presidential election in Arizona and Wisconsin to be reversed, told The Arizona Sun Times, “Today, Attorney General Brnovich confirmed what most of us have known since November 3rd, 2020: The election in Maricopa County was crooked and never should have been certified. This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. It’s an American issue. I look forward to seeing the prosecutions that the Attorney General has in store. It’s time for the perpetrators of this fraud to be held accountable for their actions.”

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Arizona Officials Brace for Surge of Illegal Border-Crossers as Biden Administration Ends Title 42 Restrictions

Rachel Alexander

With the Biden administration’s decision to rescind Title 42 COVID-19 restrictions on the border by May 23, local officials near Arizona’s border with Mexico are bracing for a surge in migrants. The border situation was already dire, with Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich issuing a legal opinion in February declaring that it had reached the level of an invasion under the U.S. Constitution due to the crime, violence, and drug smuggling.

Republicans and even some Democrat officials in Arizona denounced the move. Both of Arizona’s two U.S. Senators, Democrats Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, condemned the move. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, a Democrat, said she supported the move, but admitted to NPR that it will require federal assistance. “What we are asking the Biden administration is that they have the resources necessary to be able to have these local communities take over, because it costs money to be able to offer a safe place for asylum-seekers to come.”

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Democrat Arizona Secretary of State and Gubernatorial Candidate Katie Hobbs Praises Biden for Removing Title 42 Restrictions at the Border

Rachel Alexander
Katie Hobbs

While many leading Democrats, including both of Arizona’s U.S. Senators, Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, are upset with the Biden administration’s decision to end the Title 42 COVID-19 restrictions on U.S. borders, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs praised the decision. The Title 42 order, issued by the Centers for Disease Control in March 2020 under the Trump administration, has been used by Customs and Border Protection to prevent 1.7 million migrants from entering the country. They are either sent back to Mexico or on flights to other countries.

When asked by 3TV about the change and how it would affect border security, Hobbs said, “Title 42 should not be a substitute for that. As governor, I will work to, with the federal government, make sure that Arizonans are secure, they need to put more resources and securing the border. We need more resources to address the influx of migrants coming to the border.” 

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Asks Cochise County Attorney for Felony Criminal Investigation into Arizona Secretary of State Hobbs

Rachel Alexander

Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has come under fire for her handling of the electronic system used to collect online signatures for political candidates, E-Qual. The system was not updated to accommodate new redistricting, which has made it very difficult for campaigns to collect enough signatures in time to make the ballot this fall. On March 17, Hobbs took the entire system offline, making it impossible to collect any signatures at all online, so Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre on March 29 to “investigate and take any appropriate enforcement actions (civil and criminal).”

McIntyre told the Arizona Sun Times, “I can confirm that we have received the request and begun the investigative process.”

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Brnovich Takes Digs at Competitors in U.S. Senate Race for Not Doing Anything About Mask Mandates

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich took a shot at his opponents in the U.S. Senate race for not doing anything about the lingering mask mandate on public transportation. He tweeted the criticism while joining a coalition of 21 states suing the Biden administration over what he characterized as an “unconstitutional, ineffective, and ridiculously burdensome policy.” 

His opponents frequently criticize him for inaction, but he has aggressively tackled various issues, including COVID-19 restrictions and mandates, border security, and election integrity, he told the Arizona Sun Times. 

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Gov. Ducey Signs 2022’s First Election Integrity Bill Which Closes Loophole on Non-Citizens Voting, Opponents Blast It

Rachel Alexander

The whole country is watching Arizona to see if it will strengthen election integrity laws after fraud was highly suspected there in the 2020 presidential election. So far during the 2022 legislative session, the Arizona Legislature has referred one comprehensive measure to the ballot, the Arizonans for Voter ID Act, and sent its first bill to Gov. Doug Ducey to sign or veto. HB 2492, sponsored by State Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), requires proof of citizenship in order to vote, with the exception of voting in congressional elections which is preempted by federal law. 

The law, which passed both chambers along party lines, establishes tough penalties for those who violate it; it is a felony for election officials to register voters without proof of citizenship. County recorders are required to regularly cross-reference registered voters with citizenship databases. It gives the Arizona Attorney General authority to investigate. 

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Candidates for Maricopa County Attorney Scramble to Make the Ballot

Rachel Alexander

With Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel resigning just three weeks before signatures are due for candidates running for that position, several attorneys have decided to run and are now racing around trying to collect 4,300 valid signatures by April 4. Since voters can only sign one candidate’s petition in the race, the candidates are quickly trying to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack. 

Former Arizona legislator Thayer Verschoor, who is currently running for Maricopa County Supervisor, issued a list of questions to ask the candidates, which the Arizona Sun Times requested the candidates answer. Not one of the candidates bothered to respond with answers by the time this article was posted. 

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Arizona Legislature Passes Two Bills Centered on Transgender Issues, All Eyes on Gov. Ducey Now

Rachel Alexander

Withstanding a noisy opposition campaign, the Arizona Legislature passed two bills addressing heated issues involving transgenders, which will be sent to Republican Gov. Doug Ducey to sign or veto. SB 1138 bans irreversible gender reassignment surgery for those under 18. SB 1165 prohibits males from participating in sports in public schools or at private schools that compete against public schools from playing on teams designated for girls. 

Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix), who co-sponsored SB 1165, testified regarding how she played on girls’ teams in high school, but would have never been able to make the men’s teams. “The advantages bestowed by biological male puberty are so big that no amount of training or talent can enable biological female athletes to overcome them,” she said. 

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Wins Preliminary Injunction Stopping Biden Administration from Halting Nearly All Deportations

Rachel Alexander

A federal district court judge agreed with Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and two other attorneys general, granting their request for a preliminary injunction to stop a new DHS policy under the Biden administration which halted nearly all deportations. In Arizona v. Biden, Ohio District Court Judge Michael J. Newman stopped the implementation of the “Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law” (Permanent Guidance) due to violating existing federal law. He also denied DHS’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

“This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and the safety of our communities,” said Brnovich in a statement. “Since assuming office, the Biden administration has undermined our immigration laws and our law enforcement agencies, while empowering dangerous cartels and criminals on both sides of the border. I’m grateful for this ruling and for the partnership of Ohio and Montana as we work to reverse this catastrophic lawlessness.”

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Arizona’s Public Universities Demanding Tuition Increases Despite Slowly Recovering Economy

Rachel Alexander

The three public universities in Arizona — Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University — are demanding tuition increases. They are proposing increases of 2% to 5.6%. A committee of the Board of Regents will vote on the hikes on April 7. 

The universities cite inflation as the reason for the increase, with NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera asserting the increase “accounts for less than half of current inflationary costs.” 

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State Sen. Townsend Subpoenas Maricopa County Supervisors to Testify Why County Is Obstructing Attorney General Brnovich’s 2020 Election Investigation

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has been investigating the results of the Arizona Senate’s independent audit of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County but, similar to what the Arizona Senate experienced previously, has been thwarted by the Maricopa County Supervisors’ (BOS) refusal to turn over evidence. Due to the obstruction, State Senator Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction), issued a legislative subpoena to the BOS demanding their testimony on Monday, to explain their reasons for delaying the production of documents, and what they intend to do to rectify the situation.

Townsend stated, “Throughout this process, we have been dismayed at the level of obstruction, obfuscation, malfeasance and nonfeasance seen throughout the inquiry. The claim that there is not a ‘shred of evidence’ regarding irregularities in the election is patently false, but hard not to believe by the general public when so much is being hidden from their view.” 

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State Rep. Espinoza Sponsors Bill to Fight Back Against 6,500 Percent Surge in Catalytic Converter Thefts

Rachel Alexander
Diego Espinoza

The theft of catalytic converters has become a big problem in Arizona, and State Rep. Diego Espinoza (D-Tolleson) is sponsoring legislation to expand the law against it. Current law only prohibits buying or selling a used catalytic converter outside of regular transactions; HB 2652 goes beyond that to make it illegal to possess, solicit, or advertise a used catalytic converter outside of regular transactions. It would also mandate reporting sales to DPS and tracking.

HB 2652 looks very likely to pass, as 49 members of the House voted for it and only 10 Republicans voted against it. It passed the Senate Committee on Transportation and Technology 9-0, and is now headed for the Senate Rules Committee. 

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Two Tools Track Arizona Governments, Reveal Missteps and Waste

Rachel Alexander
Arizona Capitol

It is National Sunshine Week, which celebrates transparency in government, including creating awareness about requesting information from governments through FOIA public record requests. In Arizona, there are two tools provided by state agencies which allow anyone to look online at some of the government spending by state and local governments. Although it is a minimal amount of data, it reveals some missteps and waste. 

The Arizona State Treasurer manages AZCheckbook.com, which provides information about funding the state gets from all sources, including the federal government, and how much it is distributing to schools, cities, and towns. The Arizona Department of Administration operates OpenBooks.AZ.gov, which provides checkbook-level information about individual state expenditures, including on the city and county level.

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State Rep. Richard Andrade Withdraws Endorsement from Secretary of State Hobbs Running for Governor

Rachel Alexander

Fallout is continuing after a multimillion dollar jury verdict was awarded to a former staffer of Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs due to Hobbs’ racist and sexist treatment of her. Hobbs admitted, “I participated in furthering systemic racism.” Democrats immediately started dropping their support of her candidacy for Arizona governor, with most recently State Rep. Richard Andrade (D-Glendale) announcing his decision to switch his endorsement to former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez. 

The Arizona Sun Times asked Kari Lake, the leading gubernatorial candidate on the Republican side who recently joined a lawsuit against Hobbs, what she thought of this latest development. She responded, “The movement we are experiencing is so strong I don’t care who the Democrats put up against me, I will crush them in November.”

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Arizona GOP Legislators and Gov. Ducey Drafting Legislation to Combat Initiative That Would Derail Historic Tax Cuts

Rachel Alexander

Last year, Arizona enacted historic tax cuts, changing the state’s tax code law to mostly a 2.5% flat tax rate. But opponents collected enough signatures to put an initiative on the ballot this fall, Prop. 307, that would reverse the legislation. In response, Republican state legislators are working with Gov. Doug Ducey to pass legislation that would make the initiative null and void — and maybe implement even more striking tax cuts. 

State Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), who sponsored legislation last year that would have repealed and replaced the historic tax cuts with an even more far reaching 1.5% tax rate, told The Arizona Sun Times, “I told the Governor’s office that the 2.5% tax rate he’s pushing for can only be the starting point. With yet another year of record budget surpluses of nearly $4 billion, the people of Arizona are being overtaxed. We must cut taxes even more during the budget process.” 

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Democratic Former Maricopa County Recorder Running for Secretary of State Calls to Impeach Attorney General Brnovich

Rachel Alexander
Adrian Fontes of Arizona

Democratic former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, who is running for Arizona Secretary of State, is calling for the Arizona Legislature to impeach Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich. The former county elections chief said it is due to Brnovich’s “grotesque political self-service, abuse of office, and other bad acts.” 

Fontes declared, “It is well past time for Arizona’s legislative leadership to investigate, for possible impeachment proceedings, the increasing instability of our state’s top prosecutor.”

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Two Arizona GOP State Senators Vote with Democrats to Kill Election Integrity Bills

Rachel Alexander

Republican State Senators Paul Boyer (R-Glendale) and Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-Scottsdale) defeated several key election integrity bills in the Arizona Legislature as the only Republicans siding with Democrats. Republicans have a one-seat majority in the Senate, and since Boyer has angered Republicans for frequently voting with the Democrats against bills and thwarting election integrity efforts, he will not be seeking a third term after this year’s session. Former President Donald Trump endorsed former State Rep. Anthony Kern (R-Glendale), a champion of election integrity, to replace him.

SB 1055, sponsored by State Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction), made any contractor who failed to provide election services or products guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor and liable for liquidated damages of the amount of the contract. Boyer was the only Republican to oppose it.

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Kari Lake Releases TV Ad During Her Former TV Show Instructing Viewers to Turn It Off

Rachel Alexander

Coming from a 30-year career in the mainstream media as a local broadcaster, Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has naturally been able to spotlight many of the biases of the media while campaigning. The Trump-endorsed candidate’s second TV ad launched this weekend, including on Monday during the former show she co-anchored on Fox 10 News. It instructs viewers to turn the show off. 

She began in the ad, “The media isn’t just corrupt, they are anti-American.” A clip of her walking next to 12 News reporter Brahm Resnik is shown, with Lake telling him, “I noticed that you would not say the Pledge of Allegiance and that’s really despicable. Why can’t you put your hand on your heart? When these Media Hacks show you how much they hate America, believe them.”

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More Democrats Than Republicans Leave Their Party in Maricopa County, ‘Other’ Now Biggest Party Designation

Rachel Alexander
People voting

The latest voter registration numbers in Maricopa County from February reveal that independents now outnumber both Republicans and Democrats, with 76 more registrations than Republicans. Also according to new data from the Maricopa County Recorder, significantly more Democrats than Republicans left their parties to become independents, 1,331 compared to 1,154 Republicans. The trend favoring Republicans continued with more independents becoming Republicans than Democrats, and more Democrats switching to Republicans than Republicans switching to Democrats.

Independents and Republicans now each make up 34% of voter registrations in the county, with Democrats lagging behind at 30% and Libertarians at .08%. While 806 independents became Republicans in January, only 544 became Democrats. There were 301 Democrats who became Republicans, while only 175 Republicans became Democrats.

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Kari Lake Joins Arizona GOP’s Lawsuit Against Secretary of State Hobbs to Stop Unmonitored Ballot Drop Boxes and Include Signature Verification Procedures

Rachel Alexander

Kari Lake may not be elected to office yet, but she is following through already on her vows to protect election integrity. The leading Arizona gubernatorial candidate filed an amicus curiae brief with the Arizona Supreme Court in the case Arizona Republican Party v. Hobbs, which asks the court to compel Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, to include signature verification procedures in the election procedures manual and remove the language she added authorizing the setup of unmonitored ballot drop boxes. Additionally, it challenges “no-excuse” early ballots as violating the Arizona Constitution. 

Lake said in a statement, “Voters have made it very clear that they are demanding nothing less than completely secure elections and we’re going to give it to them come hell or high water.” She said a forensic investigation earlier this year along with a canvass of absentee voters, which uncovered tens of thousands of irregularities with ballots cast in the 2020 general election, compelled her to enter the lawsuit.

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The Neighborhood Precinct Committeeman Strategy Taking Back the GOP in Arizona

Rachel Alexander
Dan Schultz

Arizona conservative activist and lawyer Dan Schultz has been informing people for years about the importance of becoming a precinct committeeman (PC), something many political activists overlook, swept up instead by major political campaigns and national issues. Considered a national expert on the topic, Shultz authored the book “Taking Back Your Government: The Neighborhood Precinct Committeeman Strategy.” In the book, which got him an award from legendary Republican Party influencer Richard Viguerie, he explains how the best way for patriots to take back their government is to take back control of the Republican Party — through precinct committeemen. 

He calls it the Precinct Strategy. Its focus is on influencing the policies of the Republican Party and who gets nominated and wins elections. He said PCs are actually the “elite” of the party, noting that fewer than one in one hundred political party members can be a voting member of the party. He pointed out that “the office of precinct committeeman has been called ‘the most powerful office in the world’ because the PC is the closest structured political officeholder to the registered voter.”

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Anti-Trumper Behind Dark Money Ad Attacking Kari Lake for Not Being Conservative Enough

Rachel Alexander

A TV ad from an organization attacking Trump-endorsed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has been running on TV and radio. The spot criticizes her for a $350 donation she made to Barack Obama in 2008, well before she entered politics in 2021.

One of the men listed as leadership behind the little-known group, Freedom’s Future Fund (FFF), is Jason Roe (pictured above), who was forced to resign as executive director of the Michigan Republican Party last year for declaring that there was no election fraud in the 2020 election and that Trump’s loss was his own fault.

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Arizonans for Voter ID Act Makes Ballot, and 15 Election Integrity Bills Have Passed the Arizona House

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Legislature has voted to send the Arizonans for Voter ID Act to the ballot as a proposition this fall, and 15 more election integrity bills have passed the Arizona House. The Arizonans for Voter ID Act was initially launched as a citizens’ initiative by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, which would have required 237,645 valid signatures to get on the ballot. SCR 1012, which passed along party lines, bypasses that time-consuming and often difficult process.

State Senator Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction), told the Arizona Sun Times, “Today the Senate Republican caucus met to discuss which bills they can support. We were able to get through much of what we have been proposing and received support from nearly all the members with two absent and not weighing in. I’m excited to see good election reform moving forward, ideas that will fortify election security so that voters can feel more secure about their votes. Bills deal with securing technology, ballot paper, chain of custody, removing drop boxes, improving signature verification, cleaning of the voter rolls, and many other items that we are looking to fix.”

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Arizona GOP Sues Arizona Secretary of State Hobbs to Stop Unmonitored Ballot Drop Boxes, Include Signature Verification Procedures, and Even Challenges Mail-In Voting

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Republican Party, along with its secretary Yvonne Cahill, has filed a lawsuit against Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs over more actions she has taken that appear to be making it easier to commit voter fraud. The AZGOP’s Application for Issuance of Writ Under Exercise of Original Jurisdiction asks the court to compel Hobbs to include signature verification procedures in the election procedures manual and remove the language she added authorizing the set up of unmonitored ballot drop boxes, and challenges “no-excuse” early ballots as violating the Arizona Constitution. 

AZGOP Chair Kelli Ward, who has been out on the forefront combating election fraud since the 2020 presidential election, told The Arizona Sun Times, “We want to make sure that our elections are secure so we can restore voter confidence and strengthen our representative republic.”

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Phoenix Police Forced to Transfer Specialty Officers to Patrol to Deal With Shortage

Rachel Alexander

The Phoenix Police Department (PPD) announced on Wednesday that around 100 officers and detectives from specialty divisions such as Violent Crimes are being transferred to patrol units due to a severe lack of officers on the streets and handling 911 calls. Their goal is to get the number of officers on patrol duty back up over 1,000. 

The PPD acknowledged officer attrition reached an “unprecedented” rate in early 2021. “These trends indicated the loss rate would become critical due to insufficient hiring and increased employee separations,” Phoenix Police Department Chief Jeri L. Williams said in the plan. 

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Veteran Phoenix School Teachers Protest Pay Cuts to Oust Them for New Critical Race Theory-Supportive Teachers

Rachel Alexander

Phoenix Elementary School District 1 is cutting the merit-based pay of veteran school teachers, which accounts for 15% of their salaries, while offering $1,500 bonuses to new teachers who join the district. Some of the teachers believe it is in part due to the fact more experienced teachers are less likely to support CRT and other radical curriculum. Teachers at one of the district’s schools, Shaw Montessori, held a protest in front of the district’s administration building Wednesday night while its leadership was meeting.

The teachers found out in early February about the pay cuts. Administrators, principals and other staff are getting pay raises, veteran teacher Vanessa Stricker told the Arizona Sun Times. And Phoenix Elementary School District 1 School Superintendent Larry Weeks got a 12% pay raise last year, just in time to substantially increase his retirement pay when he retires in May. 

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Argues at Supreme Court Defending Public Charge Rule Regarding Green Cards and Welfare

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich led a lawsuit with 12 other attorneys general against the Biden administration for dropping the Public Charge rule implemented in 2018 underneath the Trump administration, which ended up at the Supreme Court on Wednesday for oral arguments. The Public Charge rule made noncitizens ineligible for green cards if they are receiving public assistance, which was U.S. policy for over 100 years. 

“The United States is indeed the land of the free and of industrious immigrants, but it is not a welfare state,” said Brnovich in a statement about Arizona v. City and County of San Francisco. “The Biden Administration has once again caved to far-left groups attempting to erase a common-sense law that we’ve had in various forms for more than 100 years.”

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Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake Still Polling Higher Than All Other GOP Candidates in the Race Combined

Rachel Alexander

A new poll in the Arizona gubernatorial race shows Trump-endorsed Kari Lake still far ahead of other Republican candidates in the race, and the only Republican beating the Democratic frontrunner, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, in the general election. Arizona-based pollster Data Orbital found that Lake has 36.5% of the support of Republicans, with her nearest competitor Matt Salmon at 13%. 

“President Trump knows how to pick winners, and new polling proves the President was correct, once again,” Lake said in a statement. She told the Arizona Sun Times, “This is a huge poll. These fools have been saying I can’t win in the general election, when this poll shows THEY can’t win. First poll released that shows general election match ups.”

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Initiative Modeled After Federal HR 1, ‘Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections,’ Seeks to Get on Ballot

Rachel Alexander

A consortium of Left-leaning groups is seeking to add an initiative on the Arizona ballot that is very similar to the federal HR 1. “Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections” rolls back recent election integrity laws passed by the Arizona Legislature, makes it easier for people to vote without proving citizenship, and removes standard election fraud safeguards like requiring registering to vote in advance of elections. 

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club called the initiative “a leftist wish list of election law changes.” AFEC contends, “[T]heir federal takeover of elections has been held up in the U.S. Senate for months, so they have moved to ‘Plan B ’— taking over the election process in Arizona.”

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Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake Debuts Her First TV Ad Monday During ‘Fake News’ Programs, Tells Viewers to ‘Turn Them Off’

Rachel Alexander

Leading Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who left broadcast news after thirty years in the business, is set to release her first television commercial on Monday. The ad, aimed to air during the evening news hour criticizes those shows for their bias, and tells viewers to turn the shows off.

Lake told the Arizona Sun Times, “My first TV ad, titled ‘Rigged Elections Have Consequences,’ airs this Monday! And it will ONLY air during fake news programs. I am not a conventional, boring politician so it should surprise no one that I don’t have conventional, boring campaign ads. If the Fake News refuses to tell the truth, it’s up to us to do so. I am the only candidate with bold solutions to the problems we face and I lay many of them out in our first ad. Get ready!”

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Grassroots ‘America Pack’ Recommends 36 Bills in the Arizona Legislature This Session

Rachel Alexander

America Pack, a grassroots movement “built to empower citizens to hold elected officials accountable, advocate for honest elections, support law enforcement, and fight for freedom and liberty,” has issued a list of its most important bills this session in the Arizona Legislature. The topics primarily address election integrity, education, and COVID-19. They must be scheduled to be heard in a committee by Feb. 18, or they will die.

Election Integrity – House Government and Elections Committee

HB 2023, sponsored by State Representative Mark Finchem (R-Mesa) with several co-sponsors, requires digital images of ballots to be posted publicly online after elections.

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Five Top Prosecutors Under Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel Ask Her to Resign

Rachel Alexander

Republican Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel has admitted she has a history of alcohol abuse, and it has led to five of the top prosecutors in her office asking her to resign. Adel issued a statement immediately after their letter became public, refusing to resign. 

Former Maricopa County Treasurer Royce Flora, who worked with Adel until January of 2021, told The Arizona Sun Times, “It was clear from the beginning she couldn’t do her actual job. She behaved like just another sycophant for the Board of Supervisors. The substance abuse alone should have disqualified her as a prosecutor and her deputies exposing her incompetence verifies what we already knew.”

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New Book by Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward Provides Insider Perspective of Maricopa County Audit

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward has a new book out revealing what happened behind the scenes with the independent Maricopa County audit of the 2020 presidential election. Ward was one of the first to call for an audit, and was heavily involved in it every step of the way. “Justified: The Story of America’s Audit” is the story of how it all went down. As someone who was on the ground in Arizona, close to the polling and an ear to intel from the top Republican operatives, Ward’s opinion that there was significant fraud allowing Joe Biden to win Arizona carries weight.

“The state is still very much socially and fiscally conservative — deep red,” she summarized after experiencing the election and audit. “I believed that if every legal vote was counted and every illegal vote was rejected, President Trump would be the uncontested winner of the election.” Ward said the election was far more important than most people realized, “Many people have told me that as Arizona goes, the country goes.”

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Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake Releases Her Own Unedited Version of 60 Minutes Interview with ‘Lunatic Journalist’

Rachel Alexander

Leading Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake came from the media, so she is well versed dealing with reporters during interviews, often bringing her own camera operators to film her interviews too in case the media only plays selective clips. 60 Minutes Australia recently interviewed her, and sparks flew during the interview and for an extended period afterward between Lake and interviewer, as Lake repeatedly called out reporter Liam Bartlett for the type of questions he was asking.

Lake uploaded the entire interview and their exchange afterwards to Rumble in a video entitled “Kari Lake vs Lunatic ‘Journalist’ at 60 Minutes Australia.” Almost all of Bartlett’s entire interview focused on discussing Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol, which Lake did not attend. 

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Gov. Ducey Pushing Democratic-Sponsored Bill to Create an Earned Income Tax Credit in Arizona

Rachel Alexander
Sean Bowie and Doug Ducey

Arizona doesn’t have an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which mostly gives straight cash to those who don’t earn enough money to obtain a state tax refund, but Gov. Doug Ducey wants to change that. He is supporting SB 1018, sponsored by Senator Sean Bowie (D-Phoenix), which would create one, joining 30 other states which have adopted one patterned after the federal EITC. 

A state EITC would take $74 million from the state’s coffers annually and give it to low earners. In order to qualify, income levels would face the same ceilings as the federal credit. Both families and singles are eligible, with a family of four children earning $20,000 maxing out the most with $325.

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‘Easier to Vote, Harder to Cheat Act’ Seeks to Get on Ballot in Arizona

Rachel Alexander

Over 70 election integrity-related bills have been proposed in the Arizona Legislature since the highly questioned 2020 election, as well as ballot initiatives. Lee Miller, a former attorney for the Arizona Republican Party, recently filed paperwork launching a petition drive to get the “Easier to Vote, Harder to Cheat Act” as an initiative on the ballot this fall. The initiative makes it easier to vote in four ways and harder to cheat in five ways. One of the provisions would shorten the time allowed for tabulating ballots.

Valerie Grosso-Turley, founder of the grassroots Arizona-based America Pack, looked at the initiative and told the Arizona Sun Times, “With the continued skepticism of the 2020 election still top of mind of many voters, Arizona’s extended ballot-counting process adds to the distrust and suspicion of voters. Every voter must have confidence in our elections regardless of party affiliation. Polling has consistently shown that a majority of Republicans believe Biden won through fraud. I don’t know if the ‘easier to vote, harder to cheat act’ is the solution, but I do support the ongoing conversation to find a solution.” 

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Attorney General Brnovich Says Arizona Can Act on Its Own on the Border Since There’s an Invasion

Rachel Alexander

State Representative Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) asked Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich for a legal opinion on whether there is an “invasion” under the U.S. Constitution on the U.S. border with Mexico, allowing Arizona to defend itself. Brnovich responded affirmatively on Monday, saying it’s up to Governor Doug Ducey to initiate action. 

Hoffman told The Arizona Sun Times, “I’m glad to see that Attorney General Brnovich today agreed with my assessment that the crisis occurring on our southern border constitutes an invasion and a total failure by the Biden administration to fulfill its constitutional obligation to protect the people of Arizona.” 

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Leads Lawsuit Challenging COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Health Care Workers

Rachel Alexander
Mark Brnovich

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is suing the Biden administration again over its COVID-19 mandates, this time leading a coalition of other Attorneys General against the mandate for health care workers, known as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mandate. He took the lead along with the Attorneys General of Montana and Louisiana in a 69-page complaint, which was joined by 13 other states.

Brnovich said in a statement, “The unlawful mandate for facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is ‘causing havoc in the healthcare labor market’ across the nation – especially in rural communities – and does not account for the pandemic’s changing circumstances.”

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Arizona House Speaker Bowers Uses Technical Maneuver to Ensure Defeat of Sweeping Election Integrity Bill

Rachel Alexander

State Rep. John Fillmore (R-Apache Junction) introduced one of the most sweeping election integrity bills this session, but it appears all but doomed due to a rare procedural maneuver deliberately made to stop it by House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa). Bowers scheduled all 12 House committees to hear HB 2596, basically guaranteeing it will never reach the floor since some of the committees won’t bother to hear it. 

“Canvass Queen” Liz Harris, so named after conducting an 11-month long independent grassroots audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, told The Arizona Sun Times she was extremely disappointed Bowers did this considering she is certain there was massive fraud. “From the canvassing I’ve done, this is what I realized needs to happen,” she said. She explained that other election integrity legislation is composed of single-issue bills which will only fix one area in the elections process, allowing fraud to move to other areas. 

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Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward Sues to Block Democrats’ January 6 House Committee from Subpoenaing Her Phone Records

Rachel Alexander

The Democratic-controlled House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol has been subpoenaing numerous Republicans close to former President Donald Trump, including subpoenaing three months of phone records from Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward. Ward did not participate in the rally that day. 

Several of the Republicans subpoenaed are fighting back against the aggressive posturing, including Ward, who filed a lawsuit in Arizona federal district court on Feb. 1 along with her husband against the House Select Committee and its chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (R-02-Miss.) in order to stop T-Mobile from turning over the records.

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‘Maricopa County Transit Slush Fund Tax’ Bill Likely to Pass Arizona Legislature

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club is referring to a transportation bill that is sailing through the Arizona Legislature as a “Maricopa County Transit Slush Fund Tax.” HB 2598, with its corresponding Senate version, SB 1356, would send to the ballot a question to voters of whether to extend the Prop. 400 tax increase for transportation for another 25 years. It would increase taxes by $33 billion, allowing localities to direct the money with very few strings attached. 

AFEC said the extension “creates a big slush fund for liberal city mayors to spend on light rail, street trollies, bike paths, trails, complete streets and other undefined ‘regional programs’ and NO REQUIREMENTS that the money be spent on actual freeways or roads to relieve congestion.” 

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State Rep. Fillmore Introduces Sweeping Election Integrity Bill That Would Substantially Change How Elections Are Done in Arizona

Rachel Alexander

Arizona legislators are busy dropping bills to address election fraud this session, due to concerns there was massive fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Rep. John Fillmore (R-Apache Junction) is sponsoring one of the most sweeping bills, HB 2596, which makes substantial changes to elections including giving the Arizona Legislature the final say on approving elections, eliminating most voting by mail, and requiring hand counting of ballots.

Fillmore explained the need for the significant reform during a committee hearing. “I don’t care what the press says,” he said. “I don’t trust ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox or anybody out there. Everybody’s lying to me and I feel like I have a couple hundred ex-wives hanging around me. This is not a President Biden thing. This is not a the other red-headed guy thing. We should have voting in my opinion in person, one day, on paper, with no electronic means and hand counting that day. We need to get back to 1958-style voting.”

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Arizona Republican Electors Suddenly Under Attack Now for Choosing Trump in the 2020 Election

Rachel Alexander
People voting

Democrats are suddenly now attacking 11 Republican Arizona electors for choosing Donald Trump to receive Arizona’s electoral votes over a year ago, shortly after the 2020 presidential election. The Democrat-controlled U.S. House committee investigating the raucous protest at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 issued subpoenas on Jan. 28 for some of the Republican electors in seven swing states that submitted both a Republican slate of electors along with a Democratic slate, including two Arizona Republicans. 

A few of the electors have spoken up publicly in the last few days after it was made an issue, explaining they cast their votes believing Trump would prevail, since the election results were challenged in multiple lawsuits due to widespread belief there was voter fraud in Arizona and other swing states. The Arizona Sun Times reached out to several of them requesting comment, but they declined to respond, citing the legal risks. 

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Arizona Judge Blocks Biden’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Federal Contractors

Rachel Alexander

President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates have been running into trouble in the courts, with the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the mandate for large businesses, and several judges stopping his mandate for federal contractors. The latest one to do so is Judge Michael Liburdi of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in Phoenix, who ruled on Jan. 27 that the Biden administration lacked authority to implement the mandate.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich brought the lawsuit against the Biden administration over that mandate and others. He told The Arizona Sun Times, “If left unchecked, these unlawful and unconstitutional mandates would essentially override the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to our Constitution, and eviscerate the most basic health care freedoms of millions of Americans. It’s federal overreach at its worst. I will continue to stand up for Arizona. I’m proud to have led the fight against the Biden Administration’s unprecedented power grab. The government shouldn’t be your nanny, and it doesn’t get to be your doctor either.”

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Poll: Phoenicians Blame Democratic Mayor and City Council, Not Police for Public Safety Problems

Rachel Alexander

A survey conducted by OH Predictive Insights on behalf of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) found that Phoenix voters overwhelmingly fault Democratic Mayor Kate Gallego and the Democrat dominated City Council for public safety problems. More than three in five Phoenix voters (62%) blame them, while only 15% say the Phoenix Police Department is responsible. Hispanics were slightly more likely to blame the mayor and city council, 64%.

“It is evident that the recent anti-police rhetoric within the Phoenix City Council does not match voter sentiment within the City of Phoenix,” said Michael “Britt” London, President of PLEA. “Phoenix voters value our police officers and recognize that we need additional resources to protect our community and bring crime rates down. Voters clearly want the Mayor and Phoenix City Council to take action and direct additional funding and resources to the Phoenix Police Department to keep residents safe.”

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