Author: Rachel Alexander

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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Arizona Senate Government Committee Advances Seven Election Integrity Bills

Rachel Alexander

One of the biggest priorities in the Arizona Legislature this year is election integrity, due to concerns about fraud in the 2020 Arizona presidential election. Legislators have dropped many bills to combat voter fraud, with seven passing out of the Senate Government Committee on Monday.

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, who has been one of the strongest proponents of cleaning up election fraud, including helping get an audit launched into the Maricopa County 2020 election, told The Arizona Sun Times, “It is encouraging to see our state legislators taking action and focusing on election integrity. The objective information from the Arizona Audit — America’s Audit — is showing us the way to make voting more secure. These bills are yet another reason why the full forensic audit was justified.”

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State Rep. Wilmeth Sponsors Bill to Block Public Entities in Arizona from Contracting with Companies That Used Forced Labor from Uyghurs

Rachel Alexander

State Rep. Justin Wilmeth (R-Phoenix) is sponsoring legislation to block state and other public entities in Arizona from contracting for services or products from companies that use forced labor from the ethnic Uyghurs in China. Under HB 2488, companies that do business with the state will be required to certify in writing that they do not use that labor.

“As a student of history, I know what happens when good people remain silent,” said Wilmeth. “The Chinese Communist Party keeping millions of people locked in internment camps, which harkens back to the darkest chapters of the 20th century. HB 2488 sends a strong message that the State of Arizona won’t do business with anyone that turns a blind eye to this horrible human rights abuse.”

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Signatures Continue to Climb on Petition to Reverse Arizona State University Policy Mandating Vaccination Boosters for Student-Athletes at Away Games

Rachel Alexander

Arizona State University instituted a COVID-19 vaccine booster mandate on Jan. 11 for student-athletes participating in away games. Outraged student-athletes launched a petition to demand that ASU reverse the mandate, which has over 1,700 signatures so far. 

The petition, which was started anonymously probably due to fear of retaliation, states in part, “In a collective and respectful agreement amongst the athletes of various sports teams at Arizona State, we are voicing our stance to fight for the right to dictate what we decide goes into our bodies regarding the COVID-19 vaccination booster shot. … We want to express that there should NOT be a forced decision to be made by us athletes that causes us to sacrifice the season and competition we come to Arizona State for.”

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Kari Lake Campaign for Governor Raises Almost Three Times More Money as Pundits Predicted

Rachel Alexander

The Kari Lake campaign for governor continues its strong momentum, raising $1,462,115 in 2021 according to the Arizona Secretary of State’s campaign finance database. Two of her Republican opponents brought in more money, but both are funding their campaigns with millions of their own dollars. Steve Gaynor reported $5,009,655, which came almost entirely from his own funds, and Karrin Taylor Robson raised about the same amount as Lake, with almost another $2 million added of her own money. Matt Salmon brought in a little over a million.

Lake told The Arizona Sun Times, “I am thrilled by our fundraising. The pundits expected us to only raise $500,000. We raised nearly $1.5 million. Our swampy opponents hired up all of the political fundraisers in town in order to starve us from being able to raise money. But the people stepped up and made donations because they know in me, they have the first politician to run for governor who will truly represent the people of Arizona.”

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Leads Coalition to Defend North Carolina’s Voter ID Law at the Supreme Court

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is getting involved in another fight to combat election fraud, this time leading a coalition of eight other attorneys general in an amicus curiae brief at the Supreme Court regarding North Carolina’s voter ID law. They argued in Berger v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP that North Carolina’s General Assembly should be able to defend the law in court instead of Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, since he opposed the law.

“It is incumbent on public servants to stand up and defend laws when others cower to political pressure,” Brnovich said in a statement. “I am proud that our recent win at the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ability of states to administer elections and pass laws to protect the results.”

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Arizona and Three Other Red States Have Gained All Jobs Back That Were Lost Due to COVID-19

Rachel Alexander

As the economy turns around with the COVID-19 pandemic receding and lockdowns and restrictions fading, some states are recovering better than others. Only Arizona, Texas, Utah, and Idaho, some of the reddest states in the country, have all returned to pre-pandemic job levels. 

According to Adam Kamins, director of regional economics at Moody’s Analytics, this is largely due to people wanting to move to those states. “Those four states have experienced persistently strong population growth, which really wasn’t dented by the pandemic,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “More and more people keep coming from expensive coastal cities to places like Dallas and Phoenix, which have a relatively lower cost of living and higher quality of life.”

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Arizona State Sen. Carter Introduces Bill to Make it Illegal to Discriminate Based on Vaccine Status

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Legislature began its 2022 session on Jan. 10, and legislators are dropping lots of bills related to COVID-19, in part due to a Maricopa County Superior Court judge striking down much of that legislation last year. Recently appointed State Rep. Neil Carter (R-Casa Grande) introduced HB 2452, which would make it illegal to discriminate against any person based on their vaccination status in employment, housing, or public accommodations. 

“At this time when our nation is facing a critical hiring and employee shortage, it doesn’t make sense to further restrict the labor market through imposition of mandatory medical procedures as a condition of employment,” he said in a statement. “Moreover, the idea that a mandatory medical procedure should be a requirement of continued employment is offensive to freedom of conscience, economic security, and medical integrity. No person should be forced to choose between putting food on the table and the integrity of his or her body.” 

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State Sen. Kelly Townsend Announces Congressional Run in Arizona’s Open New 6th District Seat

Rachel Alexander

State Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction) announced she is running for Arizona’s newly redrawn 6th District Congressional seat, which is an open seat due to Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick declining to run for reelection. The sprawling southeast Arizona rural district runs from the U.S.-Mexico border to the Mogollon Rim and the New Mexico border to Casa Grande. Townsend lives in Apache Junction, in the newly drawn CD 5, about 60 miles from CD 6, but there is no requirement for her to live in the district she runs in, only that she live within the state.

Townsend told Capitol Media Services, “Anybody who knows me knows that my heart has been down in the southern part of the state anyway. That’s where I go for leisure, and that’s where I go to work.” Townsend filed a complaint last year with Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich about Tucson’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. After Brnovich issued an opinion declaring that the mandate was illegal, the city paused it.

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Arizona State Rep. Jake Hoffman Ken Cuccinelli, Russ Vought, and Other Prominent Officials Demand Gov. Ducey Follow Through with His Speech and Address Border Invasion

Rachel Alexander
Four illegal aliens apprehended in dense brush by members of the U.S. Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue (BORSTAR) team are led to awaiting vehicles near Eagle Pass, Texas, June 19, 2019. As Border Patrol agents are tasked to conduct intake and processing of the recent surge in migrant arrivals at the border, members of BORSTAR have been assisting in pursuing illegal aliens afield. CBP photo by Glenn Fawcett

Arizona State Capitol demanding that Gov. Doug Ducey do something about the “border invasion.” The officials were responding to Ducey’s final State of the State Address, which focused on the border crisis. The numbers of illegal immigrants coming across the southern border, especially into Arizona, has skyrocketed since the Biden administration took office, with migrant counters in the Yuma sector up 2,405%. 

Ken Cuccinelli, deputy secretary of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump and former Attorney General of Virginia, said, “It takes not just the governor, but a commitment of these legislative folks right here.” Due to all the dangerous drugs coming across the border, “Every town, in Arizona and across the country, is now a border town.” 

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‘Total Breakdown’ of Electronic System for Collecting Candidates’ Petition Signatures Under Arizona Secretary of State Hobbs

Rachel Alexander

Candidates running for office in Arizona are reporting difficulty collecting signatures online due to a “total breakdown” of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ website, as Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Gaynor described it. Hobbs, a Democrat, is also running for governor. New redistricting maps have been established, and although candidates are allowed to collect signatures from either their old district or their new district, if they’ve filed to run in the new district, the E-Qual system will only accept signatures from the old district with that number — which might be a completely different area.

Labeling the technical difficulties a “total breakdown,” Gaynor said in a statement, “The breakdown of the E-QUAL system is a slap in the face to Arizona candidates and voters, and all the hard work that has been done during the AIRC process. Secretary Hobbs has utterly failed to protect our election process, and her mismanagement of the E-QUAL system is the latest indication that Arizona’s elections are not in safe hands.”

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Ken Cuccinelli Headlines Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Election Integrity Panel

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) held a forum on Tuesday entitled “Restoring Election Integrity in Arizona.” Former Republican official Ken Cuccinelli and other panelists discussed how the left started dominating elections, left-wing lawfare, poll observer problems, what’s going on at the federal level, and solutions to fix voter fraud.

Cuccinelli, who served as the deputy secretary of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump and as the Attorney General of Virginia, is now the national chairman for the Election Transparency Initiative. He warned that the Democrats have moved far to the left in recent years, and no longer want to uphold the Constitution with its voting protections and delegation of voting administration to the states. “They don’t believe the U.S. is great. They don’t like the Constitution.” 

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Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake Offers Groundbreaking Solution to Fix Border: Go Around Feds with an Interstate Compact

Rachel Alexander
Kari Lake

Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake unveiled a border security plan aimed at circumventing the federal government through the creation of an interstate compact.

Titled “Defend Arizona: We will do what Washington will not,” her plan will bring states together to use Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution to “declare their territories as under invasion and declare it their sovereign right to secure the borders of the United States.” Lake told The Arizona Sun Times, “The people of Arizona and the people of this country are dying to have real solutions to bring sanity and the security back to the border.”

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State Rep. Quang Nguyen Introduces Bill to Protect Religious Arizonans from Liability If an Employer Requires the COVID-19 Vaccine

Rachel Alexander

Religious employees in Arizona who suffer an injury due to being required to get the COVID-19 vaccine by their employer will have a remedy if a proposed bill makes it into law. State Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott), along with several co-sponsors, introduced HB 2043 that makes employers liable for a “significant injury” to an employee resulting from the vaccine if the employer denies them a religious exemption. 

“This is one of the most important bills I’m introducing this coming session,” Nguyen said in a statement. “The reality is COVID-19 is going to be with us for a long time. Public and private health mandates are not a good solution and could instead cause harm in some cases. If businesses and employers are intent on mandating vaccinations as a condition of employment, they should be held accountable if their employees face serious harm or illness.”

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Maricopa County Officials’ Response to Results of Arizona Senate’s Independent 2020 Ballot Audit Leaves More Questions Than Answers

Rachel Alexander

Maricopa County officials have issued a 93-page response to the findings of the independent Maricopa County ballot audit of the 2020 presidential election, which was ordered by the Arizona Senate. Presented during a meeting of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 5, the officials claimed there were fewer than 100 questionable ballots out of the 2.1 million cast. 

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward watched a portion of the meeting and expressed skepticism to The Arizona Sun Times, “The part that I’ve seen so far was a group of related good ole boys attempting to convince people that they ran a perfect election,” she said. “They want Americans to believe them over what we saw with our own eyes. Arizonans were totally justified in demanding an audit of the 2020 election — and we should actually audit everything so we can restore voter confidence that our elections have integrity.”

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Arizona Reps. Gosar, Biggs, and Lesko Join Brief Demanding SCOTUS Block Biden’s Vaccine Mandate on Large Private Employers

Rachel Alexander

Three Arizona members of Congress are joining in on a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees. Reps. Paul Gosar (R-04-Ariz.), Andy Biggs (R-05-Ariz.), and Debbie Lesko (R-08-Ariz.) along with 180 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate filed an amicus curiae brief in NFIB v. OSHA challenging the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to implement the mandate.

The members of Congress argued that the mandate violates federalism, encroaching on the states’ authority. “[T]he sudden ‘discovery’ of authority under the OSH Act confirms that it was never intended to displace state authority in this area.” They assert, “Congress did not give that power to an agency bureaucrat.”

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Mayor of Yuma Explains Why Migrant Encounters Are Up 2,405 Percent, Offers Solutions

Rachel Alexander

Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls is speaking up about the recent surge of migrants in the Yuma sector on Arizona’s border with Mexico, explaining why it’s occurring and recommending solutions. He believes there are several factors contributing to the 2,405% increase in migrant apprehensions, and says there are both long-term and short-term ways to resolve the problem.

“The ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy of the Trump administration was ordered put back in place by the courts, but that has not fully happened,” he told The Arizona Sun Times. “In 2019 and 2020, there were 50 to 60 migrants a day being returned under the policy. Now, there are only about 10 a day. With 1,000 coming across the border daily now, that’s only 1%.”

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People Moving to Red Parts of Arizona, Not Blue Areas Like Tucson

Rachel Alexander

Arizona is one of the fastest growing states in the country, ranked No. 6 in 2021 by HomeSnacks. New data from the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity reveals that the growth is taking place in red parts of Arizona, not blue strongholds like Tucson — which could mean Arizona is not trending blue.

“The growth is around Maricopa County,” Rep. David Schweikert (R-06-Ariz.) told The Arizona Sun Times. “Maricopa County, which leans Republican, already dominates the state. This will give it even more power.” Currently, 62% of the population lives there.

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Veterans Group Says Biden Administration Undermining Trump-era ‘Mission Act,’ Hurting Veterans in Arizona

Rachel Alexander
Man in uniform saluting

Under the Trump administration, the VA Mission Act (VAMA) was enacted in 2018 to provide veterans access to healthcare outside of the Veterans Administration healthcare system in order to provide more options and speed up accessibility to medical care. Unfortunately, veterans are reporting that the VA under the Biden administration has cut back on that expansion.

VAMA allowed veterans who could not get a medical appointment within 20 days or who had to drive more than 30 minutes to a VA facility to use alternate private healthcare providers instead. This was crucial, because veterans were dying while stuck on waiting lists for medical treatment, Josh Stanwitz of Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) told The Arizona Sun Times.

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Arizona State Rep. Jake Hoffman Denounces Arizona State University’s ‘Slap on the Wrist’ for Students Who Kicked White Students Out of Multicultural Center

Rachel Alexander

Two minority students at Arizona State University posted a video on Instagram on Dec. 22 announcing that ASU has disciplined them for forcing two white students on September 23 to leave the university’s multicultural center, an event captured on video that went viral. ASU first charged undergraduate student Mastaani Qureshi and graduate student Sarra Tekola with two Code of Conduct violations in November, stalking and interfering with university activities. A third student, Mimi Arayya, was also charged with the violations, but ASU later dropped them. 

According to Qureshi and Tekola in their video response announcing ASU’s discipline, the university first gave them a warning, then required them “to write a 3-page paper on how next time we talk to white people about race in society, we will be civil.” Qureshi said she will not comply with writing the statement and does not regret her actions.

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Arizona Gov. Ducey and Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake Differ on Putting Cameras in Classrooms

Rachel Alexander

Leading Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake voiced support for putting cameras in schools in order to allow parents to monitor what educators are teaching their children, and Gov. Doug Ducey responded by criticizing the idea. 

Ducey said during a press conference that it could lead to “predators” monitoring children, the Arizona Capitol Times reported. “We’ve got young kids in these classrooms,” he said. “We want to protect them from predators, of course.” 

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New York Attorney General Letitia James and 22 Attorneys General Fight Arizona’s Law to Ban Abortions Based on Fetal Abnormalities Like Down Syndrome

Rachel Alexander

This past year, the Arizona Legislature passed a law banning the abortion of babies for reasons of genetic abnormalities such as Down Syndrome, but a federal judge who was appointed by President Barack Obama halted it from going into effect due to a legal challenge. Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James and 22 other attorneys general jumped into the litigation, filing an amicus brief supporting the challenge to SB 1497, which is also known as the “Reason Ban.”

James stated, “Arizona is just the latest in the long line of conservative-led states that are seeking to impose their will on millions of women with laws that aim to control our bodies, our choices, and our freedoms, but we will never stop fighting them. We’re asking the appeals court to uphold the lower court’s decision and strike down this unconstitutional law.”

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Arizona Gov. Ducey Fails to Join Governors Fighting Back Against Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccine for Their National Guard

Rachel Alexander

The Biden administration announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all branches of the military on August 25, which applies to members of the Arizona Army National Guard (AZARNG). Although six governors are attempting to stop the mandate for their National Guards, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is not one of them. 

AZARNG has not begun discharging any soldiers yet, but intends to follow the lead of other branches of the military, which have. The Department of Defense declared that Army National Guard and Reserve members have until June 30 to receive their shots.

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Newly Redrawn Congressional and Legislative Districts in Arizona Favor GOP Now, But May Not in the Future: Schweikert

Rachel Alexander
David Schweikert

The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission has mostly finalized its 10-year maps redrawing congressional and legislative districts in the state, and the results appear mixed for Republicans. While they appear to shift more districts in favor of Republicans, the advantage in some of those districts is so slim that in future years when the country’s mood shifts back against Republicans, several of those districts will be easier for the Democrats to capture, making it possible for the Democrats to take back the Arizona Legislature.

Rep. David Schweikert (R-06-Ariz.), whose district will become the most competitive after the redistricting, told The Arizona Sun Times, “The results are a mixed bag. While superficially it looks better for the GOP, in five of the districts there is such a small Republican advantage that we stand a good chance of losing all five of those seats to the Democrats in 2026 — and if we don’t take the White House back in 2024, we could lose them as soon as that year.”

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Arizona Rep. Kaiser Sponsors Bill Providing Exemption From Vaccine Requirements for Those Who Have Had COVID-19

Rachel Alexander

State Rep. Steve Kaiser (R-Phoenix) is sponsoring a bill, HB 2020, that would exempt people in Arizona from government or private businesses imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates if they have already had COVID-19. This includes mandates from the federal government and from corporations at their branches in Arizona. To be eligible, someone must show either proof of antibodies, a positive test, or a positive T-cell immune response to COVID-19.

Kaiser, who came up with the idea for the bill during a discussion with a friend, told The Arizona Sun Times, “It provides a great way for folks who are uncomfortable with the vaccine to keep their jobs. There is a lot of data to support this, and it has a great chance of passing through the legislature.” He said at least one Democrat has said they may support the bill.

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Arizona Reps. Gosar and Biggs Discuss Voter Fraud at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2021

Rachel Alexander

At Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2021 conference in Phoenix, election integrity is one of the most important topics, in part due to the high-profile ballot audit in the Maricopa County 2020 presidential election. One of the main panels at the conference focused on this, featuring Rep. Paul Gosar (R-04-Ariz.), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-05-Ariz.), and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-01-Texas). 

The main topic of the panel was how to prevent election fraud in the future. All three panelists urged everyone to get involved and make a difference, whether by poll watching, putting pressure on elected officials, or looking for fraud. Biggs advised, “Be loud and proud. Do it with a smile on your face, they hate that.” 

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Donald Trump Jr. and Election Integrity Panel with Arizona Lawmakers Headline Second Day of Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2021

Rachel Alexander

Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2021 conference kicked off the second day with a 9 a.m. speech by Donald Trump Jr. Other notable speakers on Sunday included Sarah Palin, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-14-Ga.), and Rep. Burgess Owens (R-04-Utah). The day wrapped up with breakout panels, including one on election integrity featuring Arizona lawmakers. 

Trump Jr. spoke about some of the most contentious issues facing patriots currently. “There are women who work their a**** off … they spent their lives trying to reach the pinnacle of success in a sport only to be beaten by 38 seconds in the 500 freestyle,” he declared, referring to a transgender who recently won a women’s swimming competition at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Charlie Kirk and Tucker Carlson Kick Off Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2021 Conference in Phoenix

Rachel Alexander
Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk

Turning Point USA is holding their annual AmericaFest 2021 conference this weekend in Phoenix, where they are based. Founder Charlie Kirk and Fox News personality Tucker Carlson spoke Friday on opening night. 

Kirk opened the event, hitting on a lot of social and cultural issues during his speech. He told the attendees not to let it bother them when the left calls them names for saying something true. He acknowledged that it’s so bad that if you speak out, “you might not be able to get a job in your field.” 

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State Rep. Jake Hoffman Only Arizona Legislator to Score 100 Percent in American Conservative Union’s 2021 Ratings

Rachel Alexander

The American Conservative Union rates members of Congress and state legislators every year, and this past year Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Mesa) was the only member of the Arizona Legislature to receive a perfect 100% rating. Other high scorers included Sen. Warren Petersen (R-Mesa), Rep. Judy Burges (R-Prescott), and Rep. Travis Grantham (R-Gilbert), who scored 98%.

The lowest scoring Republicans were Sen. T.J. Shope (R-Florence) with 78%, Rep. John Joel (R-Buckeye) with 71%, Rep. Joanne Osborne (R-Goodyear) with 73%, Rep. David Cook (R-Globe) with 76%, the late Rep. Frank Pratt (R-Casa Grande) with 77%, and Rep. Tim Dunn (R-Yuma) with 78%.

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Proposed Math Textbook in Paradise Valley Schools Contains Graph Showing Conservatives Are Allegedly More Racist

Rachel Alexander

The Paradise Valley Unified School District is in the process of approving a new precalculus textbook for students, and one of the textbooks the school district is considering contains a survey showing that conservatives are allegedly more racist than liberals.The textbook, titled “Precalculus 6th Edition,” by Robert F. Blitzer, includes a graph labeled “Measuring Racial Prejudice, by Political Identification,” which claims that “very conservative” people score 39 when it comes to being racist, whereas “very liberal” people score only 26. There are several in between groups that generally progress to becoming less racist as they become more liberal.

Kerwin Franklin, a mother of five boys in the district, discovered the chart when she was told parents could come inspect the book in the school district’s lobby. She told the Arizona Sun Times, “Kids read these things and they think they’re fact, they don’t know that they’re planted there.” She said the author of the book and the people approving it have an agenda. “It’s racial justice, diversity, trying to let kids know we’re the most racist society around.” 

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Asks SCOTUS to Reinstate Arizona’s Ban on Aborting Fetuses with Genetic Abnormalities

Rachel Alexander

A federal appeals court temporarily blocked Arizona’s new law preventing abortions for reasons of genetic abnormalities like Down syndrome, and so Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to remove the injunction while he is appealing the decision on behalf of Arizona. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld the injunction, and it will be up to Justice Elena Kagan, who handles emergency appeals from the 9th Circuit, to rule on the request or have the full court decide. 

“Every society will ultimately be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable,” Brnovich said in a statement to Fox News. “I am proud to stand up for Arizona’s law protecting the unborn.”

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Refuses to Approve Hobbs’ Election Procedures Manual Due to Election Integrity Issues That Could Lead to Criminal Penalties

Rachel Alexander

Every other year, the Arizona Secretary of State is required by statute to submit a draft of an updated election procedures manual to the Arizona Governor and Arizona Attorney General for approval. This year, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich told Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs that she needed to make several changes in order for it to be in compliance with the law, but she refused. 

Brnovich responded to her in a letter on December 10, “As Arizona’s Chief Legal Officer, I have a responsibility to assure that the EPM conforms to the law. As a reminder, election officials who violate its provisions (which are hundreds of pages long) are guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor. Through the red-lined document provided to you yesterday, I have provided clear direction on what changes need to be made to assure the EPM does not unnecessarily expose election officials and workers to criminal penalties.”

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Arizona Lawmakers Hold Hearing in Pima County Analyzing 2020 Voter Fraud Allegations

Rachel Alexander

Nine Arizona legislators held a hearing Monday in the Democratic stronghold of Pima County and Tucson over persistent rumors of election irregularities, including one anonymous allegation that 35,000 fraudulent votes were added to the final tally.

State Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Mesa) explained why the Pima County election integrity hearing was necessary.

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Yuma Rep. Tim Dunn: Arizona’s Spike in Illegal Border-Crossers is Thanks to Biden’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy Applying Only to Texas

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey sent the Arizona National Guard and law enforcement officers to the Arizona border with Mexico near Yuma to address a surge in border crossings, which Arizona Rep. Tim Dunn (R-Yuma) has called for and believes will help combat the drug cartels, but not the number of migrants crossing due to the Biden administration’s policies. 

Dunn told The Arizona Sun Times that although only the federal government is allowed by law to deal with the migrants, Arizona troops and law enforcement officers can perform other tasks for the Border Patrol, freeing them up to handle the influx of migrants. He said the migrants “do want to be checked in to the Border Patrol. The last leg of their trip is to get a free ride to another part of the country — the Border Patrol is performing an Uber function.”

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Arizona Lawmakers Demand Gov. Ducey Call a Special Session so They Can Stop COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for City of Phoenix Employees

Rachel Alexander

The City of Phoenix instituted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees, and numerous Republican lawmakers want to stop it. Several legislators sent a letter to Gov. Doug Ducey demanding that he call a special session of the Arizona Legislature so they can pass legislation halting that mandate and any others in Arizona. 

Sen. Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix), Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix), and Rep. Justin Wilmeth (R-Phoenix) wrote, “We urge you to immediately call us into a special session to pass legislation prohibiting any government entity from mandating the COVID-19 vaccine. Since the Arizona Supreme Court struck down policy provisions added to the budget passed earlier this year as a violation of our state Constitution’s single subject clause, it is imperative we address medical freedom issues taking place in our K-12 public schools, public colleges and universities, and any city, county or town from imposing a vaccine passport or mandate on any person or business.” 

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Arizona Secretary of State Hobbs, Who Attacked Many on the Right for Allegedly Being Racist, Admits ‘I Participated in Furthering Systemic Racism’

Rachel Alexander

Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor of Arizona, labeled people on the right racist, but now admits she herself is racist. A jury found that her former staffer at the Arizona Legislature, Talonya Adams, was wrongly fired due to racism, and Hobbs admitted her culpability in an interview with The Arizona Republic on Wednesday.

Hobbs told the Republic, “Looking back there are probably a lot of things that I would have done differently. I know that in proceeding in her termination, I participated in furthering systemic racism.” The jury awarded $2.5 million to Adams because of the discrimination.

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Should Roe v Wade Be Overturned, Arizona’s Abortion Restrictions Still Stand

Rachel Alexander
Baby and Father

The U.S. Supreme Court appears very likely to uphold Missouri’s 15-week abortion ban, which will gut a significant portion of Roe v. Wade, leaving much of abortion regulation to the individual states. Roe v. Wade prohibited the states from restricting abortion before fetal viability, around 23 weeks. If the Supreme Court rules for Mississippi in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, it is expected that 26 states will then start restricting abortion as early as 15 weeks, including Arizona, which already has an old law on the books.

When Arizona was a territory, a law was passed in 1901 banning abortion. A.R.S. 13-3603 punishes the facilitation of an abortion with two to five years in prison. A woman who attempts to obtain one, whether successful or not, unless necessary to save her life, was penalized by one to five years in prison. That law was repealed this year by the Arizona Legislature. 

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Maricopa County GOP Preparing to Censure Three Lawmakers for Opposing School Voucher Expansion to Poor Children

Rachel Alexander

  Former Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce introduced a resolution for the Maricopa County Republican Party to censure three state lawmakers for opposing an amendment to a bill to expand school vouchers. The Maricopa County GOP will vote on whether to approve the resolution against State Rep. Joel John (R-Buckeye), State Rep. Joanne Osborne (R-Goodyear), and State Rep. Michelle Udall (R-Mesa) in January at its next meeting. The amendment was added by State Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix) to the K-12 budget bill HB 2898 this past legislative session. The three joined with Democrats to defeat it 28-28. Bolick told The Arizona Sun Times, “The same House legislators who rolled the GOP House caucus on SCR 1044 voted against Arizona’s own families when they voted against my amendment. Yet they support reduced tuition for all illegals.” Bolick is referring to how Udall brought SCR 1044 to the House floor for a vote, even though it did not have the votes and was not debated. If passed, it would have provided reduced college tuition for all illegal immigrants, not just Dreamers. Entitled “In Support of Parental Involvement and Choice in Education,” Pearce’s resolution states that “[T]he Maricopa County Republican Party remains 100%…

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Arizona Republic Employees Say They Lament the Gradual Decline of the Newspaper

Rachel Alexander

Employment in journalism has taken a hit in recent years, and The Arizona Republic, known as AZCentral online, is no exception. The Republic was bought by the left-leaning publisher Gannett in 2000, which bought up several large newspapers in the 2000s. The paper took a sharp lurch to the left politically, and since then, there have been numerous high-profile layoffs and furloughs as the paper shrank faster than most other large newspapers.

Rebekah Sanders, a consumer protection reporter and the president of the paper’s union, Arizona Republic Guild, tweeted about the latest cutback on Dec. 2. “The company is planning to discontinue work cell phones,” she complained. “A [bat sh*t crazy] idea for a company whose entire workforce depends on phone calls! But we will push back and make sure our members are taken care of.”

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Judge Rules Arizona Legislature Must Disclose Ballot Audit Records to Newspaper

Rachel Alexander

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah, who was appointed to the bench by former Gov. Janet Napolitano, ruled that the Arizona Senate must turn over records from the Maricopa County ballot audit to satisfy a public records request from The Arizona Republic. The newspaper and left-wing watchdog American Oversight have been engaged in litigation attempting to get records from the legislature and the contractor that conducted the audit, Cyber Ninjas. 

Hannah said that while the legislature may keep conversations about legislation private, under “legislative privilege,” conversations about the audit are excluded. “This is not a confidential process,” Hannah said. “This is a highly, highly public process.” He said there is a legal presumption favoring disclosure which the Senate did not overcome. 

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Arizona State University Says Kyle Rittenhouse May Apply for Admission There, Despite Protests by Some Students

Rachel Alexander

Arizona State University (ASU) officials say Kyle Rittenhouse may enroll for classes, notwithstanding radical student groups like the ASU Students For Socialism’s vows to demonstrate on campus Wednesday to demand the school prevent him from attending. Rittenhouse, who was recently acquitted of homicide for defending himself, has taken online courses at ASU previously and said after the acquittal that he intends to resume them.

Several prominent ASU graduates denounced the protest, and one, State Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Mesa), pushed ASU for a response.

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Part of AG Coalition Demanding Ben & Jerry’s Stop Boycotting Israel

Rachel Alexander
Mark Brnovich

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and 11 other attorneys general sent a letter to Unilever and its subsidiary, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc., demanding they reverse their decision to boycott Israel in refusing to sell Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“We must defend the laws of our states and oppose attempts by global corporations to engage in economic warfare against the State of Israel,” said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich in a statement.

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Scottsdale Unified School District Board President Who Compiled Dossier on Complaining Parents Refuses to Resign, Running for Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board

Rachel Alexander

Scottsdale Unified School District Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg refuses to resign after outraged parents discovered a dossier of personal information that he or his father had collected about parents he’d had conflicts with over CRT, COVID-19 restrictions and other issues. The rest of the school board voted Greenburg out on November 15 at their meeting, appointing fellow board member Patty Beckman as interim president to serve for the remainder of the calendar year, but Greenburg refuses to resign from the board. Instead, he’s making plans to further his career by running for the board of the Maricopa County Community College District, filing his intent to run on November 3. 

Scottsdale parent Tracey Davis said in an email to board members on November 23, “In a way [his refusal to resign] is good for those of us who wish to face him at the next board meeting and publicly identify all of the things that he has done against parents and students in our district. As one of “these f*cking people,” I plan to speak for the very first time about this. I am optimistic with a new board president that the previous decisions to limit our access and refusal to show video of parents on the YouTube stream will be reversed.”

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Two Arizona Corporation Commission Members Demand Meeting to Vote on Repealing COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Utility Employees

Rachel Alexander
Justin Olson and James O'Conner

Arizona Corporation Commissioners Jim O’Connor and Justin Olson want to hold a meeting to vote on whether utilities, known as Public Service Corporations, can force their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. They sent a letter to their fellow commissioners on November 18 expressing their concerns.

O’Connor and Olson cite the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision on November 12 putting a stay on the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees. They quoted the opinion where it said the mandate “raises constitutional concerns” and “grossly exceeds [its] statutory authority.” 

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Responds to Reporter Asking If He’s Had the Vaccine: ‘Have You Had an STD?’

Rachel Alexander

During a press conference announcing his lawsuit with police officers and firefighters against the City of Phoenix over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich was asked by Arizona’s Family political editor Dennis Welch whether he was vaccinated. His press secretary waved the question off as “inappropriate.” 

However, Brnovich, who is running for U.S. Senate, responded, “Do you have an STD?” After a brief pause with some laughter from those present, he went on, “It’s not a ridiculous question. The question should be, once you allow or cede this authority to the federal government, where does it stop? And my own health information is my own health information.” 

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Two More Inmates in Pima County Indicted for Illegally Voting in Jail, Also Registered to Vote While There

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office announced that two more inmates from Pima County have been indicted for illegally voting from jail during the 2020 election. Michael Damian Herrera, 25, and Shadae Alexis Smith, 29, both of Tucson, were also indicted for false registration to vote. Both crimes are felonies.

Brnovich, who is running for the U.S. Senate, has made combating election fraud a high priority. 

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Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio Demands Vote on City of Phoenix Vaccine Mandate for Employees

Rachel Alexander

Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio is requesting a meeting and vote on the City of Phoenix’s new COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In a letter sent to the mayor and other members of the city council on November 22, he expressed concerns over public safety, employee retention, and whether the Biden’s administration mandate even applies.

“This decision will compromise vital citywide services to our residents, including public safety, which this Council has been aware of the alarming crime data and how the city is struggling to hire and retain personnel,” he wrote. “A more thorough determination needs to be made on whether, under federal law, the City of Phoenix and its 13,000 employees are considered ‘federal contractors’ for the purposes of this mandate,” he wrote.

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Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer Creates PAC to Back GOP Fraud-Deniers

Rachel Alexander

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican who has been very public with his opinion that there was no voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, has formed a PAC to support Republican candidates who also believe there was no voter fraud. Called Pro-Democracy Republicans of Arizona, the only interview he appears to have given about it is to the far left Arizona Mirror. 

The Arizona Sun Times asked him why he was so opposed to investigating the 2020 election for voter fraud, and he responded, “I was consistently opposed to conspiracy theorist partisans with no election experience doing a review.” He referred The Times to a letter he wrote in August.

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In Another Viral Speech, Rep. Schweikert Says It’s About Time to Declare the Pandemic over, and Exposes Fraud and Budget Gimmicks in ‘Build Back Better’

Rachel Alexander

Just two weeks after his House floor speech on financial fraud in Congress went viral, Arizona Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) delivered another epic speech, this time focusing on COVID-19 and President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill. Schweikert said the country is about at the point to declare the pandemic over, and he slammed Biden’s “social spending plan” for “economic violence” against the working poor and “laced with budget gimmicks.”

Schweikert explained how the combination of several factors now means the pandemic is about over. Pfizer’s new antiviral medication, which is about to be approved by the FDA, is 89% effective and will be available to millions by January. There are at-home COVID-19 tests and multiple vaccines. He will be putting forth legislation shortly to address this developing situation.

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House Democrats Censure Arizona Rep. Gosar over Tweeting Cartoon Parody, Remove Him from Committee Posts

Rachel Alexander

The House of Representatives narrowly voted 223-207 to censure Rep. Paul Gosar (R-04-AZ) and remove him from his committee posts for tweeting an animated video showing his head on the body of an anime character stabbing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-14-NY) and lunging with a knife at President Joe Biden. Twitter did not take the video down, merely labeling it “hateful content” and stating that it was in the public’s interest for it to remain.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-23-CA) denounced the action before the vote. “It’s an old definition of abuse of power: rules for thee, but not for me. That’s exactly what’s happening here today,” he said. “House Democrats are preparing once again to break another precedent of the United States House of Representatives.”

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