Tag: David Farnsworth

Arizona Legislative Republicans Lead Effort to Ensure Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind Is Looked After

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Republican legislators proposed a bill this session to bring oversight of the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) closer in line with the Arizona Constitution’s provisions for regular schools. For about 100 years, the ASDB has only faced oversight once every 10 years, instead of the two-year requirement in the Arizona Constitution that applies to schools. The ASDB serves 2,100 students at campuses in Phoenix and Tucson.

State Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), who chairs the Senate Government Committee which heard HB 2456, explained during a speech to the Senate Committee of the Whole on April 13 why he believes a shorter extension is necessary. He said the Democrats who oppose the shorter extension want to treat oversight of the children the same way the government treats its oversight of “changing thermostats” infrequently at the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA).

Read the full story

State Rep. Parker Blasts Ousted Arizona Speaker Bowers for Calling GOP ‘Fascist’

Rachel Alexander

Republicans furious with Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa), mainly over denying election fraud and blocking election integrity bills, voted him out of office earlier this month, choosing a Trump-endorsed candidate instead. Bowers lost by almost 30 points to former legislator David Farnsworth, who he was running against for Senate (Bowers was term limited in the House). Bowers spoke out about his massive loss during an interview with The Guardian. 

He compared being voted out of office to “fascism.” He said, “The thought that if you don’t do what we like, then we will just get rid of you and march on and do it ourselves — that to me is fascism.” Bowers was referring to voters being upset about a multifaceted election integrity bill he killed using a technical maneuver. Among other things, HB 2596 would have given the legislature the power to reject election results, allowing an elector to call for a new election. 

Read the full story

Arizona Republican Party Censures House Speaker Rusty Bowers: ‘Unfit to Serve’

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Republican Party’s Executive Committee formally censured Arizona Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa) this week, calling on Republicans to vote him out of office during the primary election this year, and urging his Legislative District 10 and the Maricopa County Republican Party to issue their own censures.

The two-page censure contains a lengthy list of Bowers’ actions on bills in the Arizona Legislature, and declares he is “unfit to serve the platform of the Republican Party and will of the voter of the Republican Party of Arizona.” AZGOP Chair Kelli Ward tweeted, “he is no longer a Republican in good standing & we call on Republicans to replace him at the ballot box in the August primary.”

Read the full story

Conservatives Back Trump-Endorsed Candidate to Defeat Term-Limited House Speaker Rusty Bowers, Now Vying for State Senate Seat

Rachel Alexander

State Representative Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa) is facing stiff competition for the Republican nomination for the state senate seat he is now running for, political watchers say, as the term-limited Arizona House Speaker campaigns against the well-known, Trump-endorsed former State Senator David Farnsworth to represent the people of the 10th Legislative District.  

State Representative Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) warned that Bowers is a “career politician” who “will betray you repeatedly then lie to make you think they were on your side the whole time.” In a post on Telegram, he relayed a couple of his bad experiences in the Arizona Legislature with Bowers, while refuting Bowers’ new campaign ad.

Read the full story