Tag: Katie Hobbs

Katie Hobbs’ Education Plan Bashes School Vouchers

Peter D'Abrosca

Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, running for Arizona’s highest office, released an education plan that bashes school vouchers and calls for tighter restrictions on charter schools. 

“Katie continues to oppose the universal expansion of school vouchers. As governor, she will work to roll back universal vouchers, which the legislature enacted against the will of voters this year,” according to the plan. “Vouchers should not have been expanded to provide an unaccountable means of enriching private schools and defunding our local public schools.”

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Emerson Poll Shows Tight Races for Arizona Senate, Governor

Peter D'Abrosca

An Emerson poll released Friday shows that both the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races in Arizona, are essentially dead heats. 

The poll shows Sen. Mark Kelly (R-AZ) leading his insurgent challenger Blake Masters by only two points, 47 percent to 45 percent. Five percent of voters remain undecided, and four percent say they will vote for someone else. Meanwhile, 53 percent say they expect Kelly to win, regardless of whom they support. 

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Arizona GOP Disputes Katie Hobbs’ Portrayal of Herself as a Moderate in Her New Border Security Ad

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor, is pivoting her campaign ads to “clone herself as a ‘moderate,’” Arizona Republican Party Chair Jerimiah Cota contends. A new ad from Hobbs states that she will “keep our border secure,” but Cota said in a statement that “this is far from the truth.” 

He said, “This statement is absurd implying that the border was secure to begin with. On top of that, Katie cannot expect the people of Arizona to forget her atrocious record when it comes to border security. … She has actively worked against securing Arizona’s border her entire career. We view Hobbs and her team’s attempt to trick an entire state into forgetting her anti-border security history as an insult to the intelligence of Arizonans.” 

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Kari Lake Accuses Opponent Katie Hobbs of Hiding as the Clean Election Commission Rejects Her Request for Town Hall-Style Debate

Neil Jones

Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake slammed her opponent Katie Hobbs Thursday after the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (AZCCEC) rejected Hobbs’s request for an unorthodox debate format.

“It’s becoming clearer everyday that Hobbs’ strategy is to hide from me, the Press, and Voters throughout the entirety of this campaign and run out the clock on the people of Arizona. Fortunately, the Clean Elections Commission refused to play inter her game and voted down her proposal for a town hall safe space,” said Lake. ” I will take part in the debate format that I already agreed to, and if Katie Hobbs grows a spine between now and October 12th, she is welcome to join me!”

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Lake Rips Hobbs for ‘Safe Space’ Town Hall Proposal

Peter D'Abrosca

Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee laid into her Democrat opponent in a letter to the Citizens for Clean Elections Commission, claiming that the town hall proposed by that opponent is an unacceptable forum for the pair to meet on stage. 

Kari Lake has been calling on Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the Democrat party’s nominee for Arizona’s highest office, to debate her. For weeks, Hobbs was silent. 

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Hobbs Refuses to Share Stage with Lake at Chamber of Commerce Forum

Peter D'Abrosca

At a Wednesday night Chamber of Commerce event, the Democrat Party’s nominee for governor of Arizona refused to take the stage with Republican nominee Kari Lake. 

“I was supposed to be up on stage with [Katie Hobbs] at this Arizona Chamber of Commerce forum. Instead, I’m watching from the Audience because she’s a coward. I’ll be speaking next, stay tuned!” Lake said on Twitter during the event. 

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Arizona GOP Gubernatorial Nominee Kari Lake Blasts Dem Opponent Katie Hobbs for Ducking Debate

Peter D'Abrosca

Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee is thrashing her Democrat opponent over that Democrat’s refusal to debate her before the November general election. 

“13 days ago, I offered up the sweetest debate offer in history. [Secretary of State Katie Hobbs] waited until 2 hours before the official [Arizona Clean Elections Committee] deadline & denied my offer. She has disdain for us, Arizona. She thinks we are beneath her. We’re going to beat her like a drum in November, folks,” Kari Lake said on Twitter Friday.

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Pinal County Sheriff Slams Katie Hobbs over New Border Campaign Ad

Neil Jones

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb blasted a new border security campaign ad from Democrat gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs in a statement Tuesday, claiming Arizona can’t afford to have her as governor.

“Katie Hobbs has openly opposed filling the border wall gaps and supported ending Title 42, which makes our jobs harder and puts us in the line of fire,” Lamb said in a release from the Kari Lake Campaign. “We cannot afford a Governor who will do nothing to stop the unprecedented human trafficking and drug trafficking at our southern border.”

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Lake, Hobbs Duel over Border Security

Peter D'Abrosca

Gubernatorial candidates Kari Lake, a Republican, and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, are dueling over border security after Hobbs launched an ad claiming she will secure the border. 

“Katie Hobbs will deliver whatever resources are needed to keep you safe, my team safe, our state safe. She’s not here to politicize the border. Katie Hobbs has a plan and solutions,” says Democrat Sheriff Chris Nanos of Pima County in the ad. 

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New Poll Shows Kari Lake with Small Lead, Blake Masters Down Three Percent

Aaron Gulbransen

A new poll released by the Trafalgar Group shows Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake with a 0.7 percent lead over Democrat Katie Hobbs and GOP U.S. Senate nominee Blake Masters facing a 3.3 percent deficit to incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator John Kelly (D-AZ).

The poll was conducted from August 24 through August 27, had 1074 respondents that were likely general election voters, had a confidence rating of 95 percent, and had a margin of error of 2.9 percent.

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Kari Lake Celebrates Momentum as New Poll Shows Her in Lead over Opponent Hobbs

Neil Jones

The Trafalgar Group recently unveiled new survey results involving the Arizona governor seat race, showing Trump-endorsed Kari Lake with a slight lead over her gubernatorial rival, Democrat Katie Hobbs.

“Katie Hobbs had every advantage heading into this race after she faced an easy primary. Instead, despite a tough GOP primary, Kari Lake has seized the lead before Labor Day,” said the Lake campaign in a press release. “Katie Hobbs is simply too much of a Biden-supporting liberal extremist for Arizona. Our campaign will only continue to build on this momentum as Republicans keep uniting around Kari Lake, and Arizonans learn more about her plans to put Arizona First, fix our economy and secure the border.”

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Another ‘Defund Police’ Group Endorses Katie Hobbs

Peter D'Abrosca

Another group that advocates for defunding the police has endorsed Arizona’s Democrat gubernatorial candidate, in what is becoming a pattern. 

“As Arizonans grapple with an all out ban on abortion that [Kari Lake] has promised to defend, I’m proud to have [NARAL Arizona’s] endorsement. Arizonans deserve a governor who will fight to let them make their own decisions about their lives, families, & futures,” said Secretary of State and Democrat candidate for governor Katie Hobbs. 

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Bill Kristol-Led PAC Vows to Spend $2 Million Against Kari Lake

Peter D'Abrosca

An anti-Trump blogger who presided over the demise of The Weekly Standard and now works at a neoconservative outfit called The Bulwark is leading a supposed “Republican” effort against Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. 

The Republican Accountability Project (RAP), which is funded by rich leftists and run by Trump hater Bill Kristol, will reportedly spend two million dollars through its Political Action Committee (PAC) to defeat Lake in the upcoming November election. 

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Kari Lake Accuses Mainstream Media of Biased Coverage, Ignoring Her Homelessness Plan

Rachel Alexander

Kari Lake, the Trump-endorsed former news anchor running for governor in Arizona, expressed frustration about the mainstream media’s failure to cover her comprehensive plan to combat homelessness.

A news search reveals that other than one story in February from KTAR, the mainstream media has ignored her plan. KTAR, a radio station which politically leans right, is not considered a mainstream news outlet.

Lake issued her plan earlier this year.
“You choose to cover bogus stories to try and stir the pot,” Lake told reporters during a press conference about her homelessness policy on Aug. 12, directly addressing Brahm Resnik, a partisan local reporter for Channel 12. “And the people of Arizona are on to it, Brahm, that’s why they’re not watching you. That’s why you have just 2,000 viewers for your 10 o’clock newscast. “We have had this policy out for a number of months now, almost a year as a matter of fact. And none of you, not a single one of you, have tried to cover this story. You get caught up in a bunch of b.s. stories that the public doesn’t care about.” 

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Lake Slams Hobbs for Voting Record on Abortion

Peter D'Abrosca

In a series of tweets, Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake slammed her opponent, current Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, for Hobb’s record on abortion.

“[Katie Hobbs] supports Abortion up to the moment of birth & even 3 days after She also supports the gruesome, unimaginable act of leaving babies on a medical tray to die, should they survive a botched Abortion procedure,” Lake said. “This is the stuff out of nightmares & horror stories.”

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Charlie Kirk Calls Arizona the ‘Battleground That Can Determine the Future of America’

Neil Jones

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk spoke at an Arizona rally Sunday, telling the people that this is the battleground state that can determine the future of America.

“You live in the state that is now the battleground, 50-50, hundreds of millions of Democrat dollars are coming into this state because as Arizona goes, America goes,” Kirk said. “You live in the place where everything you do matters. You live in the state, where if America is going to survive as a Constitutional Republic, separation of powers, independent judiciary, respect for the unborn, protection of our children. It’s all going to happen here.”

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Hobbs Says November Election Choice Between ‘Sanity and Chaos,’ Lake Calls Comparison ‘Laughable’

Peter D'Abrosca

Arizona’s secretary of state and current Democrat nominee for governor says November’s election is a choice between “sanity and chaos,” suggesting that Democrats are the “sane” party.

“First and foremost, this race for governor is, I don’t think, about Democrats or Republicans. It’s really a choice between sanity or chaos,” Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) said on Sunday. “I’m someone who’s battle-tested as a statewide leader, with a track record of working across the aisle to get the job done for Arizonans.”

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Democrat Gubernatorial Nominee Katie Hobbs Slammed for Poor Job as Secretary of State, Tuesday’s Primary Vote Count in Arizona Described as ‘Glacial’

Peter D'Abrosca

As vote counting continues in Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial election, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the Democrat nominee, is being slammed for the slow vote count. 

“Arizona’s glacial vote-counting isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for how Katie Hobbs would perform as governor,” said John Gabriel, editor-in-chief of Ricochet. 

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Katie Hobbs Sat on Board of Radical Far-Left, Soros-Funded Leadership Group

Peter D'Abrosca

Disclosure forms submitted by Arizona Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs (D) show that she sat on the board of a far-left leadership group at least until 2015, when she was a state senator.

Arizona Leading for Change is a progressive group that has compared police to Nazis during the Holocaust, and suggested that police officers are “white supremacists.”

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Democrat Gubernatorial Candidate Katie Hobbs Faces High Staff Turnover, Former Staffers Cite ‘Emotionally Abusive’ Environment

Cooper Moran

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs has faced high campaign staff turnover, and former employees have pointed to an “emotionally abusive” environment, according to a new report.

The Arizona Agenda, which describes itself as “an insider publication for political outsiders,” spoke to former employees of the Hobbs campaign and originally detailed the controversy.

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Arizona Democratic Party Chair Refuses to Denounce ‘Defund the Police’ Movement

Cooper Moran

Arizona Democratic Party Chair Raquel Terán refused to denounce the “Defund the Police” movement in a recent interview.

Terán, who is running for state Senate, has often touted an endorsement from Planned Parenthood. On her website, she highlights the support and says the state must “elect a Democratic majority in our state to protect access to safe and secure abortions for those who seek care.”

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Arizona Planned Parenthood Demands Candidates Denounce Police Support in Order to Obtain Endorsement

Cooper Moran

Planned Parenthood Arizona’s political arm demands that candidates denounce the support of law enforcement groups in order to obtain the group’s endorsement.

According to a report from Axios, the group formally adopted a policy to require candidates to deny financial donations from law enforcement organizations and return any donations received.

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Kari Lake Outraises Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ in Gubernatorial Race During First Quarter of 2022

Rachel Alexander

Democrats are mostly resigned to supporting Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs as their candidate for Arizona governor, despite the fact she admitted to participating in furthering systemic racism, by firing a black staffer which resulted in a $2.5 million dollar jury verdict. Yet despite the near consensus supporting Hobbs, her fundraising numbers were stagnant for the first quarter of 2022.

Hobbs triumphantly issued a press release after compiling her total fundraising numbers for 2021, nearly $3 million. But she hasn’t gained any momentum despite the party starting to coalesce around her; during the first quarter of 2022 she raised about $750,000, which is in line with the same rate she raised money last year. A Democratic insider told The Arizona Sun Times in January that the party was resigned to Hobbs getting the nomination, yet there was no bump to reflect this.

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Report: Yavapai County Has Unmonitored Ballot Drop Box Despite Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Stating Drop Boxes Violate Felony Law

Rachel Alexander

State Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix) was driving through Skull Valley in Yavapai County, Arizona, two weeks ago when she noticed an unmonitored ballot drop box in the parking lot of the U.S. Postal Service. Unmonitored ballot drop boxes have become a big concern lately due to the new Dinesh D’Souza documentary 2,000 Mules, which traced GPS cell phone locations to show that around 2,000 people may have illegally transferred handfuls of ballots repeatedly from left-leaning nonprofits to these drop boxes in swing states including Arizona.

Bolick tweeted, “Why does the Skull Valley, AZ US Post Office have an unmanned drop box for mail-in ballots in its parking lot when it has a blue mailbox in front of the post office that can already receive mail-in ballots?” She told The Arizona Sun Times she has a call scheduled with the Yavapai County Recorder Leslie Hoffman to discuss them.

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2,000 Mules Revealed Alleged Massive Ballot Harvesting in Arizona, AG Brnovich Already Prosecuting

Rachel Alexander

Conservative commentator and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza recently released a documentary, 2,000 Mules, which features the work of True the Vote tracking GPS cell phone locations from around the 2020 election period to track what they have named “mules,” people purportedly illegally transporting hundreds of thousands of ballots from left-leaning nonprofits and depositing them in unmonitored drop boxes in several key swing states, including Arizona. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich may have already prosecuted one of the mules discussed in the documentary, a Democratic former official in San Luis, and he is currently litigating in court with Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs over her attempts to allow unmonitored drop boxes in the state Elections Procedures Manual (EPM). 

In the documentary, a whistleblower whose identity is disguised discusses a prominent Democratic official in San Luis — which is a small town of about 25,500 located in Yuma County — who engaged in ballot harvesting and even enlisted her to assist. Last year, Brnovich’s office prosecuted Guillermina Fuentes, who was a previous mayor of San Luis, a Democratic precinct committee person, and a member of the Gadsden Elementary School Board. A grand jury indicted her in December on one count of ballot abuse, also known as ballot harvesting, for collecting four ballots from people and turning them in. She has a change of plea hearing scheduled for June 2.

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Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake Calls Arizona 2020 Election Audit ‘Death by a Thousand Knife Wounds’

Addison Basurto

When asked what big takeaway there was in the Maricopa County election audit, Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake told The Georgia Star News, “There were so many. It’s like death by a thousand paper cuts. I call it death by a thousand knife wounds because these are so much bigger than paper cuts.”

“We had 34,000 votes that were counted two, three or four times, 740,000 ballots with no chain-of-custody. They shouldn’t have even been counted, and it goes on and on. The wrong paper stock was used,” she added. 

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Democrat Gubernatorial Candidate Katie Hobbs Seemingly Flip-Flops Position on Title 42

Cooper Moran
Katie Hobbs

Democrat gubernatorial hopeful Katie Hobbs is, again, facing intense blowback during her campaign, as she seemingly flip-flopped her position on Title 42. 

Title 42 is a public health order from the Trump administration that allowed border officials to turn away individuals due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. President Joe Biden’s administration is seeking to end the policy.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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‘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 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 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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Former Senate Staffer Under Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs Awarded $2.75 Million in Race Discrimination Firing

The Center Square
Katie Hobbs

A former adviser to Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has again won a racial discrimination case against the state official from their time in the state Legislature. 

A jury sided with Talonya Adams, a former legal advisor to the Arizona Senate Democrats, in her claim that she was discriminated against when she was fired in 2015. 

Adams, who is Black, was awarded $2 million for being retaliated against and $750,000 for proving she was racially discriminated against. It’s unclear how much Adams will receive, since federal discrimination cases are capped at $300,000 plus legal fees for employers of more than 100 people.

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Arizona Republican Party Chair Demands Election Audits in Every County in the State

Rachel Alexander
Dr. Kelli Ward of Arizona

Based on the results of the Maricopa County ballot audit, as well as findings that have come from informal auditing of the election in Pima County, Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward wants an audit done in every county in Arizona. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is currently investigating the results of the Maricopa County audit, and has ordered the county supervisors to put a litigation hold on the election materials. Former President Donald Trump has called to decertify the results of the Pima County election or hold a new election. 

“I’ve been asking for full audits of all 15 of Arizona counties,” Ward said during a video. “Momentum for election integrity only continues to build. We the people will not back down. We will not waver.” 

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Prominent Democratic Official in San Luis, Arizona Indicted on Additional Charges of Ballot Harvesting

Rachel Alexander

A Grand Jury has indicted a prominent Democratic official in the border city of San Luis, Arizona again on charges related to ballot harvesting during the 2020 primary election. Guillermina Fuentes, who is a former mayor of San Luis, a Democratic precinct committee person, and a member of the Gadsden Elementary School Board, was first indicted in December on one count of ballot abuse, also known as ballot harvesting, for collecting four ballots from people and turning them in. She was not authorized to do so since she was not a family member, household member, or caregiver of the voters per Arizona law. 

The new charges of conspiracy, forgery, and an additional ballot abuse count relate to a fifth voter, where she signed the voter’s name on the return envelope and marked their ballot. Alma Juarez, another San Luis resident, was also indicted for ballot abuse in December along with Fuentes. Fuentes has pleaded not guilty. The Democrats of Greater Tucson describe Fuentes as “very politically active and has helped gather signatures for candidates.”

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Arizona State Rep. and Secretary of State Candidate Shawnna Bolick Favors Statewide Audit, Other Measures

Rachel Alexander

The results of the Maricopa County ballot audit has many elected officials demanding accountability and action. Arizona State Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix), who is running for Arizona Secretary of State, issued a statement denouncing the fraud that the audit uncovered, and recommended conducting a statewide audit. 

Bolick said in a recent campaign update, criticizing Democratic election officials Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, “Who is surprised that Secretary Hobbs and the former Maricopa County Recorder Fontes bent the rules last year, taking advantage of Covid to consistently undermine our election processes? It didn’t stop in 2020. They continued to obstruct the State Senate’s audit to serve justice. Then we saw how Maricopa County refused to turn over election routers despite a subpoena, but it went deeper. Throughout the audit report, it was clear that at almost every point Maricopa County was uncooperative in providing important context and information. They disrupted the audit processes by deleting logs, files, and important documents from the Election Management System.”

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