During a Tuesday Fountain Hills Town Council Meeting, Councilman Allen Skillicorn led a successful effort to restore an invocation of prayer to the beginning of future meetings.
“For over 200 years, this [prayer] has been part of our legislative process. This isn’t about a church. This is about people coming in from the community and praying for the board and praying for the town or state or the country,” Skillicorn said following the approval by the board.
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Democrat Katie Hobbs was sworn in as Arizona’s governor on Monday, in the first of two inaugural events this week. A third related event is raising eyebrows, a ball which is funded by special interests, including lobbyists, companies that do business with the state, developers, and builders. Hobbs refuses to disclose how much they are contributing.
Michele Swinick of the Save my Freedom Movement told The Arizona Sun Times she believes it is inappropriate for Hobbs not to disclose the amounts contributed by special interests. “The public has a right to know who is putting the most money into bribing their taxpayer-funded government,” she said. “This is a continuing pattern Hobbs has so it’s not a surprise that she would start out her very first fraudulent day of office with this move protecting her friends. She hid herself from the Arizona Voters during her campaign and now she’s showing you, yet again, how she operates. At least you can give her credit for one thing, she’s been consistent.”
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Despite the swearing-in of Kris Mayes as Attorney General (D), Republican Abe Hamadeh is not giving up his election contest just yet, filing a Motion for a New Trial Tuesday night in the Mohave County Superior Court.
“Today, I am filing a ‘Motion for New Trial’ after the shocking revelations from the recount. It’s simple, if the judge allows us to inspect and count the ballots – we win. Kris Mayes will either resign or be removed from office. Count the votes accurately,” said Hamadeh.
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Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) Director Colonel Heston Silbert announced Tuesday that he would retire from his position effective Friday.
“I am announcing my retirement from the Department of Public Safety effective Friday, January 6, 2023. It has been an honor of a lifetime to have served the men and women of the Department of Public Safety, and the citizens of this great state. As Director I observed firsthand the selflessness, dedication, and bravery of our Arizona State Troopers and professional staff,” Silbert said. “I would like to thank Governor Ducey for his support and faith in me.”
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The United States House of Representatives began voting Tuesday to elect a new Speaker of the House. Yet, Republican Party frontrunner Kevin McCarthy of California has not secured enough votes to achieve the title. In total, 19 Republicans voted against him, including three GOP members from Arizona.
“We barely got through half the ballot before confirming that McCarthy is still well short of 218 votes. My colleagues have made clear that our party deserves a new leader. McCarthy should stand down and allow us to select someone else in the next ballot,” tweeted Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05).
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Audit USA (AU), a nonpartisan organization based in Arizona focusing on election integrity, will have an opportunity to present arguments in the Arizona Court of Appeals Wednesday in a case involving Maricopa County and ballot images.
“I’m hopeful we will win this case because the facts are with us and transparency in our elections is vital for democracy,” said John Brakey, co-founder and director of AU. “Transparency is the currency of trust and without it, our democracy will die in darkness.”
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After Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson dismissed Kari Lake’s lawsuit challenging her loss in the anomaly-plagued Maricopa County midterm election, Lake filed a notice of appeal. She also requested that the Arizona Supreme Court immediately take her case, bypassing the Arizona Court of Appeals for several reasons.
“We’re going to appeal this,” Lake told Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast Tuesday. “We think we have absolute merit with this lawsuit, and we’re going to appeal it and take it even higher.”
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General Motors (GM) gave a grant to an organization that supplies elementary schools with books promoting the transgender ideology.
The automotive manufacturing company donated money to the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) “Rainbow Library Program,” according to a 2021 Social Impact Report published by GM.
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Arizona Center for Policy President Cathi Herrod, Esq., stated that the Friday ruling from the Arizona Court of Appeals “harmonizing” Arizona’s abortion laws to allow physicians to perform abortions up to 15 weeks in pregnancy is not the end for Arizona’s territorial-era ban on the practice.
“The fight to protect unborn life and women from the harms of abortion does not end with an Arizona Court of Appeals ruling. The three-judge panel’s decision today only temporarily blocks Arizona’s abortion law, which was in place in 1973 when Roe was wrongly decided,” said Herrod. “I am confident Arizona’s pre-Roe law limiting abortion to cases where the mother’s life is at risk will be upheld by Arizona’s Supreme Court.”
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American Catholic leaders are acclaiming the life and work of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, whose scholarly writings emphasized the unity of faith and reason and, most fundamentally, the primary truth of the Catholic faith, which teaches God is Love.
Benedict, who was born Joseph Ratzinger, died Saturday at the age of 95. He became pope in April 2005, following the death of Pope John Paul II, and served until his resignation in February 2013.
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On Monday, Democrat Katie Hobbs was sworn in to serve as the 24th Governor of Arizona at a ceremony closed off from the public and media, barring a news photographer. Joining her were other newly elected or re-elected officials, including Kris Mayes (D) for Attorney General, Adrian Fontes (D) for Secretary of State, Kimberly Yee (R) for State Treasurer, and Tom Horne (R) for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The 2022 General Election results show that Hobbs won her race by 17,117 votes. However, her Republican opponent Kari Lake has refused to concede. Lake’s campaign called the system “screwed up” because Arizonans were allegedly disenfranchised in this election, but Hobbs was sworn into office anyway.
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Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has filed a petition to transfer her appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court after her election fraud lawsuit was dismissed.
Lake filed the petition January 1.
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The judge in Kari Lake’s election challenge lawsuit declined to award sanctions against her attorneys, although he did order her team to pay the costs of the government defendants. However, in a lawsuit Lake filed earlier this year with Mark Finchem contesting the use of electronic voting machine readers, U.S District Judge John Tuchi, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, sanctioned her attorneys.
That lawsuit was filed in April and Tuchi dismissed it in August. Maricopa County asked for sanctions on the grounds that attorneys brought claims to court that were “demonstrably false,” citing “vague” allegations that machine counting can produce inaccurate results. Tuchi said the attorneys acted “recklessly” and in “bad faith.” He ordered Lake and Finchem’s lawyers to pay Maricopa County’s attorneys fees. He warned others considering similar lawsuits, “It is to penalize specific attorney conduct with the broader goal of deterring similarly baseless filings initiated by anyone, whether an attorney or not.”
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s lawsuit that keeps Title 42 restrictions in place until the justices hear a challenge in February. Brnovich led a coalition of 21 Republican states in trying to keep the Trump-era rule in place.
Title 42, named in reference to a 1944 public health law, is a policy implemented under the Trump administration in 2020 which allows immigration officials to turn illegal immigrants back at the border due to COVID-19. In the interests of public health, they are not allowed to apply for asylum. Multiple efforts have been made to halt it but have faced stiff opposition from proponents like Brnovich.
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Eleven states will reduce their individual income tax rates on Jan. 1.
Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, and North Carolina will cut the individual income tax rate on New Year’s Day, according to the Tax Foundation. Over the past two years, more than 20 states have cut individual income tax rates.
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Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) announced Thursday that he had filed a lawsuit against RLC Labs, an Arizona-based natural thyroid tablet producer, for making misleading statements about its products and failing to follow through on promises to consumers.
“Consumers need to be able to trust what drug manufacturers say about their products,” said Brnovich. “Throughout my time as attorney general, my office has been committed to protecting customers from false or misleading statements.”
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Arizona colleges are preparing to enroll more illegal immigrants this spring after voters approved a ballot measure to allow undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition, Arizona Public Media reported.
Voters approved Proposition 308 during the midterm elections with 51.7% of the vote to allow all students to receive in-state tuition regardless of immigration status so long as they graduated from an Arizona high school which they attended for a minimum of two years. Undocumented students will be eligible for in-state tuition prices beginning in January, Arizona Board of Regents Chair Lyndell Manson told APM.
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During his final week in office, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) filled several court position vacancies across Arizona, including the Arizona Court of Appeals and the Yuma County Superior Court.
“I am very pleased to announce the appointment of six new judges to the Arizona Court of Appeals,” said Ducey. “These new judges will provide the much needed resources for the Court of Appeals to handle its growing caseload as more and more people choose Arizona as a place to live, work, and start a business.”
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The election challenge in the race for Arizona Attorney General is not over yet, and may go on longer than expected due to new ballots showing up favoring Republican Abe Hamadeh. After the recount, which was ordered automatically due to the close race, Democrat Kris Mayes’ lead dropped from 511 to 280 votes. Throughout U.S. history in extremely close races, ballots are closely scrutinized and often some are thrown out, or others that weren’t counted were added in, often flipping the race.
Hamadeh tweeted on Thursday, “Katie Hobbs and SOS Office abused our courts and made a mockery of the justice system. They knew the results of the recount was going to show a LARGE discrepancy due to tabulation errors and fought against our election contest knowing this. They deceived the courts.”
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Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Buckeye Elementary School District (BESD) and Superintendent Kristi Wilson for alleged “additional compensation.”
“Transparency and accountability are not electives in our public school districts,” said Brnovich in a press release. “Hardworking taxpayers expect these public funds to be expended in accordance with the law and the best interest of students.”
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Results of the Arizona General Election recount were revealed in court Thursday morning, showing that results in the race for Attorney General between Democrat Kris Mayes and Republican Abe Hamadeh shrunk, but not enough to overturn the race. The final results are 1,254,809 for Mayes and 1,254,529 for Hamadeh, narrowing the gap from 511 votes to 280.
Following the reveal, Hamadeh tweeted that his legal team is in the process of assessing options.
“The results of the recount show that my opponent’s lead has been cut by nearly half from 511 to 280 votes. A shockingly high discrepancy. Again, a recount just puts the ballots in the machine again. My legal team will be assessing our options to make sure every vote is counted,” Hamadeh tweeted.
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Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chair Kelli Ward is not running for a third term, and six candidates have announced they are running to replace her. At least 63 more candidates are running for other positions in the AZGOP, which will be decided in an election at the annual statutory meeting on January 28, 2023. The candidates for chair are Sheila Muehling, Jeff DeWit, Steve Daniels, Dan Farley, Vera Gebran, and Lori Ann Martinez.
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Gov.-Elect Katie Hobbs’ selection of Pima County Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen to lead the Arizona Department of Health Services marks another likely point in policy changes in contrast to outgoing Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration.
Cullen promoted strict coronavirus measures in the county, which includes Tucson, when it came to precautions like masking, and she has become a high-profile voice in the Arizona medical community.
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The Arizona District of the Department of Justice revealed Tuesday that a former border patrol agent, Ramon Monreal-Rodriguez, 36, of Vail, Arizona, will be placed behind bars for 152 months for his role in two federal criminal cases.
“The men and women of the United States Border Patrol safeguard our frontier with compassion and dignity,” said United States Attorney Gary Restaino. “Most Border Patrol Agents are excellent public servants who diligently interdict contraband like guns and drugs. For those who aren’t and don’t, the Bureau of Prisons has plenty of room.”
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Arizona State Rep. David Cook (R-Globe) recently led a bipartisan team of lawmakers on a trade mission to Brazil to advance Arizona’s position in the global economy and is now sharing legislative goals following the trip.
“I was honored to be joined by such a great group of public servants in a bipartisan trade delegation to Brazil to expand our state’s trade opportunities,” said Cook. “I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues and the great leaders we met to bolster Arizona’s economy.”
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At least 815,786 people were apprehended or evaded law enforcement after illegally entering Arizona in fiscal 2022, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data obtained by The Center Square from a Border Patrol agent.
This is out of a record 3.3 million illegal entries reported by Border Patrol for all nine southwest border sectors in the fiscal year.
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Kari Lake, the Arizona Republican nominee for governor, is appealing a Maricopa County judge’s dismissal of her lawsuit challenging her defeat to Democrat Katie Hobbs, who is currently serving as secretary of state.
In a notice of appeal filed Tuesday, Lake asked the Arizona Superior Court to reconsider all 10 counts that she brought up in her original lawsuit as well as the attorneys’ fees she was ordered to pay.
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Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson has officially ruled against the defendant’s motions for sanctions against Kari Lake in her election challenge, stating that her claims were not made in bad faith.
“Plaintiff failed to meet the burden of clear and convincing evidence required for each clement of AR.S. § 16-672 does not equate 10 a finding that her claims were, or were not, ‘groundless and presented in bad faith,” wrote Thompson.
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Following the official party switch from Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I), a recent Public Policy Polling (PPP) found that she appears to be sinking against other potential candidates for the 2024 senate race.
The poll found that between three hypothetical candidates, Kari Lake for Republicans, Rep. Ruben Gallego for Democrats, and Kyrsten Sinema as an independent, Sinema would find herself last.
“Fresh new Arizona numbers! In a three way race Kyrsten Sinema would get just 13% to 41% for Kari Lake and 40% for Ruben Gallego,” according to PPP.
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Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) announced that over 2 million in grant funding would be going to service organizations in rural counties to combat the effects of the opioid crisis.
“Our office has been leading and is continuing to hold accountable manufacturers, marketers, and distributors who have contributed to the opioid crisis,” said Brnovich. “We are now investing settlement funds to reduce the financial impact to Arizona taxpayers and assist people recovering from addiction and resuming their lives as healthy and productive members of society.”
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Following the dismissal of Kari Lake’s election challenge, Maricopa County, the Secretary of State’s Office (SOSO), and Democrat Governor-Elect Katie Hobbs all filed Motions for Sanctions and Applications for Attorney’s Fees Monday morning. Lake’s team responded, stating that sanctioning them in this trial would further erode trust in election systems.
“Trust in the election process is not furthered by punishing those who bring legitimate claims as Plaintiff did here. In fact, sanctioning Plaintiff would have the opposite effect,” according to a response from one of Lake’s attorneys, Bryan Blehm.
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More than 94,000 people are calling Arizona home than they did amid the waning months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Census released its annual state population estimates Thursday morning. The measure dips into state births, deaths, immigrants from outside the country and those moving into one state from another. The data is from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.
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Following the November 8 midterm elections, officials in Pima County, Arizona, struggled to determine how to handle provisional ballots cast by unregistered voters, discrepant provisional ballot totals, and ballots cast by voters with old addresses — even asking the secretary of state’s office for guidance.
The confusion and uncertainty clouding county election officials’ decision-making are revealed in newly released internal emails obtained through a public records request submitted by America First Legal Foundation.
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Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake had her election challenge completely dismissed by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson Saturday. Following the ruling, Lake tweeted that an appeal would be coming.
“My Election Case provided the world with evidence that proves our elections are run outside of the law. This Judge did not rule in our favor. However, for the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling,” tweeted Lake.
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As the second day of Kari Lake’s trial contesting Arizona’s gubernatorial election wrapped up Thursday, various election law attorneys provided their analysis on social media and videos. Some were optimistic that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson would grant Lake relief, declaring her the winner or calling for a new election, but some were not as optimistic.
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In the wake of an investigation, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich found an ordinance altering the city of Tucson’s fair housing policies to violate state law.
“Tucson’s ordinance restricting home sellers and renters from considering the source of income of interested individuals violates state law,” said Brnovich.
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The court battle challenging the validity of the certified outcome of Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial election entered its second day Thursday under Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson, with attorneys for Republican Kari Lake, Democrat Katie Hobbs, and Maricopa County presenting their final arguments in the trial. Lake seeks to either be declared the winner by the court in the gubernatorial race, in which she currently trails by roughly 17,000 votes, or require a new election. To do this, Lake’s team has to clear the high burden of demonstrating that intentional wrongdoing changed election outcomes. On the final day of the trial, Lake’s team brought in one witness, while the defendants presented four. Richard Baris The plaintiff’s first and final witness called to the stand was Richard Baris, director of Big Data Poll. He stated that Lake did not hire him before the election. “In over six years since we began releasing public polling on a steady basis in 2016, we have not inaccurately predicted the winner, outside of a sampling error, in a single poll. Not one,” said Baris. He conducted an exit poll in the Arizona 2022 General Election. Yet, on the morning of November 8th, he received…
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The federal government will likely start filling in gaps of the border wall in the Yuma sector shortly after Arizona takes down its storage container barriers.
In agreeing to remove the state-erected barrier as part of a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, federal government officials again confirmed to Gov. Doug Ducey’s office that they are moving forward with a plan to replace it.
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Host Stephen K. Bannon welcomed The Star News Network’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Arizona Sun-Times, Michael Patrick Leahy, on Thursday’s WarRoom: Battleground to highlight aspects of the ongoing election integrity lawsuit put forth by gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and the alleged Maricopa County ballot harvesting.
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Watch day two of the Kari Lake election contest trial livestream.
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The first of two days of oral arguments from Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake’s challenge of the 2022 general election outcome began Wednesday morning, overseen by Judge Peter Thompson in the Maricopa County Superior Court. Testimonies were heard from several officials and experts.
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Arizona officials have taken some of the first steps to bring seawater from the Mexican coast to the faucets of Phoenix, even if lawmakers want a more deliberative process.
Arizona’s Joint Legislative Water Committee held a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority’s push to create a desalination plant amid the state’s water crisis.
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Watch the Karil Lake election contest trial livestream.
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PHOENIX, Arizona – While making another appearance at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2022 to an enthused crowd in downtown Phoenix, Republican Kari Lake shared her reaction to her election challenge officially going to trial.
“This is so historic, and you know what? I couldn’t have done it without you,” Lake said. “A little over a day ago, I stood here on this stage, and I said, please pray, not just for me, but pray for our attorneys, for our witnesses. Pray for the judge, my goodness! You did it, and yesterday we got great news, we are taking these bastards to court.”
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PHOENIX, Arizona – To mark the end of Turning Point USA’s four-day-long AmericaFest 2022, Charlie Kirk and many other Conservative commentators took the stage in downtown Phoenix to share final remarks with a crowd of cheering onlookers.
“Hey, AmericaFest is completed. Make a plan. Make a promise to yourself. Make a challenge to yourself. The easy thing in 2023 would be to complain and say this is kind of an off-year. The necessary thing is to say I’m going to do something in 2023 I did not do in 2022, and if you’re looking for that place to start, that’s why Turning Point exists,” Kirk said during his final remarks.
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Arizona Republican Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh’s election challenge will proceed to trial, after an Arizona judge denied Democratic Attorney General-elect Kris Mayes’ motion for dismissal.
In the Tuesday ruling, Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee F. Jantzen did dismiss five of Hamadeh’s counts, but allowed his other claims to proceed to an evidentiary hearing scheduled for Dec. 23. Presently Hamadeh trails Mayes by 511 votes.
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Kari Lake scored a significant legal victory on Monday when Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled that two counts of her election contest against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will go to trial this week. The two day trial is expected to begin on Wednesday, and the judge’s ruling is expected by January 2, 2023, one day before the scheduled January 3 inauguration of Governor-elect Hobbs.
But the standard required to secure the legal remedy she seeks in her lawsuit – either a declaration that she, and not Democrat nominee Katie Hobbs, is the victor in the November 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election or an order that Maricopa County must redo the gubernatorial election – remains high.
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Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled late Monday that Kari Lake’s election contest lawsuit will go to trial on Wednesday.
The judge’s ruling came hours after attorneys for the defendants–Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors–and the plaintiff, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, delivered oral arguments in court on both sides of the defendants’ motion to dismiss all ten counts set forward in Lake’s 70 page lawsuit.
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When Katie Hobbs becomes Arizona’s next governor, she plans to utilize the support of teachers’ union lobbyists to undo the nation’s most expansive school choice program.
Hobbs promised on her campaign website she would be “addressing unaccountable expansion of school vouchers.”
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Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s election challenge will head to trial after a judge declined to dismiss her case and allowed the suit to proceed.
Lake announced the development via Twitter, saying “Katie Hobbs attempt to have our case thrown out FAILED. She will have to take the stand & testify. Buckle up, America. This is far from over.”
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