Arizona's Politics

Paul has been a journalist, an attorney or a combination of the two all of his adult life. Following several years as a reporter and news director at three radio stations in CA and Tucson, he became a Phoenix attorney active in party politics and the community. He still has a political law practice, but in 2010, he also returned to his journalistic roots and co-founded ArizonasPolitics.com as a straight-news source providing context and original reporting. In 2019, he began ArizonasLaw.org and its accompanying program on the non-profit Sun Sounds of Arizona (a reading service for those with disabilities making it difficult to read/hold printed material). He is happy to bring some of his articles to the award-winning Blog for Arizona. Reflecting his statewide interests, Paul grew up in Tucson. He and his wife, Marion, have two daughters who recently flew the nest for the cooler climes of Flagstaff.

Judge Denies APS-Backed Challenge To Clean Energy Signatures; On To The Supreme Court (READ Opinion)

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Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley today denied an effort by an APS-backed effort – along with the Chamber of Commerce and some lawmakers – to knock the Clean Energy initiative off of the November ballot. An APS representative has already indicated that an appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court is coming.

(The 33 page ruling is published in full below.)

After a five-day trial, Judge Kiley found that most of the challenges by Arizonans for Affordable Energy were not proven and/or appropriate. The group had claimed that only 22% of the submitted signatures should be considered valid, which would have left Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona considerably short of the 225k signature threshold.

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FEC Cites Wheeler, 4 Other Arizona Congressional Candidates For Failing To File Pre-Primary Report

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The Federal Elections Commission announced this afternoon that it has cited five Congressional candidates for failing to file their final, pre-primary campaign finance report. Two of the candidates are repeat offenders, and one filed her report today. The Pre-Primary report was due on August 16, and covered the period from July 1 through August 8. … Read more

#AZSen (BIG) TIDBIT: Sinema Campaign Blasts Thru $10M Mark; Increases Cash On Hand For General Election

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Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-CD9) plowed through the $10 Million mark in campaign receipts for her U.S. Senate race, according to her most recent FEC filing. The benchmark was likely reached sometime in mid-July, and the Democratic frontrunner now has $2.5M cash in the bank, despite having spent more on television ads than any of her … Read more

Arizona Voter Registration Groups Sue Secretary Reagan For People Who Change Addresses With MVD; “Stamping Their Feet” Or “Protecting Qualified Voters”?

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The League of Women Voters has filed a federal lawsuit against Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan on Saturday, as a result of a disagreement over when and how to change people’s addresses for voting purposes after they  filed a change of address with the Motor Vehicle Division. Is it an example of “stamping their feet in front of a judge” – as claimed by Reagan’s office – or “protect(ing) thousands of Arizonans from the irreparable loss of their right to vote this November.” That will be among the questions for the judge to decide.

Joining LWV in bringing the suit are voter registration groups Promise Arizona and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, with legal assistance by the ACLU (national and Arizona chapter) and others. They are asking that the Court order the Secretary to instruct County Recorders to count provisional ballots that may be voted at the voters’ old address (because that still shows as their voter registration address despite filing a change with MVD).

The Court is also being asked to order the Secretary of State to notify – before mid-September – all voters who filed change of addresses with MVD. The letter would instruct them as to their voting options and would include a voter registration form. (Click here to read the Complaint and related filings.)

After the voter registration groups reached an understanding last week with MVD, AHCCCS and DES about future cure to the agreed violations of the federal Motor Voter Act, Secretary Reagan announced that she had rejected the demands because changes are already scheduled for 2019 and trying it now “would only produce voter confusion.” Secretary of State Communications Director Matt Roberts told Arizona’s Politics that:

“It’s disappointing that organizations like the ACLU, Mi Familia Vota and the League of Women Voters are seemingly more interested in stamping their feet in front of a judge rather than accepting the fact that the changes they want are already scheduled. We’re confident the court will agree that sending a letter to five hundred thousand people saying the state changed their voter registration address right before an election isn’t the greatest idea.”

 

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Problem Solvers Hide Identity To Accuse #AZ02 Candidate Heinz Of Hiding His; James Rupert Murdoch Largest Contributor

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FROM OUR OVER-WORKED IRONY DEPARTMENT: A centrist group that is apparently trying to hide its identity disclosed last night that it is spending $10,000 to accuse Democratic Congressional candidate Matt Heinz of hiding his positions. The group is likely supporting former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick in this month’s primary, and its largest single donor is 21st … Read more