Why do Southern Arizona Republicans hate democracy? Tell them to respect the will of Tucson’s residents

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: On Monday, Sen. Jonathan Paton and his Senate Judiciary Committee will consider SB 1123 which would require the City of Tucson to conduct "nonpartisan" city council elections and elect council members by ward only. The bill is sponsored by partisan Republicans Sen. Jonathan Paton, Rep. Frank Antenori and Rep. David Gowan (LD … Read more

Maybe pigs are jumping really high?

by David SafierScarpinato has a piece in this morning's Political Notebook about the Goldwater Institute's Byron Schlomach agreeing with Dem legislators about lowering and broadening the state sales tax. "The current sales tax is highly distorting because it is not broadly applied," says Byron Schlomach, director of Goldwater's Center for Economic Prosperity. "Therefore, I congratulate … Read more

Arizona Senate Schedule of Committee Hearings 6/8 – 6/12

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The state Legislature will embark Monday on a mad dash to consider hundreds of new laws before the end of the month, including abortion restrictions, looser gun regulations and changes to how local elections work. Burst of activity expected at Capitol In the [next] three weeks… hundreds of bills they hope to … Read more

A few more early filers

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Since the last SWAG Re: Early Filers for 2010, there have been a few more campaign committees filed. Governor Johnnie E. Robinson III – Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Gary Nine – Republican Arizona Legislature LD12 Angela Cotera – Democrat – House LD25 David Stevens – Republican – House LD30 David Gowan … Read more

Tucson City Council Races 2009

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: A hat tip to Jim Nintzel at the Tucson Weekly for scooping the candidate filings for Tucson City Council races (where the hell is the Arizona Daily Star?) ScrambleWatch '09: Off and Running: The Tucson City Council races are now all official: Yesterday was the formal deadline to file nominating papers. Barring … Read more