The Republican National Committee rode to the Arizona Republican Party’s rescue, writing it a $50,000 check in early March that was then used to pay down the state party’s crushing debt load. According to the latest FEC campaign finance report, the party paid off roughly 70 percent of the $88,841 debt it reported last month, and is now reporting $24,730 owed.

During the removal process of Mathis, much debate was focused on what behavior would constitute the misconduct needed to remove a sitting member of the IRC. Brewer and the Senate claimed that the answer to that question was theirs to decide, but the Supreme Court found otherwise, declaring that the “Constitution provides clear comprehensible standards.”

Brewer may be facing a budget mutiny, as Senate Republicans are said to be exploring a deal with Democrats. One Republican source told our reporter that Biggs reportedly met with Schapira and Landrum Taylor yesterday for about two hours to discuss the possibility of a deal to override a potential Brewer budget veto.

It was pretty clear that Kelly buttoned up yesterday’s primary as soon as the first results were made public, but the breakdown of the vote tells a more nuanced story. Early ballots have become a key for successful campaigns, and yesterday’s numbers show just how difficult it can be to mount a come-from-behind victory in the era of early voting.

After spending several weeks airing television ads and months traveling the state to meet with voters, Cardon’s campaign strategy is beginning to shift from boosting name recognition to challenging his opponent directly. On Friday, Cardon challenged Flake to repudiate any outside spending in the race and asked him to sign the “Arizona First Pledge.”

The Pima County Board of Supervisors this morning set the process in motion to appoint an independent to replace Patterson, but the majority of the appointed screening panel consists of partisan ex-lawmakers. Democrats Tom Prezelski and Victor Soltero were appointed this morning to a citizen panel to screen and nominate three nominee replacements, as was Republican Lou-Ann Preble.

Attorneys for the IRC and three commissioners who resisted an open meeting law investigation by Horne filed their responses Thursday in Montgomery’s appeal of the IRC’s sweeping victory in trial court.

Bennett today delivered bad news for southern Arizona Dems who thought they had pulled an eleventh hour magic trick yesterday. Patterson, last week decried the partisan politics at the Capitol, ditched his Dem affiliation and became an independent. That change of heart didn’t last long, as southern Arizona Democrats, including Pima County Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Rogers, persuaded him yesterday to change his registration back to Dem so they could select a Democrat to replace him.

If Thomas intended to make a coherent case for himself after his disbarment yesterday, his effort today was marred during a bizarre press conference in which he said Arizona has turned into Mexico and compared himself to Gandhi, MLK and a Nobel laureate. He held the event near the Wells Fargo building downtown – the site of Arpaio’s office – but was overshadowed at times by those who had gathered both to support and protest him.

Moments before O’Neil convened the hearing, rumor quickly spread that Mary Rose Wilcox – a prime target of Thomas and Arpaio – would receive a $1 million settlement from the county to compensate for her troubles with Thomas and Arpaio.