Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

The Arizona Supreme Court is willing to cut a deal with longtime scofflaws: Pay your overdue fines by the end of the year and get a 50 percent reduction.

Complaints, threats and secret recordings have become the latest weapons of choice in the battle to become Maricopa County attorney.

Rick Romley’s GOP opponent in the Aug. 24 primary, Bill Montgomery, is dealing with criticism about a secretly recorded conversation in which he questions whether Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s mental abilities are declining and that Montgomery seems to take a softer stance on illegal immigration than he has taken publicly during his run for office.

Legislative District 11 Republican candidate Dusti Morris dropped out of the race Aug. 4.

Former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas will not get a day before the Arizona Supreme Court.

The time Alfredo Gutierrez spent in handcuffs and behind bars July 29 was relatively short, but the former Democratic legislative leader said he hopes to parlay it into something bigger.

Bill Montgomery is taking his second stab at elective office, and for the second time he’s going up against an Arizona political fixture. In 2006, he lost the attorney general’s race to Terry Goddard. This time he is running for Maricopa County attorney against Rick Romley, who held the office for 16 years and has continued to work behind the scenes in Arizona politics since he left office in 2004. Earlier this year, Romley was appointed to serve as interim Maricopa County attorney.

James Molina, whose campaign raised $22,152 and spent $17,106, said he had to quit the race July 27 in order to give his full attention to his construction business, which has undergone a major transition.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge decided Monday against changing the description of a ballot measure that aims to eliminate a voter-approved program for early childhood development and sweep its money.

With early voting starting next week, the three candidates in the Republican primary for state superintendent of public instruction are trying to distinguish themselves from their opponents who hold similar beliefs on improving schools in Arizona.

The old axiom that it pays to be the incumbent holds true in Arizona's 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts, where the office holders have considerably out raised and out spent their challengers, according to Federal Election Commission campaign finance records.