Complaints force 5 candidates to drop out

Five candidates withdrew from their races soon after their nominating signatures were challenged.

Technicality disqualifies Cheuvront from JP election

Veteran Democratic lawmaker Sen. Ken Cheuvront’s bid for justice of the peace was derailed on a technicality.

Student: Huppenthal video was edited, taken out of context

A video circulated by Democrats that purported to show a Republican candidate for state schools chief walking out on an interview with a high school journalist earlier this year did not reflect what actually happened.

Observers say Brewer the winner in first debate

She may not have done it in the most grammatically correct way, but Capitol observers are calling the first debate between Republican gubernatorial hopefuls a win for incumbent Jan Brewer.

Miranda upset that Gallardo will be unopposed in Senate race

Rather than face a potential challenge to her nominating petitions, Rep. Martha Garcia, a Phoenix Democrat, withdrew from her Senate race after finding discrepancies in her signatures. Her departure left Steve Gallardo, a former House member, as the lone candidate in District 13, almost certainly assuring him a seat in the 30-member chamber next year. But not everyone is happy about that.

Complaint that Cruz lacked mine inspector credentials withdrawn

A petition challenge claiming that Democratic Mine Inspector candidate Manuel Cruz did not meet the qualifications to hold the office was withdrawn June 15.

Brewer’s attorney blasts CCEC for inaction on matching funds

Gov. Jan Brewer's campaign attorney accused the Citizens Clean Elections Commission of abdicating its responsibility after commissioners decided not seek help for publicly financed candidates who are now forced to run their campaigns without the benefit of matching funds.

Mills, Martin gang up on Brewer at forum

Gov. Jan Brewer’s challengers for the Republican nomination have been attacking her for months at candidate forums across the state, and on the eve of their first televised debate they got a rare chance to take on the incumbent in person.

Huppenthal has history of challenges

For political observers, the challenge to Sen. John Huppenthal’s petitions for Superintendent of Public Instruction won’t come as a surprise.

Independent committees now have blank-check power

Without additional campaign cash to fend off better-funded opponents, some Clean Elections candidates will be in dire need of help from their allies.

Major races impacted by matching funds ruling

The US Supreme Court's matching funds ruling will impact just about every state race. Here's how.

Ripple effect

Arizona’s matching funds system for publicly financed campaigns may be going down, but it probably won’t go alone.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to block Arizona’s Clean Elections system from distributing matching funds is a bad omen for similar systems in other states, and could portend their end if the court rules that matching funds are unconstitutional, according to legal [...]