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An electoral reform blueprint
Arizona election law is outdated and needs reform. A few issues in the current system receive perennial attention in the media. For example, liberal groups commonly cite anonymous funding of political speech as a major defect in our system, while conservative activists frequently question the constitutionality of the state’s extraordinarily low contribution limits. Many other gaps in Arizona ele[...]
Winning: Political manipulators ply trade from D.C. to Chicago to Mesa
It seems that sleazy political tricks are oozing through every crack in the sidewalk. From Washington to Chicago to Mesa, political figures will say and do just about anything to get elected — or to prevent someone else from getting elected.
The Bill of Rights comes to Arizona
If a silver lining exists to the explosive growth of national power over the past several years, it is that Americans are turning to their federal and state constitutions, reading them, understanding them, and invoking them to protect their rights.
University system budget request to end nightmare
The Arizona university system fiscal year 2013 budget request asks the state to begin reinvesting in higher education. It represents the end of a nightmare that students and parents have been living through with the past four years of budget cuts that have resulted in 90 percent tuition increases.
Mesa’s Watergate: Cortes’ campaign conspirators should come clean
The Arizona Constitution, Article 7 section 12, charges the Legislature with the duty to “maintain the purity of elections.” Arizona case law has held that attempting to place a “diversionary candidate” on the ballot is illegal. A “diversionary candidate” is one who is in the race solely to divert votes from a particular candidate so as to give an advantage to another candidate. The re[...]
How courts can help end public-sector collusion
From Phoenix to Pima County, politicians and public-sector unions routinely agree to put union representatives on the government payroll, paying them millions of taxpayer dollars exclusively for union work, renewing these agreements year after year.
GOP redistricting complaints based on politicians’ self-interest
After the latest round of attacks and counter attacks by Republican and Democrat party leaders over the alleged unfairness of the draft congressional district map proposed by the Independent Redistricting Commission, I went back to read the actual requirements for redistricting in the Arizona Constitution.
Why the lawsuit against Olivia Cortes had to be aggressively defended
It’s not because the lawsuit was politically motivated. Everyone knows how unapologetically brutal politics can be. And it’s not because the lawsuit was brought to defame Ms. Cortes, either. Placing your name on a ballot is the functional equivalent of sending the world an open invitation to attack your character.
The 12% solution: Russell Pearce may not be as formidable as he appears
The operative assumption of most observers of the Russell Pearce recall election has been that Pearce is the odds-on favorite to retain his seat. He hails from a heavily Mormon, conservative, Republican district and has, after all, regularly won elections handily.
Keep Arizona’s growing rural communities whole
For the past four months, the Independent Redistricting Commission has worked to balance the wants, needs and desires of the residents of Arizona. The problem is that Pinal County — Arizona’s fastest growing county — is being used as the bargaining chip to satisfy other constituencies.
Surplus? What surplus?
Arizona’s fiscal 2011, which ended June 30, was expected to end with a $332 million shortfall. As it happens, the shortfall was instead around $30 million, mainly due to a big uptick in corporate income tax collections.
Public must demand competitive districts, scrutinize new maps
It’s been a quiet summer at the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, punctuated by some predictable partisan posturing. But now we are seeing the early outlines of maps, even before the draft maps are released. The commission is in the stage of the process where it is considering “what if” ideas about what the first draft maps will look like.
