GOP leaders in Maricopa County selected Republicans Dave Farnsworth, John Fillmore and Rep. Kelly Townsend as nominees to serve as the next state senator in Legislative District 16. The slate of nominees will be forwarded to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which will select one of three to replace former Sen. Rich Crandall.

Legislative District 16 precinct committeemen from Maricopa County GOP are scheduled to meet Saturday evening to nominate three candidates to serve as the district's next Arizona state senator.

Senator stays on state payroll while working new job in Wyoming

Arizona Sen. Rich Crandall won’t resign from the state Senate until Aug. 31 in order to maintain health insurance coverage for two of his children.

Graduate students from the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business got an inside look at the legislative process this week after several dozen students had the opportunity to role play as lawmakers, lobbyists and reporters during a contentious budget process.

Lawmakers typically insist that nothing is personal in politics. After all, it’s just policy.

Long before casting their votes for Medicaid expansion and a bipartisan budget proposal, Republican lawmakers who chose to support Gov. Jan Brewer had been issued a warning: Vote yes at your own risk.

The special session on the budget and Medicaid expansion was the product of a five-month battle that took more twists and turns than a rattlesnake on a blistering sidewalk.

The award for best legislative batting average for the session — the calculation of bills introduced versus bills signed into law — goes to Rep. David Livingston, a freshman Republican lawmaker from Peoria who has been vocally critical of the governor.

The bill moratorium that rankled lawmakers as Gov. Jan Brewer started applying pressure to pass her Medicaid expansion plan helped push her to a near-record number of vetoes in 2013.

Brewer vetoed 26 bills this year, the second highest total of her career, behind the 29 she rejected in 2011.

On a scale of one to 10, 10 being the most effective, how do you rank your effectiveness as Senate president? I won’t give myself a numerical grade. I will say there are things I thought we did well, that I did well as the leader.