In legal papers filed Friday, Brett Johnson, who is leading the legal team, acknowledged that vacancies in the U.S. Senate must be filled by a special election. But Johnson told U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa that the U.S. Constitution allows the Legislature to let Ducey name a senator to serve until the next regular election.

Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick urged Gov. Doug Ducey to name Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery to the U.S. Senate just days after John McCain died.

Neil Gorsuch getting on the bench at 49 years old ensures another conservative could serve on the Supreme Court for a quarter century. However, his appointment would not change the court ideologically, which may cause Democrats to hold their real firepower for the next anticipated vacancy.

Gov. Doug Ducey has appointed a businessman who has never worked in government as the new director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security.

The wife of the late Sen. Chester Crandell will serve the remainder of the Heber Republican’s term.

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.

New senator has lived in many homes far from his district

By all accounts, new state Sen. Carlyle Begay is highly qualified for public office.

He has impressed lawmakers, county and city officials and even the Governor’s Office with his credentials as a student of public health. And he boasts extensive work with American Indian communities as the vice president of business development at the American Indian Health Management and Policy group in Phoenix, where he has worked since 2006.

Daniel Patterson piped up on Twitter today, saying that if Saldate is appointed to the federal Dept of the Interior and resigns from the House, he wants to return to the Legislature. Patterson told our reporter he plans to run for the appointment if the seat opens up in LD3.

Senate President Bob Burns has picked a new chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Burns on March 3 appointed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Gray to head the committee. Gray chaired the committee prior to his selection as majority leader about two years ago.

Residents from Legislative District 6 have a new senator. David Braswell, chairman of the district's Republican Party, formally assumed office after a brief swearing-in ceremony on the Senate floor on Feb. 6.