The future of Arizona’s legislative map is in the hands of three federal judges, who wrapped up four days of trial testimony March 28 and heard pointblank denials from Democrats that they gerrymandered the districts.

The chairman of the House Commerce Committee said during an informational session Wednesday that the U.S. Environmental Agency is pandering to the far left wing of the Democratic Party as it burdens Arizona with unnecessary regulations.

Two controversial early voting reform bills have been cleared for a vote in the House, but their future remains uncertain. The bills advocated by county elections officials had been going nowhere, held up in the House Government Committee.

In the days after the 2012 general election, Arizona made national headlines for all the wrong reasons. A large number of provisional and early ballots remained uncounted from election night, and the multi- week process of counting these ballots provided the national media fodder to continue the theme of dysfunction in Arizona government.

Jerry Lewis, the Republican who rose to fame by defeating Russell Pearce two years ago, lost his Senate seat in 2012 partly because his crossover appeal to Latinos did not translate into votes for him, an analysis of the results of the November elections showed.

Moving Arizona’s presidential preference election earlier in the primary cycle would give the state a greater say in national politics, a state representative contends.

Had voters passed the Open Elections/Open Government measure, proponents argued that the result would have been less-radical ideologues being elected and a looser grip by political parties on elected offices.

First it was featured in a controversial summer movie, and now it could come to a school near you. A liberal school-choice group from California is trying to build a coalition of local education groups to pass an Arizona law allowing parents to take over failing schools.

T.J. Shope, a Republican from Coolidge, and Juan Mendez, a Democrat from Tempe, share a lot in common.

Both are 27-year-old incoming state representatives. Both studied political science at Arizona State University and received bachelor’s degrees in 2008.

Pinal County’s position as a Democrat stronghold is gone as a new Republican domination took hold in the Nov. 6 election.