Backers of an initiative to permanently keep a 1-cent tax increase spent more than $2 million but failed to convince the public to support the proposal. The measure, officially known as Proposition 204, received only about 35 percent of the votes, the Secretary of State’s Office count showed.

Education unions and a group representing contractors have given hundreds of thousands of dollars this month to a campaign supporting Proposition 204, while a contribution from a group representing automobile dealers is helping fuel the opposing campaign, records show.

The opposition to the initiative to keep a 1-cent sales tax increase has produced copies of two checks and proof of an online payment transfer to show it complied with reporting requirements mandated by campaign finance laws.

The campaign to defeat a 1-cent sales tax initiative collected $550,000 from three sources with ties to Republican causes and candidates.

Doug Ducey brought 13 years of experience running a business in the private sector, including time as CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, to his post as Arizona state treasurer. Now, as he and his staff are responsible for managing the state’s $11.4 billion portfolio of taxpayer money on a daily basis, he shares what the state is — and is not — doing effectively in recovering from the Great Recession.

Treasurer Doug Ducey endorsed Mitt Romney today, adding another name to the growing list of Arizona elected officials who are backing the GOP frontrunner.

Final campaign spending reports from the 2010 election season revealed desperation by ultimately unsuccessful candidates who loaned their campaigns large amounts of money, as well as aggressive spending by winning candidates who likely didn’t need it.

We see lots of things from our virtual perch high above 1700 W. Washington. Our exposure to all things political in Arizona typically results in some mix of these three reactions: Often we laugh, occasionally we’re astonished, and rarely we’re ...

Nationally, Democrats suffered disaster in the general election. In Arizona, it was even worse. For the first time since 1994, Republicans swept Arizona’s statewide offices. Even the Attorney General’s Office, which has been in Democratic hands for the past 12 years, couldn’t withstand the Republican tsunami.

With nearly half the state’s precincts reporting vote totals, Republicans looked poised to sweep Arizona’s statewide offices for the first time since 1994. By 9:15 p.m., the Republicans’ statewide slate took the stage at the Arizona GOP’s election night party ...