Critics cheered when Attorney General Mark Brnovich withdrew an opinion they said would have led to electioneering by public officials with taxpayer dollars, but it won’t be the last word on the matter.

The legal wilderness that Arizona’s campaign finance regulations have encountered since a federal judge struck down a key statute last year may soon come to an end.

Phoenix City Councilwoman Thelda Williams is scrambling for campaign cash after losing about $40,000 in contributions, effectively wiping out her entire fundraising haul from 2014.

A provision of Arizona’s recent campaign finance overhaul may allow people to sidestep the state’s anti-coordination laws and move from a campaign to an independent expenditure with ease once the primary election is over.

The number of independents voting in the partisan primary election on Aug. 26 is expected to surge this year. And with nearly all the primary election action concentrated on the Republican side, independents are overwhelmingly choosing to vote in the GOP primary.

A requirement dating back to statehood that statewide candidates collect signatures from at least three counties in order to qualify for the ballot will be a thing of the past starting in 2016.

A federal judge refused Monday to ease the requirement for candidates to get on the ballot, at least for this year.

A new federal lawsuit could alter how candidates for statewide office get the signatures they need – and do it in a way that could leave voters in all but Arizona’s largest county out of the process.

A former Arizona Attorney General’s Office employee who did volunteer work for Tom Horne’s re-election said she and other employees routinely violated state laws by doing campaign work on taxpayer time, and that Horne himself encouraged and was aware of the unlawful activity.

After Attorney General Tom Horne took the stand to defend himself against allegations that he coordinated with an independent expenditure committee, it was hard to find election law experts who agreed on whether his actions violated Arizona law.