Jeans, boots and country music: Republican candidates in CD1 vying to run against Ann Kirkpatrick
Country music plays in the background as state House Speaker Andy Tobin tells Graham County Republican Party leaders at a Safford restaurant he has spent seven years fighting for them at the Legislature, and he’s ready to take the fight to Congress.
Farther north, freshman state Rep. Adam Kwasman rallies a rowdy crowd at a Show Low Tea Party event, telling them to stay focused on the proj[...]
Dark Money
Specter of anonymous campaign spending looms over 2014
Next year’s elections are shaping up like 2012 — organizations with generic names, big checkbooks and secret contributors spending millions to influence Arizona’s elections.
Regulators set to referee solar net metering fight
After several months of intense and expensive campaigning, Arizona utility regulators today begin formal hearings on a proposal by Arizona Public Service to drastically cut incentives to install rooftop solar panels.
Small cadre of attorneys share spotlight where law and politics collide
Bush v. Gore is the ultimate example of politics and law intersecting and it shows how lawyers can affect an election in a dramatic way. But in Arizona, every election cycle brings its own set of controversies to be settled in the courtroom.
Picking up ballots
Mysterious visits to south Phoenix home became catalyst for new elections law
Rey Valenzuela was at his home in south Phoenix during election season last year when a young man, clipboard in hand, knocked on his door and asked for his wife.
Last city council election in an odd-numbered year?
At a recent Phoenix City Council District 8 candidate forum in a central Phoenix church, the pews were nearly filled with roughly 80 political junkies getting their fix.
Supreme Court strikes down Arizona voting law, but leaves door open to challenges
In the first of two widely-anticipated voting rights decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court this month, the justices struck down Arizona’s voter-imposed law requiring residents to show proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.
Latino groups condemn 2 early-voting bills; plan legal action to stop them
Faith Mendoza is a 17-year-old honor student from Chandler who spent hundreds of hours through the 2012 election walking the streets, registering voters and then picking up early ballots from people who otherwise might not have voted.
By most accounts, she is a model citizen. But if SB1003 passes through the Legislature in its present form and is signed by the governor, continuing her volun[...]
6 ex-Arizonans prosecuted for voting twice in past
A half-dozen former Arizonans have been prosecuted for voting twice in past elections.
Court: Prop 204 clerical error didn’t confuse voters
The clerical error that led to two different versions of a ballot measure was an honest mistake that did not confuse voters, and thus didn’t warrant Secretary of State Ken Bennett’s decision to bar measure from going to voters, the Supreme Court said in an opinion published today.
Clamoring for a fix, politicians take aim at election reform
In the wake of Arizona’s 2012 general election, which was marred by large numbers of uncounted ballots holding up the decision in one congressional district race for 11 days, Secretary of State Ken Bennett said the election system isn’t broken. But he still wants to fix it.
Bennett: Election system working but changes necessary
Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett today pledged to pursue changes to the state’s election system to avoid the drawn out vote counting and increase in provisional ballots seen in this year’s election.