*He endorsed Trump, but he will likely be responsible for his demise. He is Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, an impressive congressional nominee who is getting precious little help from national Republicans due to the GOP having to defend more seats than they had hoped this year. Prediction: If Babeu loses his congressional race look for him to move to Maricopa County and run against Paul Penzone in 2020 if the Democrat defeats Arpaio in November.
*Trump’s demise may strangely benefit U.S. Senator Jeff Flake too. Not only has he distanced himself from Trump a big Democratic year likely portends a sizable GOP one in the off-election year of 2018. Kyrsten Sinema is as talented as Arizona elected officials come but defeating Flake in a statewide election that year is likely going to be very difficult.
*Keep an eye on U.S. Congressman David Schweikert as a possible if not probable candidate for Arizona Governor in 2022.
*Speaking of Governor Doug Ducey . . . he’s not tall but some believe he will be on short lists in 2020.
*Who’s Congressman Trent Franks’ candidate for President in 2020? Very likely Mike Pence.
*When downtown Phoenix is healthy the whole Valley benefits. From stadiums to arenas to big urban projects thanks go to the politicians and pioneers that made the tough decisions yesteryear to pave the way for the exciting landscape today. Special kudos to former Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon who was the champion for bringing Arizona State University downtown. If there was ever a tipping point that was it.
*We opposed the proposed Desert Discovery Center long before the current angst. But it’s incredibly sad to see the effort hijacked by the likes of Jason Alexander. He’s one nasty dude that shouldn’t be the Pied Piper for anything.
*Look for downtown Scottsdale businessman Bill Crawford to emerge as a significant contender for the Scottsdale City Council in 2018.
*Fan or not of Sheriff Arpaio over the years sad to see all those he has helped and endorsed over the years do precious little now to help his campaign.
*Smart move by Arizona Corporation Commission candidate Bill Mundell, a Democrat, to be advertising on the Drudge Report.
*There are many local measures with financial ramifications on the November ballot. But there may be none worse than Peoria’s Proposition 400 which is a 4/10 of one cent increase in the city sales tax. Opponents have dubbed it the “Forever Tax” because it has no sunset. Worse is that it essentially serves as a slush fund for the elected officials in Peoria to dole out money for pet projects. This is a city that has clearly decided that big subsidies will be its competitive advantage. Already being sued by the Goldwater Institute for paying millions to an out-of-state private college imagine what would happen if they got their hands on hundreds of millions more in taxpayer funds?