Immigration is always a hot-button issue in Arizona, and this year it dominated as a national issue in the election as the current administration’s inability to meaningfully stem the tide of migrants from south of the border turned into one of the primary hot-button issues of the year. Even after the election it is continuing as a major issue, as … Read More
Potential Civil War with Arizona Democrats Brewing? Governor Hobbs May Have a Serious Primary Challenger
By Alexander Lomax All’s fair in love, war, and politics, but there are typically a few axioms that keep people in line and keep order in what can otherwise be a cutthroat, back-stabbing industry. One of those is that when your party holds a significant seat, you do not give them a tough primary. Sure, you can prevent some fringe … Read More
What I Wish for the New Year
By Ronald Sampson Here we are yet again…another trip around the sun, another year of wins and losses, of mistakes and corrections, or joy and regrets. I prefer not to make resolutions, because I don’t want the accountability and expectations put on myself. I don’t need anyone reminding me of what I thought I should be doing months before. I’m … Read More
As Kyrsten Sinema Prepares to Leave the Senate, What Should We Think About her Legacy?
By Alexander Lomax In politics, “one and done” is almost universally a negative. Never in my lifetime has a President chosen not to run for re-election after their first term save the emergency scramble to pressure Biden not to, so a “one-term President” means electoral failure. A one-term Congressman barely has enough time to ditch a map of the building … Read More
Hey Democrats…Your Celebrity Endorsements are Stupid and Counterproductive
By Ronald Sampson For the last couple decades the prevailing view of the two political parties generally depends on who you ask, but if you ask those who are not a fan of the Democratic party, their description of the party would likely revolve around it being a party of the coastal elites and of Hollywood (or Hollyweird, as some … Read More
Change is Afoot in Arizona: What the Final Elections Results Tell Us
While as of the time of writing, there are still a few votes to count in Arizona and we do not have full confirmation of how every race will play out, we do have quite a bit of insight as to how our area may change or not change. For instance, one of the most interesting and perhaps surprising results … Read More
The District 4 House Race: The Richest State House Race in Arizona History?
Regular readers of this blog (or other political nerds who simply haven’t come across the Arizona Progress & Gazette yet) understand that the race to control both the Arizona House of Representatives and the Arizona Senate is an incredibly tight and important one. With mere one seat advantages in both the House and Senate, Arizona Republicans’ control of both chambers … Read More
The Curious Case of Michael Way: Are Republicans Cutting Off Their Nose to Spite Their Face?
By Ronald Sampson It should have been a case as common as a 100-degree day in the Valley: a Republican won one of the top two seats in a primary race for the Arizona House of Representatives in Legislative District 15, a district that covers parts of Queen Creek and San Tan Valley. The district is an extremely Republican one, … Read More
Handicapping the November Election: The County Recorder’s Race
The July primaries in Arizona had a lot of predictable outcomes, but it did hold one big shocker: incumbent Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer became a victim of not towing the party line of stolen elections, and Republican primary voters chose state legislator Justin Heap to go on to the general election in November to face off against veteran and … Read More
Handicapping the November Election: Legislative District 3
Regular readers know that we have been highlighting local political races that will impact our area and we project how those campaigns might play out in the November election. One district that we don’t find ourselves talking about much however is legislative district 5, which covers all of Scottsdale north of the 101 and also includes Fountain Hills and Carefree. … Read More