We are in the final stretch for political campaigns, and the extremely important Q3 campaign finance reports were just released. These will give us our final peer into the financial capacities of campaigns before early ballots are mailed out, so we looked into the most critical statewide races to see how the candidates are doing. First, we start with the … Read More
To Debate or Not to Debate: The Contrast in Conversation in the Arizona Governor’s and Secretary of State Race
By Ronald Sampson To debate or not to debate; that is normally not a question for close races. If you’re up by a large margin, it is more reasonable to simply shrug off the demand for one, but one would be hard pressed to find examples of Arizona candidates refusing to debate in a tight race. Yet that is what … Read More
Can Katie Hobbs Follow the Napolitano Path to the 9th Floor?
Arizona’s gubernatorial office, located on the 9th floor of the Executive Office downtown, has been constantly occupied by Republicans since the time of Janet Napolitano. This year, Katie Hobbs offers the best possibility for Dems to retake the 9th floor since Napolitano’s last term which ended in 2009. So can she follow that same template to victory? To be fair, … Read More
The Breakdown – A Knife Fight for the 9th Floor: Arizona Governor
This Battle Royale has everything: drag queens, donations to Obama, prosciutto, skipped debates… As you almost certainly know by now, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has been term limited and cannot run for another term. As such we will be electing a new Governor, allowing Ducey time to figure out a way to become Vice President regardless of who is elected … Read More
Online Signatures are Coming to Scottsdale Races; But Will SoS Mismanagement Shut It Down Early?
You almost certainly have seen asks from political candidates around Arizona to sign their online petition to get them on the ballot. It’s easy for voters to sign, it’s less fuss and muss for candidates (and allows them to avoid 100 degree signature collections and COVID), and those signatures are pre-qualified, and as such are immune from legal challenges from … Read More
The 2021 Campaign Finance Reports are In: What Do We Know about Arizona Races?
By Ronald Sampson Money is not the end all be all of politics, but it is the best determinant of success of a campaign. You need money to get your message out and to demonstrate your level of support. The first Arizona campaign finance reports for this election season are now in, and they cover an entire year’s worth of … Read More
Do Arizona Democrats Stand for Anything?
By Ronald Sampson I am loathe to draw too many conclusions from Twitter; it is generally a cesspool which is not reflective of real life in nearly any way, after all. But if volume of responses are indicative of anything, then local Dems have en masse tipped their hands as to their lack of moral and ethical rooting in the … Read More
Katie Hobbs’s Race Problem
By Alexander Lomax In what is looking to be a tough election year for Democrats nationally, Katie Hobbs’s path to the 9th floor was already a fairly narrow one. Now a problem from the past has re-emerged and has made that narrow path a more treacherous one. Those who follow local politics closely may remember the story of Talonya Adams, … Read More
Guest Editorial: Could Katie Hobbs Actually Become Governor?
By Alexander Lomax The 9th Floor has become a cozy, safe space for Republicans ever since the Janet Napolitano days. Before that, Democrats often had to be rather centrist and pragmatic in order to win the office. So does Katie Hobbs, former Senate Minority Leader from the progressive stronghold of central Phoenix, actually have a chance to win? In order … Read More