Maricopa County Has a New Sheriff with a New Party, but Not Without Controversy

Maricopa County, you have a new head Sheriff. And as far as successions go, this one is a bit more controversial than most. In a surprise move, Democrat Paul Penzone announced that he was stepping down to take a community relations job with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Cleaning up after the myriad federal restrictions in the wake of former Sheriff … Read More

A Gigantic Post-Scandal Shake-Up at the Maricopa County Democratic Party: Executive Director and Chair are Out, New Regime Is In. What Does It Mean?

What a few weeks it has been since we lifted the curtain on major financial improprieties at the Maricopa County Democratic Party (read our analyses here). Within the first five days 7,600 of you read our most recent story which ended in our call for both its Executive Director Ne’Lexia Galloway and its Chair Nancy Schriber to resign. That article … Read More

Chaos at County Reorganization Meetings: What Does That Portend for Next Two Years?

The political election cycle is a standard and predictable one: first there are primaries, then there are generals. Then there is either celebration or disappointment, followed by co-opting of credit or the pointing of fingers. And then…re-organization. Where the parties signal their level of satisfaction or anger with the direction of their party and choose their leadership accordingly. As is … Read More

Lessons to be Learned in Abject Failure: What to Glean from the Julie Gunnigle Campaign

By Alexander Lomax All things told, this election was extremely positive for Democrats in Maricopa County. Despite her campaign’s best efforts to lose, Katie Hobbs kept Trump-wannabe Kari Lake out of the Governor’s seat, and Adrian Fontes kept unhinged conspiracy theorist and otherwise unhireable former Kalamazoo cop Mark Finchem away from our elections. And even though State Superintendent Kathy Hoffman … Read More

Julie Gunnigle’s County Attorney Campaign Death Rattle: The Price of Listening to Activists Instead of Reason

By Alexander Lomax In her third run for elected office in the last four years, while Julie Gunnigle is now inching towards perennial candidate status, not unlike Rodney Glassman (sans party flipping), she has shown promise at times. Bold, well spoken and physically attractive (which unfortunately matters), she has positioned herself as someone worth watching in the Democratic political world. … Read More