By Alexander Lomax The initial primary results have come in, and at the time of writing there are still a few questions but also a number of answers. There were a couple shocks, some more surprises, and increased clarity as to how the November elections will shake out. First off, Republican turnout was robust both locally and throughout the county; … Read More
Looking Forward to July 30th: Q2 Update on Contested Primaries
Recently we took a look at some of the more contested and interesting primaries in our area, and with the 2nd quarter campaign finance reports now submitted, we finally got a final look at how the finances of the top four campaigns are looking, and as such, additional insight into the strength of those campaigns and their odds of success. … Read More
Looking Towards July 30th: The County Recorder’s Race
Arizona’s primaries have traditionally been in the month of August, but recently local elections got bumped up to July 30th. With this deadline looming, we want to take a look at a few contentious primaries that are making waves and are worth your attention. As for this round, let’s look at the Republican primary for Maricopa County Recorder. Incumbent Stephen … Read More
The Battle for Maricopa County Recorder May Be Fought on the Right Flank: Stephen Richer Will Have Challengers
County Recorder Stephen Richer walked a strange and fine line in his successful effort to oust former Recorder Adrian Fontes; he sometimes found himself flirting with election conspiracies, but his time in the office itself has largely been spent confirming the fidelity of our elections. One could say that his shift was political expediency, one could say that the newfound … Read More
Scottsdale Rep. Kolodin Should Learn Lesson That Kari Lake Didn’t: Election Denialism Isn’t Helping Their Cause
By Alexander Lomax Anyone who has paid attention to Arizona politics at all in the last few years is aware of the charges of a “stolen election”, or at the very least doubts that have been raised about the sanctity of the election process. Those charges that were a centerpiece of Arizona GOP politics at the time, and not only … Read More
More Changes in Our Elections: Is Less Messiness in Our Future?
Maricopa County elections have had a very interesting last few election cycles. They started in 2016 with a new County Recorder (Adrian Fontes) who was then in charge of all aspects of county elections. After a poor execution of in-person voting for the 2018 primary, Fontes then decided to punt responsibility of in-person voting to the Maricopa County Board of … 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