The Arizona Republican Party has filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court against Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs challenging the constitutionality of her Executive Orders 2023-23 and 2023-25. The orders designated state-owned facilities, including those managed by the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry (ADCRR) and the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections (ADJC), as ballot drop-off locations and ordered state authorities to make voter registration forms available and process them respectively.
Republicans, under AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda, stated that the new orders rip away authority held by county recorders and other local election authorities.
In the text of the lawsuit, the AZGOP argues, “Governor Hobbs unlawfully exercised her office by attempting to establish voting locations, drop-off locations for completed ballots, and make ADCRR and ADJC, as well as other state agencies, de facto public assistance agencies, which is outside her lawful authority.” They note, “The Arizona law is clear on who can distribute and accept voter registration forms and completed ballots: (1) public assistance or disabilities agencies as defined by statute; or (2) a location/agency as designated by a county recorder (or designee of a county recorder) or justice of the peace. The Governor is nowhere included in this clear line of authority. The same is true for determining voting locations.”
In a statement provided by the AZGOP to AZ Free News, Swoboda wrote,
“Governor Hobbs’ actions represent a blatant overreach of her authority and a direct violation of the separation of powers established by our Constitution. The responsibility for designating voting and ballot drop-off locations, as well as handling voter registration, lies squarely with the Legislature and county officials, not the Governor. These executive orders undermine the trust Arizonans place in their electoral process, and we will not stand by as our constitutional rights are trampled.”
Political commentator George Behizy observed Thursday, “Similar measures were taken in Michigan by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who designated various state agencies to do the same.” He added, “Hobbs’s orders blatantly violate Article 1 Section 4 Clause 1 of the US constitution which clearly states, ‘The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof[.]’ The constitutional delegates ALL election oversight to the state legislatures. It doesn’t grant the executive any power to delegate random government departments as vote registration sites or ballot drop-off locations.”
BREAKING: Arizona Republicans have just filed a lawsuit against illegitimate Governor Katie Hobbs for issuing unconstitutional executive orders to facilitate the steal of the 2024 election
The US Constitution as referenced by Behizy states, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing(sic) Senators.”
A state Governor or Secretary of State’s ability to enact such measures remains unadjudicated and was the subject of the 2020 Election challenge Texas v. Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan & Pennsylvania which the U.S. Supreme Court, in one of its most controversial historic decisions, declined to hear. The case divided the states with twenty supporting Texas’ claim, twenty supporting Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and six states undecided.
The Texas complaint similarly revolved around three major points:
“Non-legislative actors’ purported amendments to States’ duly enacted election laws, in violation of the Electors Clause’s vesting State legislatures with plenary authority regarding the appointment of presidential electors.
Intrastate differences in the treatment of voters, with more favorable allotted to voters – whether lawful or unlawful – in areas administered by local government under Democrat control and with populations with higher ratios of Democrat voters than other areas of Defendant States.
The appearance of voting irregularities in the Defendant States that would be consistent with the unconstitutional relaxation of ballot-integrity protections in those States’ election laws.”
Should the case be taken up by the Arizona Supreme Court and adjudicated, it could serve as a basis for a federal ruling to settle the question nationally that was left ambiguous in 2020.
The U.S. Department of Labor revealed, as part of its preliminary annual benchmark revisions to national nonfarm payroll figures, that the department’s initial job creation numbers were overestimated by as much as 30%. Approximately 818,000 fewer jobs than the figure of 2.9 million touted by the Biden administration were actually created.
As reported by Forbes, the metrics taken from March 2023 to March 2024 estimated by the Deptartment of Labor at 2.9 million for the year, or 242,000 per month on average, were reduced to 174,000 per month or approximately 2.08 million.
Joint Economic Committee Vice Chairman Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) said in a statement, “This significant downward revision from BLS confirms what we’ve known since January 2021: that the U.S. economy is much weaker than President Biden and Vice President Harris have been selling.”
“This administration’s excessive spending, outrageous tax hikes, and burdensome regulations added over the last 3.5 years have made life much more difficult for American families than before the pandemic. Yet Biden and Harris have continued to peddle the narrative that the economy is robust because of ‘record-breaking’ job growth. Now, we know that the job gain estimates last year were notably overstated by more than 800,000 in yet another example of how badly the Biden-Harris administration has failed the American people.”
According to the announcement, the preliminary estimate of the upcoming annual benchmark revision is part of usual practice within the department and revisions are common. Another such revision took the Biden administration by surprise in 2022 when the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia corrected the estimate for the Second Quarter that year from an estimated one million down to just 10,500 jobs per The Post Millennial.
This is crazy LMAO
Biden bragged about creating over 1 million new jobs in Q2 of this year. A new audit of the data by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia shows it was actually only 10k.
Despite past experience with the fickle nature of federal jobs estimates however, in an election year, President Joe Biden has repeatedly boasted his administration’s job creation.
BREAKING: 818,000 jobs that the Harris-Biden administration claimed to have “created” aren’t actually there, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Just a day before the announcement, he posted to X, “Since Vice President Harris and I took office, our economy has created nearly 16 million jobs,” adding, “Average unemployment under our administration has been lower than during any administration in 50 years.” On April 5th, he wrote that the erroneous job report marked “another chapter in America’s comeback. With the report of 303,000 new jobs in March, we’ve passed the milestone of 15 million jobs created since I took office. That’s 15 million more people who have the dignity and respect that comes with a paycheck.”
Today’s jobs report marks another chapter in America’s comeback.
With the report of 303,000 new jobs in March, we've passed the milestone of 15 million jobs created since I took office.
That’s 15 million more people who have the dignity and respect that comes with a paycheck.
Reporting from CNBC confirmed that the downward revision of -0.5 percent is the largest in fifteen years, the last occurring on the tail end of the 08’-09’ recession. Chief economist at LPL Financial Jeffrey Roach told the outlet, “The labor market appears weaker than originally reported. A deteriorating labor market will allow the Fed to highlight both sides of the dual mandate and investors should expect the Fed to prepare markets for a cut at the September meeting.”
The most heavily impacted sectors of the economy were professional and business services that saw a heavy revision down of 358,000 jobs followed by the badly struggling leisure and hospitality industry, which was revised down by 150,000 and has suffered severely under inflationary burdens and short-staffing. Manufacturing jobs took a heavy hit with a downward revision of 115,000 jobs along with trade, transportation, and utilities taking a hit to the tune of 104,000 jobs.
On April 4th, Biden specifically boasted about creating “Nearly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics revision revealed this was overblown by at least an eighth.
Under my economic agenda, we’ve already created nearly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs.
America used to lead the world in manufacturing, and we’re going to do it again. pic.twitter.com/fHihnV3eVz
Despite the massive, heavily, and repeatedly boasted overestimation, White House economist Jared Bernstein strained to maintain the Biden administration narrative in a statement writing, “This preliminary estimate doesn’t change the fact that the jobs recovery has been and remains historically strong, delivering solid job and wage gains, strong consumer spending, and record small business creation.”
Economists at Goldman Sachs told the outlet later that they theorize the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “may have overstated the revisions by as much as half a million,” CNBC wrote. The report added, “The firm said undocumented immigrants who now are not in the unemployment system but were listed initially as employed amounted for some of the discrepancy.”
Goldman Sachs economist Ronald Walker said that the revision is likely “erroneous” and “misleading,” according to Forbes.
Following the report Wednesday, President Donald Trump took to TruthSocial expressing outrage and suggesting the Biden-Harris administration inflated the job statistics for political benefit.
He wrote:
“MASSIVE SCANDAL! The Harris-Biden Administration has been caught fraudulently manipulating Job Statistics to hide the true extent of the Economic Ruin they have inflicted upon America. New Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the Administration PADDED THE NUMBERS with an extra 818,000 Jobs that DO NOT EXIST, AND NEVER DID. The real Numbers are much worse than that and, if Comrade Kamala gets another four years, millions more Jobs will VANISH overnight, and Inflation will completely destroy our Country. YOUR LIFE SAVINGS WILL BE WIPED OUT. With a TRUMP VICTORY, we will once again have the Greatest Economy in History. MAGA2024!”
The final benchmark revision is set to be published by the Department of Labor in February 2025.
Wednesday evening in Scottsdale, the America First Policy Institute’s (AFPI) America First Women’s Agenda hosted a Border Safety Town Hall with community leaders and experts on the border to explore and discuss the implications of border security on Arizona and “the rising violence against women both near the border and across the country.”
Ashley Hayek, AFPI Chief Engagement Officer, and Executive Director of America First Works spoke, joined by Art Del Cueto, Executive Board Member of the National Border Patrol Council, Rob Law, the AFPI Director of the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration, Kimmie Dillon, the America First Works Coordinator for Maricopa County, and Arizona State Senator Janae Shamp (R-AZ29).
In a post to X, the AFPI shared images and video of the townhall calling the evening, “A successful night in Scottsdale, AZ, focusing on border safety.” They added, “We deeply appreciate the families who shared their stories of losing loved ones to fentanyl and the experts who provided insights on the border crisis and how we can protect our communities. This is a fight we can’t stop fighting.”
A successful night in Scottsdale, AZ, focusing on border safety. We deeply appreciate the families who shared their stories of losing loved ones to fentanyl and the experts who provided insights on the border crisis and how we can protect our communities. This is a fight we can’t… pic.twitter.com/ENWIGQQmXX
— America First Policy Institute (@A1Policy) August 22, 2024
Sen. Shamp shared the post writing, “God bless every family who has lost a loved one to this deadly crisis created by the Harris Administration. #everystateisaborderstate #border911 #SaveAmerica #TrumpVance2024”
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protections’s Criminal Noncitizen Statistics, convictions of non-citizens has increased year-over-year since 2021 and are projected to outpace 2023 metrics.
By criminal type, convictions for assault, battery, and domestic violence have consistently increased over the same period alongside driving under the influence, drug possession and trafficking. Sexual offenses have decreased slightly after spiking in 2021.
In a thread to X on August 20, Law prefaced the townhall writing about the recent report from the DHS Inspector General that stated over 320,000 illegal immigrant children were released into the U.S. to unvetted adults, and over 32,000 are confirmed to be unaccounted for.
“The day after the DNC endorsed amnesty for human traffickers, the DHS Inspector General confirms that Biden-Harris handed over ~320k unaccompanied alien children back to the traffickers. This is FAR WORSE than the 85k lost UAC previously reported by NYT.
The Inspector General confirms that these migrant children Biden-Harris facilitated being trafficked to the US are now trapped in sex trafficking & forced labor. There is NO plan to locate them & return to home country.
A Saturday night announcement from Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes confirmed that the radical-left, “Eco-Socialist” Green Party’s eight candidates will be moving ahead with a write-in strategy for the November general election.
According to its website the Green Party advocates for “a just transition to a democratically controlled eco-socialist economy through a Green New Deal,” as well as “’Degrowth’ policies to reduce overproduction, overconsumption, and waste,” and espouses “Social Justice & Equality For All,” as well as “Feminism And Gender Equity.”
As reported by the Arizona Daily Independent, the write-in candidates were not included in the official Arizona primary canvass owing to a clerical error, citing an Aug. 17th press release from the Secretary of State’s office.
“A write-in candidate for a newly recognized political party must receive a plurality of the votes of the party for the office for which the candidate is competing for,” reads the press release. “A party with continued representation requires at least as many votes as they would have had petition signatures. The winning candidates in the Primary all receive certificates of nomination in the days after the canvass and these Green candidates who won their party nomination are included.”
Secretary Fontes also ran afoul of the Green Party earlier this month when he declared the wrong Green Party winner in the U.S. Senate primary as reported by KJZZ.
🚨 BREAKING: The AZ Secretary of State's is doing anything but restoring confidence in our elections!🚨
Adrian Fontes ADMITTED to declaring the WRONG Green Party winner in the U.S. Senate primary?
Green Party write-in candidate Eduardo Quintana said at the time, “We’re supposed to be able to run for office when we disagree on certain policies, and the public compares our opinions and decides who to vote for, and we’re elected in a Democratic way.”
The Green Party at present has just 100 elected officials in office nationwide, and Arizona has never had a Green Party candidate win an election for state or federal office.
Green party write-in candidates moving on to general election:
Eduardo Quintana, U.S. Senate – Eduardo Quitaro is running for the Arizona U.S. Senator open seat against Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Ruben Gallego. According to Quintana’s campaign website, he is running with the Arizona Green Party to “offer a political choice outside our failed two-party system careening towards nuclear war and environmental catastrophe.” Quintana’s priorities include ending the Israeli/Palestinian war, phasing out the burning of fossil fuels and replacing them with renewable energy sources, and transitioning to an eco-socialist economy, among others.
Vincent Beck-Jones, Congressional District 4 U.S. Representative – Vincent Beck-Jones will be running for Congressional District 4 U.S. Representative. He will face incumbent Democrat Greg Stanton and Republican Kelly Cooper. According to Cooper’s campaign website, he is firmly standing on a Green Party platform. “Our country was once based on ideals of freedom and choice,” reads his website. “But, for 237 years we have been held to an Us vs Them system. A duopoly of politics where the two parties are merely just opposite sides of a single coin. We are left choosing which option seems less detrimental to us. This isn’t a real choice. Without choice we have no freedom.”
Athena Eastwood, Congressional District 6 U.S. Representative – Write-in Green Party Candidate Athena Eastwood will be moving on to the general election running for U.S. representative for Congressional District 6. She will go up against Republican Juan Ciscomani and Democrat Kirsten Engel.
Tre Rook, Legislative District 8 State Representative – Tre Rook is running as a write-in Green Party candidate in the general election. Two candidates will be elected for each legislative district and Rook will be going up against Republican Caden Darrow and Democrats Brian Garcia and Janeen Connolly in the general election.
Cody Hannah, Legislative District 3 State Representative – Cody Hannah, a student and activist, is one of the youngest people running for a legislative office in Arizona. He is running on the Green Party platform and will be moving on to the general election where he will be running against Republican Jeff Weninger and Democrat Brandy Reese. “Cody is a committed advocate for people, planet, and peace, and he is ready to both work with and stand against the Democrats and Republicans in the AZ Legislature in order to fight for the needs of working class Arizonans and our environment,” reads Hannah’s campaign website.
Scott Menor, Legislative District 14 State Representative – Scott Menor, a write-in Green Party candidate, will be running against Republicans Laurin Hendrix and Khyl Powell in the general election. Menor said that by running for LD 14 state representative, he hopes to “break the duopoly. I can represent you and give you an outsized voice as a tipping-point-independent in the Arizona State House,” reads his campaign website. Menor’s other priorities include electoral reform, universal healthcare, education, basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, housing, mobility and autonomy, and access to abortion.
Mike Cease & Nina Luxenberg, Corporation Commission – Mike Cease and Nina Luxenberg are the Green Party candidates running for one of the three open seats as Arizona corporation commissioner. The other candidates they will be running against include Republicans Rachel Walden, Rene Lopez, and Lea Marquez Peterson, and Democrats Ylenia Aguilar, Jonathan Hill, and Joshua Polacheck.
A Monday report revealed that at least three attorneys associated with the Republican party and identified by the Associated Press as Arizona’s Amanda Reeve and Brett Johnson of the law firm Snell & Wilmer, and Paul Hamrick an Alabama-based attorney, have been working hard to ensure independent presidential candidate Cornel West is placed on the ballot in Arizona.
According to the AP reporting, the two Arizona lawyers, Reeve and Johnson, were working with Hamrick to reach two of the alleged Electoral College electors for West after learning that they were no longer interested in serving as electors, in what the outlet described as a “barrage” of text messages and phone calls culminating in visits to their homes.
Under Arizona election law, independent candidates for president must present a slate of electors committed to casting Electoral College votes for them. Without these electors, the effort to put West on the ballot was doomed to fail.
In text messages obtained by the reporters, one of the electors, Jerry Judie, 62, of Phoenix, told an operative working for the campaign via text, “I am officially no longer interested in being elector.” The unnamed operative had been trying to convince him to meet and sign documentation.
Judie had reportedly been an avid West supporter for at least three decades and was excited to be a part of the campaign, but when President Joe Biden stepped aside, it “changed the game.”
He told the AP, “When she was in the driver’s seat, that changed the game. That changed everything for me, my family, and the people that I know. It was like magic.”
In a voicemail to Judie given to the AP, Alabama attorney Paul Hamrick is heard to say, “I am sorry … we have been calling the crap out of you, the reason we have been trying to get in touch with you is we found out in the last 24 hours we have got to have everybody sign a letter that Dr. West has also signed.” The outlet noted that Hamrick stated he knew that Judie was no longer interested in being an elector. Hamrick is reported to have asked “Is there anything you can tell me about that or has anyone encouraged you not to be?”
Judie later told the reporters that two people came to his home looking for him after the voicemail. A person who knows Judie spoke to them on his behalf, and they identified themselves as Reeve and Johnson. Both work for Snell & Wilmer, a firm known to represent the Republican National Committee as well as Republican candidates.
The second elector, Denisha Mitchell, was also contacted by phone by Reeve, according to the AP, after a story from the outlet broke Friday with Mitchell saying she signed an affidavit testifying she never agreed to be a West elector to begin with nor signed her name to a filing. She told the reporters that she “didn’t even know what an elector was,” and the filing was “forged,” and full of errors.
Reeve reportedly told Mitchell in a voicemail, “We need to get this information in as soon as possible.” He added that his firm is representing, “the Cornel West Campaign.”
Mitchell said that she missed a call but returned it and spoke with Hamrick. The Alabama attorney refuted this to the AP and refused to comment.
Speaking to reporters Judie reflected on the odd happenings of the week and said it left him uneasy. “They had only one reason they were doing it,” he said. “Just to get him on the ballot so some votes would go to him and not go to other people.”
West for his part seemed ambivalent to the situation in Arizona. He told the AP, “So much of American politics is highly gangster-like activity. I have no knowledge of who they are or anything — none whatsoever. We just want to get on that ballot. And that’s the difficult thing.”
Per the outlet, the Arizona Secretary of State’s office said that the West campaign did not file the paperwork necessary to get on the ballot by Saturday’s deadline.
