by Staff Reporter | May 15, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Former state lawmaker Amish Shah, a Democrat, announced his intent to again challenge Congressman David Schweikert in 2026.
Shah failed to defeat Schweikert in last November’s general election, despite attempts to style himself as an independent to Maricopa County voters.
The former state lawmaker spread the news of his intent to run to The Arizona Republic. Shah said the voters must have regrets for electing Schweikert.
“I see a country that is in chaos,” said Shah. “I don’t think this is what people voted for.”
Shah indicated he may take a more openly progressive approach to his second run against Schweikert. Shah emphasized his defense of abortion access, specifically to the abortion drug mifepristone, and a desire for “actually getting stuff done for the people” rather than his view of Schweikert’s approach to office “just talking about stuff.”
“Instead of fighting for Arizonans, too many of our leaders are standing by and choosing to do nothing as we are confronted with some really serious challenges,” said Shah.
Shah also criticized Schweikert’s continued support for President Donald Trump’s economic policies. Schweikert, vice chair of the Joint Economic Committee and member of the Ways and Means Committee, has indicated some reservations about the president’s tariffs and the ongoing trade war.
“[W]e see uncertainty injected into the environment, where businesses are afraid to invest,” said Shah. “[Schweikert] should have been out there saying, full-throatedly, that for the people of CD1, this is going to cause them massive disruption. It’s going to cause economic harm.”
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists named Shah “Legislator of the Year” for his successful defense of the abortion pill, mifepristone, during the 2022 legislative session.
That year, Shah also cosponsored a bill to expand anti-discrimination laws to cover gender identity and sexual orientation advanced by former House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican. Shah also put forth bills to redefine marriage within the state constitution.
Prior to his run last year, Shah openly situated himself within the socialist camp of the Democratic Party.
Shah headlined a 2019 town hall for then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, organized by the Phoenix Democratic Socialists of America and Progressive Democrats of America, where he advocated for government-run universal healthcare.
The year before that, Shah proposed ending capitalism and, in its place, implementing socialist policies.
Schweikert defeated Shah with 52 percent of the vote: a lead of about 16,600 votes. That lead made theirs one of the narrowest federal races — second only to the contest between incumbent Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani and another repeat Democratic challenger, Kirsten Engel (in that race, Ciscomani led Engel by just over 10,800 votes).
Shah lost despite having outspent Schweikert by several million, per Federal Election Commission (FEC) data. Shah’s campaign spent over $6.2 million on his race, while Schweikert’s campaign spent over $4.2 million.
There are other Democrats vying to challenge Schweikert: Tammi Medlin, Marlene Galan-Woods, Brandon Donnelly, and Brian Del Vecchio.
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by Staff Reporter | May 13, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
Arizona State University (ASU) received over $3.4 million in funds from the nonprofit founded by leading Democratic dark money donor George Soros.
The online data guru Jennica Pounds, known by her username @DataRepublican, named ASU as a recurring recipient of Soros funds as part of nearly a decade of grants from the Open Society Foundations (OSF).
Pounds — who boasts a background as a software engineer for leading American tech companies including Amazon, eBay, Snap, and Upstart — gained recognition among Republican voters and the Trump administration for building AI tools to assist with the ongoing Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort to identify and eliminate wasteful or fraudulent spending.
Pounds’ latest project focused on cataloguing Soros’ philanthropic arm.
From 2018 to 2022, the ASU Foundation received $169,000 for the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College; $200,000 for the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium; $1.2 million for the McCain Institute for International Leadership; $200,000 for improving learning amid crises and conflict; $22,000 to bring together global educational leaders, and $24,000 for the New American University.
One of OSF’s largest donations to ASU was over $1.5 million for English Second Language (ESL) at the Open Society University Network (OSUN).
Soros established OSUN in January 2020 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world. OSUN serves as a global collaboration of universities. ASU was among the first to be included in OSUN. Of note, ASU’s page for OSUN omits any mention of Soros as the establisher of the network.
Other American universities to later join OSUN were the Bard Early Colleges of Baltimore, Cleveland, Manhattan, New Orleans, Newark, Queens, and Washington, D.C.; the Bard Prison Initiative; Picker Center for Executive Education at Columbia University; Bard College at Simon’s Rock; University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute; Talloires Network of Engaged Universities; Princeton Global History Lab; Tuskegee University; University of California’s Berkeley Human Rights Center; and the University of Pittsburgh’s Afghanistan Project at the Center for Governance and Markets.
Other Arizona-based entities to receive Soros money were:
- Arizona Wins ($3.875 million);
- Living United For Change in Arizona ($3.3 million);
- One Arizona ($1.8 million);
- Our Voice, Our Vote Arizona ($1 million);
- League of Conservation Voters ($750,000);
- Inter Tribal Council of Arizona ($500,000);
- Community Foundation for Southern Arizona ($500,000);
- Arizona Community Foundation ($400,000);
- ADRC Action ($300,000);
- PODER ($100,000);
- Poder in Action ($75,000);
- YWCA of Southern Arizona ($60,000)
- Arizona Center for Empowerment ($37,000, and another $325,000 through the Center for Popular Democracy, a partner organization)
- Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence ($25,000);
- Sonoran Prevention Works ($15,000)
Other entities were paid by OSF throughout the years to engage in advocacy in Arizona and, ultimately, influence state policies and laws. Among those who received payment for advocacy were: Invest in Education, $700,000; re:power Fund, $200,000; State Engagement Fund, $170,000; PAFCO Education Fund, $150,000; Alliance for Youth Organizing, $50,000; and Vote.org, $20,000.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 9, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson’s campaign just lost three key allies from President Donald Trump’s circle.
The three to depart Robson’s campaign according to Axios sources were Chris LaCivita, Tony Fabrizio, and Chris Grant.
LaCivita and Fabrizio were advisors to Robson’s campaign for the 2026 election; both men were considered key “architects” for Trump’s comeback campaign.
Prior to joining Robson’s campaign, LaCivita was co-campaign manager for President Donald Trump’s successful election bid last year. LaCivita is also employed by former Democratic Party of Albania leader and former prime minister Sali Berisha to advise on their country’s parliamentary election. LaCivita made a name for himself in the political world for crafting the Swift Boats Veterans for Truth which lended to the defeat of 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry.
Fabrizio served as the pollster for Trump’s 2016 and 2024 presidential campaigns. In the final weeks leading up to the 2016 election, Fabrizio wrote an internal memo encouraging a greater campaign presence in blue-leaning states — a move that would assist Trump in securing both states.
Grant presided over the Trump-aligned super PAC, MAGA Inc., and works for the political consulting firm Big Dog Strategies. Fabrizio, along with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, were part of the PAC prior to joining Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Trump endorsed Robson in the days leading up to Christmas while speaking at Turning Point USA’s Americafest in Phoenix. Then, last month, Trump dropped a dual endorsement for Congressman Andy Biggs.
The dual endorsement marked the fifth for the president, and a second in a major Arizona race. In last year’s primary for the eighth congressional district, Trump endorsed both Blake Masters and Abe Hamadeh.
In his endorsement announcement for Biggs, Trump explained he endorsed Robson because she had no other competitors running against her for the Republican primary.
“I like Karrin Taylor Robson of Arizona a lot, and when she asked me to Endorse her, with nobody else running, I Endorsed her, and was happy to do so,” said Trump. “When Andy Biggs decided to run for Governor, quite unexpectedly, I had a problem — Two fantastic candidates, two terrific people, two wonderful champions, and it is therefore my Great Honor TO GIVE MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT TO BOTH. Either one will never let you down. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Sources told Axios that advisors departed in part because Robson opted to not listen to them on running campaign ads featuring Trump’s endorsement immediately. Per the advisors, Robson ran an ad featuring the president’s endorsement nearly a week after Biggs received the second endorsement.
“She won’t listen to anyone else, so she can run her own campaign now,” one source reportedly told Axios.
The departure of the three key Trump affiliates follows another considerable blow to Robson’s campaign. Last week, Trump issued an executive order to end a policy supported by Robson: in-state college tuition for certain migrants.
Robson’s campaign didn’t comment on the departures of LaCivita, Fabrizio, or Grant.
Recent polling shows Biggs with a major lead over both Robson and incumbent Governor Katie Hobbs.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 8, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
A Maricopa County man was indicted for falsifying signatures for last year’s ballot petition to legalize abortion.
53-year-old Anthony “Tony” Lee Harris — who appears to be registered as a Democrat per voter records — was charged with two felonies and eleven misdemeanors for falsifying the signatures: one count of aggravated taking identity of another, one count of fraudulent schemes and practices, one count of circulator registration violation, and ten counts of petition false signature.
Harris falsified the signatures to help qualify Proposition 139 for the November ballot, or the Arizona Abortion Access Act (AAAA). The proposition passed with over 61 percent of the vote (over two million voters for the measure versus over 1.2 million against).
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell clarified in a press release issued Tuesday that the “dozens” of falsified signatures submitted by Harris weren’t large enough to disqualify the initiative from the ballot.
AAAA activists submitted over 823,000 signatures to qualify the petition for the ballot last July. The secretary of state’s office verified about 578,000 of those signatures. The initiative required just shy of over 384,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Harris was ineligible to work as a petition signature gatherer “despite past convictions,” per the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO). Yet, last April, Harris registered as a circulator for AAAA.
Past arrest records show another individual with the same name and birth date as Harris previously faced charges for armed robbery and kidnapping over a decade ago.
Arizona law prohibits individuals from registering as a circulator if they: have a civil or criminal penalty imposed for violating petition circulation law; have a conviction for treason or a felony and have not had their civil rights restored; or have a criminal offense conviction involving fraud, forgery, or identity theft.
Before the secretary of state considers a circulator to be properly registered, the applicant must submit a notarized affidavit of eligibility.
According to the secretary of state’s circulator portal, Harris worked as a paid circulator for Fieldworks LLC under circulator ID AZ89842. Harris was one of over 2,300 petition circulators paid by Fieldworks for the AAAA petition.
Per his circulator registration, Harris was added to the system on April 19 of last year. The indictment alleges Harris forged the signatures just days after his registration, between April 22 and 27 of last year.
Harris wasn’t the only one indicted this year for falsifying signatures for the abortion ballot initiative. The MCAO indicted another Democrat, Michele Brimmer, 52, with five felonies and nine misdemeanors in association with her alleged crimes. Again, the MCAO said Brimmer’s signatures didn’t impact the qualification of the proposition for the ballot.
“I want to make it clear that the number of signatures we are talking about would not have made a difference as to whether this proposition got on the ballot,” said Mitchell in the February press release announcing Brimmer’s indictment. “That said, we are talking about a case that involved fraudulent signatures placed on an election petition. That is a crime, and it undermines public trust in elections. It will not be tolerated and those who engage in such conduct will be held accountable.”
Brimmer was also a paid circulator for One Fair Wage Action’s initiative, Raise the Wage AZ. The signatures for this initiative were withdrawn following challenges to their validity in August.
AAAA received and spent over $36 million on their initiative, respectively. Over $9.2 million went to Fieldworks for signature gathering.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 6, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Under the direction of Governor Katie Hobbs, the Arizona Department of Administration (ADA) sold the state’s first private prison rather than repurposing it for illegal alien detainment.
The State House overwhelmingly rejected a bill last Thursday to lease the prison, Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility adjacent to Tucson, to the federal government for illegal aliens and other violators of immigration law for just $1 a year. The bill failed due to bipartisan rejection despite its party-line passage in the Senate.
“The federal government should have access to the empty Marana Prison to house these dangerous criminal illegal aliens so that Arizonans are protected from further threats,” said the bill’s author, Senator John Kavanaugh.
One Republican lawmaker representing Marana, Rep. Rachel Keshel, rejected repurposing the prison for immigration violations over concerns of bringing criminal illegal aliens into their community.
Keshel and fellow lawmaker to the area, Democratic Rep. Kevin Volk, alleged in remarks to Capitol Media Services that Kavanaugh failed to consult with local leaders about his proposed plan.
“Now, I do agree that something needs to happen with it instead of it just sitting there. But why was I not consulted with?” Keshel asked. “Why wasn’t I able to go to the mayor, the vice mayor, the town council of Marana, and figure out what their desires were for their community?”
The prison’s buyer, Management and Training Corporation (MTC) out of Utah, had operated and managed the prison. MTC purchased the 500-bed facility for about $15 million last Wednesday.
MTC owns nearly 40 correctional facilities, community release centers, and treatment programs across the nation.
The Marana prison was the state’s first private prison, established over 30 years ago. The minimum-security facility housed around up to 500 prisoners requiring substance abuse intervention. The declining prison population in the state prompted the prison’s closing and its recent sale.
The sale comes less than two years after Governor Katie Hobbs announced the prison’s closure in late 2023. The prison closed with under half of the number of prisoners that would constitute capacity.
Hobbs said the closure was a means of saving taxpayer dollars and eliminating government waste. The governor projected a savings of $15 million between the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years.
Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR) absorbed the Marana inmates into other prisons throughout the state. ADCRR operates 15 prisons, six of which are private.
“So not only are we demonstrating significant savings, we’re demonstrating, with actions, our ability to be more efficient with the resources already provided to us,” said ADCRR Director Ryan Thornell.
The move by the Hobbs administration put off some local leaders. Marana Mayor Ed Honea said Hobbs gave notice to nearly 90 prison employees and staff of their impending job loss just three weeks before Christmas. The prison had the capability of employing over 200 individuals at full capacity.
Per Honea, the Marana inmates also provided affordable labor for the town. The inmates managed and cleared roadways, and during storm seasons would also clear debris.
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