by Staff Reporter | Apr 21, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Gov. Katie Hobbs offered a false justification for her veto of legislation to rename a freeway after conservative activist and Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk.
After backlash over her formal justification for vetoing Senate Bill 1010, Hobbs offered another explanation: she falsely claimed that renaming part of the Loop 202 freeway after Kirk would replace the part of the freeway honoring another individual: the late congressman Ed Pastor.
Pastor, a Democrat, served in the House of Representatives for nearly 25 years, from 1991 to 2015. Pastor died in 2018. His daughter, Laura Pastor, serves on the Phoenix City Council.
Contrary to what Hobbs claimed, the bill had a specific carveout to preserve Pastor’s portion of the freeway.
“That the underlying segments of the Charlie Kirk Loop 202 would retain their names and designations and those underlying segments are the Red Mountain Freeway, the Santan Freeway, and the Congressman Ed Pastor Freeway,” stated the bill.
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican candidate for attorney general, sponsored the bill. Ahead of her veto, Petersen urged Hobbs to continue Arizona’s tradition of honoring legacy by awarding recognition based on impact and not politics.
“Charlie Kirk called Arizona home and built a national movement rooted in free speech, civic engagement, and American values. He inspired millions, especially young people, to get involved and speak up,” said Petersen. “If the governor vetoes this bill, she’s sending a clear message: recognition now depends on political agreement.”
Six years after founding TPUSA in 2012, Kirk moved its headquarters to Phoenix in 2018. Since 2021, the organization has held its annual conference, AmericaFest, in the city.
TPUSA’s student and lifetime membership total runs in the millions, and they have impacted millions more in America and nationally. The organization also manages thousands of college and high school chapters.
Kirk was assassinated last September while speaking at a TPUSA event at Utah Valley University.
The campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, currently congressman, issued a press release on the matter accusing Hobbs of misleading Arizonans intentionally.
“Not only was Katie Hobbs’ decision to veto the Charlie Kirk Loop 202 bill petty and callous, she’s now shamefully misleading Arizonans about why she did it,” said Biggs campaign senior advisor Drew Sexton. “This was a dishonest, partisan act by a weak and ineffective governor who has consistently failed to rise to the moment and lead our state.”
Hobbs’ initial justification for the veto, the one she gave formally, said that lawmakers needed to avoid politicized individuals when choosing who to honor.
The veto letter was a regurgitation of her previous veto letter for another bill seeking to honor Kirk’s legacy.
The governor also vetoed legislation that would have enabled Arizona drivers to purchase a specialty license plate honoring Kirk’s memory.
“I will continue working toward solutions that bring people together, but this bill falls short of that standard by inserting politics into a function of government that should remain nonpartisan,” wrote Hobbs.
Hobbs expressed sorrow over Kirk’s assassination, but said that wasn’t enough to overshadow his political background.
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by Staff Reporter | Apr 20, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors are split over the court ruling ordering a restoration of election powers to the county recorder.
On Friday, the Maricopa County Superior Court invalidated the board’s claim of “plenary authority” via its general supervisory powers over elections administration.
“The board’s general authority does not override specific statutory delegations to other county officers,” read the ruling.
The court found that the board had “acted unlawfully and exceeded its statutory authority” by taking the recorder’s personnel, systems, and equipment. The ruling warned the board continuing in its path of harboring the recorder’s election resources would likely result in the disenfranchisement of voters.
“The evidence at trial established that the Recorder’s inability to exercise meaningful control over election systems and staff will likely cause concrete operational harms, including inability to timely process provisional ballots under A.R.S. § 16-134, resulting in voters being denied tabulation of the full ballots they had voted and to which they were entitled,” stated the ruling. “These harms will not resolve and may likely increase absent court intervention, particularly as general election cycles approach.”
The ruling ordered the board to allow the recorder to take up those duties expressly given to him by state law, and to fund all necessary expenses the recorder sets forth. The board was also ordered to return all IT staff, servers, databases, software, websites, and equipment to the recorder, or to fund replacement of those personnel and items.
Chairwoman Kate Brophy McGee disagreed with the court’s view that Recorder Justin Heap has authority in his own right over elections. McGee also contended with the court’s conclusion that the board had deprived the recorder of resources and staffing.
McGee said the board plans to appeal.
“The court correctly concluded that the Board oversees the county budget and makes all appropriations decisions. But I disagree with other portions of the ruling, and I will explore all options with the Board of Supervisors, including an expeditious appeal,” said McGee. “From day one, the Board of Supervisors has provided Recorder Heap the resources and staffing needed to fulfill his statutory duties. We will continue to do so because voters always come first.”
Unlike the rest of the board, Supervisor Mark Stewart issued his own statement expressing support for the court ruling. Stewart challenged the idea that the entire court fight was unavoidable.
“From the beginning, I supported a more transparent, public negotiation process, an approach that could have led to a different outcome and avoided unnecessary confusion, litigation, and cost,” said Stewart. “It is now time to move forward with a unified focus and give our team the resources they need to deliver transparent, secure, and best-in-class elections that the voters of Maricopa County deserve.”
Recorder Heap celebrated the ruling as redress for what he called an unjust “power grab” of his office’s elections authority.
“With this ruling, we will move forward focused on delivering the secure, transparent, and accessible elections the voters of Maricopa County deserve,” said Heap.
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by Staff Reporter | Apr 19, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors overstepped and must restore elections authority to Recorder Justin Heap, according to a new court ruling.
The Maricopa County Superior Court rejected the board of supervisors’ argument in a new ruling issued on Friday in Justin Heap v. Thomas Galvin, et al. The court said the board does not enjoy “plenary” authority over election administration. Judge Scott Blaney ruled this view wasn’t consistent with Arizona law.
“The Board’s general authority does not override specific statutory delegations to other county officers,” stated Blaney. “The Legislature has authority over the conduct of elections and determines the extent to which the Board may conduct them. The Board may not override these specific allocations by invoking general supervisory authority.”
The court opted for a more balanced view of the law in which both the board and recorder have duties expressly given in elections administration. Blaney’s ruling interpreted Arizona law to reflect that the board holds only those powers expressly delegated to it. The same goes with the recorder.
“Where a valid delegation of authority exists, the delegation must clearly delineate the designated agency or officer,” said Blaney. “Arizona’s election statutes clearly delineate the Recorder as the designated officer for the 111 functions assigned to the ‘recorder or other officer in charge.’ The Board cannot substitute itself for the Recorder without either the Recorder’s consent or express legislative authorization.”
With this view, Blaney said the board had a duty to release withheld funding for those necessary expenses for which Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap has fought for months. The Arizona legislature appropriated $4.1 million from the state general fund for the recorder’s office for elections-related operations. That funding hasn’t been spent.
Blaney also ordered the board to abstain from weaponizing its budgetary authority as a bargaining chip. Blaney went one step further to preserve Heap’s statutory authority, specifying that the board couldn’t exercise those election funds designated to his office without his consent.
As a major part of restoring the power balance, Judge Blaney ordered the board to either return control of IT staff, servers, databases, software, and elections systems to the recorder’s office, or to fund their immediate replacement.
Should the board fail to restore Heap’s functions, Blaney warned that disenfranchisement could occur.
“[T]he Board has acted unlawfully and exceeded its statutory authority by seizing the Recorder’s personnel, systems, and equipment and refusing to return them to the Recorder’s control[,]” said Blaney. “The evidence at trial established that the Recorder’s inability to exercise meaningful control over election systems and staff will likely cause concrete operational harms, including inability to timely process provisional ballots under A.R.S. § 16-134, resulting in voters being denied tabulation of the full ballots that they had voted and to which they were entitled. These harms will not resolve and may likely increase absent court intervention, particularly as general election cycles approach.”
Immediately following the ruling, Heap declared his victory in a press release. Heap credited America First Legal along with attorney and state representative Alexander Kolodin (R-LD3) for the favorable ruling.
“The court confirmed that the Board cannot override state law, use funding as leverage, or take control of election duties assigned to the Recorder,” said Heap. “This ruling restores both the authority and the resources necessary for my office to do its job.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Apr 19, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Attorney General Kris Mayes is pushing a false narrative about Gov. Katie Hobbs’ leadership prowess, says Senate President Warren Petersen.
Mayes criticized Petersen over his recent interview remarks revealing the governor has refused to meet with legislative leadership to continue budget negotiations.
“Short memory,” said Mayes in a post with a picture of a 2021 headline describing former Republican governor Doug Ducey’s refusal to sign bills until a budget was approved.
The Republican representing LD14 retorted that Ducey continued to negotiate pending approval of the budget.
Unlike Ducey, Petersen said Hobbs hasn’t been willing to meet with the leaders of the Republican-led legislature at all unless they conform to her plan.
“Ducey didn’t walk away from the negotiating table like Hobbs did,” said Petersen. “We continued to meet with him even though he implemented a bill moratorium. Not the same.”
On Monday, Hobbs said she would veto all bills until Republicans publicized their budget plans.
“I’m ready to talk, but I can’t negotiate with politicians who refuse to show the public their plans,” said Hobbs. “The legislative majority needs to put forward their budget proposal and then join me in good faith negotiations so we can pass a bipartisan, balanced budget like we’ve done the past three years.”
Petersen explained in a Wednesday interview with KTAR that Hobbs wanted to balance the budget based on potential future funding to be accrued from the renewal of Proposition 123 — when, if ever, that comes to pass.
The proposition, passed by voters in 2016, pulled $300 million in annual revenue for K-12 funding from the State Land Trust Permanent Fund. It expired last summer, and the legislature still hasn’t agreed on a replacement renewal plan to put before the voters.
“[Hobbs] basically wanted us to balance something off of Prop 123, something that would have to pass later. We said that was irresponsible, and so she threw a temper tantrum and walked away from budget negotiations,” said Petersen.
Last month the Arizona Senate President and Arizona House Speaker issued a joint statement accusing the governor of “distorting the facts” on budget negotiations.
Part of Hobbs’ plan would “dramatically increase” the funds pulled from Arizona’s Public Land Trust, halving it over the next 20 years and jeopardizing the trust’s intended function to fund K-12 education in the long-term.
“This is not a solution. It is a long-term raid on a critical resource,” said the pair. “We’ve put forward a responsible plan that cuts taxes for working families and funds schools without gimmicks. She walked away from the table because her math doesn’t work.”
What’s more, the president and speaker said the governor’s proposed budget would add $1.5 million more in debt.
Hobbs’ communications director, Christian Slater, offered a different view of their budget plan. He claimed the governor’s proposed budget would lower costs, invest over $1.5 billion in public education, cut taxes for the middle class, and end tax breaks for data centers.
“[Republicans] know [their budget proposal is] unbalanced, unserious, and puts billionaires and special interests ahead of everyday working families,” said Slater. “Legislative Republicans must come clean with the people of Arizona and stop hiding their partisan and unbalanced budget from public scrutiny.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Apr 18, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Maricopa County Superior Court has ruled that the leading independent gubernatorial candidate does qualify for the ballot.
Hugh Lytle, an independent under the No Labels Party, announced his victory on Wednesday. Lytle is a Scottsdale businessman: founder and managing partner of El Toro Ventures, founder and board member of Equality Health, co-founder and former CEO of Univita Health, and co-founder and former president of Axia Health.
“These legal tricks to find technicalities to keep an independent off the ballot is exactly why so many people have lost faith in our system,” said Lytle. “When someone even suggests putting people ahead of parties and special interests, the system tries to shut it down. But this time, it didn’t work.”
In a statement given to the media, Lytle claimed the legal challenge against him was rooted in Gov. Katie Hobbs feeling threatened by his candidacy. Lytle has claimed Hobbs was behind the lawsuit because her former chief legal advisor, Sambo “Bo” Dul, was one of the attorneys representing the case against him.
“The judge’s decision is not a personal win for me. It’s a win for the voters, for democracy and for Arizona’s growing Independent movement which gains momentum every day,” said Lytle. “Perhaps that’s why Gov. Hobbs is afraid to face me in an election.”
At contest was the validity of Lytle’s petition sheets, which used a UPS store address located in one district rather than his residential address located in a separate district. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Mandell ruled that district locations didn’t matter for statewide races.
“Mr. Lytle is running for statewide office, not district, precinct, or municipal office. Both the UPS store address and his physical address are in Scottsdale,” stated Mandell. “There is no dispute that Mr. Lytle has been an Arizona resident for many years, that he resides in Maricopa County, and that he satisfies the constitutional and statutory residency requirements for Governor.”
Lytle faced multiple challenges to his candidacy, one from his primary opponent Teri Ann Hourihan, and another from a former Democratic Party legislative district leader, Craig Beckman.
Lytle pledged to not take any salary as governor. He announced his intent to donate his entire first-year salary as governor to Teen Lifeline, and then the remaining years to other charities.
The No Labels Party attempted to brand itself as the Arizona Independent Party with the help of Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, but the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled against the move as an unlawful “political bait and switch” last month.
There were 21 candidates who filed statements of interest under the No Labels Party, including three for governor (Lytle, Hourihanm and Alan White).
Lytle’s platform includes establishing a mentor corps for youth entrepreneurs, expanding state charity donation benefits, expanding tax deductibility and charity benefits to cover youth sports, increasing teacher pay, limiting school choice by income, and reducing Medicaid costs.
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