New expert analysis warns that the Arizona government’s plan to reduce the Salt River wild horse population to 120 horses could prove devastating to their continued existence.
The herd currently has approximately 274 horses, nearly half of what the herd was at its peak in recent decades.
Dr. E. Gus Cothran, equine population geneticist and professor emeritus at Texas A&M University, issued a statement expressing concern that the plan may prove detrimental to the future existence of the wild horses. Cothran says wild horse populations require 150 to 200 horses minimum for long-term genetic health, though no number can provide an exact guarantee on a herd’s survival.
“At the most basic level, 150 to 200 animals is a minimum number,” said Cothran. “This is the number that, if everything goes right and only population genetics is involved, should maintain genetic health for 200 years or so.”
Cothran said genetic testing of just 20–25% of the herd would allow for insight into the herd’s genetic health: approximately 55 to 70 horses.
Citing that assessment, advocates and community members have raised concerns that the state’s current plan of removal for the horses would have the potential for permanent and devastating impact to the wild horse population.
The Friends of the Salt River Wild Horses have asked Gov. Katie Hobbs to pause the permanent removals pending an independent genetic study and scientific review.
“Once that diversity is lost, it is gone forever!” said Friends of the Salt River Wild Horses in a statement. “Before a single horse is permanently removed, Arizona should demonstrate through independent science that the remaining herd will be genetically healthy and capable of surviving for generations. Friends of the Salt River Wild Horses calls upon Governor Hobbs to halt removals, to do the science, and respect the public process.”
Some contend the Arizona Department of Agriculture’s (AZDA) plan to remove these horses violates the Salt River Wild Horse Protection Act passed in 2016. The act empowers the state to exercise discretionary management of the horse population, with protections against the obstruction, chase, capture, removal, or euthanasia of the horses without government permission.
AZDA awarded the management contract to the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG). The company is operating on a goal to reduce the herd size over the next five years through natural attrition, fertility control, and manual relocation, per a press release issued by AZDA in February.
SRWHMG has already been involved in population reduction efforts. They reduced the population from 450 horses using fertility control methods.
AZDA promised that all removed wild horses were only permitted for the relocation to approved sanctuaries — no horses may be donated, traded, slaughtered, or sold.
According to AZDA, the contract procurement process included input from an assessment panel consisting of veterinarians, a rangeland management scientist, and a federal wild horse manager.
AZDA Director Paul Brierley said the management plan represented the responsible promotion and protection of the “Salt River experience.”
SRWHMG President Simone Netherlands called the plan “a pragmatic compromise.”
Last month, the Arizona legislature failed to pass a proposed three-year moratorium on the herd reduction and mandatory study on the Salt River horses’ genetic diversity. The House passed the bill, SB 1199, but the Senate declined to pass it on concurrence.
Republican Reps. Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06) and David Schweikert (AZ-01) were among the founding members of the bipartisan Congressional Wild Horse Caucus last year.
These and other members of Congress have been pushing for the passage of the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act, HR 4356, which would eliminate helicopter roundups.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Corrections adjust the name of “The Friends of the Salt River Horses” to “The Friends of the Salt River Wild Horses” and clarify that the Arizona Senate did not pass SB 1199 on concurrence.
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President Donald Trump has issued a select number of endorsements in Arizona races for the 2026 election.
The latest endorsements went to Rep. Juan Ciscomani to retain his seat in the 6th Congressional District, Rep. Paul Gosar to retain his seat in the 9th Congressional District, and Mark Lamb, former sheriff of Pinal County, for the seat opened by departing Rep. Andy Biggs in the 5th Congressional District.
Neither Ciscomani nor Gosar have opponents in their primaries. Lamb faces off against Daniel Keenan, a construction company owner, in the primary.
Trump’s endorsement bundle on Friday referred to Gosar and Lamb as “MAGA warrior[s],” and Ciscomani as “a tremendous champion.”
All three men, Trump promised, were capable of improving border security, stopping migrant crime, strengthening the military, bolstering economic growth, cutting taxes and regulations, boosting domestic manufacturing and energy, supporting law enforcement, and protecting Second Amendment rights.
Ciscomani will likely face off against Democratic candidate Joanna Mendoza.
I’ve stood with President Trump from Day 1 and I’ve never wavered, not once.
I’m honored to have President Trump’s “COMPLETE & TOTAL” endorsement for Governor of our great state of Arizona! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/gGootCd6kV
Here are the other endorsements for Arizona candidates made by Trump so far:
Thomas “Jay” Feely, former NFL kicker, for the seat opened by departing Rep. David Schweikert in the 1st Congressional District. Feely faces off against former State Rep. Joseph Chaplik and technology consultant John Trobough in the Republican primary.
I’ve stood with President Trump from Day 1 and I’ve never wavered, not once.
I’m honored to have President Trump’s “COMPLETE & TOTAL” endorsement for Governor of our great state of Arizona! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/gGootCd6kV
Rep. Abe Hamadeh received Trump’s endorsement to retain his seat in the 8th Congressional District. Hamadeh has no opponents in the primary.
Happy birthday, Mr. President!
My first endorsement from President Trump came on his birthday, June 14, 2022. Even on his birthday he was giving to others. I will never forget that phone call. Thank you for trusting me to be in this battle alongside you to save our country! pic.twitter.com/K1YetQTTGp
Andy Biggs received Trump’s endorsement for the governor’s seat held by incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Biggs has three other opponents: Schweikert and two businessmen, Scott Neely and Ken Miceli.
I’ve stood with President Trump from Day 1 and I’ve never wavered, not once.
I’m honored to have President Trump’s “COMPLETE & TOTAL” endorsement for Governor of our great state of Arizona! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/gGootCd6kV
Other races have indicated some weigh-in from Trump, but no outright endorsements.
In the attorney general’s race, Trump reposted a county supervisor’s endorsement of Republican primary candidate Rodney Glassman sans commentary last month. Glassman is up against State Senate President Warren Petersen to determine who will face off against the Democratic incumbent, Attorney General Kris Mayes.
But in April, Trump gave Petersen a shout-out at the Turning Point Action (TPA) “Build the Red Wall” event. Trump said Petersen would “help achieve [the] victory” of expanding the “red wall” — the Republican majority.
Trump made a similar post in recent weeks in the secretary of state’s race. The president also reposted a picture sans commentary of another organization’s endorsement of Republican primary candidate Gina Swoboda, former chair of the Arizona Republican Party.
Swoboda took the repost as an outright endorsement, though the other Republican primary candidate in the race, State Rep. Alexander Kolodin, disputed that characterization. Kolodin was also given a shoutout at the TPA event in April.
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Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08) has initiated the process to impeach a dual citizen judge appointed by former President Joe Biden for abuse of judicial authority.
Hamadeh filed a resolution that would remove D.C. District Court Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, a dual citizen of the United States and Trinidad and Tobago.
The congressman filed the articles of impeachment in response to Sooknanan’s recent ruling in League of Women Voters v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security to halt a federal program creating a centralized database of citizen information collecting existent agency data on citizenship status and Social Security numbers in order to prevent noncitizen voter fraud in federal elections.
In a press release, Hamadeh contended Sooknanan had gone beyond the limited powers of the judiciary by imposing desired policy outcomes.
“This is a blatant and unlawful subversion of the President’s executive authority and a direct assault on election integrity,” said Hamadeh. “Judges who weaponize their bench to interfere with the President’s constitutional duties must be held accountable.”
🇺🇸NEW🇺🇸
Congressman Hamadeh Introduces Articles of Impeachment Against Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan
— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) July 9, 2026
The database was an intended expansion of the preexisting Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, an online service administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services enabling federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal agencies to check immigration and citizenship status.
Under the expanded SAVE program, the system would include records of natural-born citizens, provide access to Social Security Administration (SSA) records, and permit bulk searches of system records.
The program expansion was designed as the vehicle to satisfy President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order to improve citizenship verification for federal elections.
The SAVE program has existed in some form since the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. In fiscal year 2025, the program processed nearly 200 million cases.
Sooknanan ruled that the intended expansion of the SAVE program into a centralized federal database violated three federal laws: the Social Security Act for SSA record-sharing, the Privacy Act for non-consensual disclosure of certain personal information, and the Administrative Procedure Act for “arbitrary and capricious” agency actions.
The impeachment resolution accused Sooknanan of judicial overreach: “substituting the judgment of a single unelected judge for that of the duly elected Executive Branch.”
Sooknanan rose up to her appointment as a district judge following a stand she allegedly took against the first Trump administration, publicized by The New York Times. Sooknanan reportedly took her stand in November 2020 after the law firm she worked for at the time, Jones Day, took on Trump as a client for one of the 2020 election lawsuits, just months after she made partner. Sooknanan left the firm shortly after Biden was sworn in as president. In August 2022, The New York Times ran its article.
The New York Times appears to have given Sooknanan a special feature within its reporting. However, Sooknanan wasn’t identified as a source.
Yet, Sooknanan was the only partner identified by name and quoted from what was likely intended to be a private, internal videoconference call for Jones Day partners addressing the firm’s involvement with Trump. Sooknanan was also given a brief blurb summarizing her background and career accomplishments.
“Sparkle Sooknanan, one of the firm’s young stars, also spoke up. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, she had set out to New York at age 16, paid her way through college and law school and landed clerkships for federal judges, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor,” stated The New York Times article. “Sooknanan had become a Jones Day partner earlier in the year at age 36. Now, on the call, her voice trembled as she denounced the firm’s work in Pennsylvania. ‘This lawsuit was brought for no other reason than to deprive poor people of the right to vote,’ she said.”
Shortly after Biden took office in January 2021, Sooknanan left Jones Day to become deputy associate attorney general in Biden’s Department of Justice.
By August 2022, someone had provided the broad details of that fateful 2020 Jones Day videoconference call to the biggest paper in the nation, with just one direct quote reportedly made by, as it would turn out, an aspiring district judge allegedly willing to denounce her former employer for working with Trump.
Between her prior clerkship with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor and her major media feature portraying her as a young, diverse, foreign-born lawyer willing to push back against Trump and cut ties with those allied with him, it appears Sooknanan may have been intentionally positioned as Biden’s ideal pick to take over a district court vacancy. Biden announced his intent to nominate Sooknanan to the D.C. District Court in February 2024.
During her confirmation hearing before the Senate, Sooknanan denied making those featured remarks in The New York Times.
“Those were not my words. I do not know who provided that quote to the reporter,” said Sooknanan.
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An Arizona mother went viral after objecting to a Phoenix Public Library storytime featuring a book she says encourages children to discuss their underwear with strangers.
Ms. Manjarrez posted a video to social media questioning why a public library would read a book encouraging preschool children to show off their underwear to strangers. Manjarrez said the book was “What Color Is Your Underwear?” by Sam Lloyd, first published in 2004.
In the book, animal characters lift up their clothes to reveal their underwear; at the end of the book, the final character is revealed to not be wearing any underwear at all.
“Why is it anybody’s business on what color underwear you have on, whether you’re adult or especially a child?” asked Manjarrez in her video.
Manjarrez claimed she was the only parent who left the storytime before it was over.
“I can’t be the only parent that got up and thought that was a completely inappropriate book for kids,” said Manjarrez.
A user, Mou Isabelle Phung, claimed in a comment that her molester used an underwear-exposure conversation similar to what the book portrays to molest her for the first time. Multiple other users attested in their comments that something similar happened to them.
“My first experience of a sexual encounter was me being five years old and being asked what color my underwear was so take that as you will,” said Phung.
A staff member at the Phoenix Public Library branch where the storytime occurred, Burton Barr Central Library, reportedly told Manjarrez that their literacy outreach librarian, Grethcen Wetter, coordinates storytimes.
A representative with Phoenix Public Library, Wendy Resnik, later told Manjarrez in an email that the book was “age-appropriate” and “lighthearted,” and intended only to “teach colors, animal identification, and prediction skills.”
“Although the title can sound surprising out of context, the content is silly, playful, and widely enjoyed by many families,” said Resnik. “The humor is entirely innocent and geared toward toddlers, focusing on silly visuals like a frog in green briefs or a horse in red boxers.”
It is unclear whether Resnik used AI to craft the email, or simply never reviewed the book herself. The book doesn’t depict a frog wearing green briefs, and nowhere does the word “briefs” appear in the book, though the first page does depict a horse wearing red boxers. The closest depiction to a frog in the book is the turtle character, depicted wearing purple underwear. AI is known for hallucinating information in its responses.
Resnik, wife of 12News political reporter Brahm Resnik, has served as the youth services coordinator for Phoenix Public Library for over 14 years.
Manjarrez stated in the caption of a video sharing the email that Resnik’s response greatly concerned her.
“I’m f——- livid because out of all the ways [to] teach children colors she thinks it’s acceptable to teach children colors through the colors of their damn underwear?” said Manjarrez.
Arizona Women of Action (AWOA) issued a statement on Manjarrez’s video, agreeing with the mother’s assessment of the book as problematic.
“Parents must speak up and demand accountability,” stated AWOA. “Protecting children’s innocence isn’t optional — it’s our responsibility.”
According to the library’s calendar, one of the city of Phoenix’s four Families First Resource Centers (FFRC) hosted the storytime. The center uses the Scholastic company’s Read and Rise programming to source the books, reportedly designed for children ranging in age from birth to five.
Phoenix’s FFRCs rely on grant funding from First Things First (FTF), the organization funded by the state through the approximately $150 million a year it collects from taxes on tobacco products.
FTF is run by its statewide board whose members are appointed by the governor, the Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board, and volunteers through 28 regional partnership councils.
The Phoenix South Regional Partnership Council, which oversees the area containing the Burton Barr Central Library branch, received nearly $17 million this fiscal year and the last, of which nearly $2 million was allotted to family resource centers.
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Apache County has removed the Spanish language from its print ballots.
Gila and Mohave counties made the same decision ahead of the 2024 general election.
Apache County officials cited printing costs and election wait times as deciding factors for the decision to limit printed ballots to one language. As support for these justifications, Apache County noted that it will continue to offer Spanish ballot translations on their electronic vote machines. Gila County does as well.
Rep. Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08) praised the county’s decision as “pure common sense.” Hamadeh said all citizens have a duty to speak the language of their nation.
“In America, we speak English. Naturalized citizens must prove they can read [and] write it to vote, ballots should reflect that too,” said Hamadeh.
In March, Hamadeh introduced legislation to require that only English be provided on federal ballots, the Voting Only Through English Act (VOTE Act). The bill would tie federal funding to compliance, something Hamadeh said was necessary to “end[ing] multilingual madness, [and] put[ting] America first.”
The legislative proposal was in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order designating English as the official language of the U.S. The order revoked former President Bill Clinton’s Executive Order 13166 requiring federal agencies to provide materials and services in languages other than English, though it didn’t ban agencies from continuing with the practice.
“To promote unity, cultivate a shared American culture for all citizens, ensure consistency in government operations, and create a pathway to civic engagement, it is in America’s best interest for the Federal Government to designate one — and only one — official language,” stated the executive order. “Establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication but also reinforce shared national values, and create a more cohesive and efficient society.
Another Arizona county just eliminated Spanish ballots ahead of the midterms, pure common sense!
In America, we speak English. Naturalized citizens must prove they can read & write it to vote, ballots should reflect that too.
That’s why Congressman Hamadeh introduced the Voting…
— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) July 8, 2026
Not all counties are permitted to simplify their ballots by keeping only the English language. Maricopa, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Yuma counties are required under federal law to include Spanish translations on their ballots and election materials.
The law requires non-English translations on ballots and election materials for states and political subdivisions with more than 5% of citizens voting age that are limited-English proficient, and political subdivisions with more than 10,000 citizens of voting age that are a single language minority and are limited-English proficient.
Progressive advocates say all counties should cater to non-English speakers who desire to vote.
Senior campaign managers with All Voting is Local (AVL), Natalia Sells and Justa Lopez, have spoken out against these three counties’ decisions.
The two issued an opinion piece with the Arizona Daily Star claiming counties were slowly regressing toward an election system accessible only to white men.
“Whether intentional or not, these changes move us backward to a time when many Americans’ fundamental freedom to vote was limited to only White men,” said the two campaign managers.
Sells later told AZ Family that counties have a duty to be accessible to all voters.
“Counties shouldn’t be making it harder for people to be able to vote just because English isn’t their first and primary language,” said Sells.
Sells, a graduate of Arizona State University (ASU) Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, has worked with AVL since 2024.
Lopez, also a graduate of ASU, has served in managerial positions for several voter advocacy groups prior to joining AVL in March, including the Fair Elections Center, Mi Familia Vota, and Supermajority.
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