The Arizona Supreme Court partially overrode a lower court ruling that would have suspended a mandate for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to restore election authority to the Maricopa County Recorder.
The court ruling directed the supervisors and recorder to engage in settlement discussions and proceedings as part of a ruling issued on Tuesday. The two parties were scheduled to have a settlement conference on Monday in the Maricopa County Superior Court.
The superior court had ordered the supervisors to restore election authority and certain resources back to the recorder’s office. However, an appeals court issued a temporary stay on that order last Thursday. The latter court found that shifting duties and resources this late in the election season would likely disrupt the primary and general elections.
Recorder Justin Heap appealed on Monday, and the Arizona Supreme Court quickly took up the case.
Heap’s counsel through America First Legal (AFL) argued that the appeals court’s justification for its temporary stay was misapplied: a legal doctrine known as the “Purcell principle” that arose from a Supreme Court case involving Helen Purcell, former Maricopa County recorder.
“[T]he stay effectively prevents the recorder from exercising authority that state law assigns to his office,” stated AFL.
The Arizona Supreme Court also ruled that any agreement reached during settlement would need to be communicated to it.
The supervisors and recorder were also required to file simultaneous pleadings by Thursday addressing operational deadlines for the 2026 primary election; statutory functions that neither dispute; a potential interim relief alternative to the superior court and appeals court rulings; and operational effect of authorizing ballot drop-box locations per the 2025 Elections Procedures Manual, ballot replacement site operations supervision, chain of custody of provisional ballots, on-site tabulation logistics, and any other concrete operational risk supported by the superior court’s findings.
The recorder’s office issued a press release expressing confidence that their team could provide a persuasive operational framework proving the recorder’s office capable of taking on the election duties and resources which the supervisors were ordered to relinquish.
Heap said their office was encouraged by the Arizona Supreme Court ruling on the ongoing election dispute.
“Our office has consistently pursued practical solutions that protect voters and follow the law,” said Heap. “We welcomed mediation, we developed a detailed transition plan, and we remain prepared to implement a lawful division of responsibilities without disrupting the upcoming election. We are encouraged that the Supreme Court is carefully considering those options.”
The supervisors and the recorder have blamed one another for the litigation, which has lasted over a year and cost the board over $750,000. Heap noted that his representation — James Rogers, AFL senior counsel and LD10 candidate for the state legislature — has come at no cost to his office.
Rogers said in a statement that the board’s actions in court were attempts to run out the clock in the hopes that enforcing the superior court order would no longer be feasible. He warned that granting the board the stay would give a “green light” to Arizona’s government officials to avoid court orders through intentional delays.
“The Board of Supervisors lost in court. The court ordered it to comply. The Board refused — openly, repeatedly, and deliberately — for two months, while the election drew closer with every passing day. Now, after deliberately running out the clock, the Board claims the election is too imminent to obey the court’s order,” said Rogers. “That is not a valid legal argument. It is a confession that the Board’s strategy all along was to manufacture its own emergency.”
The Board has wasted $750,000 of the taxpayer's money, so far, on a legal battle no one voted for. All that time @JamesRogersAZ has represented my office Pro Bono, at no cost to the citizens of Maricopa. He's a true champion for election integrity and the rule of law. https://t.co/5eXp42aZLC
— Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap (@azjustinheap) June 20, 2026
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Federal campaign finance records revealed that Sen. Ruben Gallego spent campaign cash for game tickets, child care, and luxury outings for the 2023 Super Bowl in Arizona.
Gallego tapped a joint campaign accord with former California Rep. Eric Swalwell to attend the Super Bowl, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records and an anonymous source reported on by Politico.
Gallego and Swalwell were best friends for about a decade, but that relationship ended with the sexual misconduct and assault claims raised against Swalwell earlier this year amid his short-lived campaign for California governor.
That anonymous source claimed that Gallego treated campaign money like “his personal slush fund […] to live a luxury lifestyle.”
The Super Bowl took place several weeks after Gallego announced his campaign to take over for then-departing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Gallego and Swalwell gathered up key staff and donors to attend the game, claiming it as a fundraising party for their newly formed (now defunct) joint fundraising committee, “Swallego Victory Fund.”
The highest donations to that fund were all made in the days leading up to Gallego’s Super Bowl watch party.
Top donors gave $5,000 to $10,000 each: Patrick Smith, Axon CEO; Glen Fuller, Mackenzie Capital managing director and COO; Karl OBergh, former Ardurra civil engineer, current director of engineering with True North Studio; David Shimmon, Ichor Systems CEO; Julio Fuentes, SSA executive director based out of Puerto Rico; Miguel Colom-Mena, Nagnoi co-founder; and Wendy and Dina Lapolt, RCA vice president of promotion and attorney, respectively.
FOIAzona outlined campaign finance activity by Swalwell that further elaborated the nature of that Super Bowl party. FOIAzona has been building a timeline of Gallego and Swalwell’s relationship going back to the beginning about a decade ago.
In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, Swalwell purchased two $3,300 fundraising event tickets for Ian Lev, founder and CEO of Apollo Labs, an independent third-party laboratory for licensed cannabis operators based out of Scottsdale, and Scott Rouillard, director of global payroll at Graebel Companies, a relocation management company based out of Cave Creek.
Tickets to the joining committee fundraiser cost $5,000, and another $1,000 for a brunch, per an invitation reviewed by Politico.
Of the $56,500 the two raised, over $37,000 went to event tickets and brunch, leaving the joint fundraising committee with about $19,000.
In addition to the 2023 Super Bowl spending, Gallego has spent campaign cash in other ways that critics argue violate FEC rules. Gallego has spent more than $18,000 in funds from his political action committee and campaign on child care since 2019.
Gallego blamed his spending choices on inflation.
“With the rising costs of child care and the burden it has on the budgets of American families, Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the White House alike regularly travel with their wives and children, as is permitted by the FEC,” said Gallego.
Earlier this month the senator hired Andrew Bates, former deputy press secretary for former President Joe Biden, to handle crisis communications concerning his longtime friendship with Swalwell and a sexual misconduct complaint against him filed with the Ethics Committee.
Gallego has publicly expressed a desire to run for president in 2028, and has been traveling across the country in what appears to be early preparations for a campaign announcement.
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The Arizona State Board of Education (ASBE) revealed in its latest enforcement action report that sexual misconduct cases involving teachers increased.
ASBE did note that, out of the hundreds of thousands of educators serving nearly 1.5 million students in public schools across the state, 98 percent of the education workforce didn’t appear in a disciplinary action (97 percent of certificated personnel and 99 percent of non-certificated personnel).
“These findings reinforce that Board discipline remains uncommon relative to the size of Arizona’s education workforce and affects only a small fraction of persons working in Arizona schools,” stated ASBE.
The findings of the ASBE report were limited to adjudicated cases, and excluded those pending or active cases.
Multiple steps must take place prior to any enforcement action occurring. ASBE’s Investigation Unit intakes a report, then investigators work in parallel with law enforcement investigators to review the report. The board then adjudicates the case through several avenues offered to the respondent prior to taking a vote.
Per ASBE data of adjudicated cases, the number of sexual misconduct cases increased by 40 percent over the last two years: there were 94 cases in 2024 and 133 cases in 2025.
In other words, about one-third of the cases that ASBE adjudicated in 2025 (about 380) were related to sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct cases represented 30 percent of the total cases adjudicated in 2025.
Those findings were consistent with the totals for cases adjudicated from 2016 to 2025. 34 percent of all cases over that time were sexual misconduct cases.
📢2025 AZ Teacher Discipline Report presented to SBE today: ▶️Sexual misconduct: 133 cases, up from 94 prior year, 30% of total ▶️Assault cases – continues 2-year spike – 203 cases (53%) in 2025, up from 143 cases last year. From 2016-25, sexual misconduct still #1 reason 1/n pic.twitter.com/iiQJBwh7sZ
— TheLegalProcess (v3.0 | Instruction Not Therapy) (@ALegalProcess) June 22, 2026
ASBE reported that 670 cases involving sexual offenses occurred from 2016 to 2025.
ASBE stated in its report that it continues to prioritize the investigation of sexual misconduct allegations due to impacts to student safety.
The total cases adjudicated by ASBE in 2025 exceeded the board’s forecasting by about 60 cases.
ASBE said the increased number of cases reflected investments by the state to strengthen ASBE’s educator discipline system by increasing investigation and adjudication resources.
Approximately half of all reports to ASBE came from school officials, followed by less than one-quarter from the Department of Public Safety fingerprint clearance cards.
Applications and records from the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification made up seven percent of reports; parents and statements of allegations made up four percent of reports; news media made up five percent of reports; and State Board of Education or another state made up five percent of reports.
Assault cases also increased: there were 42 percent more cases in 2025 (203) compared to 2024 (143).
53 percent of total cases adjudicated were assault cases.
Substance use, fraud, and breaches of contract collectively made up 17 percent of total cases adjudicated.
“Despite year-to-year fluctuations, sexual misconduct and assaultive behaviors consistently comprise the majority of cases reviewed by the board,” stated the report.
The report also noted that sexual misconduct and assaultive behaviors shared historically similar rates of occurrence, however assault-related cases increased dramatically from 2023 to 2025.
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State Rep. Alma Hernandez (D-LD20) spoke out against top Democrats for endorsing her primary opponent for the state senate seat, Rocque Perez.
Hernandez said Perez’s history of posting pornography and violent rhetoric online were antithetical to the values of the Democratic Party following an announcement that Rep. Adelita Grijalva and Tucson Mayor Regina Romero had endorsed Perez.
“I have proudly delivered for my district for the last eight years. If these women want to support a flawed candidate who posted his porn and violent political rhetoric online[…] good luck explaining that to voters,” said Hernandez. “I have won four terms without their support and will continue to do so!”
I have proudly delivered for my district for the last 8 years. If these women want to support a flawed candidate who posted his porn & violent political rhetoric online. Good luck explaining that to voters. I have won 4 terms without their support and will continue to do so! https://t.co/0K6xBhRlne
— (((Rep.Alma Hernandez))) (@almaforarizona) June 17, 2026
As reported previously, Perez advocated for the murder of conservatives and Republicans in posts to one of his accounts on X (at the time, Twitter). Perez advised a friend to “kill” her family members as her “duty,” and called on the public to “throw [Ivanka Trump] off the capitol building roof.”
In reference to a classmate: “This vapid white girl is defending Trump[’s] response to COVID in my Zoom public relations class, do I end her or do I end her.”
In reference to assaulting President Donald Trump: “Honestly I would take one for the team and knock him out if I could.”
In reference to conservative activist and pundit Kaitlin Bennett: “How has she not gotten beat yet? Like… hath no one the bravery to literally hurt her cause…?”
In reference to the 2020 election: “Roses are red, violets are blue, vote for Joe Biden, or I’ll cut you.”
On another X account around the same time, @localanthony, pornographic videos were posted publicly which allegedly featured Perez promoting a similarly-named OnlyFans account, That Local Boy. The profile picture for that account appeared to be a mirror selfie of Perez.
Perez denied to media outlets that he posted the pornographic content, but refused to confirm or deny whether the content belonged to him.
One post that appeared to have come from Perez on the pornographic X account claimed engagement in sexual activities with an unnamed professor and later being solicited by that professor’s husband.
In another post from March 2021, the account owner claimed to have masturbated while at work at the University of Arizona. Perez was employed as the University of Arizona’s marketing and communications strategist at the time.
“Guys I’m so horny I might jerk off somewhere at work, stay tuned,” posted Perez. “Update: loads of bro butter at work.”
At least one minor engaged with this pornographic account allegedly belonging to Perez, the California Globereported.
Following widespread reporting, the porn-focused account apparently associated with Perez has been excluded from the web archiving services where it was previously available to the public.
It appears Grijalva and Romero chose to endorse Perez over Hernandez based on their past ties with him.
Perez was the executive director for Grijalva’s nonprofit, the Metropolitan Education Commission, which makes recommendations for Pima County’s K-12 education.
Last year, Perez served for six months as an appointed member of the Tucson City Council representing Ward 5.
Other Democrats have spurned Hernandez for her shows of bipartisanship in the legislature.
LD20 Democrats issued a public statement condemning Hernandez, though they stopped short of censoring her.
Perez was also on the board of directors of the now-defunct Tucson Pride, once the state’s oldest pride organization.
Perez platforms himself as both a fourth-generation Arizonan and the son of an undocumented woman from Mexico.
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Arizona now has a stricter law on underage nicotine sales.
House Bill 4001 establishes stricter statewide standards for alternative nicotine products. One major point of the law is a new prohibition on these products from being packaged in ways intended to appeal to minors, such as designs that resemble toys, food, or electronics.
Specifically, alternative nicotine products may not be associated with a cartoon-like fictional character mimicking a character primarily aimed at entertaining; imitation or mimicry of a trademark or trade dress of a product primarily marketed to minors; a symbol primarily used to market products to minors; a celebrity’s name or image; a product shape or design meant to disguise appearance, such as a school or office supply, smart phone, smart watch, smart phone or smart watch case, headphones, ear buds, clothing item, backpack, cosmetic or cosmetic container, toy, video game device, or food or beverage product.
The law defines “alternative nicotine products” as any noncombustile produce containing nicotine intended for human consumption, which includes chewing, absorption, dissolution, ingestion, or inhaling.
Any violation of the marketing restrictions on alternative nicotine products would incur a class 3 misdemeanor.
The law also imposed a tiered punishment system for those who sell alternative nicotine products to underage individuals. The punishments for a first offense include fines ranging between $500 and $750, and required completion of a court-approved tobacco retailer educational course. Those who continue to sell to underage individuals must also complete a court-approved tobacco retailer educational course, but face increasing prohibition periods on the sale of alternative nicotine products up to one year, increasing fines up to $10,000, and increasing criminal charges up to a class 5 felony.
Republican Rep. Jeff Weninger (LD13), the bill sponsor, said in a press release that nicotine companies shouldn’t be looking for ways to entice children to their products, and that businesses have a duty to ensure their customers are of age.
“Nicotine products should not be designing products that look like toys or marketing them in ways that appeal to high school students,” said Weninger. “If you are selling nicotine products to minors, Arizona is no longer going to look the other way.”
Additionally, the law increased age-verification requirements and penalties for anyone who sells nicotine products to underage individuals.
Similar to alcohol, the state prohibits the sale of nicotine products to individuals under the age of 21. The minimum age was raised from 18 to 21 last year in order to conform with federal regulations amended in 2019. Active military personnel who are at least 18 years of age are exempted from this minimum age requirement.
Arizona will also require alternative nicotine product manufacturers or distributors to obtain licensure from the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control (DLLC) beginning in 2028.
DLLC estimated that the cost to hire the new personnel necessary to ensure enforcement of this new law would amount to about $3.6 million annually, though the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) disclosed that it couldn’t validate that cost assessment. JLBC’s assessment of the law’s fiscal impact advised that licensure revenues were indeterminable since the law didn’t establish specific license fees.
Those who distribute alternative nicotine products without a license run the risk of earning a class 5 felony, which results in a mandatory $10,000 fine, prohibition on the sale or distribution of alternative nicotine products for one year, and any other punishments deemed appropriate by a court.
Gov. Katie Hobbs signed the legislation into law earlier this month.
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