by Staff Reporter | Oct 20, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
A new report concluded that Proposition 140 — which seeks to establish ranked-choice voting and replace Arizona’s partisan primaries with open primaries — would empower the secretary of state more than voters in elections.
The Reason Foundation issued the report last week by its director of criminal justice policy, Vittorio Nastasi, several days after early voting began. (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act voters (UOCAVA) were mailed their ballots near the end of September).
“Prop. 140 grants far too much power to the legislature or secretary of state by allowing them to determine how many candidates can compete in general elections,” said the organization. “The impact of Prop. 140 is, therefore, uncertain and could generate substantial conflict without any clear benefit.”
Arizona’s current primary elections restrict voters to voting within the primary election of their registered party; unaffiliated voters may change their registration leading up to the primaries in order to cast a ballot for their preferred primary election.
Ranked-choice voting would do away with majority vote winners in general elections with more than two candidates in most races (and more than four candidates in Arizona House races). Instead, victors would be determined by voter rankings of preferred candidates. Without any majority winner, the ranking system determines the winner(s) by eliminating the lowest vote-getter and redistributing those votes to the other candidates based on those voters’ rankings.
The report noted that Prop 140 doesn’t specify the number of candidates that would move on to the general election from the proposed open primaries, allowing either lawmakers to decide by November 1 (or the secretary of state thereafter) how many candidates move on to the general election.
The Reason Foundation’s report assessed that open primaries would violate the First Amendment.
“Political parties are fundamentally private organizations with the right to set their own rules for nominating candidates,” said the organization. “To infringe on that right is to violate the freedom of association. No matter how large or powerful the two major parties may be, the government has no role in determining the process for their primary elections.”
The organization proposed that there were “better alternatives” to meet the problem of the exclusion of nonpartisan voters: allowing minor party candidates to participate in debates and redrawing gerrymandered districts.
The Reason Foundation did side with ranked-choice voting, however. The organization said that the proposed voting method would remedy voter concerns of “wasted votes and spoiler effects” while improving opportunity for minor party candidates.
The Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee also issued an official fiscal impact analysis for Prop 140. The committee concluded that the proposition’s overall fiscal impact couldn’t be determined in advance due to necessary further action by state and local governments. In their review of the fiscal impact analysis, the Reason Foundation emphasized that administering elections would likely become more costly under Prop 140 by increasing the number of candidates on the general election ballot, changing the length of both sample and election ballots, and increasing the number of voters receiving a primary ballot.
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by Staff Reporter | Oct 19, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Democrat Nicholas Gonzales, a House candidate for legislative district 13, was convicted for filing a false report to law enforcement.
Gonzales falsely reported his son as missing to police in 2021 during a planned custody swap, according to court records obtained by the Arizona Republic. That false report occurred about a month after Gonzales was found to be in contempt of court.
Gonzales claimed to police that his son was not at the designated meeting point for parenting time and that he didn’t know his son’s location. However, text messages obtained by officers revealed that Gonzales had arranged for the grandmother to pick up his son. Gonzales later admitted in court that he knew this to be the truth.
For filing a false claim about his son being missing, Gonzales was convicted of false reporting to law enforcement and received a suspended sentence.
The 2021 false report was part of a struggle with his ex-wife, Kurstie Ortiz, over their son dating back to 2012. Court records indicated that Gonzales would make threats to Ortiz, and that Gonzales’ son expressed fears over Gonzales finding out about his communication with his mother while spending time with Gonzales.
For years, Gonzales owed thousands in child support as well. Ortiz’s attorney told the Arizona Republic that he still has yet to pay the over $12,000 in lawyers’ fees he was ordered to pay her in 2021. Gonzales did reportedly pay a portion of the $6,500 in unpaid child support.
In that court order, the Maricopa County Superior Court found Gonzales in contempt for refusing to follow the parenting plan as well as failing to pay child support.
Gonzales’ past clearly doesn’t outweigh the Arizona Democratic Party’s need to secure a Democratic majority in the legislature.
Governor Katie Hobbs held an event over the weekend encouraging turnout for Gonzales and other candidates. Hobbs’ campaign manager denied that Hobbs had any knowledge of the troubles with Gonzales’ custody dispute.
Gonzales issued the following statement after details of his divorce records went public:
“When I became a father at 18 years old, I made a promise to my child that I would be a present and active part of his life. Though my relationship with his mother ultimately ended, I remained committed to being a part of his life and upbringing. I have always been transparent about the challenges I faced as a young parent and while navigating the family court system was at times frustrating, I am proud of the progress made and that his mother and I are amicably co-parenting. Our first priority is the safety and well-being of our child, which includes raising him in a healthy and respectful environment. I am saddened that this difficult period of my family’s life is being used in an attempt to discredit my campaign but these tactics are typical from the Republican Party, which holds no standards or boundaries. I am proud of the father and man I am today and know that voters will see through this clear attempt to undermine my ability to lead in office.”
Ortiz denied Gonzales’ claim that the two are “amicably co-parenting” their son, saying that it wasn’t true.
Gonzales and Brandy Reese are the two Democratic candidates in the race, looking to fill the seat vacated by Jennifer Pawlik and unseat Republican Julie Willoughby (the named replacement for Liz Harris, who was expelled last year). Another Republican candidate, Jeff Weninger, is also running.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Oct 17, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
In an admission that his own party is failing on the border crisis, former President Bill Clinton alluded to the illegal immigrant murder of Laken Riley — though he avoided identifying her by name, and refused to include the term “illegal” before “immigrant.”
Although Riley was a Georgia resident at the time of her death, the vocal GOP senator from Surprise, Janae Shamp, didn’t let Clinton’s avoidance of naming Riley slide. Shamp did credit Clinton for admitting that it was an illegal immigrant who took Riley’s life.
“Bill Clinton her name is Laken Riley and she was dedicating her life to the sick as a fellow RN when she was brutally murdered by an illegal Venezuelan gang member,” said Shamp. “But yes, it is Biden-Harris fault entirely.”
Clinton alluded to Riley’s murder in remarks with Georgia voters over the weekend. The former president was visiting the state as part of campaign efforts promoting the presidential bid of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Clinton reduced Riley’s murder to the GOP’s political ads focused on the injustice and avoidability of her death, and pivoted to promoting the need for mass immigration to offset low U.S. birth rates.
“You had a case in Georgia not very long ago, didn’t you? They made an ad about it, about a young woman who had been killed by an immigrant?” said Clinton. “Yeah, well, if they’d all been properly vetted that probably wouldn’t have happened. But if they are properly vetted, that doesn’t happen and America is not having enough babies to keep our population up. So, we need immigrants that have been vetted to do work. There wouldn’t be a problem and he couldn’t keep people all torn up and that’s sad.”
Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student at the University of Georgia out for a morning jog on campus when 26-year-old Venezuelan gang member Jose Ibarra kidnapped, raped, and beat and strangled her to death in February. Riley did call 911 during the attack, but law enforcement said there was no dialogue on that call.
Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas. He received parole despite his gang affiliations due to ICE’s inability to lodge a detainer in a timely manner or, in other words: Ibarra benefitted from the unofficial “catch and release” policy that has come to define the Biden administration’s immigration approach.
President Joe Biden downplayed Riley’s death during the 2024 State of the Union earlier this year, mispronouncing her name as “Lincoln” Riley.
“Lincoln — Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal,” said Biden. “That’s right, but how many of the thousands of people [are] being killed by illegals?”
In March, the House passed the “Laken Riley Act” requiring detention of immigrants who commit burglary or theft. From his time entering the country illegally in 2022, Ibarra had been previously arrested for theft.
Ibarra’s trial is anticipated to occur in November. He has pleaded not guilty to the multiple charges he faces.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Oct 17, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Republican Party will forgo tradition and won’t be spending lavishly on an Election Night party this November. Instead, the major swing state party has pledged to put “every dollar” into its candidates as well as those opposition efforts for defeating ranked-choice voting.
The AZGOP announced in a Tuesday press release that it has fundraised $9 million over the last three months.
“All of our resources are being dedicated to helping our candidates win and preventing the far-left from gaining control of our state,” stated the press release. “Instead of spending tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on a celebration, we are channeling every dollar directly into our candidates’ efforts.”
The announcement marked a turnaround from the AZGOP’s spending approach during the 2022 election. Under former chairwoman Kelli Ward, the party spent over $530,000 on a party and bus tour for the midterm elections, which ultimately saw a blue wave not seen in half a century: Democrats won the top three statewide races and a Senate seat. Under Ward, the party raised around $3 million.
In the past two weeks, the party says it has funded 22 Republican candidates as well as efforts to defeat ranked-choice voting. Part of the candidate contributions include a “judicial mail campaign” seeking to persuade voters to support certain judges more supportive of the Constitution.
Additionally, the party says it launched a Get Out The Vote (GOTV) program to increase early voting among Republicans.
In her statement, Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda said the stakes this year are higher than they’ve been for any other election.
“We believe it’s more important to invest every resource we have into ensuring our candidates’ victories rather than hosting a party,” said Swoboda. It’s all hands on deck until Election Day, and we’re laser-focused on winning up and down the ballot.”
The AZGOP press release came out the same day as the party’s filing for its post-primary election campaign finance report. Per their reporting, the party gave $8,400 to the reelection campaign of State Representative Matt Gress.
The party may be making another big, expensive legal move as well concerning Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) voters. Swoboda told Axios on Tuesday that counties had indicated to her that they handle UOCAVA voters differently.
Swoboda sent a letter to all county recorders asking for confirmation of UOCAVA voters’ identities, as well as a promise from counties that they reject registrations lacking proof of citizenship. Depending on their answer, the AZGOP or Republican National Committee may take “imminent” action to challenge UOCAVA voters through a lawsuit.
The latest voter registration statistics reflected over 4.1 million total voters: over 1.4 million registered Republicans, nearly 1.4 million “other” voters, nearly 1.2 million registered Democrats, over 30,900 registered Libertarians, over 29,000 registered No Labels voters, and over 3,000 Green voters.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Oct 13, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Court of Appeals ordered the unsealing of divorce records between Ruben Gallego, Senate candidate and congressman, and his ex-wife, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego.
The Washington Free Beacon, a right-leaning media outlet, sued for access to the records.
On Thursday, Presiding Judge Brian Furuya ruled in a memorandum decision that the burden remains on the Gallegos to demonstrate why records shouldn’t be unsealed. Furuya rejected the Gallegos’ argument that the records contained mention of their son, and therefore should be sealed completely. Furuya ruled that redactions of the record protecting the interests of their son were sufficient enough.
“To begin, the State of Arizona presumes court records are available to the public,” said Furuya. “[T]he party opposing the unsealing ‘must show that overriding circumstances continue to exist or that other grounds provide a sufficient basis for keeping the record sealed.’”
The Yavapai Superior Court said as much in its ruling for the unsealing of the divorce records as well. That court found that the original order sealing the records was improper, and ordered the Gallegos to submit redaction requests. The Gallegos complied, but then took issue with the rejected redactions and appealed.
Furuya had no criticisms for the superior court’s ruling.
“Upon review, we hold the court properly exercised its discretion by narrowly tailoring what is to be withheld from public view for those legitimate purposes,” said Furuya.
Ruben Gallego filed for divorce in 2016 when his wife was nine months pregnant. The Gallegos finalized their divorce the next year after their son arrived.
Last year, he told the Washington Post that PTSD was to blame for his divorce. He claimed that PTSD, acquired from serving in Iraq, caused him to drink and smoke too much, and he was prone to have “extreme outbursts.” Ruben Gallego also said he “had an addiction to artificial points of success” like running for office. Essentially, his ex-wife’s pregnancy was too much to handle on top of his professional goals and self-professed emotional issues with anxiety, moodiness, and survivor’s guilt.
The Washington Free Beacon sued earlier this year for access to those divorce records, arguing that Gallego’s race for the Senate necessitated full public transparency over his divorce with the Phoenix mayor. The outlet cited Ruben Gallego’s own remarks from his Washington Post interview, questioning whether his admission to “extreme outbursts” was in reference to physical threats or violence.
“The people of Arizona deserve to know the man who is getting down on one knee before they accept his proposal,” stated the Washington Free Beacon.
The outlet also noted that neither of the Gallegos lived in the county in which the divorce was filed, though state law requires couples to file in the county of their residence.
The Washington Free Beacon also reported that Gallego privately married lobbyist Sydney Barron in 2019, but he claimed in 2021 that he had just proposed to her that year and went on to have a public wedding months later.
Gallego is running against Republican candidate Kari Lake.
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