by Staff Reporter | May 20, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
Mesa Public Schools (MPS) won’t allow military stoles to be worn by graduating students this year.
According to information provided by board membership, MPS defended the rule as a means of honoring their desire to maintain uniformity during graduation ceremonies. MPS policy does not explicitly bar military stoles from being worn, but it does not make an allowance for them, either.
However, MPS policy does allow students eligible to belong to or belonging to a federally recognized Native American tribe to wear traditional tribe regalia or “objects of cultural significance” at their graduation ceremony. The policy noted regalia could include eagle feathers or eagle plumes.
Additionally, students may wear pins or other “small symbol[s]” denoting their accolades related to scholastic or academic honors. These little accolades were allowed to be from “a city, county, state, or tribal government or its representative,” so long as they wouldn’t “detract from the unity achieved by graduates” uniformed in a common cap and gown. The district also drew the line at decorating caps and tassels, unless given permission by their school’s principal.
Governing Board member Rachel Walden opposed the policy and pledged to request Board President Courtney Davis to agendize graduation policy for amending.
“Military students at Mesa Public Schools must be allowed to wear their Military stole at graduation! Yet, students are forbidden to wear this symbol of commitment and achievement for their high school graduation. The community went through this last year and was able to get the ban lifted, yet here we are again,” said Walden. “I’m disappointed that this even needs to be said. To quote our enlisted National Guard student, not wearing the stole ‘disregards the values of honor and achievement that our school purports to uphold.’ There is also a link to his petition in the comments.”
As of this report, the petition to allow military stoles at Mesa graduations has reached 250 signatures. The student who launched the petition, Daniela Rascon-Rivas, is a student at Mesa High School and a National Guard member. Rascon-Rivas is also petitioning for the allowance of her to wear cords denoting her accomplishments through the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT), a trade school in the area.
According to Walden, last year Red Mountain High School attempted to bar military stoles from their list of allowable graduation attire. Walden advised the board was able to overturn that policy.
The district’s policy on the display of military-related accolades caught the attention of state leaders.
Congressional candidate and former Arizona House Speaker Travis Grantham said allowing graduates to wear their military stoles was a “no brainer.” Grantham is a lieutenant colonel and commander within the Arizona Air National Guard.
“Hopefully the district does the right thing and changes their policy ASAP!” said Grantham.
State Representative and House Judiciary Chair Quang Nguyen, whose daughter serves in the Navy, seconded Walden’s take on the situation.
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by Staff Reporter | May 20, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Maricopa County Superior Court ruled that Attorney General Kris Mayes must redo her entire case against the 2020 Trump electors.
In a ruling issued on Monday in Arizona v. Bowyer, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers sided with the electors’ argument that Mayes failed to instruct the grand jury as to the applicable provisions of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, or “ECA.” Myers remanded the case back to the grand jury — meaning Mayes must start over if she still hopes to prosecute Trump’s allies in Arizona.
Myers didn’t buy Mayes’ justification for not providing the full ECA to jurors; the attorney general argued the provision of “relevant portions” of the ECA via several Kenneth Chesebro memorandums and an interview, a letter from State Sen. Jake Hoffman’s counsel, and a CNN article were sufficient.
Myers ruled Mayes had failed to provide due process to the electors by not providing “the actual text and provisions” of the ECA.
“A prosecutor has a duty to instruct the grand jury on all the law applicable to the facts of the case,” stated Myers. “Due process compels the prosecutor to make a fair and impartial presentation to the grand jury. … Because the State failed to provide the ECA to the grand jury, the Court finds that the defendants were denied a substantial procedural right as guaranteed by Arizona law.”
Mayes indicted 11 electors for President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful 2020 run: Tyler Bowyer, COO of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) arm Turning Point Action; Nancy Cottle, former electors chair and Arizona Federation of Republican Women leader; Sen. Jake Hoffman; former State Sen. Anthony Kern; Jim Lamon, 2022 Senate candidate; Robert Montgomery, former Cochise County GOP Committee chair; Samuel Moorhead, former Gila County GOP leader; Loraine Pellegrino, former electors secretary and president of Ahwatukee Republican Women; Greg Safsten, former Arizona GOP executive director; and Kelli Ward, former Arizona GOP chair, and her husband, Michael Ward.
The electors faced felony charges of conspiracy, fraud, and forgery.
These defendants argued the ECA protected their role as electors for Trump in 2020, saying the law allowed for competing electors in disputed elections.
Hoffman called the case against him and fellow electors “a witch hunt” and “a cheap political campaign promise” by Mayes.
“As I’ve said from day one, the truth is on my side, justice will prevail, and I will be vindicated,” said Hoffman. “In the meantime, Kristin will keep showing the public what a total joke she is.”
TPUSA founder and CEO, Charlie Kirk, called the ruling a “major embarrassment” for Mayes.
“It has been political from the very start and never should have happened, and we need to make sure all similar such charges are dropped against all Trump supporters, in all swing states,” said Kirk.
Mayes spokesman Richie Taylor said their office would file an appeal.
“We vehemently disagree with the court and we will file a special action to appeal the ruling,” said Taylor.
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by Staff Reporter | May 17, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Governor Katie Hobbs has another secretive fund, this one used to cover legal expenses.
Hobbs has never disclosed the existence of this fund, which covered the costs of a lawsuit filed against her by former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. AZ Capitol Times uncovered and first reported on its existence after discovering a financial report from the parent company of the state’s electric utility giant, Arizona Public Service (APS), disclosing a gift of $100,000 in 2024 to cover Hobbs’ legal expenses.
State law enables Hobbs to maintain this secretive fund; it has for nearly a decade.
APS parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (PWCC), also gave to Hobbs’ other secretive fund for her inauguration.
Although Hobbs’ legal fund was discovered, the governor says she won’t be publicizing any other details about the donors or total amount collected.
Hobbs also attempted to keep her inaugural fund secret, but relented to public disclosure after receiving threats of litigation. Records revealed that Hobbs’ inaugural fund collected nearly $2 million, but the event cost less than $210,000. Government transparency watchdogs attempted to determine whether Hobbs’ inauguration team continued to collect donations in excess of a pre-event budget, to no avail.
PWCC’s singular donation of $250,000 to the fund covered the inauguration in its entirety — but Hobbs pocketed the excess of well over a million for her reelection bid next year. Other large donors to that fund issued $100,000 each: Blue Cross Blue Shield, the National Association of Realtors, and Sunshine Residential Homes.
That last major donor, Sunshine Residential Homes, received millions in contracts from the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) after making around half a million in campaign donations to Hobbs and the Arizona Democratic Party — despite DCS denying pay increases to home operators and dropping 16 providers during the contract renewal process.
Michael Beyer, the newly named communications director for Hobbs’ reelection campaign, defended the legal fund and its secrecy in a statement to the AZ Capitol Times.
“Kari Lake baselessly challenged the results of a free and fair election she lost,” said Beyer. “We won eight times in court, and yet Lake fought the results all the way through November 2024 when she finally lost her last appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court.”
Beyer recently joined the Hobbs campaign following his stint as the communications director for Virginia Senator Tim Kaine’s re-election campaign. Beyer’s past communications work includes the campaign for Mississippi’s 2023 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley, the Ohio Democratic Party, New Hampshire Democratic Party, and the Democratic Governors Association.
Some question whether the funds are another example of alleged “pay-to-play” occurring within the governor’s office. Hobbs approved legislation permitting public power entities like APS to engage in securitization. APS wrote the legislation.
Hobbs issued a defense of her passage of the bill, saying it would lower energy costs and improve grid resiliency.
“By working with bipartisan legislators I put in safeguards to ensure everyday Arizonans, not utilities, will benefit from securitization. And I made sure this bill will provide a tool to grow our energy economy,” said Hobbs. “Because of this bill, Arizona families will save money and we will help create more jobs in a clean energy economy that, in just the last few years, has brought nearly $18 billion in investments to our state and created over 18,000 quality jobs.”
Hobbs also vetoed legislation from Senate President TJ Shope requiring companies seeking state contracts to list all donations given in the past five years to the governor.
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by Staff Reporter | May 16, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill to provide restitution to individuals harmed by gender transitions they obtained as minors.
The legislation, Senate Bill 1586, sought to expand civil liability on health care professionals or physicians who provide gender transition or transition procedures.
Under the bill, health care professionals and physicians that provide gender transition procedures for a minor would have been strictly and personally liable for all costs associated with subsequent detransition procedures for that minor within 25 years after the gender transition procedure. Individuals who undergo a detransition procedure would be able to bring a civil action lawsuit against the health care professional or physician who provided their gender transition procedure before turning 26 years old.
The bill would have also prohibited the health care professionals or physicians from obtaining a contractual waiver of liability for gender transition procedures.
In her veto letter, Hobbs said the bill was redundant given present medical malpractice statutes, and she further stated the bill was not a priority compared to Arizonans’ current needs.
“Medical malpractice statutes currently exist to give patients a private right of action related to matters of informed consent,” stated Hobbs. “This bill will not increase opportunity, security or freedom for Arizonans. I encourage the legislature to join with me in prioritizing legislation that will lower costs, protect the border, create jobs, and secure our water future.”
The bill author, Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp, issued a press release accusing Hobbs of allying herself with “radical left-wing ideology” and ignoring harms endured by children who have undergone gender transition procedures.
“There have been many tragic stories about children who have submitted to life-altering surgeries to change their gender – only to experience awful repercussions later on when they mature,” said Shamp. “Unfortunately, Governor Hobbs and her band of Democrat allies would rather these children’s lives be forever changed in one of the worst ways imaginable to satisfy their extreme ideological lust. Republicans will not stand for this callousness and endorsement of defacto child abuse. We will continue to fight on behalf of our precious sons and daughters until these inhumane and ungodly practices are abolished.”
Shamp later indicated she would take another run at securing restitutions for individuals who underwent gender transition procedures while they were minors.
“I will never stop fighting for children who are being butchered by this ungodly and inhumane practice,” said Shamp.
Arizona law already bars health care professionals and physicians from providing gender transition procedures. The state legislature passed the prohibition in 2022. Per the Kaiser Family Foundation, less than three percent of minors identify as transgender.
Although surgical procedures were prohibited, the law didn’t speak to the prescription of drugs impacting sex-based hormones. Health care providers continued prescribing puberty blockers and hormone replacements to minors. It wasn’t until earlier this year that providers known for these prescriptions, like Phoenix Children’s Hospital and Planned Parenthood of Arizona, ceased issuing them in order to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting gender transitions for minors.
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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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