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.
I’m running for Congress because Arizona deserves leadership that listens, shows up, and gets things done. Let’s bring integrity and real results back to Washington. Sign the petition to get me on the ballot → https://t.co/GV4iPvKaukpic.twitter.com/ewRJ76q04y
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.”
People "wanted a steady hand" on the economy, Shah said. "Instead, we see uncertainty injected into the environment, where businesses are afraid to invest."
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.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed another piece of Republican-sponsored immigration enforcement legislation, drawing criticism from GOP leaders who say the measure would have helped safeguard Arizona communities from crime linked to undocumented immigrants.
SB 1088, sponsored by Senate Government Committee Chairman Jake Hoffman (R-LD15), would have required all levels of Arizona government — including state agencies, counties, municipalities, and independent contractors — to comply with federal immigration laws. The bill also sought to formalize cooperation with federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In a statement following the veto, Hoffman accused Hobbs of endangering public safety for ideological reasons.
“Arizonans have long suffered under the callous and inhumane open-border policies promoted and enforced by Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Alejandro Mayorkas, and Katie Hobbs,” Hoffman said. “There is no logical justification for Hobbs’ veto on this reasonable bill… but she remains committed to her radical ideology of open borders and appeasement for cartels.”
The Governor’s office has not yet issued a detailed statement explaining her decision on SB 1088, but in previous vetoes of similar legislation, Hobbs has cited concerns over constitutionality, local control, and the potential for civil rights violations. Her administration has emphasized a need for comprehensive federal immigration reform rather than piecemeal state-level mandates.
This marks the latest in a string of immigration-related bills Hobbs has rejected this year. In March, she vetoed SB 1610, which would have required county jails to provide ICE with identifying information and access to certain inmates charged with crimes like burglary, assault, or offenses involving serious injury or death. Another proposal, SB 1164 — dubbed the “AZ ICE Act” — would have banned any policies that limit law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Both bills were backed by GOP lawmakers and part of a broader Republican effort to crack down on illegal immigration.
With a divided government in Arizona — Republicans controlling the Legislature and Democrats holding the Governor’s office — immigration enforcement has become a recurring flashpoint. Hobbs’ vetoes signal a clear resistance to Republican attempts to expand state involvement in immigration matters.
Hoffman and other GOP lawmakers have indicated they may continue to introduce similar legislation and are expected to highlight the vetoes in upcoming political campaigns. Republicans argue these measures are necessary to support law enforcement and curb crime, while Democrats say the bills could open the door to overreach and civil rights violations. Arizona’s legislative battles are likely to remain a key battleground in the broader debate over how immigration enforcement should be handled — and by whom.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has signed HB 2611, also known as “Preston’s Law,” into law, marking a significant change in how the state prosecutes violent assaults involving multiple offenders. The legislation, championed by State Representative Matt Gress (R-LD4), was named in honor of 16-year-old Preston Lord, who was killed in a brutal group assault in October 2023.
The new law classifies coordinated violent group assaults that result in physical injury as aggravated assault—a class 4 felony under Arizona law. Prior to this legislation, Arizona statutes lacked specific language addressing violent attacks carried out by multiple individuals acting together, limiting the ability of prosecutors to pursue enhanced charges in such cases.
“Preston’s Law ensures that those who commit violent acts as a group will face real consequences,” said Rep. Gress in a statement. “We’ve seen what happens when mobs believe they can act with impunity. This law sends a clear message: if you gang up to hurt someone, you will be held accountable.”
The law’s passage follows public outcry and widespread grief over the circumstances of Lord’s death, which drew attention to what many saw as a gap in the legal system when it comes to addressing group violence, particularly among teenagers. The case prompted renewed discussion about youth violence and accountability, especially in suburban communities where such incidents have historically been rare but have become more visible through social media and viral videos.
Gress worked closely with Preston Lord’s family and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to draft the bill. The bill moved through the Arizona Legislature with broad bipartisan support, reflecting a shared desire to address organized violence and enhance protections for victims.
Lord’s death became a rallying point for change, with his family actively advocating for new laws to ensure other families don’t suffer the same fate. “We honor Preston Lord by making his name a legacy of reform—not just a reminder of tragedy,” Gress said.
Under current Arizona law, aggravated assault encompasses a range of scenarios, such as assaults with deadly weapons or against certain protected classes. With Preston’s Law now enacted, group coordination becomes a specific aggravating factor, giving prosecutors stronger grounds to pursue felony charges when more than one person participates in an assault.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A recent report has identified the five safest cities in Arizona and also noted a significant drop in violent crime experiences as well as a slight decrease in property crime experiences.
The report from Safewise found the ten safest cities in Arizona are (ranked order): Oro Valley, Queen Creek, Gilbert, Sahuarita, Surprise, Buckeye, Maricopa, Marana, Chandler, and Prescott Valley. Twenty-five cities in total were ranked.
The five lowest ranked were Apache Junction, Avondale, Casa Grande, Glendale, and Tempe. For comparison: the violent crime reported per 1,000 people in Oro Valley was 0.55 and property crimes per 1,000 people were 11.51. Tempe with over quadruple the population has 5.2 violent crimes per 1,000 people and 36.13 property crimes per 1,000 people.
Zeroing in on the reports findings, SafeWise found that the five safest cities collective violent crime rate is 1.0 incidents per 1,000 people while property crime was 10.4 incidents per 1,000 people. The report also found that the number of Arizonans surveyed who said they feel safe jumped up 5% from 36% to 41%.
SafeWise Managing Editor and Safety Expert, Rebecca Edwards said in a statement, “Violent crime experiences are trending down across Arizona, and mass shootings dropped by more than 60% year over year—from eight in 2023 to just three in 2024. Cities like Queen Creek and Surprise saw decreases in both violent and property crime, showing that safety is improving for many Arizona communities.”
According to the report, although 63% of Arizonans surveyed were concerned about property crime on a daily basis, personal experiences with property crime dropped year over year with just 26% of respondents reporting a personal experience with property crime in the past year.
Arizonans are also ranked third for adopting the use of security cameras for their homes, following Delaware and Louisiana. As a matter of preference most Arizonans surveyed, 59%, preferred security cameras or guard dogs, 44%.
Overall, Arizona respondents were most concerned over violent crime, although violent crime experiences fell from 19% to 11% year over year.
Approximately 14% of Arizonans polled reported carrying a firearm for personal protection and 33% reportedly own one for property protection. Incongruently, the number concerned about gun violence increased from 58% to 67% despite a decrease in mass-shootings.
According to SafeWise, the report was generated from “voluntary, self-reported information that cities and jurisdictions across the country report through the FBI Summary Reporting System (SRS) and National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). For our 2025 reporting year, the most recent FBI data was released in October 2024 for crimes reported in 2023.” The company’s full report and methodology is available here.
While states like Florida and Louisiana have forged ahead with crypto currency legislation, Governor Katie Hobbs, who has vetoed a total of 304 bills since taking office in 2023, vetoed three cryptocurrency bills in a matter of days.
Hobbs did sign HB2387, creating stricter regulations on Bitcoin ATMs. And she also signed HB2749 into law, allowing the state to hold cryptocurrency as unclaimed property. Hobbs vetoed SB1025 on May 3rd and then followed with vetoes against SB1024 and SB1373 on Monday.
The three bills would have respectively, allowed “the State Treasurer, the Arizona State Retirement System and the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (public funds) to invest up to 10 percent of the public monies under its control in virtual currency holdings,” “authorize(d) a state agency to enter into an agreement with a cryptocurrency service provider to accept cryptocurrency as a payment method,” and “Establishe(d) the Digital Assets Strategic Reserve Fund (Fund), administered by the State Treasurer…consisting of monies appropriated by the Legislature and digital assets seized by the state.”
JUST IN: 🇺🇲 ARIZONA Governor Katie Hobbs has VETOED the state's 2nd Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill.
"Current volatility in the cryptocurrency markets does not make a prudent fit for general fund dollars." pic.twitter.com/iGSKwAWLaT
In the Governor’s letters to Senate President Warren Petersen explaining her vetoes, Hobbs repeatedly phrased the cryptocurrency-related laws as “risk(s),” “untested,” and suggested that her previous actions on cryptocurrency were “responsible.”
Senate Bill 1373: “Today, I vetoed Senate Bill 1373. Current volatility in cryptocurrency markets does not make a prudent fit for general fund dollars. I have already signed legislation this session which allows the state to utilize cryptocurrency without placing general fund dollars at risk, which is the responsible path to take.”
Senate Bill 1025: “Today, I vetoed Senate Bill 1025. The Arizona State Retirement System is one of the strongest in the nation because it makes sound and informed investments. Arizonans’ retirement funds are not the place for the state to try untested investments like virtual currency.”
Senate Bill 1024- “Today, I vetoed Senate Bill 1024. While this bill would allow State agencies to enter into agreements to protect the State from risks associated with cryptocurrency, legislators on both sides of the aisle acknowledged it still leaves the door open for too much risk.”
As previously reported by AZ Free News, HB2387, introduced by Rep. David Marshall (R-LD7), is designed to crack down on Crypto ATM fraud by imposing a $2,000 daily transaction limit on the devices, increased to $10,500 for return customers after ten days, requiring state operator licensing, and requiring refund policy options as well.
Arizona State University (ASU) received over $3.4 million in funds from the nonprofit founded by leading Democratic dark money donor George Soros.
The online data guru Jennica Pounds, known by her username @DataRepublican, named ASU as a recurring recipient of Soros funds as part of nearly a decade of grants from the Open Society Foundations (OSF).
🚨 Download Soros Grant Spreadsheet 💵
Ever wonder where George Soros is sending his money? 👀 I've extracted and published the public Open Society Foundations grant database in spreadsheet format. This is your chance to dig through the receipts. 📂🧾
🇺🇸 Want to follow the…
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) May 12, 2025
Pounds — who boasts a background as a software engineer for leading American tech companies including Amazon, eBay, Snap, and Upstart — gained recognition among Republican voters and the Trump administration for building AI tools to assist with the ongoing Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort to identify and eliminate wasteful or fraudulent spending.
Pounds’ latest project focused on cataloguing Soros’ philanthropic arm.
From 2018 to 2022, the ASU Foundation received $169,000 for the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College; $200,000 for the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium; $1.2 million for the McCain Institute for International Leadership; $200,000 for improving learning amid crises and conflict; $22,000 to bring together global educational leaders, and $24,000 for the New American University.
One of OSF’s largest donations to ASU was over $1.5 million for English Second Language (ESL) at the Open Society University Network (OSUN).
Soros established OSUN in January 2020 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world. OSUN serves as a global collaboration of universities. ASU was among the first to be included in OSUN. Of note, ASU’s page for OSUN omits any mention of Soros as the establisher of the network.
Other American universities to later join OSUN were the Bard Early Colleges of Baltimore, Cleveland, Manhattan, New Orleans, Newark, Queens, and Washington, D.C.; the Bard Prison Initiative; Picker Center for Executive Education at Columbia University; Bard College at Simon’s Rock; University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute; Talloires Network of Engaged Universities; Princeton Global History Lab; Tuskegee University; University of California’s Berkeley Human Rights Center; and the University of Pittsburgh’s Afghanistan Project at the Center for Governance and Markets.
Other Arizona-based entities to receive Soros money were:
Arizona Wins ($3.875 million);
Living United For Change in Arizona ($3.3 million);
One Arizona ($1.8 million);
Our Voice, Our Vote Arizona ($1 million);
League of Conservation Voters ($750,000);
Inter Tribal Council of Arizona ($500,000);
Community Foundation for Southern Arizona ($500,000);
Arizona Community Foundation ($400,000);
ADRC Action ($300,000);
PODER ($100,000);
Poder in Action ($75,000);
YWCA of Southern Arizona ($60,000)
Arizona Center for Empowerment ($37,000, and another $325,000 through the Center for Popular Democracy, a partner organization)
Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence ($25,000);
Sonoran Prevention Works ($15,000)
Other entities were paid by OSF throughout the years to engage in advocacy in Arizona and, ultimately, influence state policies and laws. Among those who received payment for advocacy were: Invest in Education, $700,000; re:power Fund, $200,000; State Engagement Fund, $170,000; PAFCO Education Fund, $150,000; Alliance for Youth Organizing, $50,000; and Vote.org, $20,000.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
