by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 14, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona lawmakers are holding the state’s top election official accountable for his failure to be transparent with the public over a growing database error.
Earlier this month, a coalition of Republican legislators issued a statement “on Secretary [Adrian] Fontes’ failure to accurately report MVD database errors impacting thousands of Arizona voters.”
The statement followed an additional revelation from Fontes that there were 120,000 more Arizona voters who were in the database error universe, increasing the total count to approximately 218,000 of these individuals.
According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, “The recent addition of approximately 118,000 people to the list of impacted registrants (originally thought to be approximately 98,000) was a result of including renewed and reinstated licenses in the MVD data pull of registrants that state officials now know may not have shown documentation sufficient to meet voter registration requirements.” Fontes said, “All of the Arizonans affected by this issue remain eligible voters and are long-time Arizona residents. All have attested under penalty of perjury – the same standard the rest of the country uses – that they are U.S. citizens.”
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office asserted that it would “soon be able to accurately communicate with affected voters and provide clear next steps to resolve any issues pertaining to DPOC (documented proof of citizenship) needs, but this will not happen prior to the 2024 election.”
However, the coalition of Republican legislators were not satisfied with Fontes’ assurances. They wrote, “We will continue to monitor Secretary Fontes’ administration of this election and all litigation surrounding the MVD database / citizenship issues. As Republican members of the Arizona House of Representatives, we remain committed to exercising appropriate oversight during and after the election to ensure that elected officials in our Executive Branch are complying with Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship laws.”
They added, “It goes without saying that requiring proof of citizenship to vote is of paramount importance. Earlier this year, House Speaker Ben Toma and Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen – without support from Attorney General Mayes – fought in the Mi Familia case all the way to the United States Supreme Court to vindicate A.R.S. 16-121.01(C), which requires proof of citizenship for individuals to receive and vote a full ballot. Nonetheless, it is just as important that our election officials implement Arizona’s election laws in a manner that does not violate Arizonans’ rights to notice and due process.”
Signing the statement were Arizona State Representatives Ben Toma, David Marshall Sr, Leo Biasiucci, Travis Grantham, Michael Carbone, Joseph Chaplik, Lupe Diaz, Tim Dunn, John Gillette, Gail Griffin, Justin Heap, Alexander Kolodin, Quang Nguyen, Barbara Parker, Jacqueline Parker, Kevin Payne, Selina Bliss, and Michele Peña.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 13, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona may soon be faced with an overhaul of its election system if a current ballot measure passes this November.
In the upcoming General Election, state voters will decide the fate of Proposition 140, which would transform Arizona’s election system into what has been referred to as “a California-style election scheme built around ranked-choice voting and jungle primaries.”
According to the No on 140 campaign, which is being co-chaired by Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and former Arizona State Supreme Court Justice Andrew Gould, if passed by voters, Prop 140 would:
- “Allow one partisan politician (the Arizona Secretary of State) to decide how many candidates qualify for the general election ballot for every single contest, including his or her own race.
- Result in some races where candidates from only one political party appear on the general election ballot.
- Force voters to navigate two completely different voting systems on the same ballot, with some races requiring voters to rank candidates under a rank choice voting system and others that do not.
- Increase tabulation errors, create longer lines at the polls, and significantly delay election results.”
Just recently, this opposition group released a bipartisan list of organizations from around Arizona that were encouraging their followers to vote against Proposition 140. These groups included the Coconino County Democrats, the Gila County Democratic Party, Heritage Action for America, Goldwater Institute, Republican Party of Arizona, League of Women Voters, and the Libertarian Party of Arizona.
In a piece for the Goldwater Institute, Gould wrote, “Americans are understandably concerned about the current acrimony and division in politics. But rather than addressing this problem in a focused, thoughtful manner, Prop 140 takes a sledgehammer to the Arizona Constitution by imposing ranked choice voting and jungle primaries on Arizonans.”
Trent England, the founder and executive director of Save Our States and co-chairman of the Stop RCV Coalition, added, “Ranked-choice voting makes the entire election process more complicated and less transparent. That is why so many places that have tried RSV have gotten rid of it – something Alaska voters are poised to do this year. Yet the onslaught continues, thanks to just a few billionaires who would make our elections worse.”
Thanks to a heated legal battle that ping-ponged between the state’s supreme court and superior court, both sides have an extremely limited window to make their case to voters why Arizona should or should not enact this system to replace our current elections operations.
Last week, the Arizona Supreme Court made its final ruling in a matter concerning tens of thousands of duplicate signatures that threatened to upend this measure for voter consideration. Despite a special master’s determination that 99% of the signatures were, in fact, duplicates, the state’s high court allowed Prop 140 to go forward before the Arizona electorate. The Arizona Free Enterprise Club accused the proponents of this proposition of “obstruct[ing] and delay[ing] the review of the duplicate signatures for over a month.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him 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.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 13, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
As early voting starts across Arizona, Republican and Democrat nominees for President, Vice President – and their surrogates – barnstormed the state to reach voters ahead of the pivotal contest.
Several major events are taking place across Arizona as the November General Election nears.
On Tuesday, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff touched down in Arizona to rally voters for his wife, the Democrat nominee for President, Kamala Harris.
During Emhoff’s event, protestors made their views known about the Israel-Hamas War.
U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Steve Scalise appeared with the Trump Campaign at a Phoenix rally to increase support for the Republican ticket.
On Wednesday, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, stopped by the state, touching base with voters in Mesa and in Tucson.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democrat Vice-Presidential nominee, also rallied supporters in Chandler and in Tucson on Wednesday.
Walz and Emhoff joined forces on Wednesday morning at a local cafe.
Harris was in Phoenix Thursday for a highly anticipated event.
The First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, has announced plans to campaign for the Harris-Walz ticket over the weekend in the state.
Finally, Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee for President of the United States, has scheduled a rally for Prescott Valley on Sunday.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Oct 12, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Hundreds of Arizona’s children underwent sex change procedures from 2019 to 2023, according to data compiled by watchdog Do No Harm.
According to the organization’s database, there were nearly 80 total surgery patients, nearly 170 total hormone and puberty blocker patients, and over 1,400 prescriptions written for those patients: all amounting to over $1.7 million in charges.
At least 86 children underwent their sex change procedures at Phoenix Children’s Hospital: one received surgery and 86 received hormone and puberty blockers (HPB), all for the estimated price of over $121,700.
Phoenix Children’s Hospital didn’t make Do No Harm’s top 12 in terms of sex change procedures for minors. Those were, in order from number one to twelve: the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Children’s Minnesota, Seattle’s Children’s, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Boston Children’s Hospital, Rady Children’s Hospital (California), Children’s National Medical Center (Washington, DC), USCF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland (California), Children’s Hospital Colorado, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
The following are the 42 medical facilities and providers that reportedly provided the sex change procedures to Arizona children (not including the categorization of an “independent facility” which covered 22 HPB patients). This data was pulled from the healthcare organization’s National Provider Identifier (NPI) record in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES):
- Tucson Medical Center: 6 surgery patients, 31 HPB patients
- HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center: 23 surgery patients, 1 HPB patient
- Scottsdale Surgical Partners: 23 surgery patients
- HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center: 14 surgery patients, 1 HPB patient
- Mission Hospital Memorial Campus: 7 HPB patients
- Northwest Tucson Surgery Center LP: 6 surgery patients
- Banner University Medical Center Phoenix: 2 surgery patients, 3 HPB patients
- Arizona Community Surgeons PC: 4 surgery patients
- Northwest Medical Center: 2 surgery patients, 1 HPB patient
- HonorHealth Deer Valley Medical Center: 2 HPB patients
- HonorHealth John C. Lincoln Medical Center: 2 HPB patients
- Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center: 2 HPB patients
- Yuma Regional Medical Center: 2 HPB patients
- Abrazo Arrowhead Campus: 1 HPB patient
- Abrazo Central Campus: 1 surgery patient
- Arizona Urological Surgeons LLC: 1 surgery patient
- Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
- Banner Desert Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
- Banner Ironwood Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
- Banner Thunderbird Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
- Banner University Medical Center Tucson: 1 HPB patient
- Camp Lowell Surgery Center LLC: 1 surgery patient
- Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
- IU Health Methodist Hospital: 1 HPB patient
- Jason Daniel Johnson PLLC: 1 surgery patient
- La Paz Regional Hospital: 1 HPB patient
- Long Beach Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
- Maui Memorial Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
- Mayo Clinic Hospital Arizona: 1 surgery patient
- Mercy Gilbert Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
- Neurosurgical Associates LTD: 1 surgery patient
- Phoenix Indian Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
- Sagewest Riverton: 1 HPB patient
- Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital: 1 HPB patient
- Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital: 1 HPB patient
- Sina Inc.: 1 surgery patient
- St. George Regional Hospital: 1 HPB patient
- St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
- St. Mary’s Hospital: 1 HPB patient
- Dr. Steven H. Turkeltaub: 1 surgery patient
- Valley Anesthesiology Consultants Inc.: 1 surgery patient
- White Mountain Regional Medical Center: 1 HPB patient
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administers NPPES. NPIS are 10-digit numeric identifiers for provider transactions.
Per Do No Harm’s data, total procedures hit a peak in 2022 and declined slightly last year.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Oct 12, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The long-awaited debate for the U.S. Senate Race in Arizona took place on Wednesday between Kari Lake and Congressman Ruben Gallego. And even the most mainstream of outlets took note, or took pains not to note, that Lake outperformed Gallego.
The Associated Press seemed to call out Rep. Gallego’s performance against Lake in a singular headline that read, “Lake’s Comfort And Polish In Front Of The Camera Stood In Contrast To Gallego.”
Jonathan Cooper and Gabriel Sandoval wrote for the wire, “Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake repeatedly reminded viewers Wednesday of her three-decade career on Arizona television, looking to harness the intimate connection she built with voters and overcome Democrat Ruben Gallego’s portrayal of her as a liar in the only debate of the closely watched race.”
“Lake’s comfort and polish in front of the camera stood in contrast to Gallego, a military veteran who occasionally tripped on his words. The hourlong forum, at times caustic and personal, highlighted big differences on immigration, border security, abortion and taxes.”
Detracting from her performance, the outlet noted that Lake didn’t pursue what was potentially the best attack avenue against Gallego far enough. It’s an angle President Trump has levied against Vice President Kamala Harris with great success: citing the Democrats’ current offices and asking why the changes they champion haven’t been made already.
“I haven’t had a vote in this; you’ve had a vote for 10 years,” she said.
The AP observed that Gallego focused on election integrity and Lake’s objection to the 2022 gubernatorial race results, bait that Lake refused to take. However, she did pivot to a strong argument on election integrity that Gallego was poorly equipped to answer.
“You know we’ve had problems across the country since 2000. One year the Democrats are mad, the next year the Republicans are,” Lake began. “We’ve got problems with our elections, and there’s no doubt about it. The people of Arizona have been burned. They’re tired of hearing about hiccups and loopholes and problems that happen on Election Day. We just want to make sure that our legal vote counts!”
She then zeroed in on Gallego: “My opponent wants illegal votes to count! He actually voted twice to have illegals vote. He voted against the SAVE Act, which would prevent illegals from voting. I want every legal vote to count. I don’t care if you are the most liberal Democrat or the most conservative Republican or where most of Arizona is: somewhere in between. I want every legal vote to count.”
Lake offered a solution to the matter of election integrity that will likely resonate with beleaguered Arizona voters fed-up with election-day mishaps for over a decade. “My solution would be: let’s get back to something closer to what we used to have: Election day, paper ballots, and we know the results right there on the night of the election. But we definitely can’t have people pouring across our country illegally voting. Not only does he want to let them vote, he wants to give them all asylum, and we’ve got to stop this nonsense at the border and restore our country.”
Even AZCentral, an outlet that has often proven openly hostile to Lake, seemed to de facto concede that Lake, in her confrontational, ‘take-no-prisoners’ debate style, successfully steamrolled Gallego. Bill Goodykoontz wrote in an editorial, “She followed the debate tactics (of) Donald Trump (her ‘good friend,’ she said) and repeatedly went over her time limit and talked over Gallego, often resorting to personal attacks. It was ugly. And she got away with it.”
Goodykoontz observed that though Gallego didn’t take the bait, he “didn’t respond as forcefully as he might have.” Further, Lake from the start, sought to classify Gallego as the “extreme makeover” candidate by drawing stark contrasts between his current talking points and his congression record, in lockstep with the Biden-Harris administration.
“Ruben Gallego has supported — every step of the way — Kamala Harris, the border czar, and Joe Biden’s open border,” she said.
While the New York Times’ Kellen Browning assessed that the debate may not have been a “knock out blow” to Gallego, the momentum generated by a dominant debate performance could move Lake back into striking distance of her opponent.
In polling per FiveThirtyEight, Gallego achieved several breakaways, carrying him into double digits over Lake, the most recent at the end of September. But in the past week, he has begun to hemorrhage his lead again from thirteen points in September, back down to seven. Should the cycle the two candidates have been locked in for months repeat, it will find Lake likely within margin of error by election day, if not overtaking the Democrat.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
