by Staff Reporter | Jun 4, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Evidence of voter fraud has been discovered in Arizona and seven other states, allegedly.
The secretary of state of Ohio, Frank LaRose, announced Tuesday he had discovered and submitted evidence of voter fraud in Arizona as well as Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
The alleged voter fraud consisted of noncitizen voter registration and double votes. LaRose discovered the alleged voter fraud during reviews of the Ohio Voter Registration Database by their Public Integrity Division.
The reviews yielded evidence indicating 11 individuals voted in the seven states and Washington, D.C.
LaRose passed along the findings to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, along with the attorneys general of the other affected states and Washington, D.C.
“We must send a clear message that election fraud won’t be tolerated,” said LaRose. “Through the investigations of our Public Integrity Division’s Election Integrity Unit, we are rooting out lawbreakers so we can bring accountability and justice.”
In a press release, LaRose reminded voters that every single vote counted.
“Critics of Ohio’s election integrity efforts may try to minimize the significance of these referrals, as though some small amount of election crime is acceptable,” stated LaRose in a letter to Ohio Attorney General Yost. “Even one illegal vote can spoil the outcome of an election for the citizenry at large, whether it be a school levy, majority control of a legislative chamber, or even a statewide election contest.”
During her campaign for attorney general, Mayes dismissed claims of widespread voter fraud occurring in Arizona.
“Know what has been debunked repeatedly? Any indication of widespread, systemic voter fraud,” posted Mayes on X during her campaign run in 2022. “Many of us find the continuation of lies about that ‘truly appalling.’”
Mayes was declared the winner of the 2022 attorney general race, despite questions remaining of over 9,000 uncounted provisional ballots and their potential effect on her slim margin of victory over now-Congressman Abe Hamadeh. Mayes’ already-slim lead of over 500 votes dropped to under 300 after uncounted votes were discovered in Pinal County during a recount.
As of this report, Mayes hasn’t indicated whether she will act on the referral to her office for investigation or prosecution.
Mayes’ focus on election-related prosecution has largely concerned securing criminal convictions for President Donald Trump’s 2020 electors — a group she refers to as the “fake electors.” All of Mayes’ efforts to coordinate a plan of prosecution (with the help of a Washington, D.C. advocacy organization) and secure the indictments were for naught.
Late last month, the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled that Mayes must redo her entire case against the electors, citing her failure to instruct the grand jury on applicable provisions of the Electoral Count Act of 1887.
More recently, Mayes unsuccessfully attempted to prevent Cochise County from carrying out its plans for a new jail district election. The election was deemed necessary in court due to the 2023 election on the issue being invalid — nearly 11,000 eligible voters were left without ballots. Mayes pushed in court to have the county abide by the results of the flawed 2023 election.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Jun 3, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Although uncounted ballots from the highly contested 2022 election were destroyed, a former Arizona Secretary of State employee and current reporter is claiming that Congressman Abe Hamadeh is delusional for believing counties followed the law.
Last November, all ballots from the 2022 election were destroyed in accordance with Arizona law. Over 9,000 of those destroyed and allegedly valid ballots were never counted in the election — all provisional votes that may have resulted in Hamadeh winning the attorney general’s race over then-Democratic candidate and current attorney general Kris Mayes.
One of those ballots belonged to the husband of State Senator Wendy Rogers, according to the lawmaker.
These provisional ballots belonged to voters who were forced to cast provisionally due to failures by the state’s voter registration system, according to legal discoveries that would emerge over the course of Hamadeh’s challenge of the election.
The counties reportedly did not discover the thousands of uncounted provisional ballots due to a delay in response from the counties to Hamadeh’s legal team. The tardiness of the counties’ response times — along with a superior court judge’s months-long delay in signing his orders — jeopardized and ultimately resulted in the defeat of Hamadeh’s legal challenge to the 2022 election.
The statewide recount announced late December 2022 reduced Mayes’ lead over Hamadeh from just over 500 votes to less than 300 votes out of millions of ballots cast. The slashed lead resulted from major ballot-counting errors by Pinal County. The county failed to account for nearly 400 votes cast for Hamadeh and about 100 for Mayes due to “human error” — a vote difference of over 500 that grew Hamadeh’s margin.
About 70 percent of Election Day votes were for Hamadeh.
In an X post on Monday, Hamadeh accused Democrats of stealing the 2022 attorney general’s race.
“No, they stole [the election],” said Hamadeh. “Burned 9,000 uncounted ballots.”
Yet, the former Secretary of State staffer and data and elections reporter for ABC 15 Arizona, Garrett Archer, called Hamadeh “delusional” and unserious for reminding the public of the uncounted ballots that were destroyed and claiming the possibility of those ballots being valid.
“Abraham Hamadeh has a former troll run his social media. I have to think this is coming from that person. Because this take is delusional,” said Archer. “Why do people take this garbage seriously? Is it just a game or is it a complete capitulation of critical thinking in favor of an emotion driven reaction?”
Beyond the thousands of destroyed uncounted ballots, it was argued by Hamadeh’s counsel in his case contending the 2022 election that Maricopa County included hundreds of invalid early ballots for Mayes.
Around the date the ballots were set to be destroyed last November, the Arizona Supreme Court rejected Hamadeh’s challenge to the 2022 election results.
The disenfranchisement of thousands of voters wasn’t an unlikely occurrence in the 2022 election. While secretary of state that year, Governor Katie Hobbs admitted about 6,000 Arizonans were mistakenly registered as federal-only voters.
A year later in November 2023, Hobbs issued what critics called a “confession” of sorts describing potential disenfranchisement caused by the state’s voter system in her Elections Task Force final report.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Jonathan Eberle | Jun 3, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
Governor Katie Hobbs has withdrawn her nominee to the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council (GRRC) after the appointee, Jenny Domingo, was revealed to be unavailable to fulfill her duties for several months. The decision came just hours before a scheduled Senate confirmation hearing, prompting criticism from Republican lawmakers.
According to Senate Government Committee Chairman Jake Hoffman, Domingo left the country in April and is not expected to return until September. During that time, GRRC is scheduled to hold 12 meetings to review regulatory actions proposed by various state agencies. Hoffman expressed strong concerns about the nominee’s extended absence and questioned the administration’s vetting process.
“I am completely dumbfounded why the highest elected official in the State of Arizona would nominate an individual who would rather prioritize her vacation schedule… than her important role of service to the citizens of Arizona,” Hoffman said in a press release Wednesday. “Katie Hobbs should find someone dedicated to the post – or at least willing to show up.”
Appointed in October 2024, Domingo was slated to serve on the GRRC, a body tasked with ensuring that new and existing regulations are necessary, legally sound, and do not impose undue burdens on the public. The council is a final checkpoint for many agency rules and plays a key role in shaping the state’s regulatory environment.
While Governor Hobbs’ office has not issued a public statement regarding the withdrawal, the move has sparked renewed partisan tensions over appointments and administrative oversight. Republicans argue that the situation reflects broader issues with Hobbs’ approach to governance.
As of now, it remains unclear who Hobbs will nominate to replace Domingo on the council. GRRC’s upcoming agenda includes regulatory reviews that could affect multiple sectors, from occupational licensing to construction and consumer goods.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Jun 3, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
For the third year in a row, the Arizona governor made a bold statement for Pride Month.
Governor Katie Hobbs again raised the Pride flag stories above the American flags on the Executive Tower on Monday in recognition of Pride Month. Hobbs pledged her loyalty to advancing and protecting LGBTQ+ ideologies.
“I’m proud to fly the Pride banner from the Executive Tower in celebration of Pride Month,” said Hobbs. “I will always stand for the freedom of Arizonans to be who they are, love who they love, and live with dignity and without fear.”
These flags are technically an expansion of the original rainbow-based Pride flag because they include the colors light pink, light blue, and white to represent transgenderism as well as black and brown to represent people with brown or black skin tones.
Pride Month was first officially recognized by the federal government in 1999 under President Bill Clinton, initially called “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.” Then, in 2011, President Barack Obama expanded Pride Month recognition into what it consists of today.
During his first term in 2017, President Donald Trump didn’t offer federal recognition of Pride Month.
However, the first Pride Parade in Arizona took place in Phoenix in 1981 — about a decade after the first pride marches occurred in response to the 1970 Stonewall Riots in New York. The riots erupted following a police raid on a gay bar in Manhattan and lasted nearly a week.
Hobbs has continued her commitment to Pride Month despite the growing reluctance of other major cultural players to continue doing so. A frequent supporter of LGBTQ+ ideologies, Google, announced earlier this year it would no longer highlight Pride Month by default on Google Calendar. The corporation said the continued recognition of Pride Month wasn’t “scalable or sustainable,” citing the burden of recognizing the ever-increasing number of “cultural moments” globally.
Hobbs has flown the Pride flags above the American flags every summer since taking office.
During last summer’s Pride Month, Hobbs vetoed legislation guaranteeing equality of care for gender transition reversals, dubbed the “Detransitioner Bill of Rights.” This year, Hobbs vetoed bills limiting school locker room usage by gender, barring gender changes on birth certificates, preventing any funding to higher education institutes teaching students about gender identity, and precluding legal recognition of gender transitions.
During her first Pride Month as governor, Hobbs used an Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) drone to film the Pride flags. Reporting on the matter was delayed until the following year because it took the governor’s office nine months to respond to public records requests.
As reported initially, ADOT drone usage is intended for inspections and surveys of work concerning state infrastructure.
Hobbs also used state time to hold several ceremonies to watch the unfurling of the flags from the balcony and then admire the flags from the ground below, followed by an hour-long “Pride Roundtable” with those same guests.
Hobbs’ first executive order expanded discrimination protections to include prohibitions against “gender identity” discrimination in state employment and contracts.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Jonathan Eberle | Jun 2, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
Health insurers in Arizona will soon be required to involve a licensed physician before denying medically necessary care, under a new law aimed at increasing oversight and accountability in coverage decisions. House Bill 2175, introduced by Republican House Majority Whip Julie Willoughby (R-LD13), was signed into law after receiving strong bipartisan support in the state legislature.
The legislation mandates that an Arizona-licensed medical director must personally review any denial based on medical necessity, whether it involves a prior authorization or a claim. Crucially, the reviewing physician must exercise independent medical judgment and cannot rely solely on automated tools or artificial intelligence systems.
“This law ensures that a doctor, not a computer, is making medical decisions,” said Willoughby in a statement. “If care is denied, it should be by someone with the training and ethical duty to put patients first.”
The law is set to take effect on July 1, 2026, allowing insurers more than a year to adapt their internal procedures. The delayed implementation aims to give companies time to bring their policies into compliance, including staffing licensed physicians for the review process.
The measure comes amid growing national scrutiny over how insurers use algorithms and automated decision-making tools in the claims process. Critics argue that such systems can lead to denials of care without adequate clinical oversight, potentially putting patient health at risk.
Supporters of HB 2175 say the law provides a necessary check on those systems and re-centers medical decision-making around qualified professionals who are accountable to both patients and state standards.
“Arizona families deserve real oversight when it comes to life-changing medical decisions,” Willoughby said. “This law puts patients ahead of profits and restores a layer of accountability that’s long overdue.”
The new policy aligns with the House Republican Majority Plan, which emphasizes individual rights and system transparency. While the law’s primary sponsors are Republican, it passed with bipartisan support, reflecting broad legislative agreement on the need for more oversight in insurance determinations.
The implementation of HB 2175 will be closely watched by healthcare advocates, insurers, and policy analysts as Arizona becomes one of the latest states to regulate the use of AI in healthcare decision-making.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Jun 2, 2025 | Economy, News
By Matthew Holloway |
The State of Arizona led the United States in monthly job growth for the month of April according to a report released by the Common Sense Institute of Arizona (CSIAZ) following a three-month period of negative annual growth.
As reported by the CSIAZ, Arizona saw an increase of 14,200 non-farm jobs in the month of April for an increase of 0.44% or a year-over-year increase of 0.76%, ranking the state first in the nation for monthly job growth. Overall, the total job-growth in the U.S. was 0.11%, with eleven states losing jobs. However, despite the job growth, the CSIAZ reported that inflation-adjusted wages have decreased by 4.2% since 2020, and total employment remains over 212,000 jobs under the pre-pandemic trend.
In a posting to X, CSIAZ noted that in the last 12 months, the state gained 24,600 jobs for a 0.76% increase.
According to the report, the job gains haven’t been consistent across various industries, with clear winners and losers:
“The state’s fastest growing sector over the past twelve months was Education and Health Services, adding 22,600 jobs (+4.2%). Its slowest growing sector was Professional and Business Services, which lost -4,400 jobs (0.9%). The Education and Health Services sector has steadily grown since 2020 (losing only 48,000 jobs during the pandemic) and is now at its all-time highest level of employment. Professional and Business Services on the other hand peaked in January 2024 but has been declining since.”
Drilling into discrepancies in wages and time worked, Arizona workers experienced a decrease in non-seasonally adjusted wages of -$0.13 during the month of April, placing Arizona far behind the rest of the country’s steady, though anemic, wage growth rate of +$0.06 over the same month. But year-over-year Arizona is continuing to outperform the U.S. average with wage growth of $1.49, up 4.5% annually.
This wage growth, however, has failed to keep up with CPI Inflation as noted earlier, making Arizonans feel a pinch at the register, and as CSIAZ explained, real wages were only up “4.2% year-over-year and after CPI inflation, compared to the April nominal increase of 4.4%.”
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.
