by Staff Reporter | Mar 28, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Court of Appeals judge in the “alternate electors” case donated to Attorney General Mayes when she was campaigning on prosecuting President Donald Trump’s 2020 electors.
On Wednesday, the day after Attorney General Kris Mayes asked the court to reject the lower court’s ruling, the appeals court held oral arguments in the alternate electors case.
The appeals court judge on the case, Andrew Jacobs, was appointed by Governor Katie Hobbs in February 2023. Jacobs donated $500 to Mayes’ campaign for the office in 2022. At the time, Jacobs was an attorney with Snell and Wilmer.
Several days after Mayes promised publicly to investigate the 2020 electors, Jacobs submitted his first donation to her campaign.
“I would have immediately investigated the alternate electors as Attorney General,” said Mayes. “Arizona needs a #LawyerForthePeople.”
Jacobs submitted his second donation to Mayes’ campaign the day after an Arizona Republic article emerged highlighting the differences between her and then-opponent (now congressman) Abe Hamadeh.
A source that observed the emergency hearing described Jacobs as “hostile” to the electors. During oral arguments, the conflict of interest was raised, however, Jacbos still voted on an issue in the case, the decision to grant a stay.
Last month, Maricopa County Judge Sam Myers ruled the 2020 electors, 16 in total, provided sufficient evidence that Mayes’ case against them may be dismissable for violating Arizona’s Anti-SLAPP law.
Anti-SLAPP, or “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” imposes civil liability against any state actor that brings or maintains a legal action substantially motivated by a desire to deter, retaliation against, or prevent free speech and association.
Myers said the 2020 electors demonstrated their actions to comprise “at least in part some arguably lawful speech.” Myers cited Mayes’ remarks announcing the indictments as potential proof of a political motivation behind her prosecution.
Mayes disagreed with the ruling. The attorney general said the 2020 creation of an alternate elector slate didn’t constitute free speech and shouldn’t be afforded constitutional protections.
“It is not the lawful exercise of free speech to file forged slates of electors to deprive Arizona voters of their right to vote,” said Mayes.
In order to counter Myers’ ruling, Mayes had to prove in a brief due earlier this week that she wasn’t motivated by a desire to retaliate or deter the 2020 electors’ free speech rights.
The outcome of that motion to dismiss the case remains pending.
Myers did deny motions to dismiss Mayes’ case last week, however. The motions claimed Mayes lacked authority to bring the case to court and failed to allege crimes committed.
Last November, the first judge on the case, Bruce Cohen, recused himself after emails emerged in which he ordered his fellow judges to come to the defense of then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
The defendants in the case include former AZGOP Chair Dr. Kelli Ward, Dr. Michael Ward, former executive director of the AZGOP Greg Safsten, former Arizona State Senator Anthony Kern, former Senate Candidate Jim Lamon, former Cochise County Republican Committee chair Robert Montgomery, former Cochise County Republican Committee chair Samuel Moorhead, Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman, Turning Point USA COO Tyler Bowyer, and attorneys John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Christina Bobb, as well as President Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Campaign Aide Boris Epshteyn, and director of Election Day operations Mike Roman.
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by Staff Reporter | Mar 9, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled against the Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) produced by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.
Judge Lacey Gard reversed and remanded a lower court decision dismissing the case, Republican National Committee, et al. vs. Adrian Fontes, et al., last summer. Gard ruled the EPM fell under the Arizona Administrative Procedure Act (APA), a “plain reading” of the statute contrary to what the lower court ruled. Gard also dismissed Fontes’ arguments for his right to not comply with the APA because the APA and EPM statutes conflict.
“[The APA] unambiguously states that all agencies are subject to the APA’s rulemaking procedures unless ‘expressly exempted,’” stated Gard. “The APA and EPM statutes impose duties on the Secretary that may require him to begin promulgating the EPM earlier, but they are not inconsistent, do not directly conflict, and do not create impossible barriers to complying with both.”
Gard further ruled Fontes violated the APA by not allowing public comment on the proposed EPM for the full 30 days, instead only opening up review for 15 days.
Gard noted at the end of her ruling that she wouldn’t address other claims by the Republican National Committee challenging eight specific provisions of the EPM, since she arrived at the conclusion that Fontes’ promulgation of the 2023 EPM failed to “substantially comply” with requirements set forth by the APA for the rulemaking process.
The Republican Party of Arizona (AZGOP) sued Fontes over the EPM last February, along with the Arizona legislature leadership at the time (Senate President Warren Petersen and then-House Speaker Ben Toma) and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. In a statement on Thursday’s ruling, the AZGOP claimed the appeals court found the EPM to be unconstitutional.
AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda said the ruling confirmed the extent of the unlawfulness of Fontes’ EPM in the Thursday statement. Swoboda characterized Fontes and his EPM as an attempt “from the radical left to illegally assume control” of Arizona elections.
“This opinion from the court shows just how much Secretary Fontes and his allies in the Governor’s and Attorney General’s offices overreached in their partisan efforts to hijack our elections through this blatantly political manual,” said Swoboda. “As we have highlighted to the court, the most-recent elections manual contained many provisions that ran utterly contrary to Arizona law, giving the Democrat machine a clear advantage at the ballot box for years to come.”
Beyond the lack of compliance with APA, GOP leaders’ objections to the Fontes EPM concerned conflicts with state election law: accepting voters who declared themselves noncitizens on juror questionnaires; allowing voters who failed to submit or couldn’t achieve verification of their Documentary Proof of Citizenship (DPOC); allowing first-time, federal-only voters to provide only an ID and not DPOC for mail-in voting; not requiring county recorders to check federal databases for citizenship reviews; restricting public review of voter signatures on mail ballots; allowing Active Early Voting List voters to receive ballots outside the state for certain elections; requiring denial of early ballot challenges received prior to the return of an early ballot; and allowing out-of-precinct voters to cast provisional ballots.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Feb 24, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
From a vocal young Generation Z activist supporting the candidacies of Kari Lake and Abe Hamadeh to driving election engagement in his own high school and becoming the youngest founder of a political action committee, Nico Delgado became an influential voice in conservative politics in Arizona, before he was even old enough to vote.
The prominence of Delgado and his ‘NicoPAC’ has extended to even commissioning one of the first polls in the 2026 Arizona gubernatorial race which, as reported by AZ Free News, favored Congressman Andy Biggs.
AZ Free News conducted a short interview with Delgado to discuss his career so far, along with his motivations and aspirations.
What was your motivation for becoming involved with conservative politics?
My motivation was to save the state I love. I was born and raised in Arizona, and I watched as homelessness, drugs, and crime increased, and I had enough of it. I knew I was young, but I still wanted to contribute in any way I could to help the right people represent our state.
What or whom would you describe as the single greatest influence on your political philosophy?
Losing my mother at 22 while I was only 15 years old had a huge impact on my philosophy. She passed away after an overdose just before the 2022 midterms. I gained a whole new perspective on the drug, mental health, and the national security problems our nation suffers from.
What shortcomings, if any, do you see in the present Republican power structure? How do you feel they can or should be corrected?
The Republican Party had many shortcomings before 2024. The party was too scared to speak out against what was really happening because they feared it would cause them to lose. Thankfully President Trump and MAGA showed that when you speak out against corruption, you win.
Delgado announced this month that not only is he busy with studies and running his political action committee, but he is now working for Congressman Abe Hamadeh as a Congressional Intern.
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.
by Matthew Holloway | Feb 16, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The Arizona legislature has passed the combined SB 1011 / HB 2703, sending the bill to the Governor’s desk. SB 1011 and HB 2703 would streamline the state’s election day processes to dramatically speed up election results and bring frustrated voters same-day returns.
To achieve the desired result of a speedier and more precise election outcome, the bills cut off all ballot drop-offs at collection locations to the Friday prior to election day and require voters in Arizona’s most populous counties to confirm their address every election cycle to receive a ballot by mail. For more sparsely populated counties, this would be every four years.
Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, celebrated the passage of the bill saying, “After one too many Election Nights (and weeks) of delayed results, Arizona legislators have done the right thing, crafting a bill that gives our state same-day results.”
He added, “Voters are exhausted of watching this slow-motion train wreck every November. Other states have same-day election results, and it is high time that Arizona enters the 21st Century in this regard. We call on Governor Katie Hobbs to sign this carefully crafted and negotiated bill into law.”
Following the passage of the bill in the State Senate, President Warren Petersen told Fox10, “After the election, we heard from our constituents who were extremely frustrated after waiting days and days to find out who won the election. The first bill to hit the Governor’s desk is a bill that will give us election results the night of the election.”
In a post to X, the AZGOP hailed the passage of the bill and demanded that Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs sign the bill writing, “GREAT NEWS FOR ARIZONA! Both the Arizona House of Representatives and Senate have passed the bill that would give our voters SAME-DAY results in future elections. This is what the people of Arizona have asked for, and our legislators have delivered. Now, it’s up to @GovernorHobbs to listen to the voices of Arizonans who are tired of waiting days and days for the results of critical election races. Governor, leave your partisan politics outside your office and SIGN THE BILL!”
On Friday, the party account posted morning, afternoon and evening calling upon Hobbs to sign the bill and “Give Arizona same-day election results!”
As reported by Fox, Hobbs has voiced serious opposition to the bill, arguing that it makes it harder to vote by cutting off early drop-off and effectively shuttering the state’s Active Early Voting List. “Legislators are attempting to jam through a partisan bill that guts vote by mail and makes it harder to vote,” she claimed. “I offered common sense compromises to count votes faster, and they were rejected. I refuse to let extremists make it harder for Arizonans to vote.”
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.
by Matthew Holloway | Feb 15, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The 16 prominent Republicans prosecuted for their participation in creating an alternate Electoral College slate for the 2020 presidential election are one step closer to having their charges dismissed. Earlier this week, a Maricopa County Judge ruled that Attorney General Mayes may have been politically motivated to charge them.
On Monday, Maricopa County Judge Sam Myers ruled that the defendants successfully demonstrated that the charges against them could comprise an attack on what he deemed is “at least in part some arguably lawful speech.” This ruling could trigger a dismissal through Arizona’s Anti-SLAPP law, a statute designed to prevent legal action launched to suppress free speech. In the text of Arizona’s Anti-SLAPP law, the prosecution must now establish “the legal action on which the motion is based is justified by clearly established law and that the responding party did not act in order to deter, prevent or retaliate against the moving party’s exercise of constitutional rights.” As reported by Courthouse News, Judge Myers said that a statement from Arizona Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, while announcing the indictment of the 16 Republicans that “this should never happen again,” could potentially show a political motivation to the prosecution.
As the outlet noted, Arizona prosecutors led by Mayes, have 45 days from the date of the ruling to respond to the judge’s ruling and prove to the court that the charges were brought in order to enforce existing Arizona laws and not to suppress the freedom of speech under the First Amendment. Myers said he will rule on the motion to dismiss once he’s received and considered the response. Responding to the ruling, Mayes promised an appeal in a press release saying, “We disagree with this ruling, and we will pursue an appeal.” She reiterated her claim adding, “It is not the lawful exercise of free speech to file forged slates of electors to deprive Arizona voters of their right to vote.”
The defendants in the case include former AZGOP Chair Dr. Kelli Ward, Dr. Michael Ward, former executive director of the AZGOP Greg Safsten, former Arizona State Senator Anthony Kern, former Senate Candidate Jim Lamon, former Cochise County Republican Committee chair Robert Montgomery, former Cochise County Republican Committee chair Samuel Moorhead, Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman, Turning Point USA COO Tyler Bowyer, and attorneys John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Christina Bobb, as well as President Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Campaign Aide Boris Epshteyn, and director of Election Day operations Mike Roman.
Following the ruling, Eastman posted to X, “Major ruling in the Arizona electors case this a.m. The new judge just ruled that I met the prima facie case required to dismiss under the anti-SLAPP statute — that is, 1st Amend. rights implicated, & substantial evid. that the prosecution was to retaliate or deter those rights.”
Eastman added, “Just to clarify. The AG now has to prove that she wasn’t motivated by desire to retaliate or deter 1A rights. Their brief is due March 25. The judge also rejected the AG’s claim that the anti-SLAPP statute is unconstitutional.”
Fellow defendant Dr. Kelli Ward explained on X, “The court found sufficient showing in the defense’s arguments to warrant moving to stage 2 of the process in AZ’s criminal anti-slapp statute. Now the state has to prove that this case was not politically motivated and they must show that they’re using established precedent and not interpreting the law in new ways.”
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.
