Every year, thousands of people flock to Arizona to enjoy the safe, affordable, and free way of life. Most of these transplants are escaping blue states such as Illinois and Washington, but most of all from California. In 2023 alone, 73,000 Californians moved to the Grand Canyon State as their own home state has become unbearably dangerous, costly, and oppressive.
But Arizona is now at a tipping point. Along with that influx of newcomers has come a morphing of political governance. In 2016, Republicans in the state legislature held majorities in the House with 36-24 members and 18-12 in the Senate. Those majorities have dwindled to a bare single seat majority of 31-29 and 16-14. With the Governor’s office changing hands in 2022 to Democratic control, the threat of a Democratic trifecta looms large, and is something Arizona hasn’t grappled with for over 60 years, a long-gone era when Democratic statesmen were rural blue dogs.
Today’s Arizona progressives are definitely not that. Cut from the same cloth as Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris, given all the levers of state government, Arizonans can expect the state to do a complete U-turn. Governor Katie Hobbs has publicly taken up the mantle, pledging millions of dollars (even from her dubious inauguration funds) and her out-of-state billionaire friends to flip Arizona blue and enjoy frictionless implementation of her most radical agenda.
That agenda has been hiding in plain sight for years, and it looks a lot like California…
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) announced the launch of dontCAmyAZ.com on Friday. The website is designed to educate Arizonans about the dangers of adopting California-like policies that have irrevocably damaged what was once one of the most prosperous states in America, and highlighting the growing influence that California politics are having on Arizona.
Aimee Yentes, Vice President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club introduced the website in a statement: “For years, we have warned about the oppressive, big-government policies of California being imported to our state. Yet, as more people escape the high crime and unaffordability of California and other blue states, Arizona’s safe, affordable, and free way of life is in jeopardy. The ‘Don’t CA my AZ’ campaign will educate residents all over the state about how they can help to keep AZ free.”
The AFEC warned that the Arizona legislature is currently held by a slim Republican majority in both the state house and senate which are effectively holding back the tide. The governor’s office is currently held by Democrat Katie Hobbs who has pledged to apply her full efforts to flipping the legislature rather than attempt to work in a bipartisan fashion with the Republican majorities, and actively vetoes every piece of legislation she can. The club explains that Hobbs is seeking to “put us on a glide path to becoming another California.” They warn, “Should Democrats control both chambers of the state legislature, the Left would control the trifecta of power, which hasn’t occurred in Arizona for more than sixty years.”
DontCAmyAZ.com offers a breakdown of bills and initiatives introduced in the Arizona legislature which would bring about the same policies and systems “that have destroyed the once great state of California.”
The site classifies the bills under three categories:
Dangerous Open Borders & Endless Crime
“Just like in California, the Arizona Left wants open borders and endless taxpayer incentives for illegal aliens. They’ll invite California-level crime by slashing criminal sentences, legalizing squatting, eliminating bail, and fully decriminalizing theft – attracting sophisticated crime rings to our state.”
Costly High Taxes & High Unemployment
“Just like in California, the Arizona Left wants to make Arizona one of the highest tax states in the country, shut down building single family homes altogether, and crush small businesses with a high regulatory burden.”
Oppressive Woke Schools & Corruption
“Just like in California, the Arizona Left wants state-sanctioned racial discrimination, gender mutilation surgeries for minors, to repeal the Parents Bill of Rights, draconian penalties for ‘climate crimes’ and to reward their political allies with taxpayer dollars.”
As AFEC stated clearly, “If given the ability to turn these bills into law, Arizona would see endless crime, high costs and taxes, and woke oppressive culture that now defines California.”
Alongside the website, the club has social media accounts on X, Instagram and TikTok to carry this message to younger voters and alert them to the dangers of such California-esque policies.
