This week, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs launched a campaign ad featuring a sheriff who denied the existence of the border crisis. Yet, Hobbs characterized the border situation as a crisis in her proposed plan to improve the border.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway denied that there was a border crisis last April when he rejected Arizona National Guard assistance for his county. Hathaway said that the only crisis Arizona suffered from was an economic crisis, seeming to insinuate that border restrictions prevented Mexican workers from contributing to the U.S. economy.
“We don’t have a migrant crisis on the border. We do not need to militarize our counties and have troops come to the border,” said Hathaway. “We have certain, very vocal sheriffs in this state who are trying to fan the flames on a supposed crisis.”
We need less talk and more action when it comes to securing the border. My highest priority is keeping Arizona communities safe which is why law enforcement like Sheriff Hathaway and Sheriff Nanos are backing my campaign. Watch here👇 pic.twitter.com/4IpFuUJgND
In the video, Hathaway said he was “tired of the talk” of other politicians and declared that Hobbs was the candidate who would take action.
Hobbs’ campaign video also featured Sheriff Chris Nanos. His remarks alluded to Hathaway’s past sentiments: that characterizations of the border as a crisis were overblown.
“She’s not here to politicize our border,” said Nanos.
Sheriff David Hathaway giving Governor candidate Katie Hobbs a tour of the beautiful ranchlands of Santa Cruz County. pic.twitter.com/LVBPpmxck4
— Sheriff David Hathaway, Santa Cruz County, AZ (@JamesDavidHath1) August 30, 2022
Hobbs’ views on the border have resulted in mixed messaging. In May, Hobbs said it was “ridiculous” that the border was a core issue for the governor’s race. In the preceding months, Hobbs flipped on her support for ending Title 42. Hobbs initially supported an immediate end to Title 42 before adopting her current perspective that Title 42’s demise would be a “rash decision” and a “disaster.”
Hobbs’ border plan pledged a “tough but fair immigration process” that would disincentivize illegal entry. She promised increased funding for border sheriffs and law enforcement, increased funding for border community centers and hospitals, increased funding for ports of entry, an increase and reallocation of work visas to address the labor shortage, a short-term plan to phase out Title 42, and citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients.
By comparison, Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s border plan issued a lengthier plan. Lake proposed the establishment of an interstate compact in which a commission would oversee border operations. States in the compact would declare an invasion; create a border security force that would arrest, detain, and deport illegal immigrants; and buck federal restrictions and regulations from federal border enforcement agencies.
Additionally, Lake promised to veto any budget that didn’t fully fund border wall completion, derive border construction funds from seized cartel assets, request border construction reimbursement from the federal government, expand the Arizona Rangers, destroy smuggler and cartel tunnels using Israeli military expertise, shoot down Mexican drones in Arizona airspace, increase the National Guards’ border presence and grant detainment authority, put a carveout in HB2810 to allow for civil asset forfeiture of cartel and trafficking assets, allow law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants under trespassing laws, create a special “border court” within the superior court to adjudicate illegal immigrant trespassing crimes, allow the Arizona Guard and National Guard to deport illegal immigrants, expand Governor Doug Ducey’s Border Strike Force Bureau, creation of a border task force for the tribal communities, institute a “Refuse and Lose” law that divests state funding from counties or municipalities that employ sanctuary policies, creation of a publicly-available illegal alien database, lobby Congress to remove Arizona from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals jurisdiction, have cartels designated as terrorist organizations, and require stricter screening for illegal immigrant minor placement.
Two voter initiatives will be on the 2022 General Election ballot even though some circulators of petitions in support of those initiatives may not have complied with state law, leading the Arizona Supreme Court to publicly call on Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs to fix her system.
The justices ruled last week that their only option was to allow the Voters’ Right To Know Act and the Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act to be on the Nov. 2 ballot despite the fact some of the signatures used to qualify for the ballot were obtained by circulators who did not comply with the requirements of Arizona Revised Statute 19-118.
“The Court declines to find that the Committee or any individual circulator failed to comply with § 19-118 when the SOS has prevented such compliance,” Chief Justice Robert Brutinel wrote. Doing otherwise, he noted, would “unreasonably hinder” the initiative power granted to voters in the Arizona Constitution.
Circulators are required under ARS 19-118 to register with the Secretary of State’s Office for each initiative effort they are involved with. Part of the registration process includes a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility.
However, the justices would not allow any signature challenges on the grounds of noncompliance with the affidavit requirement. The decision, Brutinel wrote, is that Hobbs’ online “Circulator Portal” is not designed to permit submission of more than one affidavit per circulator.
And it gets worse, according to Brutinel.
“By also refusing to accept manual submission of a hard copy affidavit…the SOS rendered it impossible for circulators to successfully submit a registration application as required by § 19-118…if they had already registered to circulate other petitions,” the ruling states.
Therefore, “any circulators’ lack of compliance with § 19-118 does not invalidate the signatures gathered by these circulators on the record and circumstances before us,” Brutinel wrote, denying a challenge by several groups including Protect Our Arizona, Americans for Prosperity, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, the Center for Arizona Policy Action, and the Goldwater Institute for Public Policy and Research.
Those groups argued in several election challenges that failure of a circulator to submit the affidavit is grounds for disqualifying all the petition signatures collected by that circulator for that initiative. The same position was argued by Gov. Doug Ducey, who filed an amicus brief in each case along with Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers.
Another voter initiative considered by the Arizona Supreme Court last week ended with a different result but still pointed to the problem with being unable to hold circulators accountable for complying with state law.
The case involved the proposed Arizona Free and Fair Elections Act which needed 237,645 validated petition signatures to make the ballot in November. The Arizona Free Enterprise Club cited more than 30 objections including the circulator affidavit issue.
The affidavits did not matter in the end, as the Free and Fair Elections effort fell shy of qualifying for the ballot by roughly 1,500 signatures. Critics of the initiative point out the importance of ensuring the initiative process “strictly complies” with the requirements set out in state law.
To do otherwise, they argue, is to call into question the legitimacy of the process.
On Sunday, Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs announced that she booked the drag queen who’s spoken out against her opponent, Kari Lake, over their past friendship.
Social media posts by the drag queen, Richard Stevens, went viral in June for showcasing his past friendship with Lake as well as her support and enthusiasm for the drag queen lifestyle.
Stevens spoke out in mid-June after Lake criticized the normalization of drag queens publicly. He called her a hypocrite, claiming that he did a drag queen performance for her birthday with children present years ago, and that she attended his performances at various Phoenix bars.
They kicked God out of schools and welcomed the Drag Queens.
They took down our Flag and replaced it with a rainbow.
They seek to disarm Americans and militarize our Enemies.
As proof, Stevens posted photos of Lake standing alongside two drag queens, one of them being him. In one of the photos, Lake was dressed as Elvis Presley and posing alongside Seville dressed as a blonde female with a sugar skull face. It’s unclear whether whether Lake intended to dress as a “drag king,” which is cross-dressing for a woman, or merely intended to wear a costume for a themed party.
“Now that @karilake has waded into the war on drag queens, know she is a complete hypocrite,” wrote Stevens. “Kari was a friend of mine, and I stood by her when she turned to the right. I reached out (and she responded repeatedly) when she took a public drubbing.”
Lake served Stevens a cease-and-desist letter. Incidentally, Stevens was preparing to perform for a “family-friendly” drag show brunch when he received the letter.
In response, Stevens’ lawyer Thomas Ryan called Lake a “bully” and threatened to provide evidence that Lake hired Stevens to perform for a news anchor friend’s baby shower.
“Now Kari is a bully, and the reservoir of goodwill she had built up over the years as a cherished news anchor — well, that’s been drained to the point where we might as well just refer to her now as Kari Puddles,” wrote Ryan.
@tomryanlaw has notified @KariLake I will not cease or desist telling the truth about my relationship with her.
The Arizona Senate Republican caucus pledged in June to introduce legislation banning child attendance at drag shows. The leaders said that drag shows sexualized and groomed children. They noted that they were working with several other states to draft the legislation.
“If men want to dress as women, and if adults want to participate in watching these hyper-sexualized performances, they have the freedom to do so. It crosses the line when kids are subjected to these drag shows,” wrote the caucus. “We will be damned if we won’t fight like hell to protect the most innocent from these horrifying and disturbing trends that are spreading across the nation now that extremist Democrats are currently in control of our federal government.”
JOINT STATEMENT BY THE ARIZONA STATE SENATE MAJORITY TEAM: Senate Republicans Fight Back Against the Sexual Perversion Children Are Being Exposed To
Their announcement followed a series of reports on the controversies following drag shows across the state. In May, a Tucson high school counselor who organized a drag show for students was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student. In June, a Phoenix museum hosted a drag show open to children.
Studies have linked youth exposure to sexually explicit material with risky sexual behaviors, intimacy disorders, sexual violence and misconduct, and sexual deviancy.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Gubernatorial candidate and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs bowed out of last Thursday’s debate against primary opponent Marco Lopez due to a reported COVID-19 infection, yet was out and about on Monday for Flagstaff’s Independence Day parade.
The CDC recommends that individuals with COVID-19 isolate for five days at least and not travel. If after five days the individual is asymptomatic or there’s no fever for 24 hours, then the CDC recommends that individuals wear a mask for five days when around others. If the COVID-19 illness is severe, then the individual should isolate for a minimum of 10 days.
Hobbs didn’t appear to be masked in the event pictures she posted.
What a great way to celebrate Independence Day — at the Flagstaff 4th of July parade, hearing from voters who care about the future of our state! I look forward to working for you on affordability, education, water and much more. pic.twitter.com/o5ifJa3o5y
It is unclear when Hobbs became infected, but it appears that she recovered completely by Monday.
I'm so happy to see that @KatieHobbs has fully recovered from her sudden case of COVID-19, which was bad enough to prevent her from debating @1marcolopez
Hobbs’ spokeswoman, Sarah Muench, informed The Arizona Republic in a Friday report that Hobbs missed the debate due to COVID-19. Prior to that, Hobbs didn’t issue any public statement mentioning her contraction of COVID-19. She was scheduled to attend other events that would’ve also conflicted with the debate scheduling, but reportedly had to cancel those as well due to her illness.
Lopez didn’t comment on Hobbs’ appearance in Flagstaff, though he was also in Coconino County for July 4 festivities.
Friends, we want our neighbors back. Our communities are longing for hope and leadership. Let's build an Arizona with good jobs, education, respect for rights – an Arizona for ALL. Thank you Coconino for your hospitality! #ArizonaNeedsUs 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/bJsY3IxvfF
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs published her plan for reimagining Arizona energy if she’s elected governor this November. Some of the major changes desired by Hobbs included total elimination of fossil fuels, creating a new bureaucratic body to oversee water and “clean” energy, tree planting in all neighborhoods, and rebate clean energy programs for those 150 percent below the poverty line.
Overhauling the state’s energy and water infrastructure to combat climate change will cost the state and Arizonans more than it would to maintain the status quo. Hobbs’ plan comes as Arizona voters feel increasing pressure from inflation. At present, Arizonans pay an average of over $5.35 per gallon for gas, with Maricopa County residents feeling the gas hike more acutely at $5.65 a gallon. They’re also paying an average increase of over $700 a month on household goods. That latter figure amounts to an average of nearly $8,800 more a year, according to the latest congressional research.
As AZ Free News reported earlier this month, the cost of electric vehicles alone haven’t proved feasible for most Arizonans, let alone Americans — a reality becoming more apparent with inflation. In March, less than 15 percent of Americans were estimated to afford an electric vehicle.
Hobbs’ plan didn’t include an estimated total cost. However, Hobbs did give dollar amounts for certain initiatives, amounting up to $295 million if she serves one term, and up to $575 million if she serves two terms:
up to $5 million a year to remove toxic chemicals from water
a one-time allocation of $15 million to build wells for rural Arizonans, Latinos, and indigenous communities
$15 million a year to restore forests and watersheds
$25 million a year in grants for communities and private landowners affected by wildfires
up to $25 million a year for preserving cultural and historical heritage spaces
Associated with some of these planned funding initiatives were disclosures that preference would be given to those aligning with certain social justice aims, such as combatting the urban heat island effect.
“Katie Hobbs’ Plan for a Resilient Arizona” proposed three overarching priorities: securing and modernizing the state’s water infrastructure, addressing wildfires and sustaining natural resources, and building a “clean energy economy.”
Here in Arizona we’re no strangers to heat—but in recent years we’ve seen temperatures skyrocket.
My plan includes detailed solutions to lower energy costs, invest in a clean energy economy, and modernize our energy infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/KAAGrfWUit
The Republican National Committee (RNC) research team issued a lengthy rebuttal of Hobbs’ plan. In a statement, spokesman Ben Petersen criticized the timing of a plan that would raise energy prices in the context of inflation increasing prices on everything, most noticeably gas and groceries.
“Democrat Katie Hobbs will struggle to explain her ‘Green New Deal’-esque scheme to voters paying record-high gas prices under Biden,” asserted Petersen. “Arizonans want more energy production and relief from the Biden Gas Hike, not Katie Hobbs’ far-left scheme to raise gas prices and energy bills.”
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero endorsed Hobbs’ plan. Last year, the city undertook a number of efforts to expand “clean” energy usage, which included requiring new homes to have electric vehicle charging ports.
Thank you @TucsonRomero for supporting this plan. As governor, I look forward to working with your city and those across the state to ensure Arizonans have access to one of our most vital resources. pic.twitter.com/pARtv40e2Y
