Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake challenged Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs to push back on a mainstream media warning of election hacking.
On Monday, the day before Election Day, Politico issued an article warning that hackers impose “real risks” to election equipment such as voting machines. They prefaced their warning with the disclosure that claims of voting machine hacks from the 2020 presidential election were invalid.
.@katiehobbs as Secretary of State it is your job to denounce @politico for their election denying conspiracy theories.
The Politico article stated that there were six potential threats to elections, five of which were related to cybersecurity: misinformation/disinformation, election office and campaign website crashers, campaign social media hijackers, voter registration database hackers, voter harassers, and wireless modem hackers.
Only that last potential threat, the wireless modem hackers, could compromise election results by tampering with unofficial vote data, voting machine processing, or computer tallying. Politico assured readers that this type of cyberattack would be less likely to occur because it’s more difficult and time-consuming. Discovery of this type of cyberattack would only occur through paper ballot analysis and post-election audits.
Tensions over Hobbs’ role overseeing the election as secretary of state in a highly contested race have grown over the last few weeks. Last Tuesday, Lake hired one of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers from the 2020 election lawsuits.
As TIME reported, two former secretaries of state advised that Hobbs should grant election oversight to other officials. However, Hobbs’ office told TIME that she wouldn’t do so.
Richard Mahoney, a Democrat, suggested that Attorney General Mark Brnovich or Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer assist Hobbs.
“I think it would be wise if the secretary of state seconded responsibility for ministerial oversight to either the attorney general or the Maricopa County recorder,” said Mahoney.
Ken Bennett, a Republican, suggested others within her office assume control.
“She should recuse herself from the official acts that she would normally perform as secretary and let a deputy secretary or somebody else take care of those,” said Bennett.
FACT: The 2020 election was the safest and most secure election in Arizona’s history.
FACT: Kari Lake is a dangerous lying conspiracy theorist who has no business being governor. https://t.co/T3xGRQzHXL
The man allegedly behind the burglary of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs’ campaign office is an illegal immigrant sought by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Sources informed the Arizona Daily Independent this week that the fugitive, a 36-year-old Portuguese citizen named Daniel Mota Dos Reis, failed to maintain his immigration status through a student visa. Reis earned his MBA from Grand Canyon University (GCU) last December. According to ICE records, Reis entered the country on a student visa in 2018, when he started at GCU.
As AZ Free News reported last week, Hobbs alleged that Reis was prompted to burglarize her campaign office due to rhetoric from her opponent, Kari Lake. Reis likely wasn’t motivated by the gubernatorial race or politics at all.
Unfortunately, Katie and so many other elected officials are victims of threats and intimidation tactics like this. Make no mistake — this is a direct result of Kari Lake and fringe Republicans spreading lies and hate and inciting violence — and it is despicable. https://t.co/NzUkHGHx3W
Rather, the timeline of events offered by Reis’ social media accounts indicates that he was motivated by financial distress. Reis worked as an accountant for four years until March, when it appears that he either left or lost his job. At that point, Reis began searching for other job opportunities abroad. It is unclear whether his immigration status was a factor in his job status.
In April, Reis posted to social media that it was difficult to obtain work authorization papers.
“Work authorizations and work-related paperwork can be a huge issue in the US,” stated Reis. “I see friends deeply impacted by these policies on a daily basis.”
Police relayed that Reis was homeless at the time of his arrest for several burglaries, including that of Hobbs’ campaign office.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs’ husband, Patrick Goodman, serves as a counselor for Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s (PCH) Gender Support Program (GSP).
As AZ Free News reported in August, PCH’s program provides the only comprehensive “gender-affirming care” via transition in the state. After widespread reporting of the program, PCH removed much of the content related to its programs and services from its website.
Goodman and his colleagues within the GSP consult with children for the application of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. Goodman also testified in an ongoing lawsuit to force the state to issue corrective birth certificates based on gender identity, filed by several transgender children and their parents against the state, Roe, et al v. Herrington, et al.
Goodman was the mental health provider for one of the children in the case, then a 10-year-old referred to as Jane Doe. The lawsuit was filed almost exactly two years ago, in November 2020. The latest action to occur in the case concerned the depositions of the Arizona Department of Health Services interim director Don Herrington this week.
Goodman’s medical notes concerning Jane Doe are sealed in the court case.
Happy Father’s Day to my dad, my husband Pat, and all the father figures out there. Thank you for all of your support and love. pic.twitter.com/IvEIf4soTh
The state allows birth certificate changes after a sex change operation. The state doesn’t allow minors to undergo gender transition surgery, though they may still take puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
Hobbs opposed the most recent law banning gender transition surgeries for minors, as well as a law excluding males from female sports.
Yesterday, Gov. Ducey signed two anti-trans bills into law.
Today, on International Transgender Visibility Day, as we celebrate the accomplishments of the trans community, we’re also committed to fighting back against these injustices and protecting Arizona's trans children. 🏳️⚧️
Hobbs said that preventing children from transitioning genders wasn’t protecting them.
Anti-trans bills don’t help protect children and families—they hurt them.
I’m heartbroken Governor Ducey signed these cruel bills into law, and I’ll never stop fighting for Arizona’s trans community. pic.twitter.com/DlyaYbeP2o
On Wednesday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs said debates don’t matter when explaining why she won’t debate Republican opponent Kari Lake.
Hobbs made the remarks during a CNN interview. Voters upset over Hobbs’ refusal to debate were told to accept it as part of her campaign strategy. Hobbs added that a debate at this point was too late anyway.
“Look, we’re six days out from the election and our campaign strategy is our campaign strategy,” said Hobbs. “We’re moving forward and I’m continuing to make my case to the voters of Arizona. Whether or not we debate in this race is not going to decide this election.”
Hobbs also claimed that Lake wasn’t interested in a debate, just in creating a spectacle. The CNN “This Morning” hosts — Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins — insisted that Hobbs could challenge Lake’s narratives in real time.
Hobbs also neglected to debate her primary opponent, Marco Lopez. When asked the reason for avoiding that debate, Hobbs said she didn’t need to because of favorable polling. Effectively, Lopez wasn’t worth the time or effort required for a debate. Hobbs didn’t mention her initial excuse for skipping the debate with Lopez: a purported COVID-19 infection and a conflicting campaign event.
“I was miles ahead of him and won handily,” said Hobbs.
Hobbs initially told the public that she skipped the debate against Lopez because of a COVID-19 illness. Yet just several days later, Hobbs participated in an Independence Day parade in Flagstaff.
In September, Hobbs fled from in-person questions posed by media and supporters concerning her refusal to debate Lake.
Last month, Hobbs advised voters that they should forget about her refusal to debate and, instead, focus on her platform.
Kari Lake’s desperate attempts to create a spectacle are a distraction from dangerous positions she can't defend. Today makes clear she has no intention of actually telling voters her plans to govern.
Debate about debates is over. I have real plans to lead Arizona forward #AZGOV
When Hobbs questioned Lake’s water crisis policies on social media last week, Lake pointed out that these sorts of questions were best answered in a debate. Lake has invited Hobbs repeatedly to debate her.
You probably shouldn't have skipped our debate then, @katiehobbs.
Despite mounting evidence debunking the environmental friendliness of electric vehicles (EV), Arizona’s leaders continue to roll out EV infrastructure.
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), Tucson, and Phoenix have all rolled out plans to expand EV infrastructure, as well as encourage citizens to switch to electric while transitioning government vehicles to electric. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs pledged to electrify all state vehicle fleets as part of her “clean” energy plan. The state legislature also considered bills to advance EV usage earlier this year, such as SB1102 to require new homes to have EV charging.
In the latest episode of acclaimed reporter John Stossel’s “Stossel TV,” Manhattan Institute physicist Mark Mills shared that EVs won’t change oil use and carbon dioxide emissions “in any significant way.” Mills revealed that even 300-500 million EVs would only reduce world oil consumption by 10 percent. That’s the entire US population, and 5-8 percent of the world population over 16 years old. There are approximately 15-18 million EVs in the world presently.
Most oil use comes from airplanes, buses, and big trucks — even the mining equipment to obtain copper required for EVs.
“It won’t change because those trucks last 40 years,” said Mills.
President Biden: “the future of vehicles is electric!"
Green activists agree.
But an electric car creates “10-20 tons of carbon…before you drive the first mile,” says @MarkPMills.
That’s another debunked claim of EV’s environmental friendliness: the mining process requires a lot of the earth for very little. One battery requires about 500,000 pounds of minerals and rock to be mined. The mining process pollutes the surrounding environment, resulting in most operations to take place abroad in Chile and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Altogether, the mining, manufacturing, and shipping process for EVs emits 10 to 20 tons of carbon dioxide.
Claims that EVs reduce carbon emissions are only true insofar as an EV is driven 100,000 miles at minimum. Even then, that mileage reduces emissions by up to 20 or 30 percent. The average EV battery lasts around 200,000 miles, though an EV warranty is 100,000 miles. (Tesla projects that it may develop a million-mile battery, though their cars are among the most expensive on the market). With every charge cycle, the battery pack loses capacity and reduces driving range.
Further, only 12 percent of electricity production comes from wind or solar power. Most comes from burning natural gas or coal. That’s nothing to say of the potential strain on the country’s energy grids under the Biden administration’s planned EV network, or under varying weather conditions such as cold snaps and heat waves.
EV sales increased 66 percent this year, following government and corporation efforts over the past several years to eradicate gas-powered vehicles and encourage EV buying through incentives like tax credits. California banned the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035, with Massachusetts and Washington following via trigger laws. Other states are on track to phase out gas vehicles over the next few decades, including Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New York, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Rhode Island.
That’s in addition to nearly all major car brands pledging to shift toward mostly or exclusively EV within the next several decades, including General Motors (Chevrolet, GMC, Buick), Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Rolls-Royce, Volvo, and Audi.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
