A joint effort by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Republican Party of Arizona (AZGOP) resulted in engagement with one million voters this election cycle.
That effort, “Arizona Victory,” relied on volunteers to carry out door knocking, phone calls, and communications to encourage voting. The latest voter registration data revealed that well over 1.4 million voters (34 percent) registered as Republicans, slightly over 1.4 million (33 percent) registered in the catch-all “other” listing (independent voters, those without a party preference, and those whose party isn’t considered major), while just under 1.3 million (31 percent) registered as Democrats. As the dominant group, Republicans have over 147,600 more voters than Democrats and nearly 33,400 more voters than the “other” category.
That reflects an increase in Republican and “other” voter registrations, and a loss in Democratic voter registration since the 2020 primary election. Republican registrations increased by nearly 44,900 voters, and “other” registrations increased by over 128,200 voters. Democrat registrations decreased by nearly 5,900 voters.
All parties lost registrations when compared to the 2020 general election. Democrats lost over 91,100 voters, Republicans lost over 73,900, and “other” registrations reduced by over 107,300.
Despite having a lead in voter registrations in the 2020 general election, former President Donald Trump amassed nearly 10,500 less votes than current President Joe Biden.
The Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate earned over 51,400 votes: 13,000 more voters than total registered libertarians. The other five presidential candidates representing either no party, the “Constitution” party, or the “Socialism and Liberation” party earned just over 2,000 votes, cumulatively.
The current state voter registration numbers reflect a shift in voter outlooks between 2020 and this year, from party affiliation to “other.” This is a shift also reflected by the state’s largest county (over half of all voters reside in Maricopa County). As AZ Free News reported in June, over 5,000 voters in Maricopa County switched their party affiliation to “other.” A majority of those voters were Democrats, numbering over 2,1000, followed by Republicans, over 1,700, and over 1,000 individuals switching between classifications within the “other” category.
In a video congratulating the RNC and AZGOP for engaging more voters, Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) urged further GOP mobilization.
“We need every volunteer out there making phone calls, going to doors, doing everything that they can, telling their neighbors and their friends to vote Republican,” said Lesko. “You know as well as I that President Biden and the Democrats are ruining our country, and we have to take it back.”
This year’s primary election has nearly 170,900 more registered voters than the 2020 primary election. It’s the highest voter registration for a primary, ever. However, nearly 296,100 voters registered between the 2020 primary and general elections. There were about 125,000 more voters registered in the 2020 general election than the current primary.
The primary elections are Tuesday, August 2.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The day after the national observance of those who took up arms and gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect this country, State Senate Democrats hijacked traditional floor proceedings to push a gun control bill to a vote. The bill, SB1546, originally didn’t advance beyond its introduction in January. On Tuesday, it failed narrowly along party lines.
The legislation contrived by Minority Whip Martín Quezada (D-Glendale) would’ve required all firearms sales and transfers to be conducted by licensed firearms dealers. If neither the seller or buyer were licensed firearms dealers, then they would have to find a licensed firearms dealer in order to complete the transaction. The licensed firearms dealer would have to run a background check on the buyer; if the buyer failed, then the dealer would have to run a background check on the seller. If the seller failed, then the dealer would have to surrender the firearm to law enforcement within 24 hours.
Of all the exemptions carved out, the legislation included a provision allowing a temporary transfer of a firearm to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm — but only to the person receiving the firearm, and only if they’re not prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or federal law.
Anyone who would violate SB1546 would be guilty of a class 5 felony, which carries a range of anywhere from six months in a mitigated sentence to two years and six months in an aggravated sentence.
Democrats excoriated Republicans for not siding with legislation they believed would curb future mass shootings comparable to the tragedy that occurred in Uvalde, Texas last Tuesday.
“We had a chance to enact common sense gun safety reform today and Republicans killed it — again. #EndGunViolenceNow,” wrote the Senate Democrats.
Every Senate Republican rejected the facts today.
Nowhere else in the world do we see mass shootings the way we do in America. The only difference is the unfettered access to guns. #SB1546 could have required background checks in Arizona and closed the gun show loophole. pic.twitter.com/X2tFBbt9eN
— Arizona Senate Democrats (@AZSenateDems) May 31, 2022
During an interview with “Conservative Circus,” State Senator Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) rebutted Democrats’ claims. He insisted that gun restrictions only take guns out of good actors’ hands, arguing that the better solution would be to arm security and willing teachers.
“The government did not stop the shooter. There were police officers that did nothing. Gun laws did not stop the shooter. He was in a gun-free zone. He walked right through that law. Criminals do not follow gun laws,” said Petersen. “It took a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun.”
Petersen repeated the viral false claim that an off-duty Border Patrol agent, Jacob Albarado, was the individual responsible for shooting and killing the Uvalde school shooter, Salvador Ramos. Law enforcement credited a tactical team for taking out Ramos. Albarado helped evacuate children from outside the school.
Border patrol agent Jacob Albarado, who was off duty at the time, rushed into Robb Elementary School to save his second grade daughter, his wife who is a teacher, and many others from the school shooting. @SavannahGuthrie speaks with the first responder live. pic.twitter.com/YcoV0dzenk
Three consumer taxes should be immediately suspended to help Arizonans deal with post-pandemic inflation, and two of those taxes should be abolished altogether, State Sen. Warren Petersen argues.
On Tuesday, Petersen (R-LD12) called for a temporary halt to Arizona’s 19 cents per gallon gasoline tax. He also wants to see the food tax and the residential rental tax not only suspended, but also eventually abolished.
Petersen doubled down on his proposal Wednesday, telling KFYI’s James T. Harris there is “no reason” his proposal cannot be implemented in light of Arizona’s more than $1 billion budget surplus. Especially with a Republican-controlled Legislature and a Republican governor.
“People are absolutely reeling from inflation right now but we have state and local governments that have more cash than they’ve ever had before,” Petersen said, adding that his proposal would bring “immediate relief to some of the people that need it the most.”
Suspending the gas tax until the end of 2022 would help Arizonans at the pump, Peterson explained. He added that the move could bring even further relief for consumers due to high gas prices being integrated into the cost of everything else people buy.
The state’s huge budget surplus is more than enough to supplant the $300-$350 million in gas tax revenues needed to fund transportation projects across the state, Petersen said.
While a gas tax holiday would be temporary, Petersen is calling on his fellow lawmakers to support a permanent end to the food tax in Arizona.
“That just hurts the poor more than anybody, and only some cities charge it,” Petersen told Harris.
As to his third suggestion of the abolishment of residential rental taxes, Petersen questioned why a special consumer tax is charged of those living in a rental unit.
“Nobody should charge this,” he argued. “People don’t pay a tax every single time they pay their mortgage, but yet tenants every single time they pay their rent they pay a tax on their rent.”
Petersen believes the time is right for Gov. Doug Ducey to call a special session so that lawmakers can provide immediate relief through the huge budget surplus.
Governor Doug Ducey may soon sign into law a ban on transgender surgeries for minors; the Arizona House passed a Senate bill to bar surgeries for minors to attempt a gender transition on Thursday. The bill, SB1138, passed along party lines.
AZ House just passed #SB1138 protecting children from experimental and irreversible gender related surgeries! the @votewarren sponsored bill heads to Gov’s desk pic.twitter.com/rLm5BYfGuj
Major opponents of the bill among the LGBTQ community include activists from Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a national organization focused on pushing LGBTQ ideologies and activism onto children. One such activist also identified herself as a GLSEN lobbyist and community editor for several years, during which time she testified one of her daughters went through puberty and became withdrawn, depressed, and socially isolated. Young said that she encouraged her daughter to transition genders after no amount of therapy, support groups, or psychiatric medications alleviated her poor mental health. Even so, Young says her daughter doesn’t fully identify as male, but rather “male-leaning” on what they both consider the “spectrum” of gender.
Another activist — ACLU staff attorney Chase Strangio, a transgender man known for her work defending transgender individuals, such as convicted spy Chelsea Manning — promised to mobilize efforts to convince Ducey to veto the legislation.
The legislation almost didn’t make it through initial consideration stages in the Senate. State Senator Tyler Pace (R-Mesa) wouldn’t back the bill at first during the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, arguing that parents should have the right to make medical decisions for their children. Pace later changed his mind, citing current international standards of care from health care experts on transgenderism. At present, the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) doesn’t support gender transitioning surgeries for minors.
“There’s a certain threshold of irreversibility that can happen during a gender transition. We acknowledge as a state, and so does other very friendly transgender countries like Finland, like I brought up earlier, as well as the international organizations that say: when you get to this degree of irreversibility, it should not be made as a minor,” said Pace after changing his mind.
Just as with the House, the bill passed along party lines in the Senate.
No gender reassignment surgery under the age of 18 passed the Arizona Senate. On to the house. pic.twitter.com/g7TGnDYjYR
Following approval by the Arizona House on Thursday, the legislature as a whole passed SB1165, a bill preventing transgender athletes from competing against those of the opposite gender. If the governor signs the legislation into law, it will impact transgender girls and women; males have biological differences to females that give them advantages in sports, and there are many more boys and men competing in girls and women’s sports. However, the legislation doesn’t address women who take testosterone as part of their hormone therapies, which may give them an advantage over their non-doping peers — a concern posed in the case of transgender wrestler Mack Beggs.
State Representative John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) pushed back against arguments against the bill, namely those that claimed individuals would be banned from competing in any sports entirely, or that sports aren’t really about competition but inclusion. Kavanagh cited the recent incident in which the NCAA awarded William Thomas, who goes by the name Lia Thomas and claims to be a woman, the gold medal in one race within their national D1 collegiate swim competition. The state representative argued that the years of hard work, sacrifice, and dedication committed by the women were for naught in the face of Thomas’ robbery.
“This bill allows everybody to participate in sports. It simply says that you have to go on the team that aligns with your biological gender because quite frankly, puberty conveys significant physical advantages on males. And I think it’s very unfair to make biological female athletes compete at that disadvantage. And it recently came to light in the NCAA swimming area. I think that those biological females have been cheated and robbed of a lifetime of effort,” said Kavanagh. “Clearly, there are many good things that come out of school sports besides competition. It’s fun, there’s physical fitness, there’s health. But competition is one of the major things about school sports, and anybody that doubts that might ask themselves, ‘Why are they keeping score?’ if that’s not the case.”
Democrats insisted that males competing in female sports isn’t and won’t be an issue.
State Representative Melody Hernandez (D-Tempe) claimed that transgender women aren’t dominating women’s sports.
“We talked about whether or not this is actually a problem. Trans youth are not coming in and just dominating women’s sports and switching genders because they want to go dominate sports,” said Hernandez.
State Representative Sarah Liguori (D-Phoenix) claimed that Republicans were merely scared of change and due to their ignorance. Liguori cited Harvey Milk, the historic gay rights activist accused of pedophilia and rape.
“We do not need to be afraid. We do not need to be afraid of transgender people, we do not need to be afraid of children,” said Liguori.
“Your vote today shows what side of history you are willing to be on…your willingness to lead with courage or foster the flames of fear and ignorance.” Rep. @SarahKLiguori votes no on anti-transgender #SB1165. Every Republican chose the wrong side of history. #AZLegpic.twitter.com/WZ9tjgh1fH
Certain Democrats even challenged the idea that males have any physical advantages over females. State Representative Mitzi Epstein (D-Chandler) argued that the males who dominate are merely exceptions to a rule, and that they succeed because of their hard work and discipline — not their biological advantages.
“When we hear of one trans athlete making great success, it is due to the hard work and discipline she applied to her sport,” wrote Epstein. “One example does not mean all trans people are better at sports than cis people.”
"Zombies might attack the members' lounge! That's an unfounded fear. We should not make laws based on unfounded fears, fears of zombies or fear of unfair competition with trans girls. Trans girls would be banned from girls sports teams in school- with SB1165. I voted No. …🧵 pic.twitter.com/JCI4spa0nR
