by Staff Reporter | Jan 22, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Voters may soon get to decide whether or not photo radar will continue to be used in the state.
A committee in the State Senate approved the bill on Tuesday.
SCR 1004 would ban photo enforcement systems used to identify violators of speed restrictions or traffic control devices from the entire state.
If approved by the state legislature, the measure could appear on the ballot as early as this November. Lawmakers opted for a resolution as a more viable pathway to bypass the requirement for Governor Katie Hobbs’ approval.
The governor didn’t support attempts to ban photo radar in the past.
Last year, the governor vetoed the same legislative language (outlined in a bill rather than a resolution) after its party-line approval in the legislature. No Democrats in either the House or Senate voted for the bill. Hobbs’ veto letter argued that the removal of photo radar would make the roads more dangerous, not safer.
“This bill attempts to remove the ability of local law enforcement to keep our streets safe by eliminating a tool used to enhance roadway safety,” stated Hobbs.
This sentiment was shared by Democratic lawmakers. State Sen. Lauren Kuby argued that certain studies supported the effectiveness of photo enforcement systems to reduce and deter traffic violations.
During voting on the bill last year, some Republicans — Reps. Teresa Martinez, Justin Wilmeth, Alexander Kolodin — did express doubts about the strategy of advancing a bill with SB 1019 rather than a resolution. An identical measure existed in SCR 1002.
Wilmeth said they were “wasting” their time by voting on the bill version of the legislation rather than the resolution.
“I want my Republican caucus members to understand: this bill will pass, and it will get vetoed,” said Wilmeth. “This is what majorities are about, and in this issue we are wasting our opportunity.”
Kolodin said Democrats were defending photo radar under false pretenses of public safety concerns, and that their true intentions had to do with ticket revenues’ ties to clean election campaign funds.
“The photo radar scam is the way that our friends across the aisle fund their war machine. They run candidates in noncompetitive districts and funnel taxpayer money over to competitive districts, all on the backs of hardworking Arizona drivers who are denied due process when they receive their traffic tickets,” said Kolodin. “It’s almost as if we’re more interested in making a show of solving the problem than actually solving the problem.”
State Sen. Wendy Rogers authored both pieces of legislation last year and was the lawmaker to reintroduce it again this year.
Rogers disputed Hobbs’ veto claim in a press release published on Tuesday. The state senator stressed the unreliability of automated enforcement, which is what photo radars operate under. Rogers said it should be law enforcement, not technology, to make the judgment call on violations of traffic law.
“Automated enforcement removes discretion, undermines due process, and turns routine driving into a revenue stream,” said Senator Rogers. “That’s not how law enforcement should work in Arizona. The resolution does not excuse dangerous driving or eliminate traffic enforcement. It ensures that enforcement decisions are made by trained law enforcement officers, not algorithms and contractors.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Jul 22, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
The Arizona Republican Assembly (AZRA) has released its Final Legislative Scorecard for the 2025 Arizona State Legislative Session.
This scorecard evaluates Arizona State Senate and House of Representatives members based on their voting records and alignment with AZRA’s core principles of limited government, individual liberties, and fiscal responsibility.
As primary elections approach, this scorecard is a critical tool for voters to distinguish authentic conservatives from those who merely claim the label.
The AZRA Legislative Scorecard is the only one, not only in Arizona but in the nation, where a committee of twelve members from across the state invest thousands of hours analyzing over 1,800 bills annually, rating more than 250 bills.
AZRA then publishes these bill ratings before legislative votes, notifying every legislator in advance and inviting feedback to ensure fairness. To maintain integrity, AZRA contracts a national data firm that receives daily voting data from the Arizona Legislative Council, updating results without manipulation or bias.
The scorecard lists 30 State Senators and 60 State Representatives, providing numerical scores out of 100 based on weighted votes on key bills. Scores are presented alphabetically by last name for letter grades, in descending order, along with party affiliation and legislative district.
Among senators, Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) earned the highest score of 98.5, followed by Senator Wendy Rogers (R-LD7) at 96.9, Senator David Farnsworth (R-LD10) at 95.9, and Senator Timothy Dunn (R-LD25) at 95.5.
The highest-ranking Democrats were Senator Brian Fernandez (D-LD23) at 40.5 and Rosanna Gabaldón (D-LD21), at 34.1. The lowest scoring Democrats were Lauren Kuby (D-LD8) at 25.4 and Priya Sundareshan (D-LD18) at 23.8.
Representative Selina Bliss (R-LD1) led the House with a score of 96.8, followed by a four-way tie at 96.1 among Majority Leader Michael Carbone (R-KD25), John Gillette (R-LD30), Quang Nguyen (R-LD1), and James Taylor (R-LD29).
Rep. Bliss recognized AZRA’s Scorecard saying, “It is an honor to be recognized, along with seatmate Quang Nguyen, by the Arizona Republican Assembly for our work at the Capitol!”
Out of the Democrat Representatives, Alma Hernandez (D-LD20) scored the highest with a 49.4 and Consuelo Hernandez (D-LD21) with a 48.8. The lowest ranked Democrats are Quantá Crews (D-LD26) with a score of 26.6 and Mariana Sandoval (D-LD23) with a 25.5.
The AZRA scorecard reveals a significant divide in voting patterns between Republican and Democratic legislators in the Arizona State Senate and House, with Republicans ranging from 78.7 to 98.5 and Democrats scoring from 23.8 to 49.4.
Correction: This story originally stated that there are 50 State Representatives. The story has been updated to reflect the correct number at 60 State Representatives.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Jun 3, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Although uncounted ballots from the highly contested 2022 election were destroyed, a former Arizona Secretary of State employee and current reporter is claiming that Congressman Abe Hamadeh is delusional for believing counties followed the law.
Last November, all ballots from the 2022 election were destroyed in accordance with Arizona law. Over 9,000 of those destroyed and allegedly valid ballots were never counted in the election — all provisional votes that may have resulted in Hamadeh winning the attorney general’s race over then-Democratic candidate and current attorney general Kris Mayes.
One of those ballots belonged to the husband of State Senator Wendy Rogers, according to the lawmaker.
These provisional ballots belonged to voters who were forced to cast provisionally due to failures by the state’s voter registration system, according to legal discoveries that would emerge over the course of Hamadeh’s challenge of the election.
The counties reportedly did not discover the thousands of uncounted provisional ballots due to a delay in response from the counties to Hamadeh’s legal team. The tardiness of the counties’ response times — along with a superior court judge’s months-long delay in signing his orders — jeopardized and ultimately resulted in the defeat of Hamadeh’s legal challenge to the 2022 election.
The statewide recount announced late December 2022 reduced Mayes’ lead over Hamadeh from just over 500 votes to less than 300 votes out of millions of ballots cast. The slashed lead resulted from major ballot-counting errors by Pinal County. The county failed to account for nearly 400 votes cast for Hamadeh and about 100 for Mayes due to “human error” — a vote difference of over 500 that grew Hamadeh’s margin.
About 70 percent of Election Day votes were for Hamadeh.
In an X post on Monday, Hamadeh accused Democrats of stealing the 2022 attorney general’s race.
“No, they stole [the election],” said Hamadeh. “Burned 9,000 uncounted ballots.”
Yet, the former Secretary of State staffer and data and elections reporter for ABC 15 Arizona, Garrett Archer, called Hamadeh “delusional” and unserious for reminding the public of the uncounted ballots that were destroyed and claiming the possibility of those ballots being valid.
“Abraham Hamadeh has a former troll run his social media. I have to think this is coming from that person. Because this take is delusional,” said Archer. “Why do people take this garbage seriously? Is it just a game or is it a complete capitulation of critical thinking in favor of an emotion driven reaction?”
Beyond the thousands of destroyed uncounted ballots, it was argued by Hamadeh’s counsel in his case contending the 2022 election that Maricopa County included hundreds of invalid early ballots for Mayes.
Around the date the ballots were set to be destroyed last November, the Arizona Supreme Court rejected Hamadeh’s challenge to the 2022 election results.
The disenfranchisement of thousands of voters wasn’t an unlikely occurrence in the 2022 election. While secretary of state that year, Governor Katie Hobbs admitted about 6,000 Arizonans were mistakenly registered as federal-only voters.
A year later in November 2023, Hobbs issued what critics called a “confession” of sorts describing potential disenfranchisement caused by the state’s voter system in her Elections Task Force final report.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Jonathan Eberle | May 18, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed SB 1268, a Republican-sponsored measure that aimed to increase transparency around the costs of providing healthcare to illegal immigrants in Arizona’s hospital system. The move drew swift criticism from State Senator Wendy Rogers (R-LD7), who accused the governor of obstructing efforts to ensure fiscal responsibility and protect taxpayer dollars.
The bill, sponsored by Rogers and passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, would have required Arizona hospitals to include a voluntary question on patient intake forms asking individuals to indicate whether they are lawfully present in the United States. According to the bill text, the response would have had no bearing on the care provided and would not have been shared with immigration enforcement agencies. The Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) would then compile annual reports using the data, including the number of non-citizens receiving care through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the state’s Medicaid program.
“Our hardworking, law-abiding citizens have a right to know how much of their money is going towards paying for the medical services of those who’ve willfully chosen to break our laws by entering our country illegally,” said Senator Rogers in a statement following the veto. “This legislation would have helped us obtain the data necessary to make informed decisions on how to tackle this problem.”
A 2023 Congressional Budget Office report cited by Rogers estimated that federal and state governments spent approximately $27 billion on Emergency Medicaid for illegal aliens between fiscal years 2017 and 2023.
Supporters of SB 1268 argue that Arizona taxpayers deserve to understand how much of the state’s healthcare budget is being used to treat non-citizens — especially as hospitals report growing strain and long wait times for patients. Rogers emphasized that the intent was not to deny care, but to gather data needed for long-term planning and resource allocation.
This marks the latest in a series of transparency and immigration-related proposals rejected by Hobbs. Her actions have drawn praise from progressive groups but sharp criticism from GOP lawmakers, who argue that the governor is ignoring the concerns of constituents struggling with a strained healthcare system.
“This veto is a slap in the face to Arizona taxpayers who are demanding accountability and transparency,” Rogers said. “Shame on Governor Hobbs.”
As the debate over immigration and healthcare access continues to shape Arizona politics, similar proposals may resurface in future legislative sessions — especially as state lawmakers prepare for the 2026 election cycle, where these issues are expected to be front and center.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Feb 6, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
On Monday night, hundreds of protesters organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation took to the streets of Phoenix. They marched against the mass deportation policy of the Trump administration in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office on Central Avenue and the Capitol Museum.
The demonstrators blocked traffic and paraded with obscene signs and Mexican flags. The protests, which included several distinct marches throughout the city, were part of a “Day Without Immigrants,” opposed to the enforcement of U.S. immigration law. AZ Central reported that several incidents of reckless driving near a protest at 43rd Avenue and McDowell Road were observed with at least one person detained by Arizona State Troopers after fireworks were set off in the street. The radical leftist group posted to Instagram on Sunday, “Join us tomorrow to stand against the attacks on our communities. We refuse to let ICE tear apart our families and terrorize our people. Arizona says NO to raids, NO to deportations, NO to family separation!”
AZCentral noted that, among the signs visible, some read: “Families belong together” and “Donald Trump is a racist to all nations,” as well as “No more ICE,” “Don’t bite the hands that feed you,” “We speak for those that can’t” and “Mexicans Aren’t Going Anywhere.”
Metro Light Rail service was impacted by the protestors taking over the intersection as they approached Monterey Park, as reported by Arizona Family. ABC15 reported that the intersection was later closed by Phoenix Police responding to “reckless and unsafe” activity there.
Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers posted video of the march in front of the Capitol Museum, referring the gathering to ICE writing, “Hey @ICEgov! Right now. One-stop shop our in front of the @azcapitolmuseum”
Independent journalist ‘The Stu Studio’ posted a video of protestors to X chanting “Chinga La Migra!” which roughly translates to “F**k the Border Patrol,” in front of the ICE field office in Phoenix.
A Phoenix Police Spokesman Sgt. Robert Scherer told AZCentral that Phoenix PD was notified of the protest in advance and had officers monitoring the situation. “The Phoenix Police Department respects the rights of all community members to peacefully express their first amendment rights,” he said in a statement.
“To ensure the safety of our community, resources were organized, and we began to monitor activity related to this event,” said Scherer. “This included working with our partners with the Arizona Department of Public Safety.”
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.
