Screen shot of a statement from Arizona Senate President on the Trump administration ending the DOJ investigation into Phoenix PD.
NEW: AZ Senate President Warren Petersen (R) praises the Trump administration for ending the DOJ investigation of Phoenix PD which he calls a “witch hunt”
Shake it up! Co-endorsed Trump candidate Karrin Taylor Robson’s consultants bail. "It takes special skill to botch a GOP primary with the Trump endorsement, but unfortunately that's what this candidate has single-handedly assured,"
Picture of the letter calling for AZ Democratic Party Chairman Robert Branscomb to step down over his fight with Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego and others
Picture of the letter calling for AZ Democratic Party Chairman to step down over his fight with Sens Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego
Breaking: Chaos continues for the Arizona Democratic Party. Chairman Robert Branscomb now faces call to resign over his fight with Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego. Steven Jackson, the chairman of the LD8 Democrats in the East Valley, drafted a letter urging Branscomb to step down.
Screen shot of Governor Hobbs’ veto letter
Spiciest veto of the year?: Gov. Hobbs kills Sen. Jake Hoffman’s transportation bill by taking at not so subtle shot at his recent record of dodging a speeding ticket with the help of legislative immunity
Screen shot of the the vote total of a bill to memorialize slain journalist Don Bolles
NEW: The Arizona House passed a bill allowing for a memorial to slain journalist Don Bolles who was assassinated nearly 50 years ago investigating a shady land dead. Bill now heads to the Senate.
Breaking: Feds arrest state worker near the border on human smuggling accusations, an incident that threatens to derail Gov. Hobbs’ nominee to run a key state agency
After making some noise about running for a couple of offices, AZ Secretary of State Adrian officially announces his bid for a second term.
UPDATE: @governorkatiehobbs.bsky.social signs the bipartisan bill that keeps the state’s disability program funded through the end of the fiscal year
Screen shot of the vote total for a finding bill
Breaking: Arizona Senate passes a bill to plug a $122M funding gap for the department that serves 60K disabled people. The bill is now headed to Gov. Hobbs’ desk.
Screen shot of Karrin Taylor Robson’s statement of President Trump’s tariffs
HAPPENING NOW: Republican candidate for governor, Karrin Taylor Robson, backs President Trump’s tariffs and urges him to “keep fighting.”
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda did **not** endorse Alexander Kolodin in the Republican Primary for Secretary of State and confirms that she is thinking about running for the position herself
Screen shot showing the Diamondbacks stadium bill has been pulled from the Senate appropriations committee agenda tomorrow.
UPDATE: Trouble in Mudville?: The D-Backs’ Chase Field bill (HB2704) won’t be heard in committee tomorrow. The chairman said it doesn’t have the votes right now.
SCOOP: Occasional Trump golf partner and regular rally attendee, Jay Feely, is seriously considering a run for Congress in Arizona’s CD05 to replace Rep. Andy Biggs, according to a source. Feely was a former professional NFL kicker and CBS sideline analyst.
Trust Us: The AZ Diamondbacks want $500M of your tax money to fix up their stadium but hasn't given the public a cost estimate of what needs to be fixed.
Vote Elmer’s
Border encounter numbers have plummeted in the Tucson and Yuma sectors.
Feb. 2025 is the lowest number in both sectors in the publicly available data we have from CBP dating back to Oct. 1999.
Tucson Sector: 1,336
Yuma Sector: 243
@dwelch.bsky.social @azfamily.com
Bonus podcast just dropped! Arizona Chamber of Commerce CEO Danny Seidel on legislative efforts to keep the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Regular pod coming on Sunday.)
www.azfamily.com/2025/03/13/p...
Gov. Hobbs launches and new border security plan as federal data shows migrant encounters and arrests are down
HAPPENING TODAY: Gov. Hobbs’ office says there’s “no way in hell” she’ll sign the Republican backed “Bounty Bill”
During her first two years in office, Hobbs vetoed nearly one-third of all the bills passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature (excluding ballot referrals and other measures that don’t require the governor’s approval)
New podcast has dropped! Votebeat reporter Jen Fifield talks about legislation to speed up the vote count. Then Dennis and Colin break down the nominees for the 2025 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Bad Company? Really?)
www.azfamily.com/2025/02/17/p...
FYI: A bill that bars lawmakers from using legislative immunity to get out of traffic tickets is scheduled for debate in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Because this special privilege is outlined in the state Constitution it would need voter approval.
Screenshot of a police statement confirming that state Senator Jake Hoffman was stopped for speeding but was not issued a ticket because of legislative immunity
Another state lawmaker avoids a ticket because of legislative immunity. Sen. Jake Hoffman was clocked driving 89MPH in a 65MPH zone. DPS statement below:
New episode of the pod is here! Congressman Greg Stanton on why he views Elon Musk as a threat to our democracy. Then Dennis and Colin look back at the best and worst Super Bowl halftime shows.
www.azfamily.com/2025/02/10/p...
This is a screen shot of a bill that would abolish legislative immunity for all traffic stops. This is a response to a state senator using the immunity clause to get out of a traffic ticket
JUST IN: State Sen. Mark Finchem’s seat mate in the House has filed a bill to abolish legislative immunity for all traffic stops. If passed, the measure would go to the voters in 2026
CHECK IT OUT: You can see the raw police body cam video of Sen. Mark Finchem’s traffic stop in Prescott and my latest story on how he’s trying to use the Arizona Constitution to get out of it
Screen shot of a report that former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Siname lobbied for Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination
Kyrsten Sinema Update: the former Arizona Senator is reported to have lobbied for Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to become the next director of national intelligence
This is a picture of the House Committee on Government shortly before they passed a bill to memorialize slain journalist Don Bolles
NEW: A Republican-led House committee advanced HB2578 (6-1) which dedicates a memorial to journalist Don Bolles who was killed in 1976 by a car bomb while investigating organized crime in Phoenix
This is a screen shot of the fact sheet on House Bill 2125 that allows jury trials in divorce cases
Bill of the day: A GOP-led House committee advanced HB2125 that allows for jury trials in divorce cases. Question: how would feel about laying out the intimate details of your marriage in front of 12 strangers?
