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Caitlin joined the Arizona Mirror in 2022 with almost 10 years of experience as a reporter and editor, holding local government leaders accountable from newsrooms across the West and Midwest. She's won statewide awards in Nebraska, Indiana and Wisconsin for reporting, photography and commentary.
Republicans say they’ll resume Hobbs’ director confirmations, but won’t say when
By: Caitlin Sievers - July 12, 2023
Senate Republicans say they plan to continue confirming Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ state agency director nominations, just weeks after those confirmations were put on hold in response to an executive order that Republicans said went too far. But Senate Republicans, Hobbs, and the chairman of the committee have all remained silent about when the Senate […]
The political theater of executive orders is nothing new in Arizona
By: Caitlin Sievers - July 3, 2023
Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing backlash and retaliation from Republicans over recent executive orders that would bar county attorneys from prosecuting abortion providers and allow state insurance to pay for gender confirmation care for state employees. Republicans on the state Senate’s Committee on Director Nominations even went as far as canceling all future […]
Arizona gets nearly $1 billion to expand high speed internet access
By: Caitlin Sievers - June 27, 2023
People and businesses in Arizona that don’t have access to reliable high-speed internet will soon be getting help in the form of $993 million from the federal government that aims to ensure every American has access to broadband. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Monday announced the award to help […]
After Hobbs’ order on abortion prosecutions, Senate Republicans nix plans to weigh her nominees
By: Caitlin Sievers - June 26, 2023
Arizona Senate Republicans are retaliating against Gov. Katie Hobbs for her executive order last week that aims to ban county attorneys from prosecuting abortion providers. The three Republican members of the Senate Committee on Director Nominations — Chairman Jake Hoffman, Sine Kerr and T.J. Shope — sent a letter to Hobbs on Monday saying that […]
Richer sues Lake for defamation
By: Caitlin Sievers - June 22, 2023
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer is suing Kari Lake and her campaign for defamation, after enduring a continuous onslaught of vitriol and false claims from her and her followers. Richer, a Republican, has been one of Lake’s favorite targets as she continues to claim that the 2022 governor’s race was stolen from her, in the […]
‘QAnon Shaman’ looks to overturn sentence, says he never renounced QAnon
By: Caitlin Sievers - June 22, 2023
Jacob Angeli Chansley, who rose to prominence as the self-described “QAnon Shaman” and became, for many, the face of the Jan. 6 insurrection, is trying to get his sentence overturned and says he never renounced QAnon or felt duped by Donald Trump. At the same time, he’s trying to make money on his newfound fame. […]
Hobbs signs 20 more bills, vetoes another 17
By: Caitlin Sievers - June 20, 2023
With this year’s legislative session basically at an end, Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday signed 20 bills and vetoed 17 others. Hobbs approved mostly non-controversial bills that haven’t gotten much attention so far this year, like Senate Bill 1013, which protects free speech at colleges and universities, and Senate Bill 1454, which will create a […]
State Rep. Stahl Hamilton formally censured for hiding Bibles
By: Caitlin Sievers - June 13, 2023
The Arizona House of Representatives has voted to formally censure Democratic Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton for hiding Bibles that were kept in the House members’ lounge. After a lengthy and heated debate between Republicans and Democrats on Tuesday afternoon and a failed 27-31 vote to expel Stahl Hamilton from the House, the chamber voted 30-28 […]
Legislature approves hand counts in Arizona elections
By: Caitlin Sievers - June 13, 2023
The Arizona House of Representatives on Monday passed a Republican-backed bill that would allow hand count of ballots, but it will almost assuredly meet with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ veto stamp. The House voted 31-29 along party lines to approve House Bill 2722, which would allow any county in the state to perform a hand-count […]
Hobbs vetoes transgender bathroom bill, reaches 111 vetoes
By: Caitlin Sievers - June 8, 2023
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs continued to bring down her veto stamp on Republican-backed bills on Thursday, adding five more for a record total of 111 and putting a stop to a contentious transgender bathroom bill. Hobbs is a Democrat, and with a Republican majority in both the state House and Senate, she by far surpassed […]
Lake to appeal again, she isn’t sanctioned but Finchem is
By: Caitlin Sievers - June 6, 2023
Kari Lake has, once again, filed her intent to appeal the outcome of her bid to overturn the results of Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial election, after it failed in Maricopa County Superior Court. This was the second time that Lake, a Republican who lost by 17,000 votes to Democrat Katie Hobbs, challenged the results of the […]
There is no ‘practice of filming pornography’ in Arizona schools
By: Caitlin Sievers - June 2, 2023
A Republican state senator is urging the Arizona governor to sign a bill that would end the “practice of filming pornography in K-12 schools,” something that is currently not allowed or encouraged at public schools in the state. Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, put out a statement earlier this week asking Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs […]