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The universal school voucher challenge has officially failed
Public school advocates did not collect enough signatures to block universal school vouchers and force a public vote in 2024, the Secretary of State’s Office announced Friday morning. The expansion of the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program, which Republican lawmakers approved earlier this year, makes a program that had previously been implemented in a limited […]
Arizona students walkout in protest of new anti-LGBTQ laws
Hundreds of Arizona high school students walked out of their schools into the glaring afternoon sun on Thursday to protest the record number of anti-LGBTQ bills passed by the GOP-controlled state Legislature this year. “Dear (Gov. Doug) Ducey and Arizona representatives, these bills are killing us,” walkout organizer Dawn Shim told a crowd of students […]
New AZ poll: Voters lean Republican but Kelly still leads Masters
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly holds a double-digit lead over his Republican challenger, venture capitalist Blake Masters, in a poll released Wednesday by Marist College. The poll of 1,260 registered Arizona voters found that Kelly, a Democrat, is favored by 51% of respondents to only 41% who said they plan to vote for Masters. Among those […]
AZ abortion ban: What we didn’t know about labor and birth in 1864
When the law that bans virtually all abortions in Arizona originated in 1864, obstetrics was so far removed from what it is today that it wasn’t even common practice for doctors to wash their hands before they delivered a baby. A doctor in Vienna in 1847 began requiring physicians at his hospital to wash their […]
Universal school voucher foes turn in signatures to force a public vote in 2024
Teachers and public school advocates on Friday submitted nearly 142,000 petition signatures to block the new universal school voucher program that was set to go into effect on Friday and let voters decide its fate in 2024. Save Our Schools Arizona PAC said it gathered 141,714 signatures to give voters the chance to weigh in […]
Mark Finchem’s fealty to the ‘Big Lie’ was center stage in debate with Adrian Fontes
Mark Finchem, the Republican candidate for secretary of state who has built his campaign on baseless claims the 2020 election was marred by fraud, continually dodged questions and spouted conspiracy theories in a televised debate Thursday night. His Democratic opponent, Adrian Fontes, said voters will have to make the choice between “laws and lies.” Fontes, […]
Katie Hobbs vs. Kari Lake on education in Arizona: What are their plans?
While Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake spends her days throwing barbs on Twitter at her Democratic opponent Katie Hobbs, and Hobbs does her best to avoid interacting with the media, their actual policy plans might be lost on voters. Both have released detailed education policy plans that, if implemented, would affect the more than 1.1 […]
Katie Hobbs and Kari Lake are fighting over a medical procedure called ‘D & C’
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is again attacking her opponent Katie Hobbs, this time for Hobbs’ claim that Lake wants to criminalize a procedure that woman often need after a miscarriage. “When I had a miscarriage, I needed surgery to protect my own health,” Hobbs said in a tweet. “That lifesaving treatment was the same […]
Republicans angry over ratio of Republican to Democratic poll workers in Maricopa County primary
Republicans are once again criticizing elections officials in Maricopa County after learning that more Democrats than Republicans worked the polls in the August primary election. The Republican National Committee on Sept. 9 sent a letter to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, slamming the county for hiring 857 Democrats to work the polls on Aug. 2 […]
Democrats urge Republicans to keep promise, lift cap that will stop schools from spending $1 billion
Democrats and public education advocates are urging Gov. Doug Ducey and his fellow Republicans in the state Legislature to keep their promise to lift the state’s annual school spending cap. Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature together passed a budget in June that dedicated more than $600 million to new, permanent funding for K-12 […]
AZ Republicans plead with Mitch McConnell to spend millions of dollars to help Blake Masters
The Republican Party of Arizona is begging Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to put his weight — and his leadership committee’s wallet — behind U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters. So far, McConnell has not publicly done so. Masters, who won former President Donald Trump’s endorsement over the summer and rode it to victory in a […]
Katie Hobbs is a ‘chicken’ for ducking a debate, Kari Lake’s campaign claims
Democratic candidate for governor Katie Hobbs is being hammered by her opponent’s campaign, after she for the second time declined to participate in a televised debate with Republican Kari Lake. While the Lake campaign called Hobbs a “chicken” for opting out of the debate, some Democrats said that declining the debate was a smart move. […]