Q3 Reports Are In!

This covers covers Congress only, and then only those candidates that I've deemed as having a legit chance of winning their race or being "interesting". If a reader wants to know the numbers for a candidate not included here, please let me know in a comment.

David Schweikert (R-CD1) is included here because while he's declared for Arizona Governor, he was fundraising for his race to retain his seat in Congress well into the reporting period. While no Republican "names" have yet entered the race so far, I expect quarter's post to have different names on it.

Lastly, Adelita Grijalva (D-CD7) did not yet file a quarterly report for Q3; as such, her numbers are from her Pre-Special election filing covering the period through 9/3/2025.

Legislative schedule - week starting 10/19/2025

Rerun: Back to the normal intersession schedule at the Arizona Legislature - nothing is on the schedule this week.

Adelita Grijalva has learned that there are many things that an elected official has to deal with

Guessing that "moving goal posts" were never one of those things.

From Grijalva's campaign -

From CNN, dated 10/7 -

Speaker Johnson said he’d swear in new House Democrat 

‘as soon as she wants.’ Now Republicans are backtracking

Speaker Mike Johnson is not planning to allow Democrats’ newest congresswoman-elect to be sworn-in until her party agrees to end the government shutdown, despite telling CNN earlier Tuesday that he would swear her in “as soon as she wants.”

“We will swear in Rep.-Elect [Adelita] Grijalva as soon as the House returns to session when Chuck Schumer, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego decide to open up the government,” a leadership aide said Tuesday.

The move amounts to an extraordinary power play to deny a sitting member a seat.

Update: Johnson now intends to keep the House out of session for at least another week, thru 10/19.

Johnson seems to be auditioning for the title of "PedoProtector in Chief."

Pretty sure Pam Bondi has a lock on that one.

The at leaves "Assistant PedoProtector in Chief," but Kash Patel seems to have the edge there.

Evidently, that leaves "Deputy Assistant PedoProtector in Chief" as the highest title that Johnson can aspire to, and he's aspiring his ass off. 

Grijalva and the unrepresented people of AZ7 see to be collateral damage in his quest.

Ballots are in for the 11/4/2025 mail in election!

Found this in my mailbox on Friday -

First, the big one: Proposition 409.

It's a Maricopa County-wide ballot question about allowing the Special Healthcare District (aka - "Valleywise Health") to issue and sell $898M worth of bonds "to meet community need for healthcare facilities throughout Maricopa County."

The quote is from the publicity pamphlet for the question, a publication created to both inform voters that election is pending and the arguments for and against a particular proposition.

"For" arguments were submitted by folks from across the political spectrum; no "against" arguments were submitted.

The Phoenix Union High School District has two questions on the ballot, one for a budget increase and one for the continuation of a budget override.

The publicity pamphlet for those questions is here.

I'll be voting "Yes" on all of these.

I happen to think that a society whose members are healthy and educated is a strong society.  And while I truly believe these measures should be passed unanimously, I also understand that there are people who are opposed to anything that doesn't benefit them directly and immediately.

I'm not one of those people.

Legislative schedule - week starting 10/12/2025

Back to the normal intersession schedule at the Arizona Legislature - nothing is on the schedule this week.

Schweikert jumps out of the CD1 race and into the AZGovernor race: that sound you will soon hear will be dominos falling

This is a "horserace-y" kind of post.  I will criticize the MSM for focusing on horserace issues in their stories on politics, but I'm not MSM so I can do this.

While most of the stories/talk about David Schweikert's impact on the Republican primary for Governor of Arizona, but his switch of primary races affects more than a single contest.

While his move affects many, even all, races on the ballot (open seats in Congress are rare, so everyone and their grandmother is looking at entering the race), I'll just focus on two here - Congressional District 1 (CD1) and Legislative District 3 (LD3).

All of the incumbents in those districts are currently Republicans.

The voter registration advantage in CD1 favors Rs, but is seen as poachable by Ds.

Perhaps less poachable now that the ethically-challenged Schweikert has stepped aside, but still poachable.

A lot of people, mostly Democrats, are looking at the race; however, *many* Rs are rumored to be considering entering the race.

Among the folks being talked about: Gina Swoboda, current chair of the AZGOP, and at least two sitting state legislators, Joe Chaplik and Matt Gress.  Others may be looking at the race, self-funding business folks and Cheeto-friendly celebrities, but I don't know who they are yet.

CD1: These are the people who have filed Statements of Interest (SOIs) with the AZ Secretary of State (AZSOS) and/or formed committees with the FEC:

*** = Incumbent and announced candidate for Arizona Governor.

The date listed is the date the potential candidate filed the SOI and/or most recently formed a committee with the FEC.

The ID Number for committees is the number given to them by the FEC.

The LD3 district basically covers North Scottsdale and Fountain Hills as is [ahem] less poachable (OK, I think it's a safe R district) -

LD3 State Representative: These are the people who have filed Statements of Interest (SOIs) with the AZ Secretary of State (AZSOS) and/or formed committees with the AZSOS

* = Incumbent

** - Incumbent and announced candidate for Arizona SOS.

The date listed is the date the potential candidate filed the SOI and/or most recently formed a committee with the AZSOS.

The ID Number for committees is the number given to them by the AZSOS.

This race, already wide open with incumbent Alexander Kolodin running for AZSOS, may be further upended if incumbent Chaplik chooses to mount a campaign for CD1.

The incumbent State Senator, John "I never met a government check I don't like...for me, anyway" Kavanagh of Fountain Hills, may be too old for a run at Congress (far from a sure thing); even if he won, he may not want to deal with the cross country travel necessitated by such a victory.

Note: not everyone who files an SOI or forms a committee will appear on a ballot.  In fact, many probably won't.  Also, it's still early - people not on either list may yet enter one of these races.

Legislative schedule - week starting 10/5/2025

Wow!  There's another WHOLE meeting this week!

Of course, I expect that this one will be all about Senate Republicans using the meeting as a platform for bashing the things they want bash - public schools in general, and Tolleson Union High School District in particular (and truth be told, they seem to have earned some bashing) and the Arizona Department of Housing.

On Monday, 10/6 - Nada.

On Tuesday, 10/7 

-

Joint Legislative Audit Committee meets at 9:30 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: no bills, just some bashing.

On Wednesday 10/8 and Thursday, 10/9 - nada.

Maybe AZ Rep John Gillette now wants US Rep Pramila Jayapal killed for making Cheeto (& his minions) look bad

First, he wanted her killed for the "crime" of urging her constituents to peacefully protest Cheeto and his policies.

From AZMirror, written by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, dated 9/25 -

GOP lawmaker calls for Dem congresswoman to be executed for urging Trump protests

An Arizona Republican lawmaker on Wednesday called for the execution of a Democratic congresswoman because she urged people upset with President Donald Trump to protest in the streets.

Kingman Republican Rep. John Gillette wrote on the social media site X that U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, was calling for the the government to be overthrown and should be hanged. 

She didn't call for the violent overthrow of the government.

However, now she done something that will make him (and them) look bad.

From the social media site Bluesky -

There's no telling what kind of perfidy Gillette will wish on Jayapal for this one.

CD1 Update: Schweikert's out; now what?

Incumbent R Congressman David Schweikert has withdrawn from his bid for reelection to Congress, and instead, will enter the R primary for governor of Arizona.

From AZMirror, written by Caitlin Sievers -

David Schweikert abandons Congress to enter Arizona governor’s race

Longtime Republican U.S. Rep. David Schweikert has dropped his congressional reelection bid to run for Arizona governor. 

Schweikert, who is in his eighth term in Congress, will join U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson in the Republican primary to determine who will face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in the 2026 general election. 

Schweikert told the Arizona Republic that he was tired of the struggle to get anything accomplished in Congress and worried that Robson couldn’t win the primary and Biggs couldn’t defeat Hobbs, who narrowly beat Republican Kari Lake to take the Governor’s Office in 2022. 

To date, 16 total folks have filed statements of interest (SOI) with the AZSOS in running for the CD1 seat, 12 Ds, 4 Rs (though I expect that those figures will increase shortly).  Not everyone who file an SOI will actually run - for example, Schweikert filed one for CD1 in February.

As of this writing, he hasn't filed one for governor, nor has he formed a committee for such a run.

Schweikert said that his reason for leaving Congress was the "struggle."

Betcha the real reason was that he knew he was vulnerable to challengers in both the congressional primary and general elections.

While his run for governor is something of a longshot, he's got more a chance there if Karrin Taylor Robson and Andy Biggs go after the same voters and end up canceling out each other.

Short Attention Span Musing

...Yes, AZ teachers underpaid and yes, the fetid minds of the Republicans at the state legislature think the best way to address that problem is to take money away from public schools via ESAs.

Not only that, AZ teachers are woefully underpaid in comparison to their similarly well-educated peers.

From Economic Policy Institute -

The teacher pay penalty reached a record high in 2024

Summary: Over the past three decades, stagnant weekly wages of public school teachers have fallen further and further behind those of college graduates who chose other careers, resulting in an ever increasing teacher pay gap that hit a record high in 2024.

[snip]

[snip]

...Tom Horne has regained the title of the "Worst Human Being to Head a State's Public Schools".

From The Guardian (UK) -

Oklahoma superintendent who put Trump Bibles in classrooms resigns

Oklahoma’s superintendent, who has attracted national attention as he sought to install religion and rightwing viewpoints in Oklahoma schools, will resign to run a conservative education non-profit.

Ryan Walters, who has led public schools in Oklahoma since 2022, has put Donald Trump-endorsed Bibles into classrooms and required teaching 2020 election conspiracy theories.

...Mike Johnson (R-LA) may be the Speaker of the U.S. House but he's showing that he believes his primary job is to protect wealthy pedophiles.

From The New Republic, via Yahoo! -

The GOP Effort to Hide the Epstein Files Just Hit a Disgusting New Low

Recently-elected Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva could deliver the tie-breaking vote to release the government’s files on alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. That is, if House Speaker Mike Johnson doesn’t delay her swearing in—and it looks like he’s planning to.

Grijalva, who won 68 percent of the vote in a special election for Arizona’s 7th congressional district earlier this week, is set to tip the scales for Democrats and their few Republican allies hoping to force the government’s hand on the long-awaited release of documents on Epstein. But when exactly she’ll be sworn-in isn’t set, and it’s cause for concern.

...Republicans like to tell everyone that they're "pro-life."

No, they aren't.

From AZMirror, written by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, dated 9/25 -

GOP lawmaker calls for Dem congresswoman to be executed for urging Trump protests

An Arizona Republican lawmaker on Wednesday called for the execution of a Democratic congresswoman because she urged people upset with President Donald Trump to protest in the streets.

Kingman Republican Rep. John Gillette wrote on the social media site X that U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, was calling for the the government to be overthrown and should be hanged.

 

Legislative schedule - week starting 9/28/2025

Wow!  There's another WHOLE meeting this week!

Of course, I expect that this one will be all about Senate Republicans using the meeting as a platform for bashing the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS, or Arizona's version of Medicaid).

On Monday, 9/29 and Tuesday, 9/30 - 

Nada.

On Wednesday, 10/1 

-

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 1 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda:  no bills, no presentations.  

Just comments about AHCCCS.

On Thursday, 10/2 -

Nada

A few observations about the Charlie Kirk Memorial Tent Meeting

Actually, just a few.

1. Erika Kirk is being lauded for "forgiving" her husband's murderer.  My guess is that if the killer turned out to be a left-winger, as many on the right have claimed, her forgiveness wouldn't so readily forthcoming.

Having said that, I *do* believe that her grief was genuine.

2. Cheeto's handlers did *not* do him any favors by having take the stage after her.

3. Cheeto didn't do himself any favors either by turning his speech to eulogize Kirk into an ego-driven diatribe against all of the (perceived) slights against Cheeto himself.

4. Since the "memorial" became a festival for Christian nationalism, how long before State Farm Stadium becomes known as Hate Farm Stadium?

Laws don't matter to GOPers, they just ignore them, and get a deal (free pass?) if called on it

Cheeto and his mini-me (and others) can speechify at the Charlie Kirk Memorial Tent Meeting all they want, but I'm going to honor him another way.

From AZMirror, written by Caitlin Sievers, dated 9/17/2025 -

GOP ex-lawmaker, Turning Point Action leader, offered plea deal in petition signature forgery case

Former Arizona legislator Austin Smith has been offered a plea deal in a multiple-felony criminal case that alleges he personally forged numerous voter signatures on his own petitions for reelection. 

Smith was indicted in June by a Maricopa County grand jury on four felony counts for presenting documents he knew were forged to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, in addition to 10 misdemeanor counts for personally forging the names of electors on his reelection petitions.

The Republican from Surprise was a member of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, which has a history of spreading false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election and pushed for election law changes in the state legislature. 

The tie-in to Kirk?

At the time, Smith was an employee of Kirk's organization.

From the website of Turning Point Action -

The case number in Maricopa County Superior Court is CR2025-007007-001.

Legislative schedule - week starting 9/21/2025

The isn't much going on at the legislature, but there are signs of life down there.

On Monday, 9/22 and Tuesday, 9/23 - 

Nada

On Wednesday, 9/24 

-

Vulnerable Adult System Study Committee meets at 1 p.m.in SHR1.  On the agenda: no bills.

On Thursday, 9/25 -

Nada.

Guess all of AZ's problems are solved

Or either the AZ State Senate President has wayyyyy too much time on his hands.

From KXNV (Phoenix channel 15) -

Arizona senate president proposes renaming Valley highway in honor of Charlie Kirk

Arizona's state senate president is proposing new legislation to rename a Valley freeway to honor the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Senate President Warren Petersen says he will introduce legislation to rename Loop 202 in the Phoenix Metro area to the "Charlie Kirk Memorial Loop 202."

Apparently, Arizona's water problems (both quantity and quality), air problems (quality), and heat-related deaths problems have been solved and there's no need for the AZ legislature to consider substantive legislation at this point.

OK - Petersen is running for AZ Attorney General and may wish to secure the MAGA vote is the primary.