Legislative schedule - week starting 11/02/2025

Like last week, nothing is on the schedule...but two weeks from today, Republican Representative Alexander Kolodin will use his position to campaign for Arizona Secretary of State.

On the taxpayer dime.

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.

ESA scandals are getting the press right now (as they should be), but don't ignore the budget-busting effects of School Tuition Organizations (STOs)

While the trend of recipients of ESA/school vouchers misusing the public money they've been given has gotten a lot of press coverage recently (it's gotten so bad that AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne appeared on Channel 12's Sunday Square Off to defend his failures.  Of course, his "defense" was a desperate attempt to shift the blame on to certain Democratic women, like Governor Katie Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes, and his predecessor as SPI, Kathy Hoffman), the Republican majority in the AZ legislature is adamant in their refusal to do anything to rein in that misuse of public funds.

Maybe that refusal is rooted in the myriad, often internecine, ties that R members of the legislature have to STOs and charter schools.

The are 90+ STOs that have been certified to receive donations for individual income tax credits and 90+ STOs that have been certified to receive donations for corporate tax credits (there is a LOT of overlap between the two) (the lists have URLs that indicate they are from 2023, but the lists were updated on 8/8/2025).

Certain legislators reported (on their financial forms) their ties to STOs and private/charter schools -

From State Representative Michael Way:

Charter schools seem to be a profit center for the Way family

From House Speaker Steve Montenegro:

From Representative David Marshall:

He doesn't specifically call it (the STO) out, but the church was certified (allowed) to accept tuition tax credit donations from 12/16/2022 to 9/30/2023 .

From Representative Alexander Kolodin -

Arizona School Choice Trust (ACST) received more than $71m is tuition tax credit donations from CY98 thru FY24.

From Senator Shawna Bolick -

Not only does she work for Choose A School, her organization has strong ties to Kolodin's ACST.

From Choose A School's website -

There's a reason that I used the word "internecine" earlier.

Of course, the person  who may find STOs and School Tuition tax credits the most lucrative is former legislator Steve Yarbrough.  

According to records from the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), he's part of two organizations that are certified to receive STO donations.

While the the address for ACSTO goes to a PO box, many STOs list their addresses as PO boxes or private mail drops.  In and of itself, that's not evidence of criminal behavior.

On the other hand, the address for School Choice Arizona goes to a building that's owned by Yarbrough, according to the Maricopa County Assessor.  That org doesn't have to go far to talk to its landlord.

The two Yarbrough organizations collected nearly 17% of the millions of dollars given to STOs in FY2024 (the latest year for which data is available.)

AZ Department of Revenue annual reports on STO tax credits are here.

One interesting development:

This organization, Simply STO, is one that I couldn't find in ACC records.  However they may be registered under a different name, so to use a phrase I've used before - in and of itself, that's not evidence of criminal behavior.

The org's website does not list any names or even a phone number.  Their contact page is a contact form, and not even an email.  Again, that's not evidence of criminal behavior.

Lastly, the address they give tracks back to a "rent a desk" place designed to give small organizations a cheap street address.  Again, that's not evidence of criminal behavior.

Taken together though, it is interesting and begs a few questions.

Gotta love it when extremist Rs eat other Rs

Maybe the new GOP symbol should be from Medium (note: I don't agree with the author's "both sides" premise. but I like the pic)- 

From Arizona Capitol Times, written by Reagan Priest, dated 6/10 -

Freedom Caucus announces primary challengers for 

Arizona Corporation Commission

Two Republican state representatives announced their plans to challenge two incumbent Corporation Commissioners in 2026, saying the two commissioners have not done enough to support President Donald Trump’s energy agenda and protect ratepayers. 

Reps. David Marshall, R-Snowflake, and Ralph Heap, R-Mesa, were recruited by Arizona Freedom Caucus Chair and state Senator Jake Hoffman to run against Republican commissioners Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers. The two commissioners were first elected in 2022 and are eligible to run for a second term next year.

Note: Ralph Heap is the father of Justin Heap (R-MAGA), the current Maricopa County Recorder.

Hoffman recruited Marshall and Heap to run in the R primary because he feels that Thompson and Myers, as bad as they are, aren't Trumpy enough.

He's also recruited Kimberly Yee, the current (and termed out) AZ state treasurer, to mount a primary challenge to Tom Horne, the incumbent AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction.

He has recruited Rep. Alexander Kolodin to challenge incumbent Democrat Adrian Fontes for AZ Secretary of State.  Kolodin may face a primary is his quest to the R nominee for SOS.

Hoffman has endorsed Andy Biggs in the R primary for governor (Dear Leader hedged his bets and endorsed the two major candidates in that race which kind of obviates that move by Hoffman),  Given Biggs' noted inability to fundraise means that he'll need Hoffman more than the basically self-funding Karrin Taylor Robson will.

In fact, the only race where Hoffman hasn't issued an endorsement (at least, not that I can find) is the race for AZ Attorney General.  Fellow state senator Warren Petersen is running in that one.  Or maybe I should say "Senate President Warren Petersen."

Hoffman isn't likely to do something to tick him off while both are members of the state legislature.

Note: as of this writing, neither Marshall nor Heap have formed committees for their runs at ACC slots; however, both have filed Statements of Interest with the SOS.

A couple of new names in election races in AZ

One's not a surprise at all and one is a bit of surprise.

First up: the one that isn't a surprise.

From AZPM, written by Christopher Conover -

Adelita Grijalva enters CD 7 race

Adelita Grijalva announced Monday morning that she is entering the race to take her late father's place in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Grijalva has followed in her father's footsteps, serving on the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board and on the Pima County Board of Supervisors.

In a written statement, she said," I've spent my life as an advocate, fighting for the brighter future we all deserve."

As for the one that's a bit of a surprise:

From the statements of interest filed with the AZ Secretary of State -

From KJZZ, written by Camryn Sanchez -

Far-right candidate Rep. Alexander Kolodin joins 2026 Arizona secretary of state race

Far-right state Rep. Alexander Kolodin is challenging Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in 2026.

The Scottsdale Republican began his campaign on Monday dodging questions about his history of claiming elections aren’t safe.

As of this writing, neither the FEC (in Grijalva's case) nor the AZ Secretary of State (in Kolodin's case) lists a campaign committee for either one one their respective websites.

In Grijalva's case, her entry into the Congressional race was long rumored; as for Kolodin, that was a bit of a surprise - the far right Freedom Caucus, of which Kolodin is a member, absolutely *hates* the current AZSOS, Adrian Fontes. and Kolodin wanted to be the first big name into the race.

My guess: he won't be the last.  The KJZZ story goes on to talk about how Gina Swoboda, the current chair of the AZGOP, is looking at the race, too.

Is being utterly venal a prerequisite for being elected to the lege from N. Scottsdale/Fountain Hills?

That legislative district (LD3), like all LDs, elects three people to the state legislature, one state senator and two state representatives.

LD3 has sent Reps. Alexander Kolodin and Joe Chaplik and Sen. John Kavanagh to the state legislature.

Kolodin is an attorney, with an attorney's regard for the truth.

Kavanagh is a retired police officer with a PO's regard for the Constitution.

Chaplik was a rather unremarkable ideologue.  

Until this week.

Not he's catapulted right past Kolodin and into Kavanagh territory.  Kavanagh may still be the most craven member of the lege, but now part of his competition for that title is from his own LD.

From AZMirror, written by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy -

House Ethics Committee drops complaint against GOP Rep accused of signature fraud

An ethics complaint filed against Republican state Rep. Austin Smith, after he was accused of petition signature fraud, was dropped by the House Ethics Committee Friday. 

Smith dropped his reelection bid last month after he was accused of personally forging more than 100 petition signatures to get on the 2024 ballot. Now the lawmaker is facing a possible criminal investigation after state election officials forwarded his petition signatures to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. 

Chaplik is the chair of the House Ethics Committee and while they have dropped consideration of the complaint against Smith for his (alleged) crime, he and they are continuing to look into the complaint lodged against Democratic State  Representatives Analise Ortiz and Oscar De Los Santos, who are accused of, wait for it, making Rs feel bad about themselves for their support of Arizona's pre-statehood near-total ban on abortion.

The House Ethics Committee is known for giving a free pass to Republican members, no matter how heinous their words or (alleged) crimes.

Note: The now-former member of the lege mentioned in the article, David Stringer, is running for County Attorney in Yavapai County.  Apparently, his campaign is utterly self-financed - 

It seems that Chaplik (and the other R members) feel that bringing disrepute to the body is acceptable...if the one behaving badly is a Republican.

He/they also believe that the bad behavior by a Republican shouldn't be criticized...if the one doing the criticizing is a Democrat.

The fix was in...

...to pass something that will just make things worse instead or fixing things.

At the state legislature, the Senate's Elections Committee and the House's Municipal Oversight and Elections Committee held a joint meeting to consider two Republican-proposed bills at 9 a.m.*

* = they have a verrryyyyy flexible concept of time at the legislature

They were meeting to consider SB1733 (introduced by Sen. Wendy Rogers) and HB2785 (Rep. Alexander Kolodin), identical bills that are supposed to address the state's elections calendar, which threatens to disenfranchise Arizona voters,

I spent 2 1/2+ hours watching it online.  I recommend doing so, unless you have something better to do.  Like taking out the trash.  Or washing your hair.  Or amputating one of your legs.

Primary takeaway: Both bills passed committee on party-line votes.  

Other takes on the meeting:

- The lege does have a rather flexible concept of time - the meeting was slated to start at 9 a.m. but wasn't gaveled in until 9:21 a.m..

Shortly after that,  one of the chairs (Sen. Wendy Rogers) noted that the meeting was going to take an hour.

Rogers observed at 10:17 that her hour had ended 15 minutes before.

Rogers and the other chair, Rep. Jaqueline Parker, recessed the meeting at 10:50, for "five" minutes.

The meeting reconvened 11:03.

It ended at 11:39.

...Apparently, both Rogers and Parker believe that "committee chair" is another way of saying "absolute dictator".

They had a dissenter ejected from the hearing.  He's ruffled tender legislative sensibilities before.

They tried to suppress dissent by limiting public testimony to four speakers.

...Rep Alexander Kolodin, sponsor of HB2785 and an attorney, like to hear himself talk.  One of the things that he said that he wasn't involved with litigation related to signature verification in Yavapai County.  That seemed to be a really specific denial, so I did a little research.  Turns out, that was true in a lawyer's sort of way.  Is there another case he's involved with?  Yup, in Mohave County.

He (and others) stated that they've been working on this for months.  So they sat on this until the situation became urgent and think that they can force their propaganda on the rest of the people of Arizona.

...There was a lot of lying and dissembling going on.  Mostly by the Republican members.  They all thought (and opined) that the extraneous signature verification clauses in the bill(s) were essential to changing election dates.

...Don't hire these folks to do your taxes.  They're without ability to do basic math.  They added two speakers and the Rep. Parker said that meant there were three in favor of the bill and three opposed.

I counted five in favor and one opposed.  They could only get to three and three by counting the last two speakers as "opposed" - they wanted the bill amended to make the signature verification portion harsher.

...Sen. Sonny Borrelli may not be the brightest light in the nighttime sky.  He tried to plant words in the mouth of the one speaker who was actually opposed to the measure(s), and when that speaker didn't go for it, Borrelli tried to do so again.

[Edited on 2/7 to add]:

...Certain members of the state legislature are still ticked off by the Red for Ed movement of a few years ago.  At least, they used the bills to get their "petty and vindictive" on -

[/End edit]

Pics from the video feed -

House members showed up before Senate members.

 

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse confer before the meeting (Center of the pic, L-R) -

Sens Rogers and Bennett, and Reps Parker and Kolodin.

In honor of the upcoming Super Bowl, it might be appropriate to refer to them as the Fearsome Foursome.

But that would be overrating them.

Sen. Sundareshan making a point

Sen. Hernandez making a point

Rep. Terech making a point

Rep. Kolodin with his mouth open.  Not an unusual occurrence

Quick!  Some lobbyist needs to give Sen, Kavanagh a comb!

Gov. Hobbs keeps a campaign promise, Rabid anti-choicers do the expected and wig out.

Well, "expected" if you've ever observed anti-choicers,  and I have.

From KTAR, written by Danny Shapiro -

Arizona Gov. Hobbs signs executive order stripping county attorneys from prosecuting abortions

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Friday announced she signed an executive order that strips the state’s 15 county attorneys from prosecuting abortion cases.

The order, dated Thursday, gives the prosecutorial authority on the issue solely to the attorney general, who is currently Democrat General Kris Mayes.

[snip]

“I made a promise to Arizonans that I would do everything in my power to protect reproductive freedom and this executive order reflects that promise,” Hobbs said in a statement.

“I will not allow extreme and out of touch politicians to get in the way of the fundamental right Arizonans have to make decisions about their own bodies and futures.”

Most of the reaction from anti-choicers was characterized by the stamping of feet while whining "but she can't do that!"

From Twitter -

To anti-choicers, facts are bothersome things, to be ignored when they don't comport with anti-choice ideology.

Also from Twitter -

Herrod is the leader of Center for Arizona Policy and the leading anti-choicer in Arizona. And she's so influential with the R caucus of the legislature, she should be considered to be a de facto, but unelected, member of the the lege.

While their opposition to Hobbs' executive order is vehement, it isn't surprising.  On the other hand, I do have a question about something that comes next, from Rep. Alexander Kolodin.

Not this one, though the retweet of a call for impeachment over this is, well, *interesting.*

Nope, another one by Kolodin raises a question, for me anyway.

Even before he was a member of the state legislator, Kolodin was an attorney, and represented state Sen. Kern (not a senator then) in a lawsuit in Yuma County Superior Court over his involvement in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election that happened on January 6, 2021.  The lawsuit didn't end well for Kolodin and Kern.

I know that privileged communication exists between attorneys and their clients, but I have to ask:

Does Kolodin offering a legal opinion ("unconstitutional") and giving some advice to his client ("you all in the Senate better keep up") obviate that privilege (I really don't know)?

Know what the two election-denying counties in AZ have in common? Republican former legislators in significant elected offices.

Not that there are any insignificant ones...though Katie Hobbs might argue that some are more significant than others. :)

Two Arizona counties, Cochise and Mohave, have proclaimed that they won't certify their election results until the last minute, if even then.

The two counties are located in diametrically opposite parts of the state, with Cochise being in the southeast corner of the state while Mohave is in the northwest corner. 

From the University of Arizona -

While the counties are in opposite parts of the state, they do share something in common....aside from being dusty and rural Republican strongholds.

In Cochise County, the elected Recorder is David Stevens, a former state representative.  He was in the lege from 2009 thru 2016.  He regularly earned failing grades from organizations like the Sierra Club and laudatory grades from organizations like the Goldwater Institute and the Arizona Small Business Association when there.  He also regularly sponsored or cosponsored a litany of anti-voter and anti-choice bills.

In Mohave County, one member of the board of supervisors there is Ron Gould, a former state senator, one who makes Attila the Hun look like a bleeding heart liberal.

To be sure, the election-denying extremism in Arizona isn't limited to *former* legislators:

Outgoing state senator Kelly Townsend has issued a baseless subpoena to Maricopa County over the 2022 election.

Returning state senator Ken Bennett was the face of the "fraudit."

Newby state representative Alexander Kolodin is an attorney who has not only represented Anthony Kern in a January 6th-related lawsuit, he's repping Cochise County in this matter.

While I expect the two counties to certify their election results (else the votes wouldn't count and a number of races would flip and become Democratic wins), I also expect that there will be a lot of self-righteous pearl clutching and foot stamping before that happens.