House members showed up before Senate members. |
Sen. Sundareshan making a point |
Sen. Hernandez making a point |
Rep. Kolodin with his mouth open. Not an unusual occurrence |
Quick! Some lobbyist needs to give Sen, Kavanagh a comb! |
House members showed up before Senate members. |
Sen. Sundareshan making a point |
Sen. Hernandez making a point |
Rep. Kolodin with his mouth open. Not an unusual occurrence |
Quick! Some lobbyist needs to give Sen, Kavanagh a comb! |
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)?
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.