Idle speculation time: Lieutenant Governor

In honor of Republican candidate for governor Karrin Taylor Robson already running TV spots...well more than a year before her primary.

In 2022, Arizona voters approved Proposition 131, which created a Lieutenant Governor (Lt. Governor) position in Arizona politics.

The language is now part of Article 5, Section 1, Paragraph C of the Arizona State Constitution.  The candidates for lt. governor will be named by the candidates for governor before the general election.

It's time for some speculation about who they might name. :)

Note: this is NOT a prediction; my prognostication abilities when it comes to internal R politics are less than optimal

My thinking is that the primary candidate for the will be current state treasurer Kimberly Yee.  She's termed out of the treasurer's slot, and while she may run for governor (again!), my guess is that the only way she gets through a primary with Robson and Andy Biggs is if they split the MAGA vote and she gets the rest.

Probably not gonna happen.

I *do* think that she'd help Biggs more in the general - if nothing else, she's seen as less crazy than him.

On the other hand, if/when he feels it necessary to boost his nutjob bonafides, Kari Lake is available.

On the Democratic side, I have no clue (not even for idle speculation).  Though, I bet that whoever is interested in the gig is busily jockeying both for position and for Governor Katie Hobbs' attention.

Preview of the 2023 session of the Arizona Legislature

 1. Expect lots of vetoes.  Unless election-denier Kari Lake's lawsuit is  successful, Katie Hobbs has won the race for Arizona governor.

In many ways, that makes things easier for GOP leadership in the legislature - they can appease their most extreme members by allowing their bills to advance in the expectation that Hobbs will veto them.

2  Expect *many* bad measures out of the incoming legislature.  AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona already has a post up taking the position that this will be "the most extremist GQP legislature ever."

I was going to disagree with him - after all, this is still the home of the infamous SB1070; also, many of the most extreme members of the lege sought higher office and failed.  Mark Finchem, Michelle Ugenti-Rita, Shawnna Bolick, and Kelly Townsend are gone; all lost in the primary or general this year.

However, some of the most extreme members of the 2022 lege are part of the 2023 lege - Wendy Rogers, Jake Hoffman, John Kavanagh and more all remain.  And the ones who are no longer there were replaced by other extremists. 

And they'll be around to influence the ones who are in the lege.

In short, in 2022 the legislature proposed over 90 anti-voting/anti-democracy bills.  I'm going to take the "over" in 2023; they're already whining about the 2022 election.