Election 2014 - Dominoes: Gallardo out of CD7 race, into Maricopa County SD5 race

From the Arizona Republic, written by Rebekah L. Sanders -

Democratic state Sen. Steve Gallardo announced Tuesday that he will drop out of the race for Congress in the 7th District, leaving only two major candidates competing for the heavily Hispanic seat -- Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and former state Rep. Ruben Gallego.

He also announced that he will be running for the seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors currently held by Wilcox.

This all started when Congressman Ed Pastor announced that he would retire after this term in Congress, opening up that race.

Wilcox, Gallego, and Gallardo announced their intentions to run for the CD7 seat. 

That, in turn, led to Marie Lopez Rogers, mayor of Avondale, and Anna Tovar, Democratic leader in the state senate, announcing their intents to run for Wilcox' seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Gallardo is a good senator and a good candidate, but the CD7 race quickly became a two horse race, with Gallego and Wilcox garnering most of the big-name endorsements and almost all of the campaign contributions.

Last week, Tovar announced that she was withdrawing from that race and not seeking any any office this year. opening up that race for another entry.

This close to the filing deadline, there probably won't be any more serious dominoes falling in these races, but I've been wrong before.

In other words, keep paying attention.

Election 2014: Dropping off sigs and dropping the gloves

...It's getting on toward the filing deadline for candidates, the date when they have to file their signed nominating petitions.

Felecia Rotellini, Democratic candidate for Attorney General, filing more than 13000 signatures.  Picture courtesy her campaign Facebook page.

This week will see most campaigns file their signatures, mostly so that they can use Memorial Day weekend as the last bit of "down" time available to them before the August primary elections (except for the candidates, most of whom will be at Memorial Day events).

The full list of candidates who have submitted their sigs to the AZ SOS is here.  The list will be updated daily.

The Maricopa County list can be found here (click on "2014 Primary Candidate Listing").


 ...Just about the time sigs are dropped off, gloves are dropped (that's a hockey reference for you folks who grew up in the desert :) ).

In the CD1 Republican primary, one candidate, Andy Tobin, has called on another candidate, Gary Kiehne, to withdraw from the race.  Kiehne made some comments at a debate, blaming Democrats for 99% of mass shootings.

Tobin says that Kiehne isn't "level-headed" enough to represent Arizona. 

Which is kind of ironic, given that Tobin led the legislature in passing SB1062 during this past session of the lege.  It was their attempt to legalize discrimination based on religious "beliefs".

Kiehne didn't take it well, calling Tobin "scandal plagued" and a "carpetbagger"

Expect this just to be the first salvo; this race is going to be entertaining one.

GOPer candidate for Congress politicizes mass shootings

...Not in a "let's examine gun laws and the culture of violence in the U.S." sort of way, but in a "let's blame the Democrats" sort of way...

From the Arizona Star, written by Becky Pallack (emphasis added) -

Congressional District 1 candidate Gary Kiehne made extreme comments about gun rights at a Republican primary debate Saturday.

Asked how he would protect gun rights, Kiehne said he owns more guns and ammunition than the other candidates and said everyone should own a gun.

When it comes to mass shootings, “if you look at all the fiascos that have occurred, 99 percent of them have been by Democrats pulling their guns out and shooting people,” Kiehne said to an audience of about 60 people. “So I don’t think you have a problem with the Republicans.”

Audio of his comments is here.

It would be easy to dismiss the rantings of Kienhe as just that, rantings.

Of someone who doesn't have a snowball's chance in Phoenix...in July...of winning.

Except for two points:

1.  He's a Republican, and this guff appeals to a large part of their base.

2.  His opponents, just as extreme as him, have a major detail working against their success - they are sitting Republican legislators.  I can think of only two such sitting R legislators who have moved on to higher office* during a year in which they were members of the lege -

John Huppenthal, former state senator and current State Superintendent of Public Instruction (no observer can figure out how someone as nearly-universally disliked can keep winning elections, but he does)

Matt Salmon, who moved from the lege to the US House, but did it during the 1990s when the lege wasn't as much a punchline as it is today.

Of course, out of fairness to Kiehne, I should point out that at least he is consistent.


* - For purposes of this post, "higher office" refers to federal or statewide (line of succession) office.  Many legislators have moved on to other offices - county BOS, mayor/city council, even Arizona Corporation Commission.  However, I cannot find any more recent examples of Republican legislators moving directly from the lege to higher profile federal or state office.

Manny Cruz and Bob Drye: RIP

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been taking an unscheduled hiatus from blogging due to the fact that it's an even-numbered year (meaning that campaign-related activities have eaten up a lot of my time recently).

The hiatus is coming to an end because of two pieces of sad news - the passings of Manny Cruz on May 12 and Bob Drye on April 29.

Cruz was the 2010 Democratic nominee for State Mine Inspector and was planning a second run for the office when he was diagnosed with cancer.  He withdrew from the race late in 2013 in order to focus on fighting the disease.

While he gained notice as a candidate in 2010, he was far more than that.

More importantly, he was an advocate for improving the safety of Arizona by closing abandoned mines.

Most importantly, he was a beloved husband and son (and one of the warmest, most genuine people that folks who knew him had ever met).

His funeral services are tomorrow, Friday, May 16.

The funeral (both service and burial) will be at noon at Greenwood Memory Lawn, 719 N 27th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009.

There will be a reception after at Bitzee Mama's, 7023 N 58th Avenue, Glendale, AZ 85301.

I didn't know Manny as well as some, so here are some words about him from Terry Goddard (via Facebook) - 

"Very early this morning, Arizona lost Manny Cruz -- a big man in soul and heart, a champion for mine safety and for more responsive, responsible government. Manny, a fighter to the end, is at rest after a courageous battle with cancer. In politics and in the field closing abandoned mines, Manny made things happen. He liked to do things with a bang. But most of us will remember his great smile and gentle persistence. Truly, a happy warrior. He lived a remarkable life. We miss him already. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Valerie, and his mother, Sally, and all his family whose love surrounded him through the hard months. They are heroes."

The other tragic loss that hit our community recently was the passing of Bob Drye.

 
Most of us knew him as a dedicated and ever-present activist in Tempe, volunteering his wisdom, time, and energy to support Democratic candidates, the Democratic Party, and the community in any way he could. 

Long before he came to Arizona he was a family man (seven children, 18 grandchildren, and five [and counting] great-grandchildren) and an accomplished psychiatrist.

A service will he held Saturday at 10 a.m. at University Presbyterian Church, 139 E Alameda Drive, Tempe, AZ 85282.

Via email, from Phil Amorosi, one of Bob's many friends and someone that Bob mentored:

"Long time PC Robert Drye passed away on Tuesday, April 29. He was 86. Dr. Drye was one of the people that believed in me when I became chair and was instrumental in turning Dist. 27 (at the time) blue. He was the district secretary for many years, got signatures, always canvassed, a State Committeeman. He did whatever was asked. He was a life long Democrat from Vermont. He was very smart, started MIT when he was 16! He was a military man and as a psychiatrist helped set up the evaluation forms to recognize mental illness in troops. In his younger day he was a featured speaker at many forums."

My deepest condolences go out to the families and friends of both Manny and Bob.

Mocking victims of violence? That's low, even for Constantin Querard and other Republican "opinion makers"

Edit: I've received responses from both the original tweeter mentioned in the post and the retweeter, responses that include a threat of a lawsuit if I don't take the post down.  Not going to happen.

However, out of fairness, I will post those responses and my reply at the bottom of this post.

End edit.

Once in a while, something comes along that reminds me (and I hope, all of us), of the profound difference between the "opinion makers" in the GOP and the members of civil society (aka - the rest of us)...

On Tuesday night, EMILY's List, an organization dedicated to helping Democratic women win elections, held its annual awards dinner.  The highlight of the event was an appearance by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords of Arizona.

In 2011, she was a victim in a mass shooting in Tucson, one that killed six people and injured nearly 20 more (including Giffords).

The shooting occurred at a supermarket where she had just begun a "Congress On Your Corner" event, meeting and talking with her constituents.

While she did survive the shooting, she suffered a severe head wound, and has spent the last three years working to recover from the damage to her brain and body.

Her appearance Tuesday illustrated just how far she has progressed in that recovery.

Giffords (center) with AZ congresswomen Ann Kirkpatrick (left) and Kyrsten Sinema (right).  Picture courtesy CNN

It was a triumphant moment for Giffords and her friends, family, and everyone else who has followed her incredible efforts.

Many of the event's attendees tweeted during the festivities, so many that I almost missed this one -

At first, I didn't understand the reference - Tuesday was the night of the botched execution in Oklahoma, and most of my attention was focused on news coverage of that.

While at work Wednesday. the tweet popped into my head, with the realization that it was a mocking reference to the events of the Tucson shooting, when the Congress On Your Corner event ended so abruptly, and tragically.

My next thought:

That is seriously fucked up.

Before writing this, I ran the tweet by someone who has a cooler head than me, and even that person saw the reference right away, and agreed with my evaluation of the situation ("That is seriously f-ed up").

The originator of the tweet, Mr. Wurtzel, is someone I do not know personally, nor do I follow him on Twitter.

My guess, and it is only a guess at this point, is that he is one of the myriad mean people who use the relative anonymity of the internet to spew the most repugnant rhetoric.

Still, he's relatively small time and not especially influential (and, if by chance he should read this, that's not an insult - I'm relatively small time too; I'm just so wordy it takes me more than 140 characters to spout off :) ).

On the other hand, the person who I follow on Twitter who retweeted the posting (hence its appearance in my feed), is most definitely *not* small time.

He's Constantin Querard, a "player", so to speak, in Arizona politics.  He's a political consultant who has advised many candidates through the years.  He specializes in fringy, tea party-type candidates, but he'll take a retainer from any pretty much any Republican.

He should know better, and unless he advises his clients to mock victims of violence, he shouldn't do so either.

And if he's still tempted to do so, he should consider this question first:

Are you brave enough to look the families of Christina Taylor-Green, John Roll, Gabe Zimmerman, Dorothy Morris, Phyllis Schneck, and Dorwin Stoddard in the eyes and mock their loved ones?  If not, don't do it in a cowardly way either.


Please note:  I am not tarring all Republicans with the same brush here.  I know many Republicans, and am even related to a few, and most are fine human beings.

...Fine human beings who have absolutely no chance of winning a Republican primary; they are not, nor do they kiss up to, GOP "opinion makers".

Edit to add responses from Mr. Wurtzel and Mr. Querard:

 Quoted as text:

Wurtzel - @cpmaz It's an abortion joke, you fucking idiot. What is Davis known for? Take down your post or I sue your ass. You have one hour.

Querard2 - @cpmaz Irony? You laud Emily's List whose purpose is 2 ensure that babies can legally continue 2b victims of violence. Real #WarOnWomen

Querard1 - @cpmaz Fail! The author was referencing the 1st Trimester abortions that Emily's List is so very very fond of. Better luck next smear.

My response to the responses:

They claim that the original tweet was about abortion, and I have no evidence that they are lying when they state that.  However, there are two issues with their assertion, not definitive evidence of falseness, but that undercut their credibility IMO.

1.  In the original tweet, there was no indication that the tweet referenced abortion; usually hashtags or something similar are used.

2. The tweet went up shortly after Giffords took the stage, making her the most likely object of the tweeter's (and retweeter's) derision.

3.  My original post was, and remains, critical of the tweet.  However, there is no threat in it, not even an implied one.  Mr. Wurtzel's threat in response to the further undermines his credibility, IMO.

The post is staying up.

Rich Crandall: Out of a job in Wyoming, coming back to Arizona

Hey, I'm impressed that he lasted an entire winter in WY...

From the Arizona Republic - 

A former Arizona state senator who headed Wyoming's education department before a court reinstated that state's school superintendent as head of the agency says he's returning home to Arizona.

Rich Crandall was chosen for the Wyoming job by Gov. Matt Mead last summer, but he left last week after the state's superintendent reclaimed her responsibilities.

{snip}

Crandall says he's using up vacation days and officially leaves Wyoming state service May 1. He plans to return to Arizona in June and focus on running his family companies, possibly teaching and eventually looking for another job in education.

Crandall, a Republican from the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, said he has no plans to run again for a seat in Arizona's Legislature.

"Definitely not the Legislature, the time commitment's too much," Crandall said. "But maybe a school board. I love the community college system. Who knows?"

Amazingly, Crandall was the *better* option compared to Cindy Hill, the person he replaced in Wyoming (and who, in turn, replaced him).

According to this report from the Huffington Post, when she was previously in charge of the Wyoming state education department, she created an environment of physical fear and mismanaged the department so badly that even her fellow Rs felt she had to go.

Based on the article, he's not interested in becoming a state legislator again, but he *has* been a member of a school board in the past.  It may be too late in the cycle for him to seek a seat on one this time around (especially with logistics of moving from WY), but a 2016 run could be within his sights.

If he doesn't do something else before then (like go to work on an R presidential campaign - he is noted for having ties to the Jeb Bush camp).

Cliven Bundy: Albatross Around The Necks Of GOPers Everywhere, or The Gift That Keeps On Giving To Wiseass Bloggers?

Or both?

When Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy forced an armed standoff with  U.S. Bureau of Land Management employees over his refusal to pay fees for grazing his cattle on public lands, a contingent of Arizona's Republican legislators traveled to the site of the standoff.

They went to aid and abet "show their solidarity with" Bundy.

When they got back to AZ, and even before they left, the legislators involved took to the floor of the state legislature to praise Bundy and his crimes, using their positions of public trust to support the misuse of public resources.

After Bundy started spouting off on race, essentially saying that slavery was better for black Americans than freedom, his accomplices in the AZ lege went silent, but did not criticize Bundy.

They have finally come around to decreasing their public support for him.

From KTVK (Phoenix channel 3), written by Jared Dillingham (emphasis added) -

Arizona-based allies of controversial Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy are distancing themselves from him, following what many consider to be racist comments.

The rancher was caught on camera sharing his thoughts about driving past a Las Vegas housing project.

"They didn't have nothin' to do. They didn't have nothin' for their kids to do," Bundy said of the black families he saw.

"They were basically on government subsidy. So now what do they do? They abort their young children. They put their young men in jail because they never learned how to pick cotton," Bundy continued. "I've often wondered, 'Were they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things? Or are they better off as government subsidy?' "

Several Arizona lawmakers recently drove up to the Bundy ranch in Nevada to stand in solidarity with crowds protesting the government's seizure of cattle. The Bureau of Land Management says Bundy owes $1 million in past grazing fees, which he has refused to pay.

Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, said she went to the ranch hoping to keep the situation from turning violent.

Rep. Townsend may be mouthing the right words, but her actions say something else, and as the old saying goes - "Actions speak louder than words".

A picture tweeted by the contingent, taken during their visit with Bundy -

Townsend is second from the left.  Her appearance gives lie to her professed desire for a non-violent resolution to the confrontation.

Focusing on her -

Ummm...there is *nothing* about a gun that is non-violent.

Absolutely nothing.

Committees and candidate update

I didn't expect to do another one of these updates until after nominating petitions are turned in and we know who is actually going to be on the ballot.  However, there are a few significant items to update...
 

...State Sen. Kimberly Yee (R-LD20) used her power as a committee chair to kill a bill that would have provided funding for a study to see if marijuana can be used to alleviate the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  PTSD affects veterans (and others, too) and there was a lot of support for the study among veterans, veterans' groups, and those who support veterans.

So now Yee, who was basically unopposed, is now facing a primary challenge from a candidate who has switched from running for the AZ House to running for the AZ Senate, Justin Henry.

Henry is, you guessed it, a veteran.


...Casey Forese, married to Republican legislator Rep. Tom Forese, has filed to run for the governing board of the Chandler Unified School District.  If she wins election and is seriously interested in working to support and improve the Chandler schools, it could lead to some interesting dinner table conversations with her husband, a member of the anti-education Republican caucus running the AZ lege.  Of course, given the track record of Republican school board members across the state, working *for* the betterment of public education may not be part of the plan.

Note: In 2014, Tom Forese is running for a seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission.  Regardless of how that election turns out, he won't be part of the legislature in 2015.

...Mike Johnson, former member of the Phoenix City Council, has filed to run for the seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors held by Mary Rose Wilcox, who is running for the Congressional seat held by Ed Pastor.  His committee chair?  Art Hamilton, a legendary former legislator.  His committee treasurer?  Tony Motola, a long-time figure, and fixer, in Phoenix politics.

Johnson joins Marie Rogers, mayor of Avondale,  and Anna Tovar, Democratic leader in the Arizona State Senate, in the race.

...Ron Bellus has filed to run for a seat on the governing board of the Gilbert Public School District.  Not a widely-known name, he was hired at the state lege for the start up of Arizona Capitol Television.  He was part of the inner circle of Jim Weiers, former speaker of the AZ House.  Bellus was let go when Weiers finished his time at the lege.  The Gilbert School Board has become notoriously dysfunctional as tea party types have taken over there, but I have no idea if Bellus is looking to help "right the ship", or looking to help finish sinking that ship.

...Alfredo Gutierrez, long-time legislator and community activist, and an author, has filed to run for the seat on the governing board of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) that he was appointed to earlier this year.


Note: Because local school board races are officially non-partisan, they will only be on the general election ballot.  As such, candidates have until August 6th to turn in their nominating sigs.  This page from the Maricopa County Education Service Agency (yes, it's run by Republicans, so no mention of public education in the name is allowed.  However,it is the office of the superintendent of Maricopa County schools) contains information about running for a local school board in Maricopa County.


This should be the last post of its type until after candidates turn in sigs and we know who will be on the ballot, but if there are any other major developments before then, I'll update...

Cliven Bundy and AZ GOPers: Still BFFs?

Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who became a Republican hero and cause celebre for using public resources illegally (grazing his cattle on public land and refusing to pay grazing fees), has become less celebrated after some bigoted remarks of his came to light.

From the New York Times, written by Adam Nagourney -

But if the federal government has moved on, Mr. Bundy — a father of 14 and a registered Republican — has not.

He said he would continue holding a daily news conference; on Saturday, it drew one reporter and one photographer, so Mr. Bundy used the time to officiate at what was in effect a town meeting with supporters, discussing, in a long, loping discourse, the prevalence of abortion, the abuses of welfare and his views on race.

“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” he said. Mr. Bundy recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do.

“And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”

Now, Mr. Bundy and his ilk have the right to express their opinions, even those that are ignorant and virulently bigoted.

That's within his rights.

However, people who disagree with him have the same rights.

We have the right to disagree with him, to express that disagreement, and even to criticize him and his supporters.

We also have the right to cast the bright light of scrutiny on him and his fellow travelers.

From the twitter feeds of some of the Republican elected officials from AZ who went to Nevada to aid and abet show their solidarity with Bundy -

(L-R) US Rep. Paul Gosar, Bundy, State Sen. Kelli Ward

State Rep. David Livingston (center) and three of his fellow travelers

(L-R) State Rep Bob Thorpe, State Rep. Kelly Townsend, State Sen. Judy Burges, State Rep. David Livingston, unknown, unknown, unknown

I haven't found any comments about Bundy's latest spoutings (positive or negative) from the AZ types who visited him.  Given the track record of at least one of them (Thorpe), I don't expect that they will be denouncing their hero anytime soon.

Al Melvin and the Twitter version of verbal diarrhea

Somebody in the Melvin campaign should change his Twitter password.  Really.

After his infamous flameout in a CNN interview supporting SB1062, the bigotry legalization act, many people thought his IQ may be on the room temperature side of average (average IQ = 100; average room temperature = less than 100, significantly <).

A string of his tweets from yesterday and today -

No word on if he will be wearing a Kevlar campaign t-shirt at the gun show, or if show attendees will understand that "could I have your sig?" is not a request for them to disarm.

Legislative lineup card: Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Note: During the writing of this post, the "Farley Report" , a weekly rundown of goings-on at the Capitol from State Sen. Steve Farley hit my email inbox; per his report, Wednesday may be the last day of the session.

Because things are so fluid at the Capital this week, expected to be the final week of the session, I'll post on a daily basis regarding the legislative calendars posted for the following day.

Be aware, however, that things may move very quickly at the lege and all calendars are subject to change without notice.

Some of the more colorful measures up for consideration on Wednesday:

On the Senate Third Read calendar -

HB2663, a back-door way of enacting permanent restrictions on the state's budget by requiring that budget proposals use revenue forecasts designed to low-ball revenue estimates.


On the House COW calendar - 

SB1237 (yet again; it keeps being "retained" on the COW calendar, which is lege-speak for they aren't bringing to a vote until they are sure they have the votes to pass it), expanding school vouchers "empowerment scholarship accounts".


On the House Third Read calendar (here, here, and here) - Amazingly, looks quiet so far.  Emphasis on "so far".


Three Senate committees are meeting to consider a slew of executive nominations:

Education, SHR1, 9:45 a.m.
Government and Environment, SHR3, 10 a.m.
Judiciary, SHR1, 10 a.m.

Legislative lineup card: Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Because things are so fluid at the Capital this week, expected to be the final week of the session, I'll post on a daily basis regarding the legislative calendars posted for the following day.

Be aware, however, that things may move very quickly at the lege and all calendars are subject to change without notice.

Some of the more dangerous measures up for consideration (or, in two cases, reconsideration) - 

On the House's Final Read calendar:

Reconsideration of HB2058, placing a limit on the annual compensation level that can be used to calculate the pensions of public employees; a way to reduce pensions without appearing to do so.

It passed earlier in the session, but was amended on the Senate floor, necessitating a vote in the House to approve the changes.

It failed by one vote on Monday, but five members were absent.  The sponsor, Rep. John Kavanagh, voted against the measure, which allowed him to move for reconsideration of the measure.  Presumably, he expects one of the five absent members to support his measure.  Since his seat mate, Michelle Ugenti, was one of the five, and she despises public employees as much as Kavanagh does, the presumption is probably a safe one.


On the House's Third Read calendar (here and here):

SB1404, declaring that a"direct primary care provider plan does not constitute the transaction of insurance or a health care services organization" and isn't subject to regulation.

SB1344, barring the Citizens' Clean Election Commission from investigating or acting on campaign finance violations committed by candidates who are "traditional" funding candidates.  Failed on Monday by one vote; up for reconsideration Tuesday.


On the House's COW calendar:

SB1237, an expansion of school vouchers "empowerment scholarship accounts".


On the Senate's COW calendar:

HB2262, the taxi industry protection act.


Stay tuned...

Waning days of the 2014 AZ legislature: Lobbyists practicing their check writing skills

Full disclosure: This post is all about bad bills that are still alive or dead bills that could be resurrected, not just the start of lobbyist shakedown season. 

Two of the truisms about the legislature in AZ are:

1.  Some crazy s--- goes down during the final hours of any session (Alt-fuels, anyone?)

2.  The members of the lege will be reaching out to put the touch on lobbyists before the echo of the final gavel fades from the chambers of the legislature.

The coming week is looking to be the final one of the session.

Not written in stone, but the budget is passed (an ugly budget, to be sure, but it has been passed) and the members of the lege want to get on with campaigning for this year's elections...and, perhaps not so coincidentally, once the session ends, they can officially start collecting "campaign contributions" from lobbyists.

ARS 41-1234.01 states:

A. While registered under this article, a principal, public body, lobbyist, designated public lobbyist or authorized public lobbyist shall not make or promise to make a campaign contribution to or solicit or promise to solicit campaign contributions for:
1. A member of the legislature when the legislature is in regular session.

As soon as the legislative session ends, expect the money train to leave the station.

It's something to keep an eye on when the legislative session ends, but between now and that finale (speculation: Thursday evening) there are a number of ugly, crazy, and just plain bad bills still alive.

And that's not even allowing for the resurrection of already-killed bills.  As they say at the lege, and observers know from long experience, "it ain't over until Sine Die".

Note: all schedules and agendas are subject to change without notice, and given the chaos that is a fundamental part of the end of any session of the legislature, expect changes.

For now, however, we know a few things that are coming -

Monday's House COW calendar includes:

SB1237, expanding school vouchers "empowerment scholarship accounts"

SB1344, "clarifying" that the Citizens' Clean Election Committee has not jurisdiction whatsoever over campaign finance violations committed by non-Clean Elections candidates.

SB1366, further weakening the state's already weak firearms laws by expanding the definition of "firearm" that is (not) regulated by state laws


Monday's Senate COW calendar includes:

HB2163, allowing a "space flight entity" to enter into liability release agreements with "space flight participants".  The measure is being pushed by a company that has entered the business of commercial space flight (the fact that there isn't any viable commercial spaceflight at this point, or even in the foreseeable future, is irrelevant - they want a liability waiver)

HB2403, creating rules and procedures for taking depreciation on equipment related to renewable energy.  This bill started its life as a bill to give disabled veterans lifetime passes to Arizona state parks.

HB2448, creating a tax credit for property owners who claim that the value of their property has been diminished by a municipality's land use rule, and withholding the amount of that credit from any funds distributed to that municipality by the state.

Third Read (final approval) calendars for Monday and later in the week have not been posted as yet, nor have other COW calendars.


Channel 12's Sunday Square Off had segments devoted to the the lege's (likely) last week of the session, segments that featured Capitol reporters Alia Rau (Arizona Republic) and Howard Fischer (Capital Media Services).  Their summary/prediction:

Lots of bills will be considered this week, most won't be fully vetted by legislators, and at some point, a defeated measure to expand school vouchers "empowerment scholarship accounts" (not the measure above).

Video of the segments here and here.


Take away:  This is going to be one of those weeks where no matter how closely one keeps tab on the activities of the lege, stuff is going to be missed.  But that's better than ignoring them and then next week looking looking back and wondering -

WTF?!?

Al Melvin: purveyor of fuzzy geography

Al Melvin may claim that Common Core educational standards embrace "fuzzy math", but he may not be one to speak - his knowledge of Arizona geography is fuzzy.  At best.

State Sen. Al Melvin (R), wants to be governor of Arizona.

It's no secret that I have many problems with that, but I never thought that I would have to say this:

He doesn't know enough about Arizona geography to be qualified to visit the governor's office, much less occupy it.

On Thursday, he tweeted this -

Anthem?  "[J]ust north of Florence"???

From Google maps -

Yes, I suppose that technically speaking, Anthem is north of Florence, but not "just" north.

Getting curious, I looked up the event in question.

From the Facebook page of the Pinal County Republican Party -

The route between Anthem and the forum address in Florence, also courtesy Google maps -

Under normal circumstances, I would not publicize a Republican event.

I chose to do so in this case because if Al Melvin continues to labor under the delusion that the event is in Anthem, he will end up traveling to Maricopa County.

That would ruin a potentially great weekend.  For any Maricopans who cross his path.

Tom Horne getting his nativist freak on in the R primary...again.

Hey, it worked in 2010, right?

Arizona's attorney general, Tom Horne, has some ethical issues, as we all know.  In fact, calling them "issues" may be understating things.  A lot.

The Horne situation is so dire that the poobahs of the Arizona GOP found someone to challenge Horne in the R primary, Mark Brnovich.

The feeling seems to be that the best chance for the AZGOP to hang on to the AG's office is to nominate someone other than the incumbent.

Now, Horne is not the type to go away quietly - if he were that type, he probably wouldn't be facing the issues that he's facing.

To that end, he has re-formed the bigot band for a fundraiser.

In 2010, Arizona enacted the infamous anti-immigrant measure, SB1070.  While it was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer, all-but guaranteeing her election that year, the bill was crafted by then-state senator Russell Pearce and his ally, Kris Kobach, now the secretary of state in Kansas (and then, as now, a major figure in the nation's nativist movement).

Then the state's Superintendent of Public Instruction, Horne fully embraced the measure and its spirit of hate.

That embrace helped to propel Horne to a general election victory over Democrat Felecia Rotellini.  She was the lone bright spot for Democrats in a down year - by a wide margin, she was the strongest contender of any of the Democratic candidates for statewide office in Arizona.

"Strongest" to the point that many observers felt that in almost any other election cycle, she would have defeated Horne.

Fast forward to 2014, and Horne is up for election again, and Rotellini is looming in the general election, and she has four years of Tom Horne as AG to run on (in addition to her own strong record).

So, facing strong opposition in both the primary and general elections, Horne is turning to old allies for help.

Courtesy KPNX's Brahm Resnik -

The most frightening this about this event isn't that it will be an assemblage of some of the biggest bigots to hold elected office in recent memory (plus one of the least-talented successful actors ever), or that there are people who will actually *pay* to rub shoulders with the same.

Nope.  The most frightening thing about this event is this one line -

"Tom will also be playing "Rhapsody in Blue" on the University Club Piano"

There's no indication if ear plugs will be available for the guests.  Or if music critics will be allowed to attend.


PS - what's with this? -

That star looks kinda familiar.

OK.  Very familiar.

Possibly not the best choice for a candidate for elected office in Arizona.