Fun with campaign lit... Part 2

Not really a surprise, but it seems that Elon Musk is prepping for 2028 even before the 2026 midterms.

Got a pro Jay Feely lit piece in the mail on Friday -

Like the previous one, it didn't mention Feely's opponent in CD1, Amish Shah.

Also like the previous one, Feely's picture was very small.

Lastly, as with the previous one, it was paid for by America PAC.

America PAC was formed by Elon Musk and some of his techbro pals in 2024 to spend money on electing Republicans...and it's still active, and not just in AZ.

It's pretty mundane stuff...in a shameless "fear the other" way.

The interesting parts are the pics on both sides of the piece.

On one side is a pic of notable progressive Democrats California governor Gavin Newsom, US Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), New  York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, and US Sen. Bernie Sanders.

On the other side is a pic of Newsom, AOC, and Sanders.

I don't believe that AOC or Mamdani will run for the Democratic nomination for POTUS in 2028; it *could* happen, but I think their focuses will be elsewhere then.  

Though I also both will look at it in future cycles.

While Sanders has run for the nomination before but he's 85 years old.  He's probably aged out of another run.

Newsom, on the other hand, hasn't been shy about letting folks know that he's *very* interested in becoming POTUS in 2028.

On the other have, while many words can be used to describe Newsom, "progressive" isn't one of them.

In a weird way, Musk's diatribes may actually help Newsom in the Democratic primary.

Most Democratic voters (including me) do not see him as progressive enough to support; Musk equating him to actual progressives can only help to burnish his image with us.

Legislative schedule - week starting 9/27/2026

By intersession standards, this week will be a busy one at the state legislature - there will be three committees meeting.  There aren't many intersession weeks where one of the meetings may become popcorn-riffic, but this one of them.

On Monday, 9/28 

-

- Public Property Towing and Impound Practices Study Committee meets at 11 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: An organizational meeting, including a discussion of SB1366, which was the genesis of this committee.

On Tuesday, 9/29  

-

- Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on State Land Oversight meets at 10 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: Asking someone from the State Land Department about many topics, including data centers.

On Wednesday, 9/30 

-

- Joint Legislative Budget Committee meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: some pretty basic stuff, but what ISN'T on the agenda could make this the most colorful meeting of the week.  The committee's chair, Sen. David Farnsworth, has consented to do Sen. Jake Hoffman's bidding, and may issue legislative subpoenas to Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes in an attempt to compel their appearances before his committee.  Hoffman would do the deed himself, but he has some credibility issues.

On Thursday, 10/1 - Nada.

Priorities: Gotta have 'em.

Unfortunately, the best interests of the people of Maricopa County aren't a priority for the Republicans in the state legislature.

In early May of 2025, the Arizona Legislature approved SB1144, authorizing the voters of Maricopa County to vote on a proposition to extend the county's jail facilities excise tax.

It will appear on the ballots of Maricopa County Voters this November as Proposition 413..

What *didn't* the legislature approve?

A bill authorizing the voters of Maricopa County to consider extending the county's sales tax expansion for transportation.

Hmmm......

I'll be voting against the extension of jail facilities excise tax, not because I'm opposed to using public funds to pay for public infrastructure, but because there's a distinct vagueness and lack of accountability in the measure.

And the fact that most of the people who submitted arguments in favor of the proposition for the county's publicity pamphlet for the measure are people who will benefit from the measure...and its vagueness.

Minor correction time: ballot measures

Earlier this month, I wrote a post urging folks to vote "No" on all ballot questions this year.

It wasn't wrong, but it's in need of clarification.

People should vote "No" on all *statewide* ballot questions; however, there are school district and local questions on each ballot that may be worthy of the support of local voters.

As there are many jurisdictions in the state (and I don't have an opinion on most local questions), I won't offer a recommendation on any of them here.

Most school district questions involve asking for permission for a budget override or continuation of a previously approved override, and, given that the Republicans in the Arizona Legislature have a preference for radically underfunding public education, I'll generally support those, but someone might live in a district that doesn't actually merit that.

Fun with campaign lit...

I thought Republicans DESPISED voting early and by mail and wanted to end both...

Got this in the mail today from the Feely campaign (he's the R nominee in AZ CD1).

It seems we've reached the "Fear The Other" portion of his campaign, and that people should vote for him (and other Rs) based on that fear.  Not because of policies (none were mentioned), just fear.

Apparently, he's OK with voting early.

Of course, based on the exhortations in the lit, he seems to be OK with people voting early...so long as they vote for him.

The most interesting part of the piece was that it had one (very small) pic of Feely, and none of Amish Shah (the Democratic nominee in the district) or even of the district itself.

However, it had two large pics of AOC, Congresswoman from New York, Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont, and Zohran Mamdani, Mayor of New York City.

Both pics had headlines below them intended to demonize socialism.

Which is straight out of the Cheeto playbook - demonize something, without explaining that something, and say that he can fix it...if he gets enough votes.

Oh, and the lit was paid for by a PAC.

Legislative schedule - week starting 9/20/2026

Breaking news!  There's actually some activity at the legislature!

It may only be one committee meeting on the schedule, but it's still something.

On Monday, 9/21 

 -

Joint Legislative Audit Committee meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: a bunch of reports and presentations.  Given that we are approaching an election, expect some (OK, *lots*) posturing from the committee's Republicans.

On Tuesday, 9/22, Wednesday, 9/23, and Thursday, 9/24 - Nada

The scams/dirty tricks are continuing...

Yesterday I wrote a post about a voter registration scam we received in the mail. 

Today, we received another, though this one seems at once to be both cheaper and actually a little better.

"Cheaper" because is was a post card.

"Better" in a few ways -

- There was an "awww, shucks" vibe to it.

- It was actually addressed to two people, one of whom actually still lives here.

- It was limited to registered voters and pushed them to get on the Active Early Voter List.

The "awww, shucks" stuff -

The "personalization" seems to be a nice touch..

Problems?

It pushes folks to go to a blind website or to scan a QR code, both of which are VERY bad ideas.

It was mailed from California into Arizona.

Oh, and the addressee who still lives here?  

Already on the early voter list.

If a voter wants to update their voter registration in any way, please go to the website of your local registration entity (usually a county) directly.  In Maricopa County, MC Elections Department can be found at https://elections.maricopa.gov/.

The scams/dirty tricks have already started

Let the voter registration games begin...

Got something in the mail today.  Not gonna open it as it's not addressed to me (actually, I've never heard of the person it's address to), but the outside indicates that it is problematical.

Looks official.  But then I saw this -

Voter registration mail with an Austin TX return address (not one from County of Maricopa or State of Arizona) AND it was mailed under a permit issued in Phoenix?

Seems sketchy.

It's also been tried in states other than AZ.

A quick Google search turned up an article from the Alabama Ledger, no date listed - 

Voters should be aware of Election Mail Service Scam

The Alabama Secretary of State’s Office has been made aware of another third-party organization contacting voters with outdated and inaccurate information to encourage voter registration and voter participation.

According to press release this letter is being sent by the Election Mail Service out of Austin, Texas and it encourages voters to visit ALVotes.org – a site that is not associated whatsoever with the Office of the Secretary of State. The letter notifies voters that they are not registered to vote and includes an unofficial voter registration application.

Voters should buckle up.  It's going to be a bumpy ride.

Be careful when using sponsored links

I don't know what it means, so I won't put out any politically-based generalizations.

Turning Point is spending money for outreach by using Google ads -

It don't know if TP's outreach campaign is nationwide or focused on Arizona only, but it brings up a valid (and non-political) point -

When using your preferred internet search engine, it may be best to ignore sponsored results.

As can be seen from above, a sponsored link may direct someone to a place that is polar opposite of the desired site.

Also, even when the title of a sponsored link has the name of the searched-for site, the actual link may direct a user to a hostile site.

...TP is not the only anti-democracy operator going online in order to further their agenda.

From ElectionLawBlog, dated 9/8 -

“The hidden dangers of Musk’s votesafe.org”

[snip]

While Vote.gov collects no personal information, votesafe.org collects the following:

• First, middle, and last name
• Date of birth
• Full home address
• Email address
• Cell phone number
• IP address and location (This information is used to derive each user’s city, zip code, approximate longitude and latitude, time zone, and internet provider.)
• Browser, operating system, screen size and language of your device
• What website referred you to votesafe.org
• Every link you click
• Every page you look at
• Your voter registration status (This is derived from a voter file held by America PAC or its vendors — not the state’s actual records.)
• Your district and ballot (This is derived from Ballotpedia.)

• 
  

Legislative schedule - week starting 9/13/2026

There's nothing on the legislative schedule this coming week.

Last week, I wrote about a scheduled press conference by Andy Biggs, slated for 9/9.

It's been rescheduled to 9/22.

While Biggs didn't attend the MAGA pep rally/cult meeting in Dallas last week, apparently, he didn't wish to conflict with it.

CD1 Update: Feely's in trouble, and he knows it

His Democratic opponent, Amish Shah, may be ecstatic* right now.

* = As much as anyone can be ecstatic while working in an ER.

Bottom line: Feely is tacking rightward in the general election period in a swing district.  Needing to shore up the base after the primary is not a good thing.

From AZMirror, written by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy -

Jay Feely leans into Trump as swing-seat Republicans back away

As Republican candidates nationally skipped President Donald Trump’s “midterm convention” and have sought to separate themselves from the historically unpopular president, Republican Jay Feely took the opposite tack, joining Trump in Dallas and giving a speech to the GOP faithful. 

Feely, a former NFL kicker and broadcaster, leveraged Trump’s endorsement in the July primary election to win the Republican nomination in Congressional District 1, which spans large swaths of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills and north and central Phoenix. 

[snip]

But other than a jab at Shah that aimed to try to connect him to democratic socialism — an allegation Feely has made previously that has been rebutted by Shah’s campaign — Feely’s speech focused more on how voting for Republicans protects America’s “greatness.” 

Arizona Ballot Measures 2026: vote no on everything

That's the short version, though most readers want more.

The not-as-short version: there are eight questions on the ballot for AZ voters to consider; all were put there by the Republicans in the Arizona Legislature.

They did so for multiple reasons, and none of them were about benefitting the average Arizonan.

Some the questions were placed on the ballot in an effort to inflict R propaganda on civil society, to raise R voter turnout, and, oh yeah, to evade the veto pen of Governor Hobbs.

Longer version, with individual analyses (though I'll try to keep them short):

Note: all pics are courtesy the Arizona Secretary of State's website.

Proposition 141 -

It's about exempting electric vehicles (EVs) from taxation as society transitions from vehicles that incur fuel taxes to EVs.

Prop 142 -

This one is about adding R bigotry to the state constitution and ending all DEI/affirmative action efforts. 

Prop 144 -

This one is an anti-vote by mail measure.  Cheeto votes by mail, but legislative Rs want to prevent the rest of society from doing so.

Prop 316 -

As there is no statewide sales tax on food, this is all about reducing and limiting the revenue received by jurisdictions that provide the most services to Arizonans.

Prop 317 -

This one would allow legislative Rs to designate anyone they don't like as a "drug cartel" and sic the Arizona Department of Homeland Security on them.

Prop 318 -

This one is bald anti-trans person bigotry.

Prop 319 -

This one is a two-fer - they get to attack photo radar (which they absolutely HATE) and defund the Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC).  The CCEC receives funding from a surcharge on traffic tickets.  Legislative Rs also hate CCEC; it provides public funding for candidates who pledge to not accept money from private "donors"/special interests.   It serves to reduce bribing opportunities for the patrons of legislative Rs.

Prop 320 -

This one would severely limit budget independence of large public school districts and all school districts in Maricopa and Pima counties (and, based on my research, all but five of the large school districts affected by this are in Maricopa or Pima counties).

Under this measure, public school counselors, nurses, custodians, administrators, librarians, and more would all but go away.

Private and charter schools?  Not impacted.

Legislative schedule - week starting 9/6/2026

There's nothing on the legislative schedule this coming week, 

While I don't normally mention non-legislative event here, I'll make an exception is this case -

On Wednesday, 9/9, Republican candidate for governor of Arizona Andy Biggs will hold a press conference in his old stomping grounds (he used to be president of the state senate) to announce what he plans to do to AZ if he's elected.

He's scheduled to take 30 minutes to do something I can sum up here in a lot less time - 

Biggs' agenda:

1. Screw over the average Arizonan.

2. Aid and abet Cheeto.

Legislative schedule - week starting 8/30/2026

There's nothing on the legislative schedule this coming week, even though most of the week is in September.

Alexander Kolodin: the man who would be AZ Secretary of State is a well-connected scofflaw

David Gordon of Blog for Arizona has the details of a 2020 stop conducted by the Scottsdale Police Department - 

Alexander Kolodin, the Election Denier Looking to Take Away Your Right to Vote By Mail, Was Pulled Over and Handcuffed by Scottsdale PD in 2020

Alexander Kolodin is fast proving the maxim that “the more famous you get, the more scrutiny you get, the more backlash you get.”

Since becoming the Republican Nominee for Secretary of State in July, the Arizona State Legislators’ past sins and words have come under greater scrutiny.

[snip]

Today, reports and video have surfaced that Kolodin, in June, 2020, before he embarked on the political road that has led him to this point, was pulled over with a friend (who was driving) and handcuffed by Scottsdale Police for throwing out a can that had contained alcohol and for having firearms in the car.

According to reporting by Dennis Welch, the gun turned out to belong to Kolodin’s friend, and the future legislator was given a ticket for criminal littering. Kolodin also commented that the issue was resolved with him being cited for civil littering.

The base AZFamily (KPHO) story is here.

That covers the "scofflaw" part.

In 2020, Scottsdale P.D. cited Kolodin for littering even though he was in a car and was in possession  of an open container of alcohol and was in a vehicle with a gun.

However, Scottsdale P.D. (like most other P.D.s) has a track record of giving a free pass on bad behavior to folks they consider to be wealthy and/or well-connected (or going light on them if a complete free pass isn't possible).

Free pass:

From KTAR, written by Serena O'Sullivan, dated 8/20 -

Scottsdale mayor says she never skipped court over speeding ticket, calls controversy ‘a setup’

Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky says she never skipped a court date over a photo radar ticket because she never knew the citation existed until a reporter called her after it had already been dismissed.

“There was no court date. That didn’t happen. No skipped court date, no ducking out on a fine,” Borowsky told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show Thursday. “There was no fine because the citation was dismissed before I even knew about it. Those are the facts.”

And Borowsky has endorsed Kolodin.

Going light -

From 12News, written by Wendy Halloran, dated 9/8/2016 -

Former Mesa cop had free rein of Scottsdale jail while serving DUI sentence

A 12 News continuing investigation has triggered an internal affairs investigation at the Scottsdale Police Department and three of the top command staff at the city jail have been suspended.

Former Mesa Police Lieutenant Rick Van Galder was pulled over in Gilbert back in February and later pleaded guilty to driving drunk. At the time of his arrest, his blood alcohol level was almost four times the legal limit.

 

Kolodin is well-connected, even before he was elected to the state legislature.

From the 2021 financial disclosure filing of then-State Representative (now State Senator) Shawnna Bolick (covering the year 2020) -

Her husband, AZ Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, made a similar filing.

A sitting state legislator and a sitting justice on the AZ Supreme Court are the parents of one of his employees?

Sounds pretty well-connected to me.