Well, that didn't take long: it turns out that personalities matter more than partisanship at the AZ legislature

Five days ago I wrote a post about how the Arizona legislature has two "P"s - partisanship and personalities.

I did NOT expect that a story I saw this week would show which of those is ascendant.

From KSAZ (the local Fox affiliate, and I almost NEVER quote anything from Fox, but it's necessary tis time), written Justin Lum, dated 3/27/2025 -

Arizona stolen valor bill blocked by Wendy Rogers; supporters cry foul

There's a controversy in the Arizona State Legislature, after Republican State Senator Wendy Rogers blocked a bill that would make it a crime to impersonate a veteran.

If approved and signed into law, HB 2030 would increase penalties for Arizonans who claim military honors they never earned, or those who alter official military documents.

[snip]

The bill's sponsor said Rogers, who is an Air Force veteran herself, blocked the bill for personal reasons: State Rep. Blackman’s political rival, who ran against him and lost in the primary election, was endorsed by State Sen. Rogers despite allegations of stolen valor.

The rival, as mentioned above, is Steve Slaton. Slaton campaigned with State Sen. Rogers and gained her endorsement, but the Navajo County Republican Party discovered that Slaton provided an altered form claiming combat veteran status in Vietnam, and showing qualifications and awards that he never earned

.

HB2030 was sponsored by Representative Walt Blackman, an R from LD7.

Generally speaking, my default belief is that any bill sponsored by an R should be opposed, but this bill was an exception to that belief.  It was actually a good bill.  

From ALIS (the names of the other supporters of the bill are publicly available, but this pic was about showing my support for the bill.  The other supporters can publish there own names.)

As Rogers is a veteran, I was a little surprised when she opposed this.

On the other hand, we're talking about Rogers here, so I was only a little surprised.

At the AZ Lege, some folks are setting things up for it to become an example of "what's old is new again"

And, for once, I'm talking about the Rs' desire to return society to the 1930's or earlier (you know, times of massive corruption, massive breadlines, and massive lynchings).

Nope, I'm talking about how certain former members of the legislature are seeking to return there.

I've already written about the candidacy of former Senate president Steve Yarbrough in his quest to return to the lege, this time in the House.

It's still early, but Republican former rep Walt Blackman has formed a committee for a return to the House from LD7.  In 2022, he ran for Congress and lost in the primary. -

Republican Vince Leach is looking to return to the Senate from LD17 -

He's not exactly a good public servant, but he lost a primary fight with the wildly controversial Justine Wadsack, the current state senator from that district and someone who laughs at sane when she sees it in her rearview mirror.

Also having a committee is former legislator Bob Stump, but I'm not sure that he's running - it's a *very* old committee and isn't set up for his current district.

The committee is set up for LD9 but he lives in LD27.

It's time for speculation on the horse races season

Apparently, there's a lot of crazy in rural Arizona and voters there either try to get rid of some of it by sending it to the Capitol or they feel truly represented by it.

From the Payson Roundup -

State House District 7 race may turn into Republican civil war

Redistricting has handed Republicans a safe seat that includes all of Rim Country and the White Mountains.

So get ready for a civil war.

The redrawn State Legislative District 7 seat may pit two incumbent state senators and three incumbent state representatives against one another in the upcoming Republican primary.

[snip]

Currently, both state Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff) and state Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction) could seek the seat in the redrawn District 7.

Sen. Rogers’ office did not respond to an email message asking whether she planned to run for re-election in the redrawn district. Her current official address is actually in the redrawn District 6, which is solidly Democratic and includes the Navajo, Hopi, White Mountain Apache and San Carlos Apache reservations. However, shifting her address by about half a mile would put her in the Republican District 7.

Sen. Townsend’s office responded to a message by saying she had not yet decided whether to seek re-election or what district she would run in. She lives in the new District 7, but her address is just half a mile from a Mesa-based district, so she could easily move into another district.

[snip]

Walt Blackman (R-Snowflake) has said he will not seek another term so he can challenge Democratic Congressman Tom O’Halleran (R-Oak Creek) in the redrawn Congressional District 2 — where Republicans have a registration and vote history advantage.

Brenda Barton (R-Payson) did not respond to an email asking about her future plans. She’s a conservative Republican who represented the old District 6 for several terms, before sitting out two election cycles due to term limits — before her re-election in 2020.

Rep. David Cook (R-Globe) says he will run in the redrawn District 7, which now includes all of Gila County except for the San Carlos Apache Reservation. 

Blackman is anti-choice; supports taxation without representation; is anti-consumer and is an anti-vaxxer.

Barton wants to pay high schoolers less than the minimum wage; is anti-democracy; and is a less than ethical gun nut.

From her 2014 legislative bio -

Cook is pro-developer/anti-water; wants non-LEOs/correction officers (and related types) and anyone else who works for society to rot in their retirements; and is a fave of wingnut religious group The Center for Arizona Policy.

From Cook's legislative bio -

As for Townsend and Rogers?

They're just nuts.

David Gordon of Blog for Arizona has a piece up wherein he, and Kirsten Engel (a Democratic candidate for Congress), state a belief that Townsend will run for Congress in AZ6.

Note: As of this writing, there's no "Townsend" committee listed on the website of the FEC.

Wherever she runs, she may find that winning a general election in Pima County (or part of it) to be "problematical."

She demanded an AG investigation into Pima County's vaccine mandate for its employees.

She's since dropped it, but not because she suddenly started liking vaccines.  Because the AG ran out of time.

If she does run for Congress, one good thing will come out of it.  With her (possibly) running for Congress, and state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita running for Secretary of State, two of the most anti-voter members of this year's legislature won't be in next year's legislature.  They may famously dislike each other, but they share a hatred of society.

My guess is that this won't be the last time that Pima County hears from Townsend.

Rep. Walt Blackman: yet another contender for the Legislative Loon Award

I don't expect him to win the award with this much competition, but anyone as pro-Covid as him merits a mention.

He's running for Congress (and if he wins, he'll fit right in with Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs there).

So far, he's proposed just one bill, but it's a doozy.

HB2029 would bar the state, counties, municipalities, and businesses that do business with them from requiring Covid vaccinations or proof of vaccination.