Same as last week, mostly.
Nada, as in there is nothing scheduled at this point.
I expect that the ad hoc and interim committee activity to pick after the primary election on 7/30 as members with general election contests try to get their names out there. It also wouldn't surprising to see certain most Republican members use the taxpayer dime to deride Vice President Kamala Harris.
I *still* expect that, though it isn't going to happen this week.
Stringham is the Democratic nominee for Maricopa County Recorder...and I believe that in a general election battle against Richer, he wouldn't have stood a snowball's chance in Phoenix in July against him.
General election voters like simple competence from the public employees.
Fortunately for Stringham, though, Republican voters nominated Justin Heap for the office.
Heap's a pure ideologue, and the next time reality is more relevant to him than his beliefs will be the first time.
People who value clean voting and clean document keeping should donate to and vote for Tim Stringham.
There were a few upsets, but not many; most of the "upsets" were in the gap between candidates, not in the final results.
Notes:
The results for federal and legislative races are from the Arizona Secretary of State.
The results for Maricopa County races (designated with an "MC") are from the Maricopa County Recorder's office.
All results are preliminary; vote totals may change, but in most races, I don't expect the final order to change.
Lastly, there were other primaries and/or other candidates not included here.
Candidate Office Party Percent
Kari Lake US Sen R 55.23
Mark Lamb US Sen R 39.41
Amish Shah CD1 D 23.93
Andrei Cherny CD1 D 21.41
Marlene Galan-Woods CD1 D 20.89
Conor O'Callaghan CD1 D 18.44
Andrew Horne CD1 D 12.27
Kurt Kroemer CD1 D 3.08
Yassamin Ansari CD3 D 46
Raquel Teran CD3 D 42.9
Juan Ciscomani CD6 R 59.4
Kathleen Winn CD6 R 40.6
Abe Hamadeh CD8 R 29.83
Blake Masters CD8 R 25.32
Ben Toma CD8 R 21.23
Trent Franks CD8 R 16.54
Anthony Kern CD8 R 4.74
Mark Finchem LD1 Sen R 47.1
Ken Bennett LD1 Sen R 34.3
Wendy Rogers LD7 Sen R 54.91
David Cook LD7 Sen R 45.09
Walt Blackman LD7 Rep R 27.44
David Marshall LD7 Rep R 24.53
Steven Slaton LD7 Rep R 14.1
Janeen Connolly LD8 Rep D 34
Brian Garcia LD8 Rep D 33.91
Juan Mendez LD8 Rep D 32.08
Vince Leach LD17 Sen R 51.63
Justine Wadsack LD17 Sen R 48.37
Eva Diaz LD22 Sen D 76.1
Leezah Sun LD22 Sen D 23.9
Analise Ortiz LD24 Sen D 86.3
Mario Garcia LD24 Sen D 13.7
Tyler Kamp MC Sheriff D 54.87
Russ Skinner MC Sheriff D 45.13
Jerry Sheridan MC Sheriff R 51.28
Frank Milstead MC Sheriff R 27.82
Mike Crawford MC Sheriff R 20.9
Mark Stewart MC SD1 R 65.24
Jack Sellers MC SD1 R 34.76
Thomas Galvin MC SD2 R 57.16
Michelle Ugenti-Rita MC SD2 R 42.84
Rachel Mitchell MC Attorney R 57.58
Gina Godbehere MC Attorney R 42.42
Justin Heap MC Recorder R 42.45
Stephen Richer MC Recorder R 35.76
Don Hiatt MC Recorder R 21.78
Incumbent MCBOS member Jack Sellers lost quest for re-election. Not sure what happened here.
Republican Jerry Sheridan and Democrat Tyler Kamp will face off for Maricopa County Sheriff in November.
Democrat Analise Ortiz thoroughly trounced faux Democrat Mario Garcia in the race for LD24 Senator.
Democrat Eva Diaz easily beat disgraced former legislator Leezah Sun in the race for LD22 Senator
Republican Vince Leach defeated controversial incumbent Justine Wadsack in the primary for LD17 Senator.
In the one real upset, and the one race where late counted votes may change the outcome, termed out incumbent Senator Juan Mendez was foiled in his quest to switch chambers in the LD8 Democratic primary. In those races, the top two vote-getters are considered to be the victors, but he's currently in third.
In the race for LD7 State Representative, Republican Steven Slaton, who faced accusations that he inflated his military service, finished a distant third.
In the race for LD7 State Senator, antisemite Republican Wendy Rogers looks to have turned back a challenge from David Cook.
In the race for LD1 State Senator, former legislator Mark Finchem has deposed incumbent Ken Bennett. Both are well known election deniers, but Bennett may be the less insane of the two.
In CD8, Abe Hamadeh has won the R primary there. Since that district is heavily Republican, we'll end up with another lousy human being in Arizona's delegation to Congress. The best thing about the result is that Peter Theil (Blake Masters' sugar daddy) may stop trying to buy a federal office from AZ.
In CD1, former legislator Amish Shah is ahead in the race the challenge incumbent David Schweikert (R-Ethically Challenged) in November.
And lastly, Kari Lake has emerged from the R primary for US Senator, earning the chance to face off against Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego in November.
His best chance is if Lake keeps being herself.
The American Taliban Christian Nationalist sect was going to ignore his dictatorial tendencies. treasons, frauds, and cheating on his wives (and other bad behaviors) because he's just as bigoted as them, but he's appealing to them, anyway.
From NPR -
Trump tells Christian voters they 'won't have to vote anymore' if he's elected
Former President Donald Trump struck several familiar notes in his address to Christians at Turning Point Action’s “Believers Summit” in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The gathering of religious conservatives Friday night was an opportunity for Trump to appeal to the critical Republican voting bloc. The Republican nominee promised to protect religious freedom and touted his history of supporting the Israeli government.
[snip]
"You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians," he said.
And I'm not talking about his personal hygiene.
From KPNX, written by Joe Dana
She ran Phoenix’s largest special needs clinic. Now she’s criminally indicted.
A high-profile Phoenix business owner who once ran the state’s largest children’s special needs therapy clinic is charged with stealing nearly $3 million in COVID small business relief funds.
A grand jury indicted Bridget O’Brien in August of 2023 on 17 counts of fraud and theft, though 12News just learned of the charges this week. O’Brien has pleaded not guilty and is due for a status conference in court next month.
[snip]
An attorney representing a civil plaintiff accused O’Brien of lying to a judge about having Cancer. Though O’Brien never showed actual medical proof of cancer treatment, a bankruptcy judge who oversaw the case ruled in O’Brien’s favor. In that case, O’Brien’s attorney was former Attorney General Tom Horne. Horne is now the state superintendent. He is also a longtime acquaintance of O’Brien. An email from Horne to 12News states he met O’Brien because her mother worked for him in the Attorney General’s Office.
Horne is still protecting her, though, even though the bankruptcy case seems to be over (confirming that requires a PACER login, and since those cost money, one is not in the blogging budget).
From the story -
“Authorized ATP Tutoring Providers.” That means the company is eligible to receive more public funds.
12News asked Horne on Thursday whether he believes O’Brien should be disqualified as an authorized vendor, given her history of alleged Medicaid fraud, nonpayment of contractors, dog-napping, and alleged SBA loan fraud.
“Ms. O’Brien is entitled to her day in court,” Horne said in a written statement.
She, and her companies, has been sued multiple times for failure to pay employees and contractors, and, at least once, by a former business partner (Maricopa County Superior Court system case number CV2011-053078)
Yet Horne is insistent about keeping her on the public pad.
From the Arizona Department Education's list of authorized tutoring providers -
Someone named "Bridget O'Brien" has made lucrative donations to Horne in his quests to be Superintendent of Public Instruction and Attorney General. From a report filed with the AZSOS -
Even though she reports her occupation as "housewife", the PO Box address matches up with the PO Box on one of her corporate entities, Jazi Kat LLC.
Speaking of corporate entities, the entity on ADE's website, Kiids A Therapy, has had 11 statutory agents during its existence.
Not a crime in and of itself, but a definite red flag.
Filed under "Things that make you go 'hmmmm.' "
Same as last week, mostly.
Nada, as in there is nothing scheduled at this point.
I expect that the ad hoc and interim committee activity to pick after the primary election on 7/30 as members with general election contests try to get their names out there. It also wouldn't surprising to see certain most Republican members use the taxpayer dime to deride Vice President Kamala Harris.
Cheeto went golfing today and didn't look any worse for wear after his "attempted assassination."
From SBNation, dated today -
Same pic, enlarged 5X -
Hmmm....
But he answered it anyway.
From The Hill -
Manchin says he wouldn’t serve as Harris VP
Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) on Monday said he would not consider serving as Vice President Harris’s running mate, arguing it is time for a “new generation” following President Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race.
When asked on “CNN This Morning” if he would consider running as VP with Harris — whom Biden endorsed to replace him on the ticket — Manchin said, “No, I’m not.”
A lot of Democrats have rallied around Harris but I believe that the surest way for her to throw away that support would to put forward former Democrat Manchin as her choice for VP.
Actually, I think that Andrew Cuomo has a better chance a being the VP nominee, and he doesn't have a snowball's chance in Phoenix in July.
FWIW - I *do* believe that her eventual VP choice will be an Eastern governor from a swing state...assuming that Harris is comfortable with one being VP.
And in (perhaps) related note, Republicans everywhere are rejoicing.
From NBC News (emphasis added by me) -
President Joe Biden drops out of 2024 presidential race
Biden, after a five-decade career, faced a reckoning over his age and his ability to defeat Trump. He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his party faces a historic effort to replace him.President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he will end his presidential re-election campaign, bringing an abrupt and humbling conclusion to his half-century-long political career and scrambling the race for the White House just four months before Election Day.
Biden, 81, could not reverse growing sentiment within his party that he was too frail to serve and destined to lose to Donald Trump in November. He backed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democratic nominee.
[snip]
Across the aisle, Republicans slammed the move and many called on him to resign his office, days after the completion of a Republican National Convention where speaker after speaker slammed the Biden-Harris ticket.
"If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson.
In a brief phone interview with NBC News, Trump reacted to Biden's decision, calling the president "the worst president in the history of the United States by far."
When asked whether he was surprised by Biden's decision, Trump said that Biden "should never have been there in the first place."
“He should have stayed in his basement," Trump said.
In a fundraising email, Trump’s campaign said that Biden “quit the race in complete disgrace.”
Anyone want to tell Cheeto that there's some who disagree with his "worst ever" opinion.
From Axios, dated February 19, 2024 -
Read: Historians rank Trump as worst president
Presidential historians in a new survey rank President Biden as the 14th best president in U.S. history — and put former President Trump last.
The big picture: The tally came from 154 presidential specialists who are current and recent members of the American Political Science Association. They were asked to give every president a score, from 0 to 100.
Zoom in: Abraham Lincoln topped the list with an average score of 95, while Biden scored an average of 62.66. That put him two spots above Ronald Reagan.
- Representatives for Trump, who averaged just under 11 points, did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
I expect that the next few days, in fact in all day leading up to the Democratic convention, will be chaotic as various players consider if they have a path to unseat Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
I fully expect that Harris will emerge as the nominee, but the jockeying to be the Democratic VP nominee will be fierce.
Know who we haven't heard from?
The doctors who actually treated him in the aftermath of the "shooting."
Oh, and the "propagandist with a medical degree" has some serious credibility issues
First, from The Hill -
Rep. Jackson, former White House physician, shares Trump gunshot wound update
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), a former White House physician, shared an update on former President Trump’s gunshot wound in a Saturday memo.
“As the former appointed Physician to the President for President Donald J. Trump, I was naturally very concerned, as was the entire world, about his wellbeing after the assassination attempt on his life,” Jackson said in the memo. “As such, I met him in Bedminster, New Jersey, late that evening to personally check on him, and offer my assistance in any way possible.”
Jackson has a habit of using his medical training to lend credence to some outlandish claims about Cheeto.
From ABC News, dated January 16,2018 -
Trump's 'overall health is excellent' says doctor, weight loss a goal
President Donald Trump's "overall health is excellent" and his cognitive health is normal, presidential physician Dr. Ronny Jackson said Tuesday as part of a comprehensive, nearly hourlong review of the president's recent physical assessment.
Jackson shared the outcomes of Trump's exam with reporters at the White House press briefing, including his 75-inch height, 239-pound weight, total cholesterol of 223 and resting heart rate of 68 beats per minute.
Dear Ronny:
If Cheeto is only 239 pounds, then I'm a Yankees fan.
Me (a lifelong Red Sox fan)
Of course, the fact that Ronny Jackson claims that Cheeto was shot in an assassination attempt serves only to undermine belief in that claim.
Cynic that I am, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Cheeto or, more likely, one of his campaign staff, uses the book Wag the Dog as bedtime reading.
Nada, as in there is nothing scheduled at this point.
Hat tip to AZ PBS' Horizon for the head's up on this.
I don't normally cover stuff in Pima County here, mostly leaving that to the writers at Blog for Arizona. They know the area and its players far better than I do.
However, this involves a sitting state legislator, which is kind of in my wheelhouse. :)
From the Tucson Sentinel, written by Dylan Smith -
Sen. Justine Wadsack claims 'political persecution' over Tucson
criminal speeding ticket
Clocked driving twice the legal limit; Southern Az Republican's citation
delayed by legislative immunity during session
Arizona Sen. Justine Wadsack, a Tucson-area Republican, is claiming "political persecution" over a criminal speeding ticket dating from a March incident
that police allege saw her driving her Tesla down Speedway at more than 70 mph.
Wadsack was pulled over on Friday, March 15, just after 10 p.m., after being
observed "traveling at a high rate of speed" heading east on Speedway near North Euclid Avenue by a Tucson police officer on DUI patrol, according to a TPD report.
According to Tucson police, Wadsack was clocked going more than twice
the legal limit: 71 mph in a 35 mph zone.
[snip]
Wadsack was not cited at the time, as her immediate introduction of
herself as "Senator Justine Wadsack" resulted in the officer contacting
his superiors.
I've got three pieces of advice for Sen. Wadsack:
1. Don't speed.
2. Pay the fine and take the points. You earned 'em.
3. Quit whining.
The folks who plan to vote for him, or are even considering doing so, should probably think about his past.
From CBS News -
Shelter provider accused of "pervasive" sexual abuse of migrant children in U.S. custody
The Justice Department this week accused the largest provider of shelters for migrant children in U.S. custody of failing to protect minors from "severe" and "pervasive" sexual abuse in its goverment-funded facilities.
In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday and announced on Thursday, the Justice Department accused employees of Southwest Key, a Texas-based organization, of sexually abusing and harassing unaccompanied migrant children in shelters operated by the nonprofit since at least 2015.
Multiple Southwest Key shelter employees, the lawsuit alleged, have raped, sexually abused, sexually harrased and inappropriately touched children in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for caring for migrant minors who cross the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents. The Justice Department also accused Southwest Key employees of soliciting sex acts and nude photos from young migrants and of engaging in inappropriate relationships with them.
The USDOJ's press release on the matter in here.
This wouldn't seem to tie into Cheeto...except for his history of rape and hating migrants.
And his track record of using public funds to enrich/enable Southwest Keys.
From a Snopes fact check, dated June 22, 2018 -
Is the Trump Administration Paying Southwest Key $458 Million to Run Immigrant Child Detention Centers?
Given his history, it wouldn't be surprising if he used a second term in office to change part of the job from being Commander in Chief to being Pimp in Chief.
Notes:
This is NOT a comprehensive list. As this is primary season, it mostly includes candidates in primaries of interest.
Also, candidates who I don't believe have a snowball's chance in hell aren't included here.
Lastly, money is not votes. A candidate with less cash on hand may defeat a candidate with more COH.
State numbers are taken from the summary pages of candidate filings. Also, I don't know if Q2 Money raised amounts include Q2 Loan totals as none of the listed candidates reported loans in Q2.
Notes:
This is NOT a comprehensive list. As this is primary season, it mostly includes candidates in primaries of interest.
Also, candidates who I don't believe have a snowball's chance in hell aren't included here.
Lastly, money is not votes. A candidate with less cash on hand may defeat a candidate with more COH.
State numbers are taken from the summary pages of candidate filings. Also, Q2 Money raised amounts do include Q2 Loan totals.
