Drinking with Clint Hickman and Rusty Bowers

A night to remember… Phoenix PD is worse than we thought ... And the return of Leezah Sun.

Our new series catching up with politicians over drinks culminated in our best showing yet as we took the Valley Bar’s stage with power duo Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman and former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers on Tuesday. 

More than 100 of you showed up to watch us grill the old-school Republicans. And we covered a lot of ground — the fallout of the pair’s denial to entertain the fake electors scheme in 2020, what’s really going on at Hickman’s egg farm and if Bowers has ever done peyote. 

It was a lot of great content. So we’ve pulled the highlights.

You can also watch the full-length recording here for the complete experience. 

Losing a Senate seat to David Farnsworth

Bowers spoke about his doomed 2022 primary race that he lost to Trump-backed Sen. David Farnsworth, and made what could be considered a Freudian slip when he almost said “may he rest in peace.” 

Bowers said he ran with the odds against him in the redistricted LD10 because he wasn’t going to be bullied out of the race, despite the best efforts of MAGA Republicans. 

Regardless, the former lawmaker admits that part of his life “was pretty tough.” 

Hickman goes back to the farm

Hickman talked about envying the freedom of his former colleague Bill Gates after he left the Board of Supervisors but said he was waiting for “critics to run against me, to have the nuts to come after me” before announcing he’s not seeking reelection. 

The supervisor decided not to run and put his family and egg business first. 

Hickman also revealed how U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko approached him about running for his seat. 

The fate of the Republican party 

Even after death threats and bullying from their own party, Bowers and Hickman seem to still have hope for Arizona. 

Both expressed support for getting rid of partisan primaries. Chuck Coughlin, the lobbyist peddling a ballot initiative that would end the current primary system with the “Make Elections Fair Act,” showed up to the event with a clipboard collecting signatures. 

Are things getting better? 

Bowers said his religious convictions give him hope and said “at some time, we need to come to a realization that we can change and we must change.” 

Hickman invited us to wait out the apocalypse at his egg farm.

The pandemic 

Hickman described making “life and death” choices as a county supervisor during the pandemic and said the election denialism he dealt with felt small when he was “already through the fire” of COVID-19. 

Rusty lobbying

Bowers told us about his new life as a lobbyist for EPCOR and said he wants to get some “important water legislation” done. He also told a heart-warming anecdote about hot dogs. 

Has Bowers ever eaten peyote?

We’ve had a burning question for Bowers for a while now, and felt the stage of the Valley Bar was the best place to ask: Has he ever done peyote? 

You’ll have to watch to find out.

Sheriff Joe would approve: The U.S. Justice Department released the findings of its three-year investigation that found the Phoenix Police Department engaged in discriminatory policing, violated the civil rights of Black, Latino and Native American residents and routinely used excessive force. The DOJ also found officers engaged in aggressive treatment of children and unlawfully arrested people experiencing homelessness and mental health crises, the New York Times reports. City officials have argued it’s a “materially different” police force now than when the investigation in 2021.¹ Kate Gallego has been mayor since 2019. The report comes with 36 recommendations to update training and policies while improving data collection and accountability mechanisms, and it could force the department into federally mandated oversight, which city leaders have already objected to. 

Crunch time: Republicans on the state House and Senate Appropriations committees narrowly passed the state budget out of committee, but they had to stack the committee in the Senate to get the bare minimum number of votes after all Democrats and Republican Sen. Anthony Kern opposed the package. The bills are scheduled for a vote from the full House and Senate tomorrow, and lawmakers hope to adjourn the legislative session shortly after sending the budget to Gov. Katie Hobbs, but it will require Democratic support to get out of the House or Senate. 

“Best case scenario is we go to COW and third read tomorrow, the worst case scenario we shut the government down,” Republican Sen. John Kavanagh told the Capitol Times’ Jakob Thorington.

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Our worst-case budget scenario is nobody clicks this button and we shut down the Agenda. Don’t let that happen!

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Real Politicians of Apache County: Apache County Attorney Michael Whiting, who’s under investigation by Attorney General Kris Mayes, allegedly used his public office to cover campaign expenses, workout equipment and drones. He also allegedly sent a team of goons from his office to intimidate his wife’s opponent in the local County Schools Superintendent race, the Republic’s Robert Anglen and Elena Santa Cruz report in the ongoing bizarre case.² Whiting hasn’t resigned but Mayes says he now needs to get approval before spending more than $200 or making personnel decisions. 

Big Truck Energy: Congress is considering increasing the maximum weight of semi-trucks on interstate highways by almost 15%, allowing trucks up to 91,000 pounds, Cronkite News’ Isabelle Marceles and Morgan Kubasko write. But Arizona law enforcement officers are warning that the highways are already unsafe enough since we don’t have Department of Public Safety troopers on patrol after dark due to hiring constraints.

Lawyers policing lawyers: The Arizona Republic’s lawyers are fighting a potential rule change at the State Bar of Arizona that would prohibit people from filing complaints against a lawyer unless they are directly affected. The Bar is considering the change as lawyers worry the disciplinary process is being weaponized against conservatives after lawyers who represented election deniers faced 40 complaints out of the 9,200 complaints filed in the last four years, which, as the Republic’s lawyers note, is really not that many. The complaints are already shrouded in secrecy, as we’ve previously complained. 

Adios Waymos!: Waymo recalled its entire fleet this week after one of its self-driving cars hit a pole in Arizona last month, the Verge first reported. Unfortunately, it’s just for a software update and the company says it won’t impact operations. 

Former Democratic Rep. Leezah Sun, who was pushed out of the Legislature for threatening and bullying people, is suing one of her accusers for $10 million. 

Sun wants Littleton Superintendent Roger Freeman to pay $10 million for defaming her after he filed an ethics complaint against her and testified that she threatened to withhold the school district’s funding, according to a lawsuit she filed in Maricopa County Superior Court. She also showed up to a board meeting and tried to get him fired earlier this year.

It’s worth noting that her campaign manager Markus Ceniceros³ is on the Littleton Elementary School District Governing Board. 

Besides challenging her former seatmate, Democratic Sen. Eva Diaz, in the upcoming election, Sun is also running for the Tolleson Unified School District Governing Board. 

1. The investigation covered the last eight years.

2. He also claimed the interns who were allegedly working for his campaign and getting paid by the county were working on an anti-bullying campaign, which is rich.

3. Who helped her steal signs from her opponent in 2022.