Predicting the past

Election predictions and a history lesson … Crap, more hoops … And another newsroom staple.

It’s election eve, and you know what that means…

It’s time for you to make some bold predictions for the chance to win some Agenda swag and bragging rights.

Who wouldn’t want a cool Agenda sticker, pin or hat?

We’ll also announce the “ultimate predictor” prize for the person who comes closest to predicting every race correctly. Unfortunately, it may be a while before all the races are settled enough to announce the winner.

Our art intern, ChatGPT, can see the future.

But hurry, because you don’t have much time to fill out your predictions.

All predictions must be submitted by the time polls close at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

Also, our discussion thread Friday was so fun that the moderators from Reddit r/arizona reached out to ask us to host an “ask me anything” thread.

Tune in at 1 p.m. to see if we have any answers!

Voting by mail is wildly popular in Arizona.

But it wasn’t always that way.

Arizona was an early adopter of “no-excuse absentee ballots” or what we now call your early mail-in ballot.

And it all came out of a politician’s personal grievance.

Our Southern Arizona sister ‘sletter, the Tucson Agenda, has been digging into the archives to bring you the wild story of how Arizona became a leader in early voting more than 30 years ago.

It’s a fascinating history that we knew nothing about.

Click on over to Tucson Agenda to check it out.

Citizenship check: Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has to release the names of the voters who didn’t necessarily provide proof of citizenship before registering to vote due to a longstanding glitch in the Motor Vehicle Division data. He lost a lawsuit to conservative activists who wanted the names after a judge didn’t buy his claim that it could put voters in danger and declared the list (of the initial 98,000 names) a public record, Capitol scribe Howie Fischer reports. Meanwhile, Pinal County election officials wrongly told 900 voters that they needed to verify their citizenship for their vote to count, though the county later walked that back, Votebeat’s Jen Fifield reports.

“I was like, ah, crap, I have to jump through hoops now,” Maricopa resident James Wilson told Fifield after getting the initial notice.

The voting dead: Although many schools won’t be serving as a polling place tomorrow for fear of violence, a mortuary in Scottsdale will once again host voters. KJZZ’s Sativa Peterson chatted up the owner of Messenger Indian School Mortuary, which has served as a polling place for about 20 years.

“Maybe by coming here, it makes people realize what's really important,” owner Sabrina Messinger-Acevedo said.

Investigate the firing squad: Donald Trump suggested during an interview with Tucker Carlson in Arizona on Friday that “radical war hawk” Liz Cheney should face “nine barrels,” and Attorney General Kris Mayes told 12News’ Brahm Resnik that she’s investigating the words as a potential death threat.

Not a team player: Kylie Barber, one of two Republicans running for two House seats in Mesa’s Legislative District 9, sent out a mailer openly encouraging Republicans to not vote for her running mate, Mary Ann Mendoza, an “Angel mom” and a far-right darling who lost the 2022 election in the district, per the Republic’s Ray Stern. Freedom Caucus Republicans are outraged that the Arizona Republican Party allowed her to send the mailer, considering it was coordinated with the AZGOP.

What goes around…: Former Attorney General Mark Brnovich may be gearing up to sue Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer for defamation, the Phoenix New Times’ Morgan Fischer writes. Brnovich recently requested a massive trove of records relating to a comment Richer made in 2023 that Brnovich had used his office to “persecute” county election workers, which experts say looks like the precursor to a lawsuit.

Dog whistles and sleeper races: A shadowy PAC called Save Western Culture started sending out racist messages against “Mexican-born” U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani over the weekend, the Republic’s Laura Gersony writes. It appears that GOP strategist Gibson McKay is behind the mail, and he allegedly told other Republicans that Democrats were covering the bill. Meanwhile, the race in Arizona’s Congressional District 2 is either a lock for Republicans or a “sleeper” competitive race, the Arizona Mirror’s Shondiin Silversmith reports. It depends if you believe the poll that former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has a shot against Republican U.S. Rep. Eli Crane.

Small town scuffles: Nogales City Councilman Saulo Bonilla was cited for disorderly conduct after getting into a shouting match with a 78-year-old man and a 50-year-old man at Nogales High School’s homecoming parade, the Nogales International’s Daisy Zavala Magaña reports. The dispute arose over Bonilla allegedly blocking another man’s view. The county attorney dismissed charges against all three. Meanwhile, Apache County supervisors voted to declare the office of county attorney vacant, the White Mountain Independent’s Jenn Moreira reports. The move came after County Attorney Michael Whiting was suspended from practicing law following his indictment on charges related to misuse of public resources, abuse of office and financial mismanagement.

Forget sending us a pizza delivery on election night.

The Republic’s EJ Montini notes that the Arizona Department of Health Services officially authorized home deliveries of recreational marijuana — and just in time for the election.

“There’s only one problem with (the new rule). Given our current state of agitation, delivery of marijuana to one’s home should not be optional. It should be mandatory,” Montini writes.

We couldn’t agree more, EJ.