Scavenging for democracy
Let the games begin, again … It only takes one rat … And an expensively squishy feeling.
You can finally breathe that post-election sigh of relief.
Although county officials are still tallying a few thousand provisional and early ballots, it’s safe to say the election is over, save the recounts. The field is set for November.
We sent out a few election games last week to lighten the mood this dim election season and give you a way to follow along with the results.
Hopefully, you’re not still nursing a hangover from our primary election drinking game. If you stuck to the rules, you had to polish off at least two bottles — one for Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s loss, and the other for Kari Lake taking the GOP nomination with less than 70% of the vote.
Roughly 200 of you savvy subscribers played along in our election prediction contest. But Democratic Rep. Deborah Nardozzi predicted the most races correctly, so she gets the cool Agenda swag.
Unfortunately, none of you found all ten items on our post-election scavenger hunt list.
And after taking hours to assemble the answers ourselves, we understand why. So we did the work for you!
Here are the answers you could have found.
Polling Place Problems
(Find an example of something going wrong at a polling place.)
Things ran pretty smoothly on July 30. But of course, election deniers like suspended attorney Bryan Blehm, who represented Kari Lake in a failed bid to overturn her 2022 gubernatorial defeat, tried to stir the pot. He told voters to take their own pens to vote centers, reigniting Sharpiegate rumors that the felt-tip pens that election workers hand out cause ballots to be rejected. They don’t.
One actual polling place issue, which isn’t new to this election cycle, is how difficult it is for people to vote in the Navajo Nation. The Arizona Mirror’s Shondiin Silversmith detailed her visit to polling places in the Nation, where she hit 10 vote centers after driving more than 250 miles.
“One thing I’ve never seen are state or federal campaign managers or advocates for candidates who are working to engage Native voters while I am out covering Election Day,” Silversmith wrote.
Newcomer Victory
(Identify a political newcomer who won their primary and defeated an incumbent.)
The incumbent advantage largely held this election cycle, except in the case of longtime Democratic Sen. Juan Mendez, who trailed his running mate Brian Garcia and challenger Janeen Connolly to take LD8’s two House seats.
Most Votes
(Name the candidate who received the most total votes in any race.)
As the only candidate for the U.S. Senate Democratic nomination, Ruben Gallego easily took the most votes at 497,000. (And still counting.)
Close Race
(Find the race with the closest margin of victory.)
The matchup between Yassamin Ansari and Raquel Terán for the CD3 Democratic nomination is the closest race in Arizona, with Ansari leading by 0.1% of the vote, or 67 more votes than Terán as of Sunday’s count.
That puts the race into recount territory.
Historic First
(Identify any candidate who achieved a historic first — as in first woman, first person of color, etc. — by winning their primary.)
LD7 will likely have the first, and only, slate of two Black representatives after Walter Blackman and Rep. David Marshall Sr. were the top vote-getters in this deep red district.1
Recount
(Identify if any race is going to a recount due to close results.)
Besides the CD3 Democratic primary, there’s at least one Maricopa County race that’s close enough to go to a recount, and several city council races across the Valley.
First-Time Voter
(Find a selfie posted by a candidate at their polling place or campaign headquarters.)
That was an easy one, though we couldn’t find any photos illegally taken within the 75-foot line, like Mark Finchem.
Election Day Playlist
(Find a playlist or song shared by a candidate or their campaign on social media to motivate voters.)
We couldn’t find anything that exactly fits this prompt, but we’re counting Rep. Analise Ortiz’s victory dance.
Local Celebrity Endorsement
(A shoutout or endorsement from a local celebrity or public figure encouraging people to vote.)
Does anonymous Twitter user and Arizona lawyer Clue Heywood count as a celebrity? In this crowd, we’ll accept it.
Rats and sinking ships: One of Arizona’s fake electors agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, 12News’ Brahm Resnik reports. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said she would make the announcement this week, but didn’t specify which of the 18 defendants would flip.
Best known of the unknowns: Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is the best-known contender in the ongoing veepstakes, the Associated Press reports. That might not be saying a lot, though. A poll showed about half of Americans said they weren’t familiar enough with Kelly to have an opinion of him at all. Among those who had heard of him, 3 in 10 had a favorable view of him, while 2 in 10 had a negative view.
Recounts incoming: About a dozen races in the Valley could be headed to automatic recounts, thanks to a state law passed after the 2020 election that expanded the margin of victory to avoid a recount from one-tenth of a percent to a half-percent, the Republic’s Sasha Hupka reports. The highest-profile race is in Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District, where Yassamin Ansari and Raquel Terán are neck-and-neck. There are also tight races in the Republican primaries for Maricopa County school superintendent, a House seat in Legislative District 16, town council seats in Gilbert, Chandler, Cave Creek, and Fountain Hills, and city council seats in Goodyear, Wickenburg, Buckeye, and Glendale.
Fresh meat: The Arizona Legislature is going to have at least a dozen first-time lawmakers next legislative session, now that most of the primary elections are settled and many of the general elections won’t be particularly competitive, KJZZ’s Wayne Schutsky reports. The tally includes seven Republicans and four Democrats.
Hot mic transparency: Santa Cruz County is suing former Treasurer Liz Gutfahr, saying she embezzled $39 million in public funds, including $25 million from local school districts over the last 11 years, the Nogales International’s Angela Gervasi reports. County supervisors said they would provide “straightforward updates” on the case a week after they were inadvertently caught on camera discussing the $39 million figure, which was 10 times higher than what the public knew at the time.
Whiplash: Arizonans can go back to registering for federal elections without providing proof of citizenship, Capitol scribe Howie Fischer reports. A panel of judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling last month that said voters had to provide proof of citizenship. Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen said he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Detoured: After Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren sent police to stop trucks hauling 50 tons of uranium ore across the Navajo Nation last week, Gov. Katie Hobbs convinced Energy Fuels to temporarily halt transporting uranium across Navajo lands, KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports. The pause is meant to allow time for tribal officials to negotiate an arrangement with Energy Fuels.
Grishamwatch continues: Former Arizona flack turned Trump White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham joined a growing list of Republicans publicly supporting Kamala Harris. The group also includes a smattering of other local Republicans and former Republicans.
Today in “Peak Capitalism,” someone made a trail in the woods near Flagstaff that you can walk on barefoot for just $10.
Axios Phoenix’s Jeremy Duda reports that the project has been 15 years in the works, and trail creator Leah Williams claims walking barefoot allows people to absorb the Earth's natural electric charge.
It is more than just a dirt trail. It has sand to make it soft and some zip lines, obstacles and mud to play in.
“I enjoyed the sensation and found it very relaxing,” Duda reports.
Tell us if we’re wrong, but the last time we remember having two Black lawmakers representing the same district was 2007-2008 with Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor and Rep. Clovis Campbell Jr.
Hell yes Clue Heywood counts.