Send them to the swamp

From the desert to DC ... Learning to count (faster) ... And we're just here for the fraud.

President-elect Donald Trump loves Arizona.

And as he looks to build his second cabinet, the Grand Canyon State could once again provide some of the top talent in his administration.

We’ve been asking some of the smartest politicos we know about which Arizonans might be a strong candidate to join Trump as he begins draining the swamp for the second time.

Our art intern, ChatGPT, knows that saguaros thrive when you drain the swamp.

Here are five names that keep coming up…

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Kari Lake

Lake may be a two-time election loser who fell out of favor with Trump during this year’s campaign. But there’s no denying that the self-proclaimed “Trump in heels” is a loyalist through and through.

And loyalty is a trait Trump cares about above all.

She’s also a masterful media manipulator who can deliver “alternative facts” to a gaggle of reporters without flinching.

As such, the former news anchor turned mortal enemy of the press corps may make a wonderful White House press secretary.

And we’re not the only ones who noticed her concession video, if you can call it that, had some real press-secretary-audition-tape vibes to it.

Jeff DeWit

DeWit was an early Trump supporter, serving as the chief operating officer for Trump’s 2016 campaign before being appointed as the chief financial officer of NASA.

And while the former state treasurer didn’t exactly crush it as the chair of the Arizona Republican Party, and was eventually forced out after Lake secretly recorded him offering her a job to stay out of the Senate race, we’ve never heard him utter a word against Trump.

Considering he’s somebody Trump has tapped three times for a job already, maybe there’s another finance gig for him in DC.

Blake Masters

Masters is already close with Vice President JD Vance through their shared connection with GOP mega-donor Peter Thiel. And given that people like Thiel and fellow Paypal founder Elon Musk are already playing big roles in the transition team, we could see the “techno-libertarian dream team” drafting Masters.

He was in the running to lead the little-known but influential Presidential Personnel Office, Semafor reported this week, but he was ultimately beaten out for the job.

Perhaps there’s a position in the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for him?

Gina Swoboda

Trump personally called Swoboda — a low-key party activist and former election official —  to ask her to take the job of AZGOP chair after Lake and DeWit’s blowup at the beginning of the year.

And despite inheriting a party in financial and organizational shambles, Swoboda helped ensure Trump crossed the finish line in a state he lost just four years ago.

She’s widely respected within most sections of the Republican Party, and her background in election administration would make her a perfect fit for some kind of election security gig, perhaps within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Mark Lamb

Lamb, the Pinal County sheriff who challenged Lake in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate, has fashioned himself as a tough-talking border(ish) sheriff — perhaps even a younger, better-looking iteration of Joe Arpaio.

He seems a natural fit for a Trump administration, with its promises of expanded border walls and a mass deportation agenda.

We could see him in any number of jobs within the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection.

Now that the election is over, we’re getting into that reflective time of year — the season of giving thanks, looking back on what worked and didn’t and plotting our course for 2025.

Thanks so much to the several hundred of you who filled out our reader survey last week!

Your feedback is a critical part of that annual introspective.

We’ve spent hours combing through your responses — color coding your complaints and praises, separating the actionable ideas from the lofty thoughts and learning about your general state of mind heading into another Donald Trump presidency. 

It’s fascinating stuff.

We’ll tell you what your fellow readers said before the end of the year.

But if you haven’t filled out the survey yet, please take a minute to give us a piece of your mind.

Thanks!

(Not) better late than never: Senate President Warren Petersen said one of the first bills he will sponsor next year will ban dropping off early ballots on Election Day, which lengthens Arizona’s ballot-counting process but increases voter turnout, Axios’ Jeremy Duda reports. Gov. Katie Hobbs is likely to veto that legislation, but a bill Sen. J.D. Mesnard is already working on, to restrict early voting after the Friday before Election Day, could be sent to voters to decide. Petersen also told Capitol scribe Howie Fischer that Arizona won’t need to take up the federal task of arresting people in the state illegally under voter-approved Proposition 314 because “Trump is going to enforce the law.” The senator mirrored talking points foes of the initiative have made that the law would overburden local law enforcement while making Arizonans pick up the bill for incarceration.

More vetoes to come: Hobbs said she doesn’t regret how she campaigned for legislative races even though Republicans are set to take a larger majority than they had last session, KJZZ’s Wayne Schutsky reports. Meanwhile, Republicans are calling the red wave a “mandate” that they’ll lean on to push for conservative, voter-backed policies in the coming years.

Our mandate has always been the same: We’re an insider’s guide to Arizona politics for the political outsider. And we rely on your subscriptions to carry out that mandate.

The Arizona angle: If Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz survives Senate confirmation to become the next attorney general, the far-right Republican would likely shut down the federal investigation into Phoenix Police after the U.S. Justice Department found serious civil rights abuses by city police, attorney Benjamin Taylor told KJZZ’s Matthew Casey. Since the federal findings were released five months ago, there haven’t been any steps toward a consent decree that would subject Phoenix to federal monitoring.

Double threat: The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office saw 28 criminal cases of juveniles making threats of school violence between September and October, and the threats seemed to increase after the September Apalachee High School shooting that killed four people, ABC15’s Morgan Loew reports. Meanwhile, the Roosevelt Elementary School District in South Phoenix is considering closing five schools amid declining enrollment, per the Republic’s Madeleine Parrish. That’s a third of all schools in the district, which is facing a $4 million deficit and wants to free up resources for curriculum and after-school programs. There will be a public hearing on the decision on Tuesday, Nov. 19.

Don’t California our Scottsdale: Scottsdale residents booted three incumbent City Council members in favor of newcomers on the political fringes that are likely to lead the city to an anti-development future, the Republic’s Sam Kmack writes. Some think the uprising against incumbent members centered on approving multifamily housing units. Meanwhile, the Scottsdale Unified School District is leaving Twitter because it platforms consensual adult content, and their engagement isn’t doing well on the site, per KJZZ’s Bridget Dowd.

The more important election: The Secretary of State’s Office wants you to vote on a logo for Arizona’s “semiquincentennial” celebration, which is the dorkiest way possible to say the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. There are 10 finalist logos to choose from, though it’s not much of a competition because this is clearly the best one.

We had a really good time today reading through the Twitter replies to Kari Lake’s concession-esque video.

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