The Daily Agenda: Did you miss us?
The past two weeks in a nutshell ... And now we gotta do this every day for the next six months ... We need another vacation.
Welcome back, Agenda friends! (Agendites? Agenda-heads? Agendans?) We hope you enjoyed a break from the news for at least a few days. Hank moved into a new house, while Rachel visited family back in North Dakota, all while maintaining our side gigs. We’re tanned, rested and ready to return to your inboxes and dive into election season.
We’re breaking our usual format today to run down the biggest stories of the summer and catch you up on what you missed if you weren’t drinking from the firehose of Arizona politics news. We’ll be back to our normal format tomorrow. This link-tastic edition is likely too long for your inbox, so click at the bottom to continue reading.
And if you’re new here — thanks for joining us! You’ll get our Daily Agenda in your inboxes Monday through Thursday at 6 a.m., and a reported story or feature of some kind on Fridays. Paid subscribers get bonus materials like podcasts and access to commenting. Check out our About page to learn more about what you can expect and meet the two people who write this thing, Hank Stephenson and Rachel Leingang.
The governor’s race gets weirder: The most embarrassing debate of all time reminded us that Arizona Horizon host Ted Simons and his A+ facial expressions deserve a raise or promotion to governor. Matt Salmon, perpetually in third place in the GOP primary, dropped out. Karrin Taylor Robson nabbed endorsements from Salmon and Gov. Doug Ducey, which seems to be helping. GOP contender Kari Lake continued her battle with local drag queen Richard Stevens aka Barbra Seville by sending a cease-and-desist letter, and Stevens/Seville also doubled down with pics of Lake and kids at a drag show. Longshot GOP candidate Paola Tulliani-Zen released a campaign ad where she slaps some prosciutto (complete with pig sound effects), and had fun thoughts on the debate. Democratic frontrunner Katie Hobbs skipped the Dem debate leaving candidate Marco Lopez with a one-on-one interview. Lopez got endorsed by Talonya Adams, the winner of discrimination lawsuits against the state after Hobbs fired her. And if you want to know where candidates stand on issues instead of all this drama, here’s a nice rundown from the Republic.
The Legislature finally went home, and Ducey got to work signing stuff: We wish the legislative session ended way sooner than it did, but thankfully lawmakers passed a budget before the end of the fiscal year, which Ducey then signed into law, with the exception of a small line-item veto of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for veterans. Aside from the budget, Ducey signed new laws that will make it illegal to film cops within 8 feet (seems illegal, idk) and hinder police oversight offices (though Phoenix is undeterred). He signed an election bill that includes many of the same provisions of a bill he previously vetoed. He approved a massive expansion of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, Arizona’s voucher system, making it the largest voucher program in the country. Ducey wants the GOP to be the party for parents, while Save Our Schools Arizona plans to refer the voucher expansion to the ballot, as they did four years ago. In his new Substack (welcome to the regrettable platform!), former Republic columnist Robert Robb argued ESA opponents will have a tougher time killing this year’s proposal at the ballot. And you can use your new universal voucher at the new Turning Point Academy in Glendale. Ducey vetoed a bill that would’ve allowed Maricopa County to ask voters to extend a sales tax for transportation projects. And a bill that will create tax incentive programs for film and TV productions became law without Ducey’s signature.
The current state of abortion: After confusion over what state laws will now govern abortion after the Roe reversal, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said a pre-statehood ban will take over, which will require an injunction to be lifted. Abortion providers stopped doing abortions, mostly, while crowdfunding to keep their businesses afloat. A last-minute ballot measure to provide access to abortion up to the point of fetal viability didn’t get enough signatures to make the 2022 ballot, and wasn't supported by major reproductive rights groups. ( We’ll still have a looong ballot in November as activists and lawmakers want you to decide the fate of election laws and all sorts of other stuff.) A 2021 law banning abortions in instances of genetic abnormalities was reinstated. A lawsuit against a 2021 “fetal personhood” went to federal court last week, where the AG’s office said it doesn’t believe abortion providers could be prosecuted under laws against child abuse. Ducey doesn’t want to revisit same-sex marriage, despite U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in the Dobbs case. Abortion providers in Arizona share what they couldn’t do to help patients and how the last two weeks since the decision have gone.
Nazis, Trump and side gigs galore: A literal Nazi endorsed “Nazi-adjacent” Republican U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, who “rejected” the endorsement and surged in the polls as the New York Times explored the dumb shit he said on CrossFit message boards back in the day. Donald Trump warned AG and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Brnovich to keep the former president’s name out of his mouth and his fundraising pitches. Meanwhile, forgettable U.S. Senate Republican challenger Justin Olson may actually have more side hustles than us.
Get ready for a looong month of early voting: AZGOP encouraged people to vote early while suing to get rid of early voting, but the Arizona Supreme Court isn’t touching that (and won’t fast-track a lawsuit over the Election Procedures Manual, either). Trump and the Republic editorial board both want you to vote early, too. The Department of Justice sued Arizona over a new federal-only voter law, and Brnovich isn’t happy, but Democrats are stoked. Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone isn’t letting officers take vacation during election time because of threats. Pinal County forgot to put local elections on a bunch of ballots. Votebeat’s Jen Fifield takes us inside the GOP poll worker training we mentioned a while back. Maricopa County Supervisor Tom Galvin stares down election deniers. Here’s how to vote, if you need a refresher.
2020 never ended: Elections officials in Yavapai and Yuma counties stepped down (we already have a new recorder in Yuma) as elections officials nationwide face threats for doing their jobs. The FBI subpoenaed Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and Sen. Kelly Townsend. Election deniers take their bullshit show on the road. U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs thinks spreading lies is patriotic. Trump endorsed a host of down-ballot candidates in Arizona that you’ve never heard of, including David Farnsworth, who’s challenging Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers. (For a wild two hours, watch their Clean Elections debate, which Hank moderated). Prosecutors want prison time for Yuma ballot harvesters, or at least to bar one from holding office again.
We’re parched: Ducey and the Legislature put up some big bucks over the next three years for water supply, which Republic water guru Joanna Allhands notes is not perfect and nowhere near enough, but it’s something, which is something. Meanwhile, sinking water levels at Lake Mead revealed a World War 2-era boat (better than the dead bodies that emerged recently). All eyes are on citizens’ measures to restrict groundwater pumping in rural counties. The New Yorker finds the Rio Verde Foothills water shortage. It’s getting too hot in here.
Brittney Griner goes to court: Still detained in Russia on drug charges, WNBA star Brittney Griner wrote a letter to President Joe Biden asking for help and pled guilty in Russian court. Biden wrote back to Griner. Phoenix Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard, one of many Griner supporters who’s been more publicly pressing for help in recent weeks, laid it out simply: “If it was LeBron, he’d be home, right?”
Shoot the Democrats, the Klan and your grandkids: Former football player turned Republican congressional candidate Jerone Davison cut an ad saying he needs AR-15s to shoot Democrats in the Klu Klux Klan. Republican U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko said she’d shoot her grandkids (to save them?) and Dem U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego says that can’t possibly be what she meant. And Congress finally did something on guns, showing that our leaders can govern, in very limited ways, if a handful of senators really want to.
Lightning round: Prison health care is unconstitutionally terrible. Jennifer Harrison, one of Arizona’s most obnoxious right-wing activists, shot pro-abortion protesters with bear spray and then turned herself in to the police. The Pima County Dems did a bad tweet about the Fourth of July. Towns around Arizona are questioning Census results they say miscounted them, leaving them short on funds. Wendy Rogers gave a tortured explanation for her “fed boy summer” comment. Is the marijuana lobby too powerful? What is going on at the Maricopa County Superintendent’s Office? And to end on something precious, this Arizonan found a piece of art she made for an ex-boyfriend at the local Goodwill.
Yes, you were missed and I hope that you enjoyed your short break
Yes, you guys were missed since there was soooo much going on. I thank your groupies should be known as the Rachanks! Just thank me for this great idea. Perhaps it needs two h's. You guys must be doing great if Hank moved into a new house and Rachel flew!