The Daily Agenda: Say hi!

Nicole wants a meeting ... You mean b*tch slapping is frowned upon? ... And A $10 Lego set would suffice.

Hi readers! It’s Nicole here — the Arizona Agenda’s newest addition. 

It’s been a whirlwind two weeks since I joined the Agenda. I’ve had a blast curating the state’s political news in the Other News section, meeting some power players and getting the lowdown on Arizona’s political scene, the upcoming legislative session and the looming election. 

But I haven’t really had a chance to meet many of you subscribers yet.

You’ll see more of my work at the top of the daily emails starting next week. I’m also excited to break the Daily Agenda format with deeper dives in the coming weeks and new year — the kind of thing Hank hasn’t had the bandwidth for in the last few months.

I’d love to hear what you — the nearly 10,000 subscribers in the Arizona Agenda community — want to read about! 

Take a moment to say hi, ask me questions, or drop us a tip in the comments section. I’ll be hanging out for most of the morning. 

Nicole’s desk setup is not actually as nice as the one imagined by our art intern, ChatGPT. Help buy her some cacti to spruce it up! Subscribe today!

A few questions to get the conversation started: 

• Generally, what topics or policy areas would you like to see me lean into? 

• What format of stories do you prefer to read most (i.e., explainers, longform features, investigations, profiles, breaking news and scoops)?

• What are your burning questions about Arizona politics? 

• Or, what’s the thing you don’t understand about government but you feel dumb asking? 

• And what do you want to know about me?

Hop in the comments section and tell me what you’re thinking. (Or, if you’re not the commenting type, reach out at nicole@arizonaagena.com.) Let's make the Agenda experience even more tailored to your interests!

The defense rests: Democratic Rep. Leezah Sun filed her response to the House Ethics Committee complaint alleging she intervened in a child custody transfer, got up in the faces of Tolleson employees and threatened to “bitch slap” one of them. Her lawyer said yes, she did all that, but she didn’t know the rules, she’s little so she’s not very threatening, and she didn’t claim she was representing Attorney General Kris Mayes, the Capitol Times’ Jakob Thorington reports. Sun provided an audio tape of the interaction that doesn’t include her invoking the AG, but it cuts off before the end of the more-than-hourlong exchange. 

“Rep. Sun may have acted inappropriately by interfering in the child custody matter, but if you hear the pleas from the children and do not understand the rules, I suggest that many of you would have interfered,” her attorney, Garrick McFadden, wrote. “The members of this esteemed body have been known to use salty language when they feel they have been disrespected or wronged. It was not the best move to say that she would bitch slap a woman if they were there, but again this does not rise to the level of expulsion or censure.”

Try an ad with Lee Enterprises: Faced with the prospect of allowing a gun range owner and longtime advertiser to continue advertising at the Flagstaff airport or cut off all advertising, the Flagstaff City Council is leaning toward the latter, KJZZ’s Michel Marizco reports. The Goldwater Institute had sued on the gun range owner’s behalf, accusing the city of censoring him. 

There are no mistakes just happy accidents: The initiative to eliminate partisan primaries would also eliminate the job of elected party precinct committeemen, Axios Phoenix’s Jeremy Duda reports. Consultant Chuck Coughlin, who’s behind the effort, said eliminating the job wasn’t the point, but it’s still a good idea. Both parties have PCs, but Republicans take the gig much more seriously, Duda notes. 

BRB, requesting a list of unvisited cities: Gov. Katie Hobbs visited Kingman this week for the first time since becoming governor, the Kingman Daily Miner’s Michael Zogg reports. She did a ribbon cutting, a couple of local roundtables and meetings with local officials. She also traveled to Florence this week to stick a golden shovel in a plot of land that’s going to be a solar farm, Pinal Central’s Mark Cowling reports.

Sad first: A Kingman-area woman was possibly the first Arizonan to die from an elk attack, the White Mountain Independent reports. Arizona Game & Fish Department is once again urging people not to feed wild animals. 

Getting tense out there: Police escorted students out of the ASU Undergraduate Student Government meeting this week after pro-Palestine protesters threw rocks at the windows and chanted. Police are investigating, per the Republic’s Sasha Hupka. In Southern Arizona, the UA suspended and is investigating two professors for making pro-Hamas statements, like comparing the group to the Black Panthers or explaining how students could boycott Israel, the Daily Star’s Ellie Wolfe reports. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly’s office had 10 protesters arrested after they showed up to demand he demand a ceasefire in Gaza, the Phoenix New Times’ TJ L'Heureux reports. Finally, a parent of a Desert Mountain student called his own press conference to say his son got bullied after Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne’s press conference alleging student groups that his son is involved with spread “antisemitic and anti-American” materials, KJZZ’s Bridget Dowd reports. 

Evolving and devolving: Republic columnists Phil Boas and Laurie Roberts sound off on the evolution of Ruben Gallego, who has been talking tough on the border, and re-de-evolution of Kari Lake, who is now once again tweeting about the rigged 2022 election after her latest legal appeal. 

“Well, that may just be the shortest political pivot in history,” Roberts writes of Lake’s brief flirtation with not talking about rigged elections. 

“As Trump moves farther to the authoritarian right, Ruben Gallego moves closer to the political center — a more responsible place to be,” Boas writes of Gallego’s border talk. 

Rest in peace: Frosty Taylor, a former journalist turned Republican activist and host of the beloved “Republican Briefs” blog, passed away, per disbarred lawyer turned journalist Rachel Alexander. Condolences and memories from high-profile Republicans poured into Briefs. 

“Frosty was indeed a treasure as she provided an opportunity for a forum not only for candidates but Republican stalwarts and volunteers to express their opinions and deliver information in a balanced format. These opportunities are limited in today’s environment, especially when you remember she did this as a volunteer. She made a difference and will be missed!” former Republican Corporation Commissioner Susan Bitter Smith wrote. 

If you’ve ever been to a government committee hearing, you will identify with the bored girl in the background of the “House Ad Hoc Committee on Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Governance and Oversight.”

It doesn’t have to be a $500 Lego set, just LET HER OUT OF THIS BORING MEETING!