Lunch with McCain and Taylor Robson
The BLT was ok … A Linda Ronstadt roast … And doing our civic duty.
While lunching at the Biltmore’s Adobe Restaurant on Wednesday, we spotted a few familiar faces — Karrin Taylor Robson, the 2022 GOP gubernatorial candidate, was sitting with her campaign consultant and Jack McCain, the eldest son of the late U.S. Senator.
The mere fact that the gubernatorial hopeful was eating with a McCain raises all sorts of interesting questions.
Robson is already rumored to be eyeing the governorship again in 2026, and word on the street is that she has been laying the groundwork for her next campaign by attempting to consolidate support within the Republican Party — Robson’s recent endorsement of Kari Lake for U.S. Senate, for example, is one major data point supporting that rumor.
It’s also worth noting that 2026 will be the first year that Arizona will have a “lieutenant governor” position, essentially a vice president to the state’s top executive. Would-be governors will need to find themselves a running mate.
So we wondered:
Could this meeting be about an alliance between Robson and McCain?
Are they forming a ticket?
Is Robson officially running?
Will McCain be her running mate?
And if you think we didn’t interrupt their invite-only lunch to ask all those questions point-blank, you must be new here.
When we ran up to the trio in the parking lot after they paid their bill,1 Robson and her campaign consultant booked it.
McCain, however, stuck around for a brief moment.
The meeting was all business, he said, and they spoke about Resolution Copper and other topics, but not politics. And, no, he doesn’t want to be Arizona’s first lieutenant governor — maybe we’re looking for his brother Jimmy McCain (who recently registered as a Democrat and endorsed Kamala Harris).
“No, no, God no,” he said. “I don’t do politics, I do private business.”
So why was he meeting with Robson and her political director? we asked.
She’s “a hell of a businesswoman” and he has a lot to learn from her, he replied.
While McCain more or less answered all of our questions, there’s one big question that you may still have as a savvy reader: “What was the Agenda doing lunching at the Biltmore?”
It’s a fair question — and that’s where this story gets truly interesting.
Because of course, the Agenda wasn’t dining at the Biltmore for the BLT sandwich.
We got a tip that the meeting was going down. From several different sources, in fact.
Clearly, someone wanted it to be known that the two were meeting.
The question is who, and to what end?…
How are we going to afford a BLT sandwich at the Biltmore if you don’t pay for your subscription to the Agenda?
🥓 🥬 🍅 🥪 💵
It’s all about the suburbs: Kamala Harris’ path to victory in Arizona hinges on white suburban voters disaffected by the Republican Party, the Arizona Mirror’s Caitlin Sievers reports. Her campaign is hosting events across the state, and relying on local celebrity endorsements like “Grey’s Anatomy” actor and former Tucsonan Kate Walsh to clinch the vote. Donald Trump’s campaign is also trying to court suburban voters, and he held his first post-debate event in Tucson yesterday. The namesake of the rally’s venue, the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, called out the former president in a Facebook post.
“Trump first ran for President warning about rapists coming in from Mexico. I’m worried about keeping the rapist out of the White House,” Ronstadt wrote.
The two-page craze: Maricopa County elections workers are readying for the “Super Bowl of elections” as voters will cast a two-page ballot for the first time in 20 years, per the Mirror’s Jerod MacDonald-Evoy. The county has about 13,000 different types of ballots with an average of 79 contests on each one, and while the length has been ascribed to 11 legislative referrals from Republican lawmakers, county elections director Scott Jarrett said a rise in third-party candidates is also making ballots longer. The county is adding tabulators and putting up signs to tell voters to wait before putting in the second page to avoid jamming issues.
Funding flat earthers: A discussion on a Facebook group for recipients of Arizona’s universal school vouchers blew up after someone solicited information on “flat earth curriculum,” per the Republic’s Mary Jo Pitzl. State schools Superintendent Tom Horne said his department wouldn’t approve using ESAs for flat earth curriculum, but acknowledged state law doesn't bar purchasing it and in fact prohibits “any government agency to exercise control or supervision over any nonpublic school or homeschool.” Meanwhile, Horne gave the Arizona Jewish Historical Society a $7 million check to fund a Phoenix Holocaust education center after Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez and Republican Rep. David Marshall fought for the funding amid a budget deficit this year, KTAR’s Aaron Decker reports.
You can buy flat earth curriculum from a seller on Etsy for about $50. Or you can support us for $12 a month.
The consequences continue: Newly reinstated Arizona voter ID laws could make it harder for around 9,000 transgender people in Arizona to vote if they’re forced to present identification materials that no longer resemble them, Lookout’s Joseph Darius Jaafari reports. And despite repeatedly arguing for legislative privilege, Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma will have to answer questions on lawmakers’ intent in passing a 2022 ban on transgender girls competing in girls’ sports. The duo will also have to hand over documents about the law’s enactment, per Capitol scribe Howie Fischer.
Pre-election promises: Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said she’s already working with lawmakers to introduce legislation next year to increase penalties in group violence cases in light of Preston Lord’s death after he was beaten by several teens known as the “Gilbert Goons,” the Arizona Capitol Times’ Jakob Thorington writes. The proposed law would increase felony charges for group assaults, and Reps. Matt Gress and Julie Willoughby will sponsor the legislation if they’re reelected.
Paying two presidents: University of Arizona President Robert Robbins will continue to get a paycheck from the university through July 2026, the official end of his current contract, even though he’s leaving next month, the Arizona Daily Star’s Ellie Wolfe reports. Former University of Vermont President Suresh Garimella is taking over after Robbins declared his impending resignation amid the UA’s financial crisis, but he’ll keep receiving his $734,407 base salary after Garimella takes over.
Litigation without representation: A federal judge told three Arizona Tribal Nations they can’t intervene in a lawsuit between President Joe Biden and the Arizona Legislature over the federal designation of a million acres of public land near the Grand Canyon as the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni — Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. The judge said the U.S. government can adequately represent their interests, per AZPM’s Paola Rodriguez.
The Arizona Secretary of State put out this year’s 356-page publicity pamphlet for the Nov. 5 general election.
All of Arizona’s roughly 4 million registered voters will see it in their mailboxes soon, but there’s an online edition full of information on ballot propositions and arguments for and against them.
Our personal favorite entries can be found on pages 78 and 108.
Also, shoutout to subscriber Mike Norton2 for being the first to notice it.
We did let them finish their meals first. We’re not monsters.
If that name sounds familiar, it’s probably because he was one of the “sham” Green U.S. Senate candidates.