Several plots actually moved forward Monday on As Arizona Turns. There were no evil twins or amnesia. But the day had everything else a political watcher could want!
•After a week of coy posturing where everyone knew they were about to go political-steady, Gov. Katie Hobbs made it official Monday, naming former Republican Mesa Mayor John Giles as her lieutenant governor running mate. Giles isn’t even a RINO anymore, as he officially left the party in May. He told the Associated Press that he’d been trying to “save” the Republicans but “A few months ago, I realized that it was time to give up that crusade.”
Rep. Andy Biggs, the Republican nominee, immediately launched attacks on Giles, mocking his appearance at the 2024 Democratic Convention. His selection, said Biggs spokesman Drew Sexton, “is of no surprise to Arizonans who have been paying attention. As Kamala Harris’ favorite Arizona mayor, Giles is aligned with Hobbs on all the issues that have hurt Arizonans the most over the past four years.” Giles presented himself as a moderate, and made fun of Biggs for making the same claim. It’s disingenuous, he said, when Biggs is “unapologetic about being the most conservative person in the room–in any room.”
•Supporters of Proposition 145 asked the state Supreme Court Monday to restore the GOP Legislature’s voucher measure after Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kreamer ruled it constitutionally flawed. Attorney Thomas Basile, who represents House Speaker Steve Montenegro and Senate President Warren Petersen, said HCR 2048 (Prop 145’s legislative birth name) would “comprise a unified pronouncement on the state’s constitutional understanding of parents’ and students’ rights with respect to school choice funding,” Kraemer, on the other hand, ruled that would “potentially force the judiciary to invalidate laws that do not violate a constitutional right.” Expect a ruling within 10 days. We’ve got ballots to print!
•You may have missed it because it happened on Friday, but the en banc 9th Circuit on Aug. 7 vacated a preliminary injunction against two provisions of Arizona’s 2022 SB 1260. One lets county recorders cancel a registration after confirming that a voter has registered in another county; another makes it a felony knowingly to provide a “mechanism for voting to another person who is registered in another state,” in case someone from California or Massachusetts decides to meddle in very Arizona affairs. This is a victory for Chandler Republican J.D. Mensard, who wrote the bill in 2022. “I’ve had folks come to me and insist this has happened,” he said, adding, “I’ve not gone to investigate.”