Arizona Mirror

Reproductive Rights Today is your biweekly guide to the latest news on abortion policy and other reproductive health issues in the states. Written by @elishabrown.bsky.social, of @stateline.org Subscribe: newsletters.newsfromthestates.com/t/reproducti...

“They are not crazy. They’re not making it up. They’re not being marketed into feeling bad. They really do have struggles.”

After mediation, Justin Heap reinstated the 25 citizens and AG Kris Mayes dropped her complaint story via @jerodmacevoy.com

OPINION | Every indicator points to a big Democratic win. Here’s why I believe the polls.

The ruling bars the commission from second-guessing who qualifies, but leaves open whether it can claw back money for fraud story via @jimsmall.bsky.social

The 9th Circuit struck down the 2022 laws, but national Republicans and the DOJ asked the high court to revive them story via @jerodmacevoy.com

Experts say uncompetitive districts push lawmakers toward party loyalty and make them harder to hold accountable

“The Recorder has refused to voluntarily undertake his statutory duty, so must be ordered to do so.” story via @jerodmacevoy.com

“We’re making the assumption that the president is not going to accept the results of what looks to be a very challenging election for him and his party.”

OPINION | Tech companies can afford to power their facilities without spiking our bills or fouling our air. They should have to.

A judge found the risk of intimidating citizens outweighed the Trump administration’s interest in investigating noncitizen voting

Mark Kelly and Adelita Grijalva say Arizona’s $1 billion ESA system shows a national voucher plan would drain public schools story via @glorihuh.bsky.social

The lockdown happened at approximately 12:30 p.m., leading to the building being put on lockdown for about half an hour story via @jerodmacevoy.com

The Clean Elections Commission says 17 voters deny giving qualifying contributions, some citing forged signatures story via @jimsmall.bsky.social

A federal plan to count only citizens and drop race questions could skew the data communities use to fund police, transit and more story via @glorihuh.bsky.social

“Requesting clearance to the fuel spill,” a fire department truck can be heard saying over the radio. “I’m not aware of a fuel spill,” ground control responded back. story via @jerodmacevoy.com

A $10 trillion buildout rivals the economic impact of 19th-century railroads, but analysts warn it crowds out housing and jobs

The Democrats said the letters were meant to intimidate but wouldn’t deter them from their work story via @glorihuh.bsky.social

Greg Stanton waited hours for access to a ‘pop-up’ court in a FEMA building, raising due-process concerns story via @jerodmacevoy.com

All four candidates are pitching themselves to moderates in northeast Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley story via @caitlinsievers.bsky.social

Valentin Espinoza voted for Trump two years ago but he said he regrets that now, after witnessing the violent tactics federal immigration agents have employed across the country and feeling the crunch of the worsening economy. By @jerodmacevoy.com, @glorihuh.bsky.social and Kiera Riley

Arizona prison healthcare receivership: An appeals court delays the takeover, keeping the state in control pending its appeal

Officials warn the framework could dry up the Central Arizona Project, which serves nearly 6 million people story via @caitlinsievers.bsky.social

“Arizona Republicans control the state legislature by only three seats in the Senate and four in the House, and they’ve used that slim margin to block common-sense, popular gun safety bills year after year." Story by @glorihuh.bsky.social

OPINION | Voting is the antidote. Do it to protect our freedom to choose. Do it to protect our right to choose freely and without fear. via @elviadiaz.bsky.social

“To whoever sent that package, you failed,” Fontes said, urging voters to participate in the election to respond to the intimidation tactic. “The most practical response to intimidation is participation.” story via @jerodmacevoy.com

The case turns on whether the Clean Elections Commission can investigate candidates the secretary of state already certified for public funding story via @caitlinsievers.bsky.social

The Educational Freedom Fund, tied to a charter school executive, faces a state probe over alleged corporate-contribution violations story via @jerodmacevoy.com

“OpenAI put Arizonans’ safety at risk by failing to implement adequate user protections or transparency measures, despite clear indications that minors were regularly interacting with its chatbot,” Attorney General Kris Mayes said. Story by @glorihuh.bsky.social

“They want the chaos, right?“ hey want to make sure that there's doubt, there's confusion ... so they can point to a problem that they created and say, ‘We have to do something about that.’” story via @caitlinsievers.bsky.social

ICE lets agents decide when body cameras record. A government watchdog wants that changed.

OPINION | The defense secretary calls it a teaching moment. Having witnessed executions, I see something closer to human sacrifice.

“Snide soundbites, cloaked in hyperbolic opinion and lacking actual evidence, should not be strewn about recklessly. This approach should be condemned.” story via @caitlinsievers.bsky.social

The justices declined, without comment, to review $122,000 in penalties over an attempt to ban voting machines in Arizona story via @glorihuh.bsky.social

OPINION | When people are deported, communities lose workers, taxpayers and caregivers — and families lose far more

“Behind all the window dressing, the challenged policy represents the federal government’s attempt to decide who gets to vote. But Congress has left that authority where our Constitution has always placed it: with the states.”

Here’s what to know about Democrat Adrian Fontes and Republican Alex Kolodin, the two men vying for Arizona's chief election officer story via @sashahupka.bsky.social & @votebeat.org

“Congress was clear: the U.S. should not import oil from Russia until it ends its aggression against Ukraine and ceases threats against our NATO Allies," the group of senators wrote.

As the deeply unpopular war in Iran enters month eight, resulting in spiking prices at the gas pump and skyrocketing fertilizer prices for the agriculture industry, Trump is scheduled to rally in Arizona and Montana on Wednesday.

"We reject every attempt to use religion to justify political violence, confer divine authority upon a candidate or party, or portray political opponents as enemies whose dignity no longer matters.” Story by @glorihuh.bsky.social

The panel scrubbed a fired aide’s name from the transcript and video, a move a First Amendment attorney says violates open meeting law story via @jerodmacevoy.com

The fight over who has power over prediction markets — and therefore, potentially, election contracts — is unlikely to be settled until the U.S. Supreme Court takes action

Christa Pike’s survival in Tennessee has renewed scrutiny of pentobarbital as Arizona prepares to execute Ernesto Martinez

Two Green Party candidates accused of fraud argue that Clean Elections can’t claw back public funds even if fraud is found — a claim two lower courts declined to take up story via @caitlinsievers.bsky.social

“You hear that alarm?” the detainee asked the Mirror as an alarm started blaring during a phone interview. “Thats a fire alarm that goes off, I’m telling you, every day.” ICE and CoreCivic say no alarms are going off. story via @jerodmacevoy.com

“For normal people, that's just crazy behavior, you know what I mean?” Democrat Aaron Lieberman said about his opponent, GOP state Sen. Carine Werner story via @caitlinsievers.bsky.social

“The real top line is that for maybe the first time ever, tariffs are a salient issue at the ballot box. You know, normally trade is a boring issue that nobody really thinks about or cares about.”

The candidates split on Medicaid cuts, the Iran war and immigration in a race Democrats see as a path to flipping the House story via @glorihuh.bsky.social

Democrats Lorena Austin and Jacob Martinez clashed with Republican Brad Bettencourt over corporate landlords and the state's $1 billion voucher program story via @glorihuh.bsky.social

Internal reports reveal the agency reviewed voter-registration nonprofits and weighed deploying undercover agents against them