Most people reading this blog are probably already familiar with the Congressional grilling that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder received yesterday about the IRS and AP controversites.  Arizona Rep. Trent Franks (R-CD8) gave him something of a break, using his five minutes to question Holder about the conviction of the abortion provider in Philadelphia and whether the Department of Justice had

Arizona's Politics reported earlier that the group attempting to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was pulling the plug on paid petition circulating.  Arizona's Politics posted the link on Respect Arizona's  ("RA's") Facebook page, so that volunteer (and paid) circulators would know of and understand this development;  not only did RA delete the link, but it deleted its recent posts

Arizona's Politics has been following (most recent article) the slow-moving lawsuit filed by Joe Arpaio supporters to throw out the recall petition effort against the Maricopa County Sheriff.  The anti-recall Citizens To Protect Fair Election Results ("CPFER") has until tomorrow afternoon to file a response to the motion to dismiss the case and sanction the plaintiffs, filed by the group

Arizona's Politics has learned from two sources (circulators) that Respect Arizona - the group circulating the petition to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio - has (again) pulled the plug on paid circulators. With two weeks to go until the deadline to turn in the 335,000+ signatures to the County Recorder, it appears the controversial effort will have to try to rely on volunteers - who

Earlier today, Arizona's Politics posted a copy of the Motion For Sanctions that it had received from the attorney for Respect Arizona.  Here is the accompanying Motion to Dismiss. Chris Ford, the attorney for the group trying to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, told Arizona's Politics that he is seeking an expedited hearing on the motions.   Recall Arpaio Constitutionality Lawsuit

Arizona's Politics has learned that the group attempting to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is seeking a rush hearing on its motions to dismiss the lawsuit challenging the effort's constitutionality and for sanctions against the pro-Sheriff group and its attorney.  Respect Arizona ("RA") attorney Chris Ford also fired back at the opposing attorney, telling Arizona's Politics that

Larry Klayman, counsel for the pro-Arpaio group Citizens To Protect Fair Election Results ("CPFER"), tells Arizona's Politics that the motion to dismiss filed today by Respect Arizona ("RA") is "not worth the paper it is written on." RA is the group organizing a recall petition effort against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.  The CPFER lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the effort

After more than one month, the committee attempting to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is moving today to seek damages and to dismiss the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the recall petition effort. The lawsuit was filed by friends of the sheriff, who formed a committee called Citizens to Protect Fair Election Results ("CPFER").  They hired nationally-known conservative

Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon (R-CD5) has filed a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution to limit the number of terms a Congressman or Senator can serve, hearkening back to the 1990's, when he was one of very, VERY few to actually make AND KEEP a term-limit pledge as that was a popular issue. Salmon is joined by five co-sponsors in the House - including fellow Arizonan David Schweikert (R-CD6).

The well-respected Behavior Research Center is out with its new Rocky Mountain Poll on the approval ratings of Arizona's long-time Senator John McCain.  The BRC's news release suggests - and the Associated Press amplifies - that 67% of Arizonans think it is time for a new Senator.  However, the poll actually asks respondents if they believe McCain should be re-elected; his current term does not

Former long-serving Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-CD8) hit a rare double yesterday, testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the comprehensive immigration reform proposal AND publicly announcing his wedding next month to his longtime partner.  However, it was not just a point of personal privilege or a grandstanding ploy, the announcement was central to his testimony. Kolbe, who

Recalled Arizona State Senate President Russell Pearce pulled out all the rhetorical stops yesterday in an e-mail to attempt to re-vivify the Arizona Legislature's proposal to revamp the recall election laws. The State Senate defeated HB2282 by a bi-partisan vote of 18-10 vote on Thursday, but it is expected to come up this afternoon for reconsideration. Yesterday, Pearce took to the e-mail

Some fundraising e-mails are incendiary, some are informational.  Others are goal-oriented, still others are head-scratchers.  Today's fits the latter two categories, reminding me of some of those multiple-choice exam questions that many of our school kids were taking this week or take to seek admission to college. It comes from Rep. David Schweikert's (R-CD6) re-election campaign committee.  

Former Space Shuttle Commander, husband of retired Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and current gun violence reduction activist Mark Kelly took to Twitter this morning to gently chide his "friend", Arizona Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Flake voted yesterday against the Manchin-Toomey compromise amendment that would have expanded background checks on gun transactions.  (Arizona's other Senator, John McCain,

Retired Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is listed as an "icon" in Time Magazine's annual list of the "100 Most Influential People In the World".  Jim Brady, the Press Secretary for President Ronald Reagan, who was shot in the head in the 1981 assassination attempt, wrote up the accompanying explanation for Giffords' inclusion. Brady, who has been a sustained and ardent supporter of measures to

(Update, 12:45pm, AZ Time: The House adjourned for the day, but the bill is still slated for "this week", and the House will be in session on Friday.) The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to (this week) pass a bill giving the Pascua Yaqui Tribe 20 acres of land to help complete the golf course adjacent to the Casino del Sol.  The bill is led by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-CD3) and is 

Conclusion of Durbin's speech about the late Rickey Byrdsong, and his widow Sherialyn: (sorry, please refer back to full post for first part; Google's Blogger has some glitch embedding two videos with similar codes) We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.

Shortly before the Manchin-Toomey amendment on expanding background checks for gun transactions was put up for a vote, Arizona Senator John McCain (R-AZ) gave a 10-minute speech explaining why he would vote for the proposal. It was voted down 54-46 - it needed 60 votes to move forward - as McCain was one of only three Republicans to vote in favor of it.  Arizona's other Senator, Jeff Flake (

(It has been pointed out that the two videos below are the same clip.  They are, indeed.  Google's Blogger apparently has some glitch in it that does not allow me to embed two videos that have very similar embed codes; it "auto-corrects".  I do not have the time to keep playing with it right now, so I have posted the second clip in a separate post.  Thanks.) Retired Congresswoman Gabrielle

Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, retired Space Shuttle Captain Mark Kelly, were featured briefly last night on CNN in advance of the full interview being shown tonight. Anderson Cooper and reporter Dana Bash teased tonight's interview (airing at 5:00 and 7:00pm tonight, Arizona Time) last night by showing a snippet of Kelly shooting a 9mm Glock, the same type of gun