Arizona

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 18 PHOENIX (AP) — Officials in an Arizona county that was plagued with issues during Tuesday's primaries have fired their elections director and said he is no longer employed. Pinal County officials had promised swift changes during a Wednesday news conference where they did not assign blame directly on Elections Director David Frist, who was just hired in March. In a Thursday news release, they said elected Pinal County Recorder Virginia Ross had resigned and agreed to become the new elections director “in order to restore confidence for voters.” Ross has been the county recorder since being elected in 2012. The office oversaw elections until county supervisors separated the Elections Department from her office in 2017. There have been at least three election directors since then. Hundreds of … [Read more...] about Arizona county axes elections boss after ballot problems

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 PHOENIX (AP) — Kari Lake, a former news anchor who walked away from her journalism career and was embraced by Donald Trump and his staunch supporters, won the Republican primary for Arizona governor on Thursday. Lake's victory was a blow to the GOP establishment that lined up behind lawyer and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson in an attempt to push their party past the chaotic Trump era. Lake said she would not have certified President Joe Biden's 2020 victory and put false claims of election fraud at the center of her campaign. “Arizonans who have been forgotten by the establishment just delivered a political earthquake,” Lake said in a statement after the race was called. Republicans now enter the general election sprint with a slate of nominees closely allied with Trump who deny that Biden was legitimately elected president. Lake will face Democratic Secretary of … [Read more...] about Trump ally Kari Lake wins GOP primary for Arizona governor

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Troy Kotsur, who made history as the first deaf man to win an Academy Award, has been honored with a key to his Arizona hometown. Kotsur, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in March, was given the key Thursday in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, the city said in a statement. "It is such a special honor to receive the key to the City of Mesa, the place where I was born and raised, and will always consider home," Kotsur said during a ceremony. Mesa Mayor John Giles called Kotsur a “remarkable example of dedication and commitment.” Kotsur won just about every major acting prize for his role as a father and fisherman in “CODA." He still resides in Mesa and gave a shoutout to the city in his Oscars acceptance speech. Kotsur's family has deep roots in the city. His father was the police chief. One of his two brothers is a deputy fire chief. His … [Read more...] about Oscar winner Troy Kotsur awarded key to Arizona hometown

As election workers spend long hours tallying ballots in Arizona and elsewhere in the days after Tuesday’s primary elections, some critics are arguing they should be finished counting by now. Widely shared Twitter posts this week called the delayed results “corrupt” and “unacceptable,” while Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in a press conference on Wednesday said Arizona voters should know the winner “when they go to bed on election night.” She repeated that gripe during a radio interview Friday, the day after the AP declared her victory in the primary, saying “we had days of waiting to get the ballots counted. It’s a mess.” These complaints ignore the realities of modern-day ballot processing, which requires extensive time and labor, according to election officials and experts. In fact, states have never reported official election results on election night, experts say. Here’s a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: In the past, election results have been released on … [Read more...] about FACT FOCUS: Why final election results take days, not hours

Governor Greg Abbott's ongoing practice of bussing migrants detained near Texas' southern border to metropolises in other states has touched a new nerve with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who told reporters on Sunday that asylum seekers have arrived against their will in his city after being misled by officials in the Lone Star State. On Sunday, Adams told Politico's Erin Durkin that more than 4,000 asylum seekers have attempted to seek refuge at the city's homeless shelters since May. "This is horrific, when you think about what the governor is doing," Adams said while meeting a bus of arriving migrants at the Port Authority bus terminal. Governor Abbott announced in a Friday press release the arrival of the first bus sent to the city from Texas. Abbott called New York City "the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing the Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city." Adams on Sunday maintained … [Read more...] about ‘They were forced’: New York City Mayor Eric Adams claims Texas is bussing migrants against their will

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pennsylvania's Republican governor nominee Doug Mastriano is appearing Tuesday before the Jan. 6 committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection as the panel probes Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Mastriano, who was outside the Capitol that day, helped organize efforts in Pennsylvania to submit alternate presidential electors beholden to Trump. He is one of two people expected to provide private interviews Tuesday before the committee, according to a person familiar with the situation who was granted anonymity to discuss it. Committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson issued the subpoena for Mastriano back in February as the panel intensified its probe of the “fake electors” scheme, seeking documentation from him and others potentially involved and in close contact with Trump. The committee “is seeking information about efforts to send false slates of electors to Washington and change the outcome of the 2020 election,” … [Read more...] about 1/6 panel to interview Pa. governor nominee Mastriano

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 PHOENIX (AP) — Joe Arpaio, the 90-year-old former Arizona sheriff who was a once powerful figure in Republican politics but was ousted nearly six years ago amid frustration over his headline-grabbing tactics and legal troubles, was defeated Wednesday in a race for mayor of the affluent suburb where he has lived for more than two decades. His defeat in the mayor’s race in Fountain Hills against two-term incumbent Ginny Dickey marks Arpaio’s third failed comeback bid since his 2016 loss after serving 24 years as the sheriff of Maricopa County. Even though election officials say all votes in Maricopa County have been counted, Arpaio said Wednesday evening that he wasn’t conceding the race and instead was going to consult with an attorney to explore whether to challenge the results. “I am not saying I am going to do it,” Arpaio said of a legal challenge. “I’m not a lawyer. I just … [Read more...] about Joe Arpaio loses 3rd comeback bid in town mayoral race

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 17 PHOENIX (AP) — It’s been 80 years since the first Navajo Code Talkers joined the Marines, transmitting messages using a code based on their then-unwritten native language to confound Japanese military cryptologists during World War II — and Thomas H. Begay, one of the last living members of the group, still remembers the struggle. “It was the hardest thing to learn,” the 98-year-old Begay said Sunday at a Phoenix ceremony marking the anniversary. “But we were able to develop a code that couldn’t be broken by the enemy of the United States of America.” Hundreds of Navajos were recruited by the U.S. Marines to serve as Code Talkers during the war. Begay is one of three who is still alive to talk about it. The Code Talkers participated in all assaults the Marines led in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945 … [Read more...] about 80 years later, Navajo Code Talker marks group’s early days

If you're an Astros fan with kids, I have good news and bad news this summer. The good news is the team is great, and you can take the little ones to watch them play in a mostly air-conditioned juice box while the world outside melts into a blur of ERCOT conservation notices . The bad news is attending an Astros game in 2022 is the fourth-most expensive experience in the league for families, according to a recent analysis by The Hustle's Zachary Crockett. Houston Astros Tickets Vivid Seats Shop Now Over the weekend, Crockett published a report analyzing the growing costs of popular American family activities over the last 60 years. The activities Crockett measured were attending a movie at a theater, taking your kids on a one-day visit to Disneyland, and enjoying an evening watching America's pastime. Utilizing data from FanCostIndex, Crockett found the average cost for a family of four to attend an Astros game in 2022 is $293.74. This figure, … [Read more...] about New report claims Houston Astros games are the fourth-most expensive family experience in MLB