Dennis Welch

Screen shot of a statement from Arizona Senate President on the Trump administration ending the DOJ investigation into Phoenix PD.

NEW: AZ Senate President Warren Petersen (R) praises the Trump administration for ending the DOJ investigation of Phoenix PD which he calls a “witch hunt”

Scoop: Trump aides dump 1 of the 2 Arizona governor candidates he backed The exodus from Karrin Taylor Robson's campaign came after Trump's advisers spent months urging her to air TV ads promoting his endorsement, sources tell Axios.

Shake it up! Co-endorsed Trump candidate Karrin Taylor Robson’s consultants bail. "It takes special skill to botch a GOP primary with the Trump endorsement, but unfortunately that's what this candidate has single-handedly assured,"

Ruben Gallego travels to Pennsylvania amid 2028 shadow primary The Arizona senator is heading to the swing state to talk about "the struggles of working-class Americans."

Crank up the hype-machine! Sen. Gallego is off to Pennsylvania

Picture of the letter calling for AZ Democratic Party Chairman Robert Branscomb to step down over his fight with Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego and others

Picture of the letter calling for AZ Democratic Party Chairman to step down over his fight with Sens Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego

Breaking: Chaos continues for the Arizona Democratic Party. Chairman Robert Branscomb now faces call to resign over his fight with Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego. Steven Jackson, the chairman of the LD8 Democrats in the East Valley, drafted a letter urging Branscomb to step down.

Screen shot of Governor Hobbs’ veto letter

Spiciest veto of the year?: Gov. Hobbs kills Sen. Jake Hoffman’s transportation bill by taking at not so subtle shot at his recent record of dodging a speeding ticket with the help of legislative immunity

Screen shot of the the vote total of a bill to memorialize slain journalist Don Bolles

NEW: The Arizona House passed a bill allowing for a memorial to slain journalist Don Bolles who was assassinated nearly 50 years ago investigating a shady land dead. Bill now heads to the Senate.

Arizona Department of Agriculture employee accused of human smuggling A now-former employee of the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) was arrested earlier this month at the border for alleged human smuggling.

Breaking: Feds arrest state worker near the border on human smuggling accusations, an incident that threatens to derail Gov. Hobbs’ nominee to run a key state agency

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announces run for re-election The state’s top election official launched his re-election bid on Thursday, saying the office still needs to regain the confidence of voters.

After making some noise about running for a couple of offices, AZ Secretary of State Adrian officially announces his bid for a second term.

Gov. Hobbs signs bipartisan bill to fund Arizona disability program Gov. Katie Hobbs has signed legislation that plugs a gaping budget deficit at the department that serves 60,000 people with disabilities before it runs out of money.

UPDATE: @governorkatiehobbs.bsky.social signs the bipartisan bill that keeps the state’s disability program funded through the end of the fiscal year

Screen shot of the vote total for a finding bill

Breaking: Arizona Senate passes a bill to plug a $122M funding gap for the department that serves 60K disabled people. The bill is now headed to Gov. Hobbs’ desk.

Screen shot of Karrin Taylor Robson’s statement of President Trump’s tariffs

HAPPENING NOW: Republican candidate for governor, Karrin Taylor Robson, backs President Trump’s tariffs and urges him to “keep fighting.”

Rep. Alexander Kolodin on X: "When your Party Chair asks you to run. When the future of Arizona demands that you run. And when you’re the most qualified person for the job. You run. I’m Alex Kolodin and I’m running for Secretary of State to restore transparency to our elections once and for all. https://t.co/8GByrRbZ8Y" / X When your Party Chair asks you to run. When the future of Arizona demands that you run. And when you’re the most qualified person for the job. You run. I’m Alex Kolodin and I’m running for Secretary of State to restore transparency to our elections once and for all. https://t.co/8GByrRbZ8Y

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda did **not** endorse Alexander Kolodin in the Republican Primary for Secretary of State and confirms that she is thinking about running for the position herself

Screen shot showing the Diamondbacks stadium bill has been pulled from the Senate appropriations committee agenda tomorrow.

UPDATE: Trouble in Mudville?: The D-Backs’ Chase Field bill (HB2704) won’t be heard in committee tomorrow. The chairman said it doesn’t have the votes right now.

SCOOP: Occasional Trump golf partner and regular rally attendee, Jay Feely, is seriously considering a run for Congress in Arizona’s CD05 to replace Rep. Andy Biggs, according to a source. Feely was a former professional NFL kicker and CBS sideline analyst.

New questions over $500 million repair bill for D-backs’ stadium Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego told Arizona’s Family she has not seen documented evidence to justify the $500 million price tag.

Trust Us: The AZ Diamondbacks want $500M of your tax money to fix up their stadium but hasn't given the public a cost estimate of what needs to be fixed.

Vote Elmer’s

Border encounter numbers have plummeted in the Tucson and Yuma sectors.

Feb. 2025 is the lowest number in both sectors in the publicly available data we have from CBP dating back to Oct. 1999.

Tucson Sector: 1,336
Yuma Sector: 243
@dwelch.bsky.social @azfamily.com

Bonus podcast just dropped! Arizona Chamber of Commerce CEO Danny Seidel on legislative efforts to keep the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Regular pod coming on Sunday.)

www.azfamily.com/2025/03/13/p...

Arizona governor signs executive order for new border security plan aimed at cartels Gov. Hobbs signed an executive order to create Operation Desert Guardian, a joint task focused on breaking up illegal drug smuggling and human trafficking operations.

Gov. Hobbs launches and new border security plan as federal data shows migrant encounters and arrests are down

‘No way in hell’: Gov. Hobbs’ office responds to migrant ‘bounty bill’ The Governor's Office had a stern response when asked if she would sign a bill that would give money to law enforcement for each migrant they deport.

HAPPENING TODAY: Gov. Hobbs’ office says there’s “no way in hell” she’ll sign the Republican backed “Bounty Bill”

During her first two years in office, Hobbs vetoed nearly one-third of all the bills passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature (excluding ballot referrals and other measures that don’t require the governor’s approval)

Politics Unplugged Podcast: Jen Fifield Faster elections and Hall of Famer rockers.

New podcast has dropped! Votebeat reporter Jen Fifield talks about legislation to speed up the vote count. Then Dennis and Colin break down the nominees for the 2025 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Bad Company? Really?)

www.azfamily.com/2025/02/17/p...

FYI: A bill that bars lawmakers from using legislative immunity to get out of traffic tickets is scheduled for debate in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Because this special privilege is outlined in the state Constitution it would need voter approval.

Screenshot of a police statement confirming that state Senator Jake Hoffman was stopped for speeding but was not issued a ticket because of legislative immunity

Another state lawmaker avoids a ticket because of legislative immunity. Sen. Jake Hoffman was clocked driving 89MPH in a 65MPH zone. DPS statement below:

Politics Unplugged Podcast: Congressman Greg Stanton Rep. Stanton on Elon Musk and the current state in D.C.

New episode of the pod is here! Congressman Greg Stanton on why he views Elon Musk as a threat to our democracy. Then Dennis and Colin look back at the best and worst Super Bowl halftime shows.

www.azfamily.com/2025/02/10/p...

This is a screen shot of a bill that would abolish legislative immunity for all traffic stops. This is a response to a state senator using the immunity clause to get out of a traffic ticket

JUST IN: State Sen. Mark Finchem’s seat mate in the House has filed a bill to abolish legislative immunity for all traffic stops. If passed, the measure would go to the voters in 2026

Arizona Republican state senator demands police erase speeding ticket, claims legislative immunity Arizona State Senator Mark Finchem, a staunch conservative Republican from Yavapai County, claims his position grants him immunity, asking police to nullify and completely erase the ticket from all re...

CHECK IT OUT: You can see the raw police body cam video of Sen. Mark Finchem’s traffic stop in Prescott and my latest story on how he’s trying to use the Arizona Constitution to get out of it

Screen shot of a report that former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Siname lobbied for Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination

Kyrsten Sinema Update: the former Arizona Senator is reported to have lobbied for Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to become the next director of national intelligence

This is a picture of the House Committee on Government shortly before they passed a bill to memorialize slain journalist Don Bolles

NEW: A Republican-led House committee advanced HB2578 (6-1) which dedicates a memorial to journalist Don Bolles who was killed in 1976 by a car bomb while investigating organized crime in Phoenix

This is a screen shot of the fact sheet on House Bill 2125 that allows jury trials in divorce cases

Bill of the day: A GOP-led House committee advanced HB2125 that allows for jury trials in divorce cases. Question: how would feel about laying out the intimate details of your marriage in front of 12 strangers?