This week, Arizonans across the state began receiving their early ballots by mail or visiting early voting locations to vote. For the first time in Maricopa County, the ballot is two separate pieces of paper, front and back. From top to bottom, first page to last, there are important races and issues—more than 100 of them.
In the mix are 13 statewide ballot propositions. We have previously written about many of them, but below is a quick summary of some of the most important ones. For a full description of all the measures, and a list of all candidates endorsed by the Freedom Club PAC, visit AZBallot.org.
Proposition 133 – Preserves our fair primary system by guaranteeing that every qualified party has a right to have representation on the general election ballot. Vote YES!
Proposition 134 – Guarantees our ballot initiative process is fair and balanced by requiring signatures to be collected in every county, preventing out-of-state special interests from parking circulators in just Phoenix and Tucson, ignoring rural Arizona entirely. Vote YES!
Proposition 135 – Similar to what several states have already adopted, this measure protects against the abuse of emergency powers by automatically terminating emergency declarations after 30 days, unless extended by the legislature, and empowers the legislature to call a special session, as soon as day one, with just one third of the members in each chamber. Vote YES!
Proposition 136 – Prevents unconstitutional ballot measures by allowing a person to challenge a measure, and if the Arizona Supreme Court decides it is unconstitutional, it would not appear on the ballot. Vote YES!
Proposition 140 – A sprawling measure that adds 15 separate amendments to the constitution to enact California-style election schemes in Arizona—like jungle primaries and ranked-choice voting—that confuse and disenfranchise voters. Vote NO!
Proposition 312 – Defends property owners from out-of-control homelessness by allowing them to be reimbursed for expenses they incurred after repeated failures of the city or county to enforce ordinances against public nuisances. Vote YES!
Proposition 314 – Secures the border, empowering local law enforcement to apprehend illegals who cross into Arizona outside of a port of entry, leading to jail or voluntary deportation. Vote YES!
Make sure to visit AZBallot.org to download a flyer of all recommendations from the Freedom Club PAC.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
Every election cycle, out-of-state special interests spend millions trying to put their bad ideas onto our ballot. Because these groups do not understand our laws or our constitution, the measures they peddle are poorly drafted and are often unworkable or illegal. In some instances, they do know better but don’t seem to care that their proposed measure is unconstitutional.
For example, in 2020, two out-of-state groups collected signatures to put the largest tax hike in state history on the ballot. Nonpartisan attorneys at legislative council told them prior to gathering any signatures that their measure was unconstitutional. They didn’t care. After a multi-million-dollar campaign that resulted in the measure passing by a slim margin, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled the initiative unconstitutional a year later.
Why was it on the ballot in the first place, if it was so clearly unconstitutional? The courts have long held that they currently do not have the power to consider any challenges to the constitutionality of a measure before it is passed on the ballot. The only challenge that can be brought is against the signatures filed with the Secretary of State, or for a violation of the single subject or separate amendment requirements.
But if an out-of-state group is trying to put a measure on the ballot that is clearly unconstitutional, like statutorily exempting a tax hike from a constitutional spending limit, as Prop 208 tried to do, a challenge is not considered “ripe.” Instead, costly campaigns are run on both sides, and only after voters have been presented with a broken measure can a challenge be brought.
Prop 136 changes that. If passed, Prop 136 would protect our election process from these unconstitutional measures by allowing the Arizona Supreme Court to review a proposed initiative before it goes on the ballot. If the court determines the measure is unconstitutional, it will not even appear on the ballot.
Voters probably already assume that the measures appearing on their ballot have been reviewed and vetted for constitutionality, which is a reasonable assumption. Prop 136 would help to ensure that.
At the legislature, bills are written by nonpartisan attorneys at Legislative Council, they must be assigned to a committee, placed on an agenda, receive a public hearing with testimony and input, receive a majority vote in the committee, pass a review in the Rules committee designed specifically to determine if measures are constitutional, then be placed on an agenda to receive debate from the whole chamber, finally receive a vote from the whole chamber, and if it passes, it restarts that process on the other side. Only if it passes out of that chamber and is signed by the Governor does it become law.
This long and cumbersome process at the legislature serves to weed out not only unpopular ideas that cannot get the votes, but also puts many eyes on the language to make sure if it does have the support, it is constitutional. But these checks simply do not exist in the ballot initiative process. Out-of-state groups hire attorneys to draft it, Legislative Council reviews it (if asked), and then the group files it, with or without any of the changes Legislative Council provided. Allowing for challenges before the measures appear on the ballot will save time, money, prevent confusion, and help ensure that only constitutional measures are presented to voters.
And perhaps Prop 136 will encourage those out-of-state groups to do a little more research, listen to the advice of Legislative Council, and not submit broken initiatives that violate our constitution.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
PHOENIX, ARIOZNA – Today, the Freedom Club PAC announced General Election endorsements for statewide, county, municipal, and school board races.
Freedom Club PAC Chairman Scot Mussi stated, “It is a critical time in our country and in our state. Arizona’s status as a prosperous, safe, and affordable state is under threat by radical far-left politicians that want to turn our state into another California. It is incredibly important that Arizonans vote down ticket for candidates that will fight back against their high tax, high crime, big spending California agenda.”
Statewide
Corporation Comission
Rachel Walden
Lea Márquez Peterson
Rene Lopez
Maricopa County
Board of Supervisors
Mark Stewart – District 1
Kate Brophy McGee – District 3
Debbie Lesko – District 4
.
Attorney
Rachel Mitchell
.
Recorder
Justin Heap
.
Sheriff
Jerry Sheridan
.
Superintendent of Instruction
Shelli Boggs
Municipal
Scottsdale
Lisa Borowsky – Mayor
Adam Kwasman – Council
.
Gilbert
Aaron Accurso – Council
.
Fountain Hills
Gerry Friedel – Mayor
Matthew Corrigan – Council
Rick Watts – Council
School Board
Mesa Unified School District
Higley Unified School District
Ed Steele
Taylor Francis
Sharon Benson
Sara Jarman
.
Scottsdale Unified School District
Paradise Valley School District
Gretchen Jacobs
Nichole Klootwyk
Jeanne Beasley
Eddy Jackson
Drew Hassler
Susan Winder
.
Peoria Unified School District
Gilbert Public Schools
Jeff Tobey
Ann Stevens
Janelle Bowles
Dr. Blake Robison
Shana Murray
.
Prescott Unified School District
Dysart Unified School District
Pamela Ray
Stephen Skvara
Linda Conn
Mary Jane Ziola
Denise Destiche
.
Fountain Hills Unified School District
Roosevelt School District
Kim Ducksworth
Tatiana Peña
Christianne Ortega
Sandra Jerez
PAID FOR BY THE FREEDOM CLUB PAC, with 0% from out-of-state contributors. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Today, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that, even though a special master reviewing tens of thousands of duplicate signatures made a determination that 99% of the challenged submissions were duplicates, votes in the November General Election for Proposition 140 would be tabulated.
“We are disappointed in the ruling of the court on this matter,” said Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. “Our organization proved that the special interest groups attempting to hijack Arizona’s elections systems lacked the minimum number to qualify for the ballot to even be considered by voters in November. The special master in this case also ruled that 99% of the signatures in question should be disqualified. The committee behind the measure was aware of the duplicates, yet they obstructed and delayed the review of the duplicate signatures for over a month.”
After the special master’s determination last month (that 99% of the 38,000 signatures reviewed were, in fact, duplicates), Proposition 140 should have been thousands of submissions under the constitutionally required signature threshold to qualify for the ballot.
Proposition 140 is seeking to enact a California-style election scheme built around ranked choice voting and jungle primaries.
If passed by voters, The Make Elections (Un)Fair Act would do the following for future Arizona elections:
Allows one politician, the Arizona Secretary of State, to decide how many candidates qualify for the general election ballot for every single contest, including his or her own race.
Would result in some races where candidates from only one political party appear on the general election ballot.
Would force voters to navigate two completely different voting systems on the same ballot, with some races requiring voters to rank candidates and others that do not.
Will increase tabulation errors, create longer lines at the polls, and significantly delay election results.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
Every year, thousands of people flock to Arizona to enjoy the safe, affordable, and free way of life. Most of these transplants are escaping blue states such as Illinois and Washington, but most of all from California. In 2023 alone, 73,000 Californians moved to the Grand Canyon State as their own home state has become unbearably dangerous, costly, and oppressive.
But Arizona is now at a tipping point. Along with that influx of newcomers has come a morphing of political governance. In 2016, Republicans in the state legislature held majorities in the House with 36-24 members and 18-12 in the Senate. Those majorities have dwindled to a bare single seat majority of 31-29 and 16-14. With the Governor’s office changing hands in 2022 to Democratic control, the threat of a Democratic trifecta looms large, and is something Arizona hasn’t grappled with for over 60 years, a long-gone era when Democratic statesmen were rural blue dogs.
Today’s Arizona progressives are definitely not that. Cut from the same cloth as Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris, given all the levers of state government, Arizonans can expect the state to do a complete U-turn. Governor Katie Hobbs has publicly taken up the mantle, pledging millions of dollars (even from her dubious inauguration funds) and her out-of-state billionaire friends to flip Arizona blue and enjoy frictionless implementation of her most radical agenda.
That agenda has been hiding in plain sight for years, and it looks a lot like California.
The actual bills Arizona Democrats have proposed over the past few years, if allowed to become law, would make Arizona unrecognizable.
Just like in California, the Arizona Left wants open borders and endless taxpayer incentives for illegal aliens. They’ll invite California-level crime by slashing criminal sentences, legalizing squatting, eliminating bail, and fully decriminalizing theft – attracting sophisticated crime rings to our state that will collapse retailers.
Just like in California, Arizona Democrats, unchecked, would remake Arizona into one of the highest tax burden states in the country. That’s why every year they try to pass laws that increase the sales tax, double the income tax, and double the gas tax. They’ve opposed bills to eliminate and prohibit taxes on necessities like food, rent, and driving. And they have even tried to make every tax increase permanent by introducing a bill that would require super majorities at the legislature to ever reduce taxes. And if Arizonans are feeling the housing cost pinch, they can thank Katie Hobbs for unilaterally shutting down the building of single-family homes, which will soon be California single-family home prices.
And just like in California, Arizona Democrats want a woke oppressive culture that allows for state-sanctioned racial discrimination, gender mutilation surgeries for minors, the repeal of the Parent’s Bill of Rights, draconian penalties for “climate crimes,” and to reward their political allies with taxpayer dollars.
If the AZ Left gets what they want, they’ll import every bad idea that’s destroyed our neighbors to the west. And instead of tens of thousands flocking to Arizona, they’ll just be passing through on their way to Texas, South Carolina, or Florida. Arizonans don’t want California’s crime, costs, and chaos. We want to keep AZ free.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Today, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club announced the start of a campaign to educate residents around the state about the dangers of California policies affecting future generations. The Club launched dontCAmyAZ.com with information Arizonans can glean about California’s growing shadow on their state.
“For years, we have warned about the oppressive, big-government policies of California being imported to our state,” said Aimee Yentes, Vice President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. “Yet, as more people escape the high crime and unaffordability of California and other blue states, Arizona’s safe, affordable, and free way of life is in jeopardy. The ‘Don’t CA my AZ’ campaign will educate residents all over the state about how they can help to keep AZ free.”
Currently, the Arizona Legislature has a narrow Republican majority in both the state House and Senate. The state’s governor is a Democrat and has pledged millions to flip the Arizona legislature and put us on a glide path to becoming another California. Should Democrats control both chambers of the state legislature, the Left would control the trifecta of power, which hasn’t occurred in Arizona for more than sixty years.
DontCAmyAZ.com highlights actual bills the Arizona Left has introduced in our state that have been the same policies that have destroyed the once great state of California. If given the ability to turn these bills into law, Arizona would see endless crime, high costs and taxes, and woke oppressive culture that now defines California.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
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