On the heels of a failed legal challenge to the Secure the Border Act – also known as Prop. 314 or HCR2060 – a new poll found that 63% of Arizona voters plan to vote in favor of the measure in November. The poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, reflects responses from 1,003 registered Arizona voters and has a margin of error of 3.09%, according to a news release. While 6% of voters said they will abstain from voting on the measure and another 16% are still unsure, nearly two-thirds of Arizonans support the GOP-backed measure, according to the polling data. 77% of Republican voters said they plan to support the measure while a slim majority — 52% — of Democrat respondents said they support it. Backers of the measure include “traditionally liberal (voting) blocs,” such as 56% of Hispanic voters, the press release said. The popularity of components of the measure does vary, the release noted. Polling found 77% of supporters in favor of holding drug dealers responsible for the death of a person who consumes a drug containing fentanyl and 75% in favor of e-verify, while just 56% of proposition supporters are in favor of reforming the process in which migrants obtain public benefits. “Opponents will have trouble pushing the argument ‘people are only supporting this because of the fentanyl stuff, they don’t care about the immigration’ – that’s what voters like most about Prop 314,” Noble Predictive Insights founder Mike Noble said in a written statement. “Prop 314 is popular across party lines, and that is a difficult trend to disrupt with only a couple of months until Election Day.”
A survey of 945 teachers by the Department of Education found those who left the profession after the 2023 school year cited burnout, a lack of respect, student behavior, discipline problems and a need for a higher salary as factors underlying their departure. Per survey results, 71.2% of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that they felt “burned out,” 69.1% “did not feel respected as a K-12 teacher,” 63.6% cited “student behavior and discipline problems were an issue” and 62.1% “wanted or needed a higher salary.” In releasing the survey data, Horne pointed to failed legislative attempts last session to boost teacher pay, which he said had “been rebuffed because of political disputes that do nothing to help improve the salaries of teachers” and a bill to track administrative support of teachers’ disciplinary actions. Horne pushed for the passage of S1459 (school letter grades; student discipline), a bill sponsored by Kavanagh which would have required schools to annually report student discipline referral data and would reduce a schools’ letter grade if administration did not implement the requested disciplinary action in fewer than 75% of cases. The bill failed in the House, receiving a “no” vote from Kolodin and Cook. In teacher pay, Horne supported the Republican plan for Prop. 123, which stalled after a disagreement among Republicans on the distribution rate from the state land trust fund. Horne called higher pay and “robust support” to teachers from administration on discipline to be “vital” to ensuring teachers remain in the profession. Marisol Garcia, president of the AEA, said the survey results were not surprising. “We’ve been saying this for a decade now.” But Garcia added the solutions proposed by Horne previously via legislation failed to address larger structural issues in working conditions. Garcia noted the lack of input from educators and said the solution lies in tamping down teacher workload, creating smaller class sizes and funding outside support positions, like counselors. “He can try to do all the bureaucracy that he wants to do when it comes to slapping the hands of principals,” Garcia said. “But none of those plans ever came from teachers. None of them. If he would have sat down with me, or members of my union, we would have given him plenty of policy plans that would have helped with behavior issues in my classroom. But he’s not going to like the answers because they’re very expensive.”
Lake announced an endorsement from the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police, per a letter signed by the organization’s president (and Sen. Sinema’s brother) Paul Sheldon. The state F.O.P. gave the endorsement by a vote of the members at each of the state’s 34 lodges, and previously endorsed Lake in the governors’ race. Sheldon said in a statement that Lake, “will continue to be a strong advocate for policies that enhance public safety, provide critical resources to law enforcement, and ensure that the voices of those who risk their lives every day are heard and respected.” In the release, the organization noted they had kept an “open line of communication” with Lake and her campaign. Lake’s latest law enforcement endorsement, from an organization with more than 9,400 members, follows Gallego’s grab of the Arizona Police Association’s endorsement, the largest law enforcement and public safety association in the state. A railbird told our reporter Lake did not meet with the APA prior to losing their endorsement to Gallego. “Perhaps Gov. Lake forgot to ask for a Senate endorsement. Being bonkers is hard work,” the railbird said. Lake’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on her meetings with APA, or lack thereof, but after the initial APA endorsement, a Lake spox said, “Ruben Gallego supported defunding the police and vilified law enforcement while serving in Congress. He supports open borders and is weak on crime. Kari Lake will always back the blue and support law enforcement and safe communities.” In announcing the F.O.P. endorsement today, Lake said, “I am honored to be endorsed by the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police. In the U.S. Senate, I will be their voice in Washington D.C. by working to improve the working conditions and ensuring the safety of our law enforcement officials.”
The Senate is closed until Sept. 9. for power grid renovations and maintenance, according to a Senate Democrat spokeswoman. It is closed to all staff, including lawmakers, until the repairs are completed. An announcement is expected this week confirming the Senate’s reopening date, she said.
While Kansas’ August tax revenue exceeded estimates by nearly $23 million, Gov. Laura Kelly took time Monday to reflect on the future reductions from a recently passed tax cut.
Kansas collected $665.6 million from taxes in August, about $22.8 million, or 3.5%, above estimates, according to a revenue report released Monday. Collections also rose 4% from August 2023.
Receipts from individual income tax collections and combined retail sales and compensating use taxes drove the increase.
Kansas received $329.4 million in individual income tax collections, up $19.4 million, or 6.3%, from estimates, with a 10.1% increase from August 2023.
The state had $294.6 million in sales and compensating use tax receipts, up $12.6 million, or 4.5%, from estimates. The receipts also rose 0.7% from August 2023.
The state reported $20.2 million in corporate income tax collections, $9.8 million, or 32.8%, short of estimates. The collections also declined 19.7% from August 2023.
Kelly in a news release mentioned the future impact of Senate Bill 1, which the Legislature passed in June during the one-day special session.
“While we are seeing collections higher than the estimate, we likely won’t see the impact of the income tax cuts from Senate Bill 1 on monthly collections until the beginning of next year,” she said. “Because of that timing, we must continue to be fiscally responsible for our long-term outlook.”
After tax policy disagreements over the last two sessions, Kelly; Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover; and House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, reached an agreement on a plan that is estimated to reduce revenue by nearly $2 billion over the next five fiscal years.
The estimate includes a $471.6 million reduction in fiscal year 2025, according to the bill’s supplemental note.
SB 1 included a transition to a two-tier income system of 5.2% and 5.58% from three brackets of 3.1%, 5.25% and 5.7%, as well as a full repeal of the state’s Social Security tax.
Wanda Brownlee Paige will likely soon be confirmed as the replacement for late Rep. Marvin Robinson II, according to Wyandotte County Democratic Party Chair Jeffrey Hollinshed.
Paige emerged victorious from a crowded primary field en route to running unopposed in the upcoming November general election. Brown, a retired teacher, defeated incumbent Robinson after securing 49% of the vote in a four-way Democratic field.
Hollinshed said the vote to confirm Paige, which consists of Wyandotte County precinct captains, will take place Sept. 10.
“She is the recommendation,” he said of Paige. “But it has to be voted on.”
Kansas Democratic Party Chair Jeanna Repass said she’s hopeful Paige will be confirmed because constituents entrusted her with their vote. Under normal circumstances, Paige would be officially sworn in to the District 35 seat at the beginning of the 2025 legislative session in January.
Paige’s victory is also viewed by Democratic leaders as another step toward breaking Republican supermajorities. Despite Robinson’s affiliation with the Democratic Party, he had a long history of siding with Republicans on key issues.
“The important part is that she got nominated, and basically elected, in August,” House Minority Leader Vic Miller, D-Topeka, said of Paige. “So she will have a head start on serving.”
Miller added that all the interim committee assignments have been filled, so Paige won’t have any legislative duties to fulfill until January.
“Her challenge will be finding something to do,” Miller said.
Paige previously told State Affairs that her top priorities are Medicaid expansion and reducing property taxes.
Matt Resnick is a statehouse reporter at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected]
INDIANAPOLIS — Several hundred friends, family members, colleagues and constituents gathered Tuesday outside Gainbridge Fieldhouse where the Indiana Pacers and the Fever play. It was a gloriously bright late-summer day for the unveiling of the Richard G. Lugar Monument.
On a similar morning in 1995 when Sen. Lugar was kicking off his presidential campaign a few blocks away, a domestic terrorist ignited the worst lethal attack in American history on a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. And on a carbon copy day in 2001, foreign terrorists brought down the World Trade Center towers in New York while crashing an airliner into the Pentagon, killing almost 3,000.
It brought back memories of traveling with Sen. Lugar to Shchuchye in Siberia when an obscure program manager named Paul McNelly walked us through the plan to destroy 2 million 85 mm Soviet-era shells filled with sarin gas, thanks to funding from the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.
“All it would take is one of these small shells put in a backpack strapped with C4 plastic explosives going into a stadium,” McNelly said. “Depending on which way the plume went, you could kill 10,000 to 20,000 people.”
Sen. Richard Lugar holds a briefcase containing an 85 mm chemical shell during a visit to the chemical weapons depository at Shchuchye, Russia, in December 2000. (Credit: Nunn-Lugar Photo)
He produced a photo of Sen. Lugar posing with one of the sarin shells in a briefcase.
“That was a live round,” McNelly said.
“Now he tells us,” one of Lugar’s aides responded, to great laughter.
But their mission was no laughing matter. The fact that the stadium where the Indiana Pacers and the Fever play — or Wrigley Field or Yankee Stadium or Wembley in London — has not been attacked by terrorists is a testament to the foresight of Sens. Lugar and Sam Nunn for realizing the dangers that came with the aura of victory after the Soviet Union collapsed.
The Richard Lugar Monument was the brainchild of Jim Morris, the former United Nations World Food Programme commissioner who died in July, five years after Sen. Lugar passed away at age 87. The half-million-dollar privately funded project was unveiled outside Gainbridge Fieldhouse and was to be moved to Lugar Plaza at the City-County Building later in the day.
Or, as the keynoter, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said of Lugar: “This humble man … was also an innovator, a creator, a strategist and a problem-solver. I was the young Soviet expert under President George H.W. Bush when the Cold War ended. I can tell you it was a glorious time in one way. That the … ambitions and the expectations of Truman and Kennedy and Reagan had finally been achieved.
“But it was also a dizzyingly scary time,” Rice continued. “Because as the great [Secretary of State] Larry Eagleburger said, ‘We have seen the Soviet Union dismantled before it was disarmed.’ And that was a terrifying prospect, that this great nuclear power covering 11 different time zones had nuclear weapons spread all over that territory. And it was Dick Lugar and his compatriot Sam Nunn who found an answer.”
On that trip to Russia in 2007, Sen. Lugar told Howey Politics Indiana: “I have never considered Nunn-Lugar to be merely a program or a source of funding or a set of agreements. Rather, it is a concept through which we as leaders who are responsible for the welfare of our children take control of a global threat of our own making.”
“The Cooperative Threat Reduction Program is such a bland name for what it really was,” Rice said. “It was to make the world safe at a moment when it was decidedly unsafe.” And it was a bargain, costing $400 million annually from 1994 to 1996 and $1.6 billion since it was passed in 1992 and signed by President George H.W. Bush.
While the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program was responsible for a historic first for mankind — one superpower dismantling the arsenal of another without an act of war — Rice cited Lugar’s “compassion” for the Russians, or as she put it, “to shepherd a dying superpower that was still heavily armed to work with scientists who had been at the top of their game as nuclear scientists for the Soviet Union and now found themselves without housing, without jobs.”
“His compassion, along with Sam Nunn, in understanding the very human reaction might be for those scientists to go elsewhere,” Rice said. “To go to places not in our interest. Also not to work for the dismantling of that apparatus, the weapons themselves, but of the apparatus that had produced them and to take care of the people who had been part of that apparatus.”
Nunn-Lugar would dismantle more than 9,200 Soviet-era warheads, 1,288 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 155 bombers and upgrade the secure storage of more than 65 nuclear and biological weapons sites.
For Americans and Hoosiers, it meant going to watch a pro sports event at an American stadium and worrying about the cost of a hot dog and soda rather than attending a mass casualty event.
Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Terry A. Crone announced Tuesday he will retire effective Nov. 5 after 20 years as a member of the court.
Crone’s retirement is the second this year among the 15 appeals court judges after Patricia Riley stepped down Aug. 30. His retirement ceremony is planned for Nov. 4 in the Supreme Court Courtroom at the Statehouse.
Crone won three elections as St. Joseph County Circuit Court judge before he was appointed to the appeals court by Gov. Joe Kernan in 2004.
The appeals court credits Crone with authoring at least 2,988 majority opinions. He helped found a program in South Bend to familiarize minority high school students with the law and related fields and initiated the first Spanish-speaking program for public defenders in St. Joseph County.
“Judge Crone’s tenure on the Court of Appeals has been marked by his tenacity, dedication and good humor,” appeals court Chief Judge Robert R. Altice Jr. said in a statement. “He will be missed both as a quality judge and a first-rate colleague.”
Court officials said the judicial commission expects to meet in October to interview candidates to replace Crone and vote on three finalists it will submit to Gov. Eric Holcomb for consideration.
The commission picked three county judges in July as finalists to replace Riley. Holcomb has not yet announced his selection.
The two upcoming appointments will be the sixth and seventh picks Holcomb has made to the appeals court since becoming governor in 2017.
Crone and Riley were among the six of the appeals court’s 15 judges who were appointed by Democratic governors.
Their departures mean that Republican governors will have named 11 of the 15 appeals court judges and all five state Supreme Court justices.
Tom Davies is a Statehouse reporter for State Affairs Pro Indiana. Reach him at[email protected] or on X at @TomDaviesIND.
The man who defined late-20th-century Louisiana politics, for better or worse, would have celebrated his 97th birthday last month. He was born in Avoyelles Parish on August 7, 1927.
Edwin Washington Edwards’ gift for public speaking was evident early. He preached in the Church of the Nazarene as a teen but returned to his family’s Roman Catholic faith.
Edwards didn’t smoke or drink; his vices famously were gambling and womanizing, along with loose political ethics. He rose from the Crowley City Council to the state Senate to Congress and the governor’s mansion in 17 years.
In his first race for governor in 1971, Edwards’ record of racial tolerance attracted Black voters recently enfranchised by the 1965 Voting Rights Act, while the French-speaking son of Acadiana also counted on Cajun voters. The state’s two most prominent minority groups formed a solid political base that supported an unprecedented four terms as governor.
His first term was marked by structural reform, as he helped usher in the 1974 Constitution and reshaped how Louisiana collects oil revenue. He promised help “to the poor, the elderly, the unemployed, the thousands of Black Louisianans who have not yet enjoyed the full bounty of the American dream,” and appointed women and minorities to key state positions.
The 1970s oil boom, along with changing the severance tax from 25 cents a barrel to 12.5 percent of value, filled state coffers and boosted Edwards’ popularity. Constitutionally barred from a third consecutive term, he left office in 1980 only to return four years later, easily defeating incumbent Dave Treen, the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction.
But the oil boom went bust during the 1980s, and a third-term fiscal crisis coincided with federal indictments, though not convictions, for mail fraud, obstruction of justice and public bribery stemming from the sale of hospital certificates. Bowing out of the 1987 runoff when he faced likely defeat against then-Congressman Buddy Roemer, Edwards’ political career appeared to be over.
Yet once again, Edwards returned four years later, outpacing the politically wounded Roemer—voters rejected his tax overhaul package and disliked his switch to the Republican Party—and toxic former Klansman David Duke to win his final term.
“Vote for the crook. It’s important,” read the famous bumper sticker.
As it turned out, both Duke and Edwards were found to be crooks. While Duke served a year in prison in 2003 and 2004 for bilking his supporters, Edwards was convicted in 2000 on racketeering, extortion and fraud charges for selling casino licenses.
Edwards was sentenced to 10 years and went to prison in 2002, gaining release in 2011. While serving his sentence, he divorced his second wife and started a relationship with Trina Grimes, who would become his third.
After prison, he and Trina had a child and co-starred in a short-lived reality television show, “The Governor’s Wife.” He attempted one more political comeback in 2014, losing to Congressman Garret Graves by a 62-38 percent margin, only the second defeat of his long political career.
Edwards died of respiratory failure in 2021 at his home in Gonzales. He was 93.
Reactions to his death reflected his complicated legacy.
“Edwin was a larger than life figure known for his wit and charm, but he will be equally remembered for being a compassionate leader who cared for the plight of all Louisianans,” then-Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “Our state has lost a giant, and we will miss him dearly.”
LSU journalism professor Robert Mann, who worked for some of Louisiana’s most prominent recent Democrats, said Edwards “had eloquence, creativity, a razor-sharp mind, executive abilities that many lacked, and leadership skills that many envied…He had everything, and yet squandered it by devoting much of his time to enriching his friends. I’ve rarely seen a wider chasm between the promise for greatness and reality.”
Rodney Kennedy, writing this year for Baptist News Global, found parallels between Edwards and Donald Trump following the latter’s recent conviction.
“For my money, Edwards was smarter, slicker, savvier and funnier than Trump, but Edwards and Louisiana taught Trump and MAGA how to dance with the devil,” Kennedy says.
Editor’s note: The information in this piece came from Baptist News Global, The Associated Press, The New York Times and the Secretary of State’s office.
This piece first ran in the Aug. 8, 2024 edition of LaPolitics Weekly. Wish you could have read it then? Subscribe today!
Republican precinct committee members from Senate District 48 will meet Wednesday evening in Jasper to decide who will fill the last two years of Messmer’s Senate term running through the November 2026 election.
The Senate vacancy comes after Messmer resigned from the seat two months ahead of his anticipated election to the U.S. House after winning the GOP primary for the heavily Republican 8th Congressional District.
Four candidates met the filing deadline for Wednesday’s caucus: Indiana State Police Maj. Todd Smith and Dubois County Clerk Amy Kippenbrock are joined in the race by Dubois County Councilman Daryl Schmitt and Richard Moss, a Jasper physician who has made unsuccessful runs for Congress and the Legislature.
The heavily Republican Senate district covers six southwestern Indiana counties: Crawford, Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike and Spencer. The state Republican Party said 145 precinct committee leaders are eligible to vote.
Smith running with multiple endorsements
Smith touts endorsements from retiring U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon and several area Republican officeholders and party leaders, including county GOP chairs from Crawford, Gibson and Spencer counties.
Smith, an attorney, has been chief legal counsel for the Indiana State Police headquarters in Indianapolis for 18 years and, overall, has spent 37 years in trooper and leadership positions. Smith’s wife, Sherri Heichelbech, is the Spencer County sheriff and they own a farm near Rockport.
Smith said he had spent much of the past decade working remotely from Spencer County while continuing to oversee the legal work for the state police and interactions with legislators on bills involving public safety issues.
Smith, who will have to leave the state police if he wins the caucus, said he is interested in legislative work as he nears retirement from the agency.
“I still want to work,” Smith told State Affairs. “This is the perfect opportunity for me to use the skills that I’ve developed over the last 20 years and my law degree and help the people of Indiana.”
He said he wants to continue working on some issues he has dealt with in law enforcement, including fentanyl abuse, illegal immigration and bail reform.
Kippenbrock points to county experience
Kippenbrock is in her second term as DuBois County clerk, winning election in 2018 with 57% of the vote and running unopposed in 2022. She is vice chair of the Dubois County Republicans.
Dubois is the largest of the six counties in the Senate district, with about one-third of the population.
Kippenbrock cites her time in county government, both winning and running elections, as valuable experiences for the state Senate.
“I think that having someone that has grassroots knowledge on what it takes to run an election in Indiana, I think is really beneficial when I think about coming to the Legislature,” she told State Affairs.
Kippenbrock said she was passionate about improving mental health and substance abuse programs, along with promoting economic development for the area.
Moss shifts from congressional bids
Moss, who lives in Jasper of Dubois County, entered the legislative caucus race after falling short in the May primary for the Republican congressional nomination to succeed Bucshon.
Messmer won that primary while Moss finished a distant third with 14% of the vote after putting nearly $750,000 of his own money into his campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Moss ran challenges to the right against Bucshon in unsuccessful 2016 and 2018 primary runs. Moss also lost to current U.S. Sen. Mike Braun in a 2014 primary for an Indiana House seat.
Moss said he wants to see Republican-led states become “our sanctuary of the Constitution and our way of life.” He backs an agenda that includes deporting migrants in the country illegally and blocking diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in schools and universities.
“We’ve got to fortify the red states and make them the fortress of what used to be America,” Moss said. “I’d like Indiana to be among others, like Florida under [Gov. Ron] DeSantis, to make Indiana a fortress for American values.”
Schmitt among 3 Dubois County candidates
Schmitt is in his second year on the Dubois County Council after winning a Republican caucus to fill a vacancy. He describes himself as a former UPS manager who is now a farmer and also works in seed sales.
Schmitt declined an interview request from State Affairs.
Tom Davies is a Statehouse reporter for State Affairs Pro Indiana. Reach him at[email protected] or on X at @TomDaviesIND.
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