A measure creating an open primary known as the Make Elections Fair Act will remain on the ballot following a failed signature challenge, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled today. Judge Frank Moskowitz, a Brewer appointee, ruled the measure had 536,216 valid signatures, surpassing the 383,923 required to qualify for the ballot. Attorneys for three voters and the Make Elections Fair PAC hashed out challenges to 295,263 signatures over the past three days. But on Thursday, Moskowitz ruled that only 16,705 were invalidated by the court, another 6,458 were invalidated by the county recorders and 17,806 were found ineligible by the SoS, falling short of the threshold to boot the measure off the ballot. Moskowitz previously rejected a separate challenge to the act from the same plaintiffs and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, which alleged a violation of the separate amendment rule of the Arizona Constitution. Moskowitz found the provisions of the act were sufficiently interrelated. The plaintiffs appealed, and a ruling from the Arizona Supreme Court is due early next week.
Ads opposing Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential bid are running nationally featuring Willoughby speaking as a registered nurse in opposition to Harris. “I’ve seen first-hand the damage that Kamala Harris caused as our country’s border Czar. Hospitals everywhere are overwhelmed and American patients are paying the price. My patients are covering the health care costs for people here illegally while their own care is jeopardized.” The ads are paid for by the conservative Preserve America PAC that was founded during former President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. The ad doesn’t disclose that Willoughby was appointed as a Republican state legislator in Arizona and is now running for the House in LD13. One of Willoughby’s Democratic opponents, Nicholas Gonzales, spoke about the district’s current representation during a Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee press conference Thursday morning. “The representation in my community is not serving the people of my community,” Gonzales said. “They certainly aren’t focused on the best interests of Arizona and the East Valley.” Willoughby is a registered nurse in Arizona and was the chief nursing officer at Exceptional Community Hospital-Maricopa before she was appointed to the legislature. She has received support from health care PACs, including the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, the Arizona Nurses Association, the Arizona Medical Political Action Committee and Pfizer’s PAC, according to campaign finance reports.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on Thursday announced a $223,000 investment to 12 legislative candidates, who the committee says could play a pivotal role in flipping the legislature. The committee said it is “spotlighting” the candidates as they aim to flip both chambers in November and achieve a Democrat “trifecta.” In total, the Democrat’s national arm has funneled $345,000 to Arizona for this election cycle, which will go toward digital operations and staffing for the candidates in competitive districts. The committee is spotlighting seven House candidates: Stephanie Simacek for LD2, Karen Gresham for LD4, Seth Blattman for LD9, Nicholas Gonzales and Brandy Reese for LD13, Seaman for LD16 and Kevin Volk for LD17. In the Senate, the group is focused on five candidates: Schwiebert for LD2, Marsh for LD4, Sharon Winters for LD13, Stacey Seaman for LD16 and John McLean for LD17. Sundareshan said the “tides are changing in Arizona,” noting the slim majority Republicans have held in the Legislature since the founding of the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. “We all know that Republicans have a voter registration advantage,” Sundareshan said. “The opportunity is there are plenty of independent voters and even moderate Republicans who will see these candidates and think, ‘This is where I want Arizona to go.’”
Fontes, Chief Justice Timmer, Mayes and state elections director Lisa Marra convened today to certify the canvass for the 2024 primary election. At the top, Fontes noted a decline in voter participation in the primary, with average turnout across the counties of 31.1%, compared to 34.9% in the 2022 primary and 36.4% in the 2020 primary. Fontes noted early voting continued to be popular in the latest primary. The total turnout was about 1.3 million voters, with 1.1 million people voting early. Fontes and Marra then signed and certified the results. With signatures and the state seal on the state canvass, Fontes noted the recount in CD3 can now commence. The race between Democrats Yassamin Ansari and Raquel Terán came down to 42 votes. A judge is expected to announce the final results on Tuesday, after which Fontes will issue a certificate to the winner. Finally, in looking at the general election, Fontes said his office expects a spike in voter registration ahead of the Oct. 7 deadline, deeming it a “normal party of every single election cycle” given heightened public interest and last-minute voter registration drives. He called any claims that a spike in voter registration was stirred by any “nefarious” activity to be false. “To those attempting to undermine our democracy with misinformation, know that the truth is more resilient and enduring than any lies,” Fontes said. “My commitment to making sure every vote counts will remain unwavering.”
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer McCormick on Thursday released a property tax relief plan with six policy proposals previously featured in discarded bills from recent years, including some authored by Republicans.
The amalgamation of ideas creates several indirect and direct ways of mitigating property tax bill increases, McCormick said during a Thursday news conference.
“You can’t look at one tax without looking at everything because of the ripple effect, and it would be really irresponsible,” McCormick told reporters.
She said the campaign took a “bipartisan approach” when crafting the plan but that she had not spoken with the Republicans tied to the rejected bills. However, McCormick did credit the authors — Rep. Christopher Judy, R-Fort Wayne, Sens. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, and Brian Buchanan, R-Lebanon — along with Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, for the “good ideas.”
McCormick’s plan calls for:
capping annual property tax bill increases at 10% by issuing refundable tax credits to affected homeowners (the proposal excludes school district referendums)
increasing the maximum homeowner property tax deduction to $3,500 from $2,500
increasing state and local income tax exemptions to $2,500 from $1,000
increasing the renters income tax deduction to $4,000 per year from $3,000 per year
In addition, McCormick would bolster deductions for disabled veterans by increasing the cap on assessed value to $350,000 from $240,000 and expanding qualifications.
She also aims to help seniors by increasing income thresholds for Hoosiers 66 and older. Under her plan, they could receive deductions if they make up to $40,000 as an individual or $50,000 as a household with joint returns and have an assessed value of real property up to $300,000. (The income thresholds for the group are currently set at $30,000, $40,000 and $200,000, respectively.)
Together, McCormick said the proposals would save Hoosiers about $600 million, citing fiscal impact statements the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency previously prepared for the bills. (The campaign did not specify what the projected savings would be in future years.)
McCormick envisions the state covering most of the cost. She expressed an interest in shielding local units of government, businesses and farmers from the brunt of the hit. Yet she acknowledged local units of government would be negatively impacted, losing about $175 million, according to her campaign’s analysis of Legislative Services Agency fiscal impact statements.
McCormick said she would not “take a lot of this” out of the state’s surplus. Instead, she said most of the money would come from the state’s budget, but she did not specify from what line items. Asked about the cost of her other campaign initiatives, the Democratic candidate said it would still be possible to prioritize property tax relief while also raising teacher salaries and implementing other changes.
“There is wiggle room in that budget,” McCormick said.
For weeks, McCormick teased a plan that would contain the approximate fiscal impact on the state and local governments.
“Watching the Braun/Beckwith plan come out without a fiscal impact to it was quite alarming,” McCormick said.
Braun revised his property tax relief plan so that “all Hoosier homeowners’ tax bills will be reset to the lower of their 2021 tax bill” or a new bill with greater homestead deductions. Braun’s campaign has not released calculations on how much his proposal would reduce property tax collections. The campaign also hasn’t posed possible replacements for potentially hundreds of millions in revenue declines for public school districts and local governments, which receive more than 90% of property tax revenue.
“Democrat Jennifer McCormick is a tax-and-spend liberal, and her plan does nothing to tackle the property tax pain Hoosiers are feeling from the inflation crisis created by Democrats that McCormick endorsed: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, said in a statement to State Affairs. “My bold property tax plan will give Hoosier homeowners immediate property tax relief by resetting bills to 2021 pre-Biden/Harris inflation levels.”
Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Donald Rainwater has proposed capping property taxes at 1% of a property’s purchase price for a maximum of seven years. He said his plan would end “perpetual property taxes.” Republicans have described the plan as infeasible.
The Rainwater campaign did not immediately respond to a State Affairs request for comment.
Total property tax bills on owner-occupied homes increased statewide by 9% in 2021, 9.2% in 2022 and 16.7% in 2023, according to a Legislative Services Agency report.
McCormick previously said her plan would factor in the wishes of the Indiana General Assembly, whose State and Local Tax Review Task Force continues to examine the state and local tax structure, including property taxes, ahead of the new legislative session.
Kansas will pay $50,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former Kansas Highway Patrol employee who claimed he was fired for being transgender.
The State Finance Council on Thursday unanimously approved the agreement after a 15-minute executive session.
Attorney General Kris Kobach made the request of the council to settle Dawes v. State of Kansas after a federal judge ruled this spring that the sex discrimination lawsuit could move forward to trial.
The dispute centered on what led to the highway patrol firing William Dawes Jr. in July 2022.
Dawes, who is referred to as he/him throughout court documents, met with Human Resources Director Shellbie Blodgett to discuss the process for Dawes to transition from a male to a female identity at work.
Dawes, who started as a civilian employee at the agency headquarters in March 2021, said in his lawsuit that he ultimately was fired because of this. But the highway patrol responded by saying an inappropriate email to a female co-worker started the path to Dawes’ termination.
On June 6, 2022, Dawes sent an email to the co-worker that said she looked “absolutely amazing.”
“Please don’t ever stop expressing yourself. It is beautiful for me to see a woman so comfortable expressing her femininity,” the email said. “I absolutely LOVE your heels, BTW…I’m jealous! (Please know that I’m honestly not flirting with you…although if I were 30 years younger, I might seriously consider that option, lol. I find you inspirational, and I wanted you to know.)”
In a deposition, Dawes said he attempted to discuss the email with the co-worker after having second thoughts, but she was speaking with another employee.
The co-worker reported to Capt. Mitchell Clark that Dawes made her uncomfortable with the email and also said Dawes told her a month prior that he appreciated a woman wearing heels and pantyhose and how nice it was to see a woman taking care of herself.
The highway patrol placed Dawes on administrative leave as it conducted a sexual harassment investigation. Dawes initially refused to interview with an investigator without counsel, but he participated in another scheduled interview three days later.
The highway patrol later fired Dawes for failing to participate in the initial interview.
In April, U.S. District Judge John Broomes denied the state’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that Dawes met the proper requirements to move forward with a trial.
Bromes wrote that Dawes raised “a genuine issue of fact” whether the highway patrol’s termination was pretextual since then-Kansas Highway Patrol Superintendent Herman Jones asserted in a deposition that the initial interview refusal was the sole reason for Dawes’ firing.
“To claim that Plaintiff’s failure to answer questions or cooperate in the interview process was the reason for his termination when he cured that failure three days later is somewhat illogical,” he wrote.
The Hoosier Lottery just missed topping its best revenue mark this past year despite seeing another drop in sales of scratch-off tickets that make up the bulk of its income.
Lottery officials announced Thursday that $364 million in profits was being transferred to the state government from the fiscal year that ended June 30.
That profit came on $1.744 billion in ticket sales, a total of about $2 million, or 0.1%, less than the previous year.
The $364 million transfer to the state would have grown to the lottery’s second-highest ever if the State Lottery Commission had not decided to spend $9 million on the purchase of its headquarters building.
Breakdown on sales and profit
The lottery saw steady revenue for the year even with a 2.1% decline in scratch-off ticket sales, which make up nearly three-quarters of its income, officials said during a State Lottery Commission meeting.
That decline was offset by a 4% sales jump for its three big jackpot games — Mega Millions, Powerball and the Hoosier Lotto — and a 7% sales increase for non-jackpot draw games.
Hoosier Lottery Executive Director Sarah Taylor said the economy plays a role in scratch-off ticket sales as some people feel they don’t have as much disposable income to spend.
(Design: Joy Walstrum)
The lottery aims to introduce about three new scratch-off games each month in order to keep ticket buyers interested, along with special games such as recent ones tied in with the movie “Jaws” and the summer Olympics, Taylor said.
The big jackpot ticket sales were boosted during the past year by five jackpots that topped $1 billion spread over 13 drawings.
But Taylor said the sales and enthusiasm for those $1 billion jackpots is fading.
“It used to be you would see a huge spike when it would go to the billion,” Taylor told State Affairs. Now, our sales take a longer path. As the jackpot is rising, we’re taking a longer way to get to the numbers we got the first time or the second time or the third time. That’s natural.”
This was the third straight year of declines in scratch-off tickets sales. That revenue has dropped about $100 million, or 7.5%, since it peaked during 2020-21 when sales spiked during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company hired to run much of the Hoosier Lottery’s operations — IGT Indiana — is receiving a $19.9 million incentive payment for exceeding minimum net income levels for the year. That is the maximum level it can receive and is just 0.4% from last year.
Online lottery push?
Talk about Indiana following some other states and allowing online lottery games — and perhaps online casino gaming — has lingered at the Statehouse over several years without action by the Legislatures.
Lottery Commission Chair William Zielke alluded to that topic as he congratulated staffers of the Hoosier Lottery and its contractors for the sales performance.
“As we still work with a pretty mature product line and with now still limited channels of distribution, I think the ability to work with our retailers and be creative on games is really what carries the day for us,” Zielke said.
Taylor said lottery officials would “wait and see” whether the Legislature takes up the issue next year.
More states are allowing online lottery sales and that has drawn in new players, she said.
“There’s at least 12 or 13 jurisdictions now that have a footprint in the i-lottery world,” Taylor said. “Consumers have changed, but we know from the data that traditional brick-and-mortar retail still rises in those jurisdictions.”
Headquarters building purchase
The lottery’s state transfer was down from last year’s $370 million, but would have topped that mark without its $9 million purchase of its downtown Indianapolis headquarters building from Indiana University Health.
(Design: Joy Walstrum)
Taylor said the lottery staff continues to share the building with tenants including the state Horse Racing Commission and a private business.
The Hoosier Lottery’s lease was nearing an end when IU Health officials brought up selling the building, she said.
“We put all the numbers together and added in the move cost and rental cost,” Taylor said. “It just made sense.”
Where the money goes
Under state law, about $236 million from the lottery goes into the motor vehicle excise tax replacement account, which reduces the auto excise taxes that vehicle owners must pay. Roughly two-thirds of auto excise tax revenue is distributed to local government units, with the remainder going to the state government.
The lottery commission also must transfer $60 million a year toward state pension funds for teachers, police officers and firefighters.
Any additional profit — about $68 million from the 2023-24 fiscal year — goes into the state government’s general fund.
Tom Davies is a Statehouse reporter for State Affairs Pro Indiana. Reach him at[email protected] or on X at @TomDaviesIND.
Megan Steele is officially the Republican nominee in the 51st House District after counties completed their canvassing Thursday morning.
Steele ultimately won the primary race against Eli Kormanik by 22 votes — 1,572 to 1,550 — according to final results provided by the district’s three counties. She picked up an additional 19 votes from provisional ballots, according to the Pottawatomie County Clerk’s Office, while Kormanik picked up nine.
Riley County did not have any valid provisional ballots in the 51st District race. Both Riley and Pottawatomie finished canvassing votes Thursday. The wait to confirm her victory was “a little nerve-wracking,” Steele said, adding the past few days have been stressful.
“At the same time, I had a really strong sense of peace,” she said. “I know that’s God [who] was giving me the peace and the faith in just knowing that if it’s supposed to be, it will be.”
On election night, Steele led by 28 votes, but her margin sat at just 12 after Wabaunsee County finished its final count on Monday. The narrow margin triggered an automatic close-race audit, a process the Secretary of State’s Office said has been completed.
After the audit confirmed the election night numbers, Steele said she was confident in the results.
“I trust the election process and the votes,” she said.
Kormanik said he wished Steele “the best of luck” in the general election, where she’ll take on Democrat Linda Morse, a former Manhattan mayor. Steele’s already planning campaign events ahead of that contest, including one Saturday morning with the Riley County Republican Party.
“I am going to continue to strengthen the relationships [with] the community leaders and all community members that I met over the course of the past three months and continue to build a strong relationship and a partnership with them,” Steele said. “That’s pretty much my campaign, that we have to partner together.”
The 51st House District is open after incumbent Rep. Kenny Titus, R-Manhattan, opted to run for a Senate seat.
Republican Rep. John Ragan is telling colleagues he will contest his 258-vote defeat by primary challenger Rick Scarbrough in Anderson County.
Ragan’s camp had criticized Scarbrough during the campaign for once being a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party. The attacks didn’t appear to resonate among voters, as Scarbrough prevailed by 4 percent points.
The Tennessee Journal has learned Ragan has contacted House Republicans and donors to tell them not to support Scarbrough because the incumbent expects to be back.
It wouldn’t be the first time a losing primary candidate has sought to overturn results based on crossover voting. But such efforts have not been successful in any recent elections — even ones much closer than the Ragan-Scarbrough contest in District 33.
Knoxville real estate agent Gina Oster filed a formal challenge of her 99-vote loss to businessman Eddie Mannis in the Republican primary to succeed retiring state Rep. Martin Daniel of Knoxville in 2020. Oster contended crossover voting by Democrats exceeded Mannis’ margin of victory and that her campaign “has been presented proof” her opponent actively solicited support from non-Republicans. The GOP’s executive committee, which under state law makes up the primary board, rejected the challenge.
“This is how you lose a seat to Democrats in Knoxville, by doing foolishness like this,” House GOP Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison said at the time. “This is how Democrats act, not Republicans.”
Former Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, demanded primaries be closed after surviving a 2012 challenge by just 10 votes. He was defeated two years later by current Rep. Bud Hulsey of Bristol in the GOP primary. Fellow former state Rep. Jim Cobb of Spring City similarly blamed crossover voting for his 105-vote primary defeat in 2012 at the hands of Ron Travis of Dayton, whom he denounced three years later as “a Democrat.” In their 2014 rematch in which Travis trounced Cobb 6,726 to 3,602.
A primary challenge that succeeded — to howls of GOP protests — was when Tennessee Democrats invalidated incumbent Sen. Rosalind Kurita’s narrow primary win in 2008 after she had been a key vote in favor of Sen. Ron Ramsey of Blountville becoming the chamber’s first Republican speaker since Reconstruction.
But the technical justification for declaring her 19-vote primary win “incurably uncertain” included (1) voters had been misdirected about which party’s primary to vote in, and (2) Kurita had violated the 100-foot boundary to enter a school building where ballots were being cast. Kurita testif ied she had gone into the school building to use a restroom and never spoke to anyone near voting machines. Her lawyer scoffed at the complaint as “Pottygate,” but the party’s executive committee still voted to revoke her nomination.
Morning Scoop: Protect Your Vote: Learn, Engage, and Act
Arizona Capitol TimesAs the upcoming election approaches, Citizens’ Clean Election Commission is dedicated to ensuring that every voter in Arizona is informed, empowered, and ready to make their voice heard. In this Morning Scoop our expert panelists will cover upcoming ballot measures, clean campaign funding, Voter’s Right to Know Act and election confidence.School district to probe sexual harassment allegations against lawmaker
Arizona Capitol TimesA Democratic state representative also serving as the president of the Tolleson Union High School District Governing Board is under investigation for alleged sexual harassment toward the district’s superintendent and creating a hostile work environment. Border measure headed to ballot
Arizona Capitol TimesA measure creating new criminal statutes barring illegal border crossings and enhancing drug offenses to include the sale of “lethal fentanyl” was cleared to go to voters by the Arizona Supreme Court Tuesday. Justices OK ‘unborn human being’ in abortion measure
Arizona Capitol TimesThe phrase “unborn human being” can stay in the Legislative Council’s analysis of Proposition 139, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Aug. 14. Colorado River states await water cuts, plan ahead
Associated PressThe federal government is expected to announce water cuts soon that would affect some of the 40 million people reliant on the Colorado River, the powerhouse of the U.S. West. Foes argue ballot measure doesn’t protect tipped workers
Capitol Media ServicesA bid by the Arizona Restaurant Association to convince voters to let them pay their workers less is so misleading that it should not be allowed on the ballot, according to an attorney for foes.Judge rules against lawmakers in election lawsuit
Capitol Media ServicesRepublican lawmakers provided a skewed view for voters of an initiative drive for open primaries and must fix it, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian has ruled.Arizona Supreme Court has no idea what 'impartial' means in abortion ruling
Arizona RepublicAs part of the educational pamphlet mailed by the Secretary of State’s Office to registered voters, Arizona law says that lawmakers on the Legislative Council are supposed to produce an “an impartial analysis of the provisions of each ballot proposal of a measure or proposed amendment.”Arizona abortion rights initiative is the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats
Arizona RepublicAaannd the gifts just keep on coming for Democrats in Arizona. The latest being the abortion-rights initiative officially winning a spot on the November ballot this week.Too bad biogtry wasn't a disqualifier for Arizona's racist 'Secure the Border Act'
Arizona RepublicSometimes it’s the little things that expose the dark underbelly of a political maneuver. Last spring, when the Republicans who control the Arizona Legislature were pushing through a resolution that would put a grotesque version of Arizona’s disastrous Senate Bill 1070 on the ballot this November, visitors in the state Capitol gallery hissed their disagreement with Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh.
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