NEW: 3 of Arizona's 4 GOP Representatives Vote AGAINST Removing Statue Of Supreme Court Justice Who Authored Dreadful DRED SCOTT Opinion

Congress voted overwhelmingly to remove Roger Taney's statue from the U.S. Capitol. Three of Arizona's four Republican Representatives voted "nay".

Dred-ful

Taney authored the Dred Scott decision in 1857, finding that the U.S. Constitution did not give people of African descent citizenship whether they were enslaved or freed. The overtly racist decision even contributed to the Civil War a few years later.

The House voted 285-120 to remove his bust and to eventually replace it with a bust of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black man to become a Supreme Court Justice (110 years after the Dred Scott decision). Arizona Reps. Debbie Lesko (CD8), Andy Biggs (CD5) and Paul Gosar (CD4) joined 116 other Republicans in voting against the switch. Rep. David Schweikert (CD6) was the only GOP member of the delegation to vote in the majority.

Here is the text of the bill, which now heads to the U.S. Senate.

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BREAKING: Group files referendum application to keep the "P" in PEVL (Arizona Early Voting) (ARIZONA POLITICAL SHORTS)

11am: BREAKING: Group files referendum application to keep the "P" in PEVL (Arizona Early Voting)

A group calling itself Arizona Deserves Better filed an application Friday for a referendum aiming to keep the "P" in PEVL. PEVL is Arizona's "Permanent Early Voting List".

Governor Doug Ducey signed SB1485 into law last month (May 11), a measure that would stop mailing early ballots to people if they do not vote in four consecutive elections. Approximately 80% of Arizona's voters are on the permanent list, and there are already laws in place to keep the list accurate.

Eric Kramer, one of the group's leaders, tells Arizona's Politics that another referendum will be filed shortly on SB1003, and that additional ones may be filed if the Legislature passes any other "voter suppression" measures in its waning days.

Once the Legislature ends their regular session, the group will have 90 days to collect 118,823 valid signatures to place the law(s) on the November 2022 ballot. The laws would not go into effect unless Arizona voters approve of what the lawmakers passed (and Gov. Ducey signed into law).

The text of the bill is here. Here is the application filed with the Secretary of State.

For more details, here is our article from earlier in the week and the group's website.

8:30am: RELEASE THE KRAKEN...ATTORNEY: Alex Kolodin Plans To Run For State House Seat

The Arizona attorney who worked with Sidney Powell and the Trump team to bring several of the lawsuits claiming widespread fraud in Maricopa County's November elections wants to be on next year's ballot. Alex Kolodin last night filed a Statement of Interest to run for one of the State House seats in Legislative District 23.

Kolodin intends to run as a Republican and hopes to take the slot currently occupied by Rep. John Kavanagh (R). (Kavanagh is aiming to move back to the State Senate.) This is Kolodin's 2nd attempt to get to the legislature; he lost to Michelle Ugenti-Rita in the 2020 Senate primary.

Kolodin not only worked on several of the cases that unsuccessfully tried to un-do Donald Trump's loss in Arizona by alleging unsubstantiated fraud, but he briefly represented the Cyber Ninjas in the election audit case. Kolodin caused the first judge to recuse himself, unsuccessfully tried to keep his filings under seal, and was replaced (by Wilenchik & Bartness) on the second day of hearings. (The judge had to kick him out of the hearing after they tried to use the switch to delay the case.)

LD23 contains part of North Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and the surrounding area.

*****

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BREAKING: AZ Reps. Biggs and Gosar among 14 OPPOSING setting Juneteenth as federal holiday

4:55pm: BREAKING: AZ Reps. Biggs and Gosar among 14 OPPOSING setting Juneteenth as federal holiday

Here is the 415-14 vote total this evening. The majority of the "nay" votes were from Confederate and slave-holding states. 

During debate, Republican Reps. took turns being upset that Juneteenth will be known as “JUNETEENTH National INDEPENDENCE Day” (and that they couldn't 1st be upset about it in committee). But, most were saying they would vote for it, reluctantly.

Here is the very short and sweet text of the bill. Juneteenth is observed as the date when many slaves learned of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation... two years later.

Here's a current list of federal holidays. 

At the close of debate on the bill, California Rep. Maxine Waters (CA) "went there". She asked the GOP "patriots" who are upset about the use of the word "independence" where they were on January 6. Can't pick and choose.

It passed in the Senate by unanimous consent yesterday and is now headed to the White House for President Biden's signature.

1:50pm: NEW: Gov. Ducey gets promise of border backup from FL's DeSantis;  "Details remain to be determined."

BREAKING: @dougducey gets border backup⤵️ https://t.co/KoNkBkoPLI

— Arizona's Politics (@AZs_Politics) June 16, 2021

Here is DeSantis's news conference. It is at the 21:48 mark where he is asked for specifics, and explains that "details remain to be determined", and that the officers/deputies have been asked to stay 16 days. "It will be meaningful, but they do have day jobs."

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Trump Administration/Allies Pushed DOJ For Pre-Jan.6 Supreme Court Action To Order "Special Election" In Arizona, 5 Other States (ARIZONA POLITICAL SHORTS)

2:20pm: Trump Administration/Allies Pushed DOJ For Pre-Jan.6 Supreme Court Action To Order "Special Election" In Arizona, 5 Other States

Former President Donald Trump pressured the Department of Justice to file a pre-January 6* Supreme Court action to force a special election in Arizona and five other states. 

The DOJ and Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen pushed back, asking for previous caselaw that would support the arguments. Although they did not file such a case, even the pressure campaign from the White House was inappropriate and unethical, without either factual or legal support for the claims.

The House Oversight Committee released the documents earlier today, which it received in response to a letter last month to DOJ demanding documents related to the lead up to the violent January 6 takeover of Congress to halt the acceptance of the Electoral College results.

The Complaint that Trump would have had the DOJ file alleges that the states had "rampant fraud" and that the temporary court-ordered extension of the voter registration deadline helped lead to an illegal result in Arizona. It cites then State Senator Warren Peterson claiming "evidence of tampering, there is evidence of fraud" in Maricopa County.

Trump also enlisted private attorney Kurt Olsen to pressure the Attorney General into filing the action. Olsen had represented Texas in its ill-fated Supreme Court action (that was also pushed by Arizona Republican lawmakers), and he advised Arizona State Sen. Sonny Borrelli that he knew of technology that could help Borrelli piece together shredded ballots allegedly found in a dumpster.

To read the Complaint to nullify Arizona's election that President Trump wanted the Department of Justice to file with the Supreme Court, please visit our sister site, Arizona's Law.

11:15am: Referenda Petitions Being Prepared To Keep The "P" In PEVL, Maintain Ballot Curing

An Arizona progressive group announced today that they are preparing petitions to refer two Ducey-signed laws that would make it more difficult for Arizonans to vote and make sure their ballots are counted.

"Arizona Deserves Better" has been a registered PAC since 2019, with Janie Hydrick and Eric Kramer as its officers. Kramer indicates that attorneys are finalizing petitions and staff is being hired. He posted his update on the progressive Daily Kos site, seeking volunteers and donations.

The two separate petitions would be for SB1485 and SB1003. The first adds a second process to remove voters from the Permanent Early Voting List ("PEVL") if they fail to vote in four consecutive elections - and the latter shortens the "curing" period for early ballots when the voter failed to sign the return envelope.

Once the Legislature ends their regular session, the group will have 90 days to collect 118,823 valid signatures to place the law(s) on the November 2022 ballot. The laws would not go into effect unless Arizona voters approve of what the lawmakers passed (and Gov. Ducey signed into law). (Less than half of the states give citizens the right to effectively veto a legislative/Governor law.)

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WATCH: FBI Director Chris Wray Questioned By Arizona Reps. Biggs, Stanton; FISA Courts, Murdered/Missing Indigenous Woman, Ransomware On the Table

FBI Director Chris Wray made one of his regular treks to Congress today, this time to be questioned by members of the (large) House Judiciary Committee. Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs and Greg Stanton both took their turns engaging Wray.

Rep. Biggs (R-CD5) used his five minutes to discuss the FBI's use - or mis-use - of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Surprisingly, it was not the investigation of Carter Page and the 2016 Trump campaign, but a substantive discussion about a recently-released FISC opinion about possible misuse of Section 702 surveillance certifications. (For more on the subject, here is an excellent article.)

The conversation ended with Biggs claiming there had been "improprieties" and Wray saying that the court knowingly did not use such a conclusory term.

Rep. Stanton (D-CD9) took his turn soon after. He focused on what efforts the FBI may be taking to combat the pressing issue of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. Wray noted the FBI's task force, this week's U.S. Supreme Court opinion that expanded authority for tribal police to detain non-Native Americans in their jurisdiction, and that he recently toured the Navajo Nation with their law enforcement - possibly the first FBI Director to take such a step to improve the working relationship.

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NEW, LISTEN: Rep. Kirkpatrick Working On Infrastructure, Including Frequent Contact With Senators Sinema, Kelly; Conversation Also Re: Immigration, "Moms Fed Up"

Arizona Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick is working on getting an infrastructure bill passed through Congress and ensuring that Arizona is getting its share of funding for some of the projects in southern Arizona. She has been in frequent contact with Arizona's two Senators, at a time when Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is being thrust into a key deal-making position on the issue.

Kirkpatrick (D-CD2) is urging her colleagues to "going big on the infrastructure bill.  We really need to do major, major infrastructure investments."  Kirkpatrick is no longer part of the Problem Solvers Caucus, which is the key group in the House that Sinema is aligning with.

Arizona's Politics had a few minutes late yesterday to speak with Kirkpatrick. The topics were her new Moms Fed Up effort to get more young mothers into Congress, the infrastructure bill, and - squeezed in -whether immigration reform can ever get accomplished.

Since then, Rep. Kirkpatrick issued a statement praising the House Transportation Committee's markup of a surface transportation bill which includes funds for several southern Arizona projects (including moving forward on a road which would connect I-19 and I-10 between Sahuarita and southeast Tucson, more north-south bus service in Tucson and projects in Cochise County).

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BREAKING: Arizona AG Brnovich Files Statement of Interest To Run For U.S. Senate Against Mark Kelly

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a Statement of Interest today indicating plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Mark Kelly (D).

Brnovich is termed out from running for re-election, and it has been widely assumed that he plans to run for the Senate seat. Brnovich has been on a major tour of Fox News (and their other networks') programs for the past three months - tallying up 36 promoted interviews between March 9 and June 10.

He is the first well-known person to file the Arizona-required Statement of Interest for the race, although other Republicans are said to be eying it.

Here's his announcement video. (I, for one, am disappointed he did not use the Grateful Dead's "U.S. Blues" as background music. What a missed opportunity.)

Mark Kelly won the seat last year by defeating Martha McSally. The Republicans have been pointing to it as one of their primary targets in 2022.

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"MOTHERS KNOW BEST": Outgoing Rep. Kirkpatrick Puts Her $400k+ War Chest Into New Effort To Put Young Moms In Congress

(UPDATE: To hear Arizona's Politics conversation with Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick - covering this new effort as well as immigration reform and infrastructure - please click here.)

Arizona Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick is hanging up her boots and retiring from Congress next year. However, she is using her campaign committee's cash on hand to jump start a new effort to elect young mothers to Congress.

"Moms Fed Up" is now officially* the new name of her campaign committee, and the $467,646 will go to the new PAC.

Kirkpatrick is serving her fifth non-consecutive term in Congress. She had two breaks - one when she was defeated and one when she ran against John McCain for his Senate seat. This third stint is coming to an end voluntarily.

“When I decided I would not seek re-election, I thought long and hard about my time in Congress, my colleagues, and the unresolved work that still desperately needs to get done. With those things in mind and in the midst of a pandemic, I landed on a new mission - we need to elect more moms. I am thrilled to be announcing that the “Kirkpatrick for Congress” campaign will be closing its doors so that "Moms Fed Up" can begin the new and necessary work for our children's future. After all, we know that mothers know best.”

As Arizona's Politics has detailed before, most elected officials hang on to their campaign committee's warchests upon retirement, the better to help friends and colleagues with, and/or to fund post-retirement political travel or expenses**. This seems to partly promote the former, with the added twist of trying to continue to raise donations.

The new organization's website is here.

*The committee had to refile amended paperwork with the Federal Election Commission after Arizona's Politics pointed out that it had inadvertently been registered as a Super PAC. Such a designation would have raised legal issues.

**Former Gov. Brewer was not a federal elected official, so her federal Super PAC was not subject to the same federal laws. Brewer recently spent down the remaining dollars in that fund, after years of paying it out to one of her children as salary.

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NEW: Martha McSally Will Retake Her Senate Seat Representing Arizona This Summer --Donald Trump (ARIZONA'S POLITICAL SHORTS)

12:30pm: NEW: Martha McSally Will Retake Her Senate Seat Representing Arizona This Summer  --Donald Trump

Martha McSally will start her third stint as one of Arizona's U.S. Senators later this summer, according to former President Donald Trump.

Charles Cooke writes this afternoon for the conservative National Review that Trump has, indeed, been telling people that the Arizona Senate's recount/"audit" will help put him back in office by August (because it will start the dominos falling in other states). That confirms what the New York Times' Maggie Haberman reported earlier.

But, Cooke also writes that Trump believes McSally (R) (and former Georgia David Perdue) will also be reinstalled following recounts.

Of course, this flies in the face of established facts, and even Arizona State Senate President Karen Fann's declarations that the ongoing recount at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum is not something that could change the long-certified election results. Or, as Cooke puts it: "It is a rejection of reality, a rejection of law, and, ultimately, a rejection of the entire system of American government. There is no Reinstatement Clause within the United States Constitution."

McSally lost her seat to Mark Kelly (D-AZ) in November by 78,806 votes (more than 80,000 in Maricopa County). 

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