Gov. Katie Hobbs speaks on June 22, 2026, at the ribbon cutting ceremony at Buc-ee’s Goodyear during the grand opening of its first Arizona location. (Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)
Katie Hobbs says she won’t debate Andy Biggs, opting instead to tour the state
For the second election cycle in a row, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is refusing to debate her Republican opponent.
Hobbs narrowly won the governor’s seat by about 17,000 votes in 2022 after...
Sen. Sine Kerr, R-Buckeye presents her bill to enshrine a strict definition of biological sex into state law at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, Ariz. on Feb. 6, 2024. (Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez/Arizona Mirror)
Andy Biggs chooses Sine Kerr for running mate, leaning into rural Arizona
Andy Biggs, the GOP nominee for governor, picked former state legislator Sine Kerr as his running mate, announcing on Friday that she was his choice for lieutenant governor.
Kerr, a dairy farmer from Buckeye, was...
(Photo via Getty Images)
High court says churches, not judges, define a ‘confession’ when it comes to reporting child abuse
The Arizona Supreme Court sided with religious leaders this week who argued the state’s clergy-penitent privilege law shielded them from reporting child sexual abuse to authorities.
And in declaring that any intervention by the courts would violate the First Amendment, the justices made clear they don’t think any changes to Arizona law aimed at forcing clergy to report abuse would be constitutional...
Voters fill out their ballots at a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, polling place during the South Dakota primary election on June 2, 2026. (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
ICE has no plans to target polls, DHS says — but leaves the door open for mass enforcement
WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not planning an aggressive campaign at voting sites during the upcoming midterm elections, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday in response to a States Newsroom inquiry about a letter from U.S. Senate Democrats voicing concerns about armed federal agents at polling places...
Alexandra Flahive holds an ID-verified mail ballot during a mock election on April 1, 2026, in Phoenix. About 23,000 voters used the new ID-verify process in the state’s most populous county during the recent primary election. (Photo by Sasha Hupka/Votebeat)
New ballot drop-off option proves popular in primary, potentially leading to faster election results
When Arizonans went to the polls last week for the state primary election, they made their preferences clear about more than just the candidates: They also really liked the option to get their mail ballots counted faster by showing identification.
More than 6,000 voters used the new, optional procedure in...
Diseases like measles have surged to the highest level in decades in the United States.(Photo by Getty Images Plus)
String of outbreaks tests US public health system amid funding cuts, vaccine resistance
WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged during his confirmation hearing to do everything in his “power to put the health of America back on track.”
Kennedy testified that when he worked as a lawyer he “learned that human health and environmental health are intertwined and inseparable.” He referred to the...
ICYMI
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