WASHINGTON (AP) — Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion access up to fetal viability. Though there’s no defined time frame for viability, doctors say it’s sometime after 21 weeks. It’s a major win for abortion-rights supporters in the presidential battleground state who sought to expand access beyond 15 weeks. The citizen-led initiative far outpaced the opposition campaign in fundraising. Earlier this year, the Arizona Supreme Court allowed the enforcement of an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions, but then the Legislature quickly repealed it. The Associated Press declared the measure approved at 3:31 a.m. EST Wednesday.
الوسم: Arizona
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Will abortion prompt Arizona voters to lean more Democratic?
Abortion is on the ballot in Arizona and nine other states during the US general election. Will it sway voters? -
Democrat Ruben Gallego faces Republican Kari Lake in US Senate race in Arizona
PHOENIX (AP) — Democratic Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Iraq War veteran, faces well-known former television news anchor and staunch Donald Trump ally Kari Lake in Tuesday’s election for U.S. Senate in a state with a recent history of extremely close elections.
The race is one of a handful that will determine the Senate majority. It’s a test of the strength of the anti-Trump coalition that has powered the rise of Democrats in Arizona, which was reliably Republican until 2016. Arizona voters have rejected Trump and his favored candidates in every statewide election since then.
Arizona is one of seven battleground states expected to decide the presidency.
The winner of the Senate race will replace Kyrsten Sinema, whose 2018 victory as a Democrat created a formula that the party has successfully replicated ever since.
Sinema left the Democratic Party two years ago after she antagonized the party’s left wing. She considered running for a second term as an independent but bowed out when it was clear she had no clear path to victory.
Gallego maintained a significant fundraising advantage throughout the race. He relentlessly attacked Lake’s support for a state law dating to the Civil War that outlawed abortions under nearly all circumstances. Lake tacked to the middle on the issue, infuriating some of her allies on the right by opposing a federal abortion ban.
Gallego portrayed Lake as a liar who will do and say anything to gain power.
He downplayed his progressive voting record in Congress, leaning on his up-by-the-bootstraps personal story and his military service to build an image as a pragmatic moderate.
The son of immigrants from Mexico and Colombia, Gallego was raised in Chicago by a single mother and eventually accepted to Harvard University. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and fought in Iraq in 2005 in a unit that sustained heavy casualties, including the death of his best friend.
If elected, he would be the first Latino U.S. senator from Arizona.
Lake became a star on the populist right with her 2022 campaign for Arizona governor.
She has never acknowledged losing the race and called herself the “lawful governor” in her 2023 book. She continued her unsuccessful fight in court to overturn it even after beginning her Senate campaign and as recently as last week refused to admit defeat in a contentious CNN interview.
Her dogmatic commitment to the falsehood that consecutive elections were stolen from Trump and from her endeared her to the former president, who considered her for his vice presidential running mate. But it has compounded her struggles with the moderate Republicans she alienated during her 2022 campaign, when she disparaged the late Sen. John McCain and then-Gov. Doug Ducey.
She tried to moderate but struggled to keep a consistent message on thorny topics, including election fraud and abortion.
Lake focused instead on border security, a potent issue for Republicans in a state that borders Mexico and saw record numbers of illegal crossings during Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration. She promised a tough crackdown on illegal immigration and labeled Gallego a supporter of “open borders.” She also went after his personal life, pointing to his divorce from Kate Gallego shortly before she gave birth. His ex-wife, now the mayor of Phoenix, endorsed Gallego and has campaigned with him.
Lake spent the last weeks of the campaign trying to win over voters who are backing Trump but were not sold on her.
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Meanwhile, Arizona has two of the closest races for U.S. House, where Republicans David Schweikert and Juan Ciscomani are seeking reelection in districts that voted for Biden in 2020.
Schweikert, now in his seventh House term, faces a challenge from former three-term Democratic state lawmaker Amish Shah in Arizona’s 1st District, which includes north Phoenix, Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Paradise Valley.
While Republicans hold a voter registration advantage in the affluent district, it has trended toward the center as college-educated suburban voters have turned away from Trump, reluctantly voting for Democrats or leaving their ballots blank. Redistricting ahead of the 2022 midterms accelerated the trend.
Schweikert won reelection by just 3,200 votes in 2022 against a relatively unknown challenger who got minimal support from national Democrats. Shah, an emergency room doctor, emerged as the primary winner among a field of six Democrats.
In the 6th District, Ciscomani is seeking a second term in a rematch against Democrat Kirsten Engel, whom he defeated by 1.5 percentage points in 2022. The district, which includes a stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border, runs from Tucson east to the New Mexico state line.
Ciscomani, a former aide to Ducey who immigrated from Mexico as a child, calls border enforcement his top priority but has distanced himself from Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Engel, a law professor at the University of Arizona and a former state legislator, has pointed out Ciscomani rejected a major bipartisan border bill in February that would have overhauled the asylum system and given the president new powers to expel migrants when asylum claims become overwhelming.
Of Arizona’s nine representatives in Congress, six are Republicans and three are Democrats.
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Voters in battleground Arizona to decide if local agencies can police illegal immigration
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona voters are set to decide whether to let local police arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the state from Mexico, an authority that would encroach on the federal government’s power over immigration enforcement but would not take effect immediately, if ever.
If Arizona voters approve Proposition 314, the state would become the latest to test the limits of what local authorities can do to curb illegal immigration. Within the past year, GOP lawmakers in Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma have passed immigration laws. In each case, federal courts have halted the states’ efforts to enforce them.
The only presidential battleground state that borders Mexico, Arizona is no stranger to a bitter divide on the politics of immigration. Since the early 2000s, frustration over federal enforcement of Arizona’s border with Mexico has inspired a movement to draw local police departments, which had traditionally left border duties to the federal government, into immigration enforcement.
The state Legislature approved an immigrant smuggling ban in 2005 that let then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio conduct immigration crackdowns, a 2007 prohibition on employers knowingly hiring people in the country illegally, and a landmark 2010 immigration law that required police, while enforcing other laws, to question the legal status of people suspected of being in the country without authorization.
Arizona voters have been asked to decide matters related to immigration before. They approved a 2004 law denying some government benefits to people in the country illegally and a 2006 law declaring English to be Arizona’s official language. They also rejected a 2008 proposal that would have made business-friendly revisions to the state law barring employers from hiring people who are in the country without authorization.
Arizona GOP lawmakers say the proposal is necessary to help secure the border, as they blame the Biden administration for an unprecedented surge of illegal immigration. Record levels of illegal crossings have plummeted in recent months, following moves by the White House to tighten asylum restrictions.
Opponents of Proposition 314 argue it would harm Arizona’s economy and reputation, as well as lead to the racial profiling of Latinos. They cite the profiling Latinos endured when Arpaio led the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. In 2013, a federal judge ruled Latinos had been racially profiled in Arpaio’s traffic patrols that targeted immigrants, leading to a court-ordered overhaul of the agency that’s expected to cost taxpayers $314 million in legal and compliance costs by mid-summer 2025.
Kelli Hykes, who works in health policy and volunteers for Greg Whitten, the Democratic nominee in the race for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, said she thought carefully about how to vote on the immigration measure but declined to share her choice.
“It’s so polarizing, and there are folks in my family that are going to be voting one way and I’m voting another,” Hykes said.
Proposition 314 would make it a state crime for people to illegally enter Arizona from Mexico outside official ports of entry, permitting local and state law enforcement officers to arrest them and state judges to order their deportations. Those who enforce the law would be shielded from civil lawsuits.
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These provisions, however, wouldn’t be enforceable immediately. A violator couldn’t be prosecuted until a similar law in Texas or another state has been in effect for 60 consecutive days.
The Arizona GOP lawmakers who voted to put the measure on the ballot were referring to Texas Senate Bill 4. The bill, signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in December, was supposed to allow local and state law enforcement to arrest people accused of entering Texas illegally from Mexico.
A federal appeals court put it on hold in March. The following month, a panel of federal judges heard from a Texas attorney defending the law and Justice Department attorneys arguing it encroached on the federal government’s authority over enforcing immigration law. The panel has yet to release its decision.
Other provisions of Proposition 314 aren’t contingent upon similar laws outside Arizona. If voters approve the measure, it would immediately make selling fentanyl that results in a person’s death a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and a crime for noncitizens to submit false documentation when applying for employment or attempting to receive benefits from local, state and federal programs.
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Gabriel Sandoval is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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Arizona voters to decide on expanding abortion access months after facing a potential near-total ban
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona voters are set to decide whether to guarantee the right to abortion in the state constitution — a vote that could cement access after the presidential battleground came close to a near-total ban earlier this year.
Arizona is one of nine states with abortion on the ballot.
Abortion-rights advocates are hoping for a win that could expand access beyond the state’s current 15-week limit to the point of fetal viability, a term used by health care providers to describe whether a pregnancy is expected to continue developing normally or whether a fetus might survive outside the uterus. Doctors say it’s sometime after 21 weeks, though there’s no defined time frame.
Advocates also are counting on the measure to drive interest among Democrats to vote the party line up and down the ballot. When Republicans running in tough races address the ballot measure, they generally don’t dissuade voters from supporting it, though some like Senate candidate Kari Lake say they’re personally voting against it. GOP U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, whose battleground congressional district encompasses Tucson, ran an ad saying he rejects “the extremes on abortion.”
Arizona has been whipsawed by recent legal and legislative battles centered on abortion. In April, the state Supreme Court cleared the way for enforcement of a long-dormant 1864 law that banned nearly all abortions. The Legislature swiftly repealed it.
In addition to the abortion ballot measure itself, the issue could sway state legislative races and lead to elimination of the voice voters have over retention of state Superior Court judges and Supreme Court justices.
Arizona for Abortion Access, the coalition leading the ballot measure campaign, has far outpaced the opposition campaign, It Goes Too Far, in fundraising. Opponents argue that the measure is too far-reaching because its physical and mental health exemption post-viability is so broad that it effectively legalizes abortion beyond viability. The measure allows post-viability abortions if they are necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the mother.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion-rights supporters prevailed in all seven abortion ballot questions, including in conservative-leaning states.
Voters in Arizona are divided on abortion. Maddy Pennell, a junior at Arizona State University, said the possibility of a near-total abortion ban made her “depressed” and strengthened her desire to vote for the abortion ballot measure.
“I feel very strongly about having access to abortion,” she said.
Kyle Lee, an independent Arizona voter, does not support the abortion ballot measure.
“All abortion is pretty much, in my opinion, murder from beginning to end,” Lee said.
The Civil War-era ban also shaped the contours of tight legislative races. State Sen. Shawnna Bolick and state Rep. Matt Gress are among the handful of vulnerable Republican incumbents in competitive districts who crossed party lines to give the repeal vote the final push — a vote that will be tested as both parties vie for control of the narrowly GOP-held state Legislature.
Both of the Phoenix-area lawmakers were rebuked by some of their Republican colleagues for siding with Democrats. Gress made a motion on the House floor to initiate the repeal of the 1864 law. Bolick, explaining her repeal vote to her Senate colleagues, gave a 20-minute floor speech describing her three difficult pregnancies.
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While Gress was first elected to his seat in 2022, Bolick is facing voters for the first time. She was appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to fill a seat vacancy in 2023. She has not emphasized her role in the repeal vote as she has campaigned, instead playing up traditional conservative issues — one of her signs reads “Bolick Backs the Blue.”
Another question before voters is whether to move away from retention elections for state Superior Court judges and Supreme Court justices, a measure put on the ballot by Republican legislators hoping to protect two justices who favored allowing the Civil War-era ban to be enforced.
Under the existing system, voters decide every four to six years whether judges and justices should remain on the bench. The proposed measure would allow the judges and justices to stay on the bench without a popular vote unless one is triggered by felony convictions, crimes involving fraud and dishonesty, personal bankruptcy or mortgage foreclosure.
Shawnna Bolick’s husband, Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, is one of two conservative justices up for a retention vote. Justice Bolick and Justice Kathryn Hackett King, who were both appointed by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, sided with the high court’s majority to allow the enforcement of the 1864 near-total ban. Abortion-rights activists have campaigned for their ouster, but if the ballot measure passes they will keep their posts even if they don’t win the retention election.
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Overview and Live Results: Arizona Primary
After a quiet month, the down-ballot primary calendar restarts this week with the Arizona primary on Tuesday. The Tennessee primary follows on Thursday.
The remaining 16 states will hold their contests between August 6 and September 10.1
Arizona Primary
Polls close at 7:00 PM local time. That’s 10:00 PM Eastern for all but Navajo Nation, which observes Daylight Savings Time. Those polls close at 9:00 PM Eastern.
On this page, we highlight some of the key races. More Arizona Primary Results >>
U.S. Senate
Elected as a Democrat in 2018, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema became an independent in 2022. She subsequently decided not to seek reelection.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Republican Primary
Endorsed by Donald Trump, Former television anchor Kari Lake is favored over Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb. Lake previously ran a high-profile race for governor in 2022, narrowly losing to Democrat Katie Dobbs.
A poll released on Monday showed Lake ahead of Lamb by 50% to 38%.
U.S. House
District 1 (Democratic)
Republican David Schweikert is seeking an 8th term. In the state’s most competitive U.S. House race in 2022, Schweikert was reelected by less than a 1% margin.
Another closely-contested general election is expected this year, with six Democrats vying to take on the incumbent.
The only other competitive general election seat in the state is in District 6. Rep. Juan Ciscomani is expected to be renominated for a second term. Former state legislator Kirsten Engel is unopposed for the Democrats. This will be a rematch from 2022, when Ciscomani won by about 1.5%.
District 2 (Republican)
Rep. Eli Crane is seeking a second term. Crane was one of eight Republicans that voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Supporters of McCarthy are attempting to repay the favor by supporting Crane’s challenger, Jack Smith.
Crane will probably be renominated, but it is worth keeping an eye on.
District 3 (Democratic)
Incumbent Ruben Gallego will be the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. Three are looking to succeed him; the winner will be heavily favored in November.
There are three candidates on the ballot, with the nominee likely to be either Yassamin Ansari, a former Phoenix vice mayor, or former state Sen. Raquel Terán.
District 8 (Republican)
Tuesday’s marquee U.S. House primary will select a nominee to succeed Rep. Debbie Lesko, who is retiring from this safely Republican district.
Most of the attention has been on the bitter rivalry between former prosecutor Abe Hamadeh and venture capitalist Blake Masters. Both lost elections in 2022: Hamadeh for Attorney General and Masters for U.S. Senate.
Donald Trump endorsed Hamadeh early in the campaign – December of last year. However, in an unusual turn of events, Trump made an updated endorsement this past weekend of both Hamadeh and Masters.
The last-minute shift may owe to a thaw in the relationship between Trump and billionaire Peter Thiel after Trump’s selection of Sen. JD Vance as his running mate. In addition, Masters worked for Thiel for several years, including as president of his foundation. He resigned during the 2022 Senate campaign, which Thiel helped underwrite.
Other notables in the race include Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma and former Rep. Trent Franks, who held this seat prior to Lesko. Franks resigned in 2017, and is attempting a comeback. It isn’t completely off the table that Trump’s dual endorsement splits the vote enough to bring one of these others into contention.
Maricopa County Elections
Recorder (Republican)
Arizona became a hotbed of election denialism after the 2020 presidential election. While conspiracy theorists have not yet had much general election success here, those efforts continue.
That ongoing conflict has created an unusually high profile GOP primary for Maricopa County Recorder.
Among other things, this office oversees elections. The incumbent, Stephen Richer, took office in 2021 and has been a defender of the integrity of the County’s elections. That has brought him criticism and harassment, as well as two challengers in Tuesday’s primary.
Maricopa County, which includes the Phoenix area, is home to more than 60% of the state’s population.
Mayoral Primaries
Four Arizona cities among the nation’s top 100 by population hold mayoral elections. These contests will either be resolved Tuesday or in a top-two runoff on November 5. Live Results>>
Upcoming Elections and Events
Down-ballot primaries will continue through early September. The remaining ones are listed below, along with other contests we’ll be tracking during that period.
- August 1
- August 6
- Kansas Primary
- Michigan Primary
- Missouri Primary
- Washington Top-Two Primary
- August 10
- Hawaii Primary
- Hawaii State Senate District 5 (Special Primary)
- Honolulu Mayor (Primary)
- August 13
- Connecticut Primary
- Minnesota Primary
- Vermont Primary
- Wisconsin Primary
- Wisconsin U.S. House District 8 Special Primary
- Minnesota State Senate District 45 Special Primary
- August 19-22
- Democratic National Convention
- August 20
- Alaska Top-Four Primary
- Florida Primary
- Wyoming Primary
- August 27
- September 3
- September 10
- Delaware Primary
- New Hampshire Primary
- Rhode Island Primary
- August 1