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Arizona Abortion Access Act Ballot Initiative

Have people ever been so eager to stop and sign a petition? The numbers would suggest no. The grassroots effort to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution began in earnest after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and picked up steam this year when the state Supreme Court upheld an 1864 near-total ban on abortion. That law has thankfully since been repealed, but it didn't blunt the momentum of Arizona Abortion Access for All, the group behind the initiative. When the organization filed its signatures with the Arizona Secretary of State on July 3, it turned in more than 800,000 — a ballot initiative record and more than twice the number required by law. That secured the proposed amendment a place on the November ballot. The next step will be up to voters.

Best Activists

ASU Gaza Encampment

A tiny group of people seemed to be the only ones this year with enough guts to make noise about uncomfortable truths, protesting the civilian atrocities of Israel's brutal assault on the people of Palestine to a largely apathetic, detached and complicit Arizona public. Of the 250 or so protesters who formed an encampment on ASU's lawn outside Old Main, 72 protesters were arrested on April 26 and 27. At some point during the protest, they came to know that their peaceful but unlawful trespassing on ASU property (a state-funded institution) would not be tolerated. An odd and vicious response by ASU police resulted in chief of police Michael Thompson getting the boot as he immediately went on leave and later resigned. The hammer was laid down: Kids got kicked out of the dorms immediately and were suspended, most of them until August. Their protests challenged the American concept of free speech in contemporary times and highlighted the hypocrisy of the government's response to speech it does not like. The students and other community members involved — who risked their own arrest and livelihood to some extent — were compelled by an understanding of history and colonial cruelty to speak up.

Best Failed Girl Boss Sellout

Kyrsten Sinema

What started with a historic 2018 election to the U.S. Senate for an Arizona Democrat ended in opulent ignominy. In her single term, Kyrsten Sinema tried to craft an image as a hard-nosed centrist, unafraid to buck her party like John McCain. But Sinema worked herself into a corner with a series of stubborn, questionable moves, making her look like a sociopath and evaporating support from just about anyone who voted for her. Sinema earned "Best Dumbass Political Move" in 2021 for doing a cute curtsy while voting against an increase in the minimum wage and hurting working people. She raked in millions from Wall Street, then helped Republicans kill corporate taxes. She used taxpayer dollars and campaign funds to take private jets, stay in expensive boutique hotels and buy outrageously priced wine. After all this, she had no electoral support and announced she would not seek reelection. We can only assume that upon leaving the Senate in January, Sinema will be awaited by a cushy job on Wall Street where she can live the rest of her lonely, sad life in extreme luxury with very nice material goods. Bye now, Senator Sinema. We hardly knew ye.

Best Political Fail

Jevin Hodge

After being active in Phoenix politics for over a decade, it seemed like it was finally time for young Democrat Jevin Hodge to catch a break. Hodge narrowly lost the general election for a seat on the powerful Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in 2020 by a mere 403 votes — about 0.1%. He turned around and ran against embattled GOP Rep. David Schweikert in 2022 for a seat in U.S. Congress representing Scottsdale, but lost in another close call by fewer than 3,200 votes. Then, after state Rep. Athena Salman resigned in January 2024, Tempe Democrats appointed Hodge to fill her seat for the remainder of the session. But only 46 days into taking office, Hodge resigned after allegations of sexual abuse during his college days at George Washington University surfaced. Though he denied the allegations, Hodge was toast. It's hard to imagine a bigger fail than the parable of Jevin Hodge.

Best Resignation

Roger Smith

Activists and victims of police brutality in Phoenix have been trying to bring oversight to the city's notorious force for years. The Office of Accountability and Transparency, created by Phoenix City Council in 2021, was supposed to be a tool to do that. But over time, the office was weakened and couldn't even conduct its own investigations. Roger Smith was the first director of the agency. After the city manager's sketchy, panicked, last-minute effort to stop Smith from hiring a second-in-command with extensive legal experience on policing issues, city officials formally criticized his behavior in a performance improvement plan despite giving him top marks in an annual review three months earlier. Smith resigned in defiance. In a letter, he said the agency he led "does not have the independence required to effectively perform its responsibilities." As Phoenix started up its fight against possible independent oversight in anticipation of a damning report from the U.S. Department of Justice, Smith's resignation highlighted the city's lie that the watchdog agency provides "robust, independent, civilian review of the PPD."

Best Dumpster Fire

Kari Lake

Newscaster-turned-MAGA-fanatic Kari Lake just cannot stop being a mess. The defining feature of her campaign for a U.S. Senate seat has been marked by turbulence, inconsistency, unforced errors and lies. After handily losing the 2022 election for governor to Katie Hobbs, Lake was claiming she won and suing as late as July 2024, even though the courts have consistently rejected her outrageous, evidence-free claims. She kept changing her public stance on abortion, which led to questions from the conservative base on the campaign trail. She spoke in front of a Confederate flag at an event and attended a fundraiser at the house of a wealthy conspiracy theorist couple. Lake was loudly booed at an annual meeting of the Arizona Republican Party. She was caught in a lie that she did not collect speaking fees from several appearances and was outfundraised by Democrat Ruben Gallego. And yet, these events only scratch the surface. No one in Arizona is able to match Lake in running such a deeply chaotic public campaign.

Best Policy Disaster

Attempted Abortion Ban

Chaos erupted on April 9 when the Arizona Supreme Court reinstated an 1864 near-total ban on abortion, including in cases of rape or incest. It turned out that Republicans' 2022 law banning abortion after 15 weeks contained a clause clearly expressing that it did not supersede Arizona's 1864 law. The decision caused panic, as medical providers prepared for the worst and activists rallied against the prospect of forced births. Even several Republicans, like former Gov. Doug Ducey and state Rep. Matt Gress, said they thought the ruling went too far — despite the fact they endorsed the position by passing and signing the 2022 law. Though the 1864 law was eventually repealed within a month of the decision, the abortion ban highlighted the fact that disaster is just a decision away, and individual freedoms are at risk of being ripped up.

Best Wacko Political Race

8th Congressional District Republican Primary

Right-wing nutjobs flocked to the northwest Valley after Rep. Debbie Lesko announced she would not run for reelection. In a primary between some of metro Phoenix's most extreme Republicans, Abe Hamadeh emerged as the winner, beating out fellow MAGA bro Blake Masters, Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives Ben Toma, fake elector and state Sen. Anthony Kern and disgraced former Rep. Trent Franks, who held the office before Lesko but resigned after asking young female staffers to be surrogate mothers for him. Hamadeh nabbed an early endorsement from convicted felon and former President Donald Trump, which no doubt played to his benefit. Masters, who lives 120 miles from the district in Tucson, also received an endorsement from Trump a few days before voting ended but finished second. Toma's position as a top state official and conservative bona fides weren't enough to match the MAGA kids' public profiles; he finished third. With the district heavily favoring Republicans, the 33-year-old Hamadeh is set to coast to a victory in November, which will make him one of the youngest members of Congress.

Best Religious Nuttery

Anthony Kern

When it comes to old-fashioned, moon-howlin' political and religious extremism, Arizona boasts an embarrassment of mostly right-wing riches. From former Sheriff Joe Arpaio to cuckoo-for-Cocoa-Puffs Kari Lake, the Grand Canyon State rivals Alabama and Florida for public paragons of all kinds of goofball nuttery. This year, one stunt elevated Republican state Senator Anthony Kern to the top of the heap when it comes to crackpot spirituality: leading a group of religious wackadoodles as they knelt and spoke in tongues while praying on the Senate floor. As a half-dozen antiabortion fanatics jabbered in gibberish, their hands touching the Great Seal of the State of Arizona emblazoned on the carpet before the empty dais of the Senate president, Kern moaned in religious ecstasy, "Lord, right now, we ask thee to release the presence of the Lord in the Senate chamber." Better known for his presence at the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and for being part of the fake electors scheme to overthrow the 2020 election in favor of Donald Trump, Kern clearly had outdone himself in his newfound religious lunacy. What's next? Handling snakes on the Senate lawn? Dispensing Flavor Aid to passersby a la Jim Jones? Casting demons out of Gov. Katie Hobbs? Sheesh. Give that man a straitjacket before he hurts someone.

Best Act of Crass Favoritism

Rachel Mitchell

A good way to wind up dead in the Valley of the Sun is to barricade yourself in your home with a gun and a bottle of Don Julio and point said firearm at the po-po when they show up.That's what happened in January 2022 when former Arizona prisons honcho Charles Ryan reportedly sucked down a half-bottle of tequila and started playing with his pistol. His wife called the Tempe police, and during the resulting standoff, Ryan pointed his gun at two officers. If he'd been anyone else, he'd be enjoying a dirt nap right now. But the cops didn't kill Ryan, and Ryan was later arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and misconduct with a weapon. Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell's office allowed Ryan to plead guilty to the former and receive probation as part of a generous plea deal. The Tempe officers involved thought Ryan had committed aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a class 3 felony with a mandatory prison sentence of five to 15 years. But Mitchell's top flack told the press that since Ryan was blotto, he could not form the necessary "intent" to commit a crime. Mitchell denied she'd given Ryan a "sweetheart" plea deal. But let's face it, if Ryan had been Joe Sixpack — and survived the confrontation — Mitchell's prosecutors would've made sure he spent serious time in a cell under the prison.

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