Southwest
I witnessed the benefits of free enterprise, so I decided to build a movement to defend it
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Setting aside some of the louder voices in our politics, there’s no better place in the world to live than right here in our country. The opportunity to succeed is limitless, largely owed to the founders who built up a powerful nation on important economic principles – freedom and free enterprise.
But the current attacks on our foundational principles by activists and policymakers in Washington, D.C., state capitals across America, and at the municipal level have left me concerned. That’s why I decided to launch Citizens for Free Enterprise, a national political and issue advocacy organization dedicated to activating Americans from all walks of life to participate in elections that have national, state, and local consequences.
My commitment to free enterprise grew throughout my life. The son of a cop and a waitress, my parents taught me the value of hard work. Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, I grew up with the Midwestern work ethic all around me. That meant getting a job as soon as I could – as a busboy at Bob Evans.
FLORIDA LANDMARK, COLUMBIA RESTAURANT, FLAVORED BY ‘PASSIONATE, PATRIOTIC’ IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE
After I graduated from college, I jumped into the private sector, working for Procter & Gamble for several years before looking for the next opportunity in my career. In 1997, I began my entrepreneurial journey building Cold Stone Creamery and led its growth and development for the next decade.
Grocery store shoppers in a Washington, D.C. suburb. Businesses large and small benefit from the free enterprise system, as do their customers. (Fox News Digital)
By the time I left, we had grown into 1,400 stores across all 50 states and 10 countries. And we were only able to do that with a team – franchise owners, our dedicated employees, teenagers who scooped ice cream and enthusiastically sang in our stores.
That experience proved invaluable to what came next in my career.
I turned to elected office after decades in business because I felt too often the government got in the way of or ignored the needs of our job creators. As Arizona’s treasurer and then as governor, I felt like we could bring some real-life, business-like principles to state government. And we did.
We left office with fewer state employees than when we came in, despite our population exploding with 400,000 additional private sector jobs and are now providing services in a more efficient, customer-oriented, people-focused way. We passed the lowest flat tax in America and turned a billion-dollar deficit into a multi-billion-dollar surplus.
Just like in the private sector – it wasn’t about one person or a top-down approach. We succeeded because of a great team and employees dedicated to the mission.
The free enterprise system matters to me – I believe it’s what lifts people out of poverty, provides new generations a shot at the American Dream and paves the way for opportunity for all. It shaped who I am as a person and how I governed. The next chapter of my career will turn that same energy into action through Citizens for Free Enterprise.
Building upon lessons across my career in business and public service, Citizens for Free Enterprise plans to be an aggressive answer to the far-left activists and policymakers intent on tearing down free-market capitalism. Our goal is to support policies and people that allow for free enterprise to flourish, and to engage every day in the fights that matter.
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Our hope is to attract new people and young Americans around this important cause. We are going into communities that have been ignored, but where the American Dream is alive and well.
The American energy industry is an essential part of the free enterprise system. (iStock)
If you go to a college campus and ask students which economic system they feel more favorable about – capitalism or socialism – it’s pretty much a 50/50 proposition. That leaves some work to be done and we’re excited to embrace the challenge.
The free enterprise system unleashed the greatest engine for growth and prosperity the world has ever seen. It’s important the next generation understands it despite the constant negativity flooding their screens daily.
For me, the American Dream and free enterprise are worth fighting for. I believed that when I was a young professional fresh out of college, as a successful business leader looking for a new way to make a difference in government, and still do today as a former governor ready to continue his mission.
I know others believe it too. And we look forward to communicating with them more as our organization, less than a year old, continues to grow.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DOUG DUCEY
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Southwest
Republican senators hit border, touting tougher security and tax cuts, in 2026 kickoff
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Aiming to not only hold but expand their 53-47 majority in November’s midterm elections, top Senate Republicans are showcasing the plummeting rates of border crossings during a stop Friday at the nation’s southern border with Mexico.
And the group, led by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, is also highlighting how President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers are “putting more money in Americans’ pockets.”
The stop at the border, hosted by One Nation, a nonprofit outside group closely aligned with Thune, is seen as an unofficial kickoff by Senate Republicans ahead of the midterms to tout the sweeping “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” Trump’s signature domestic achievement last year that was passed nearly entirely along party lines in the GOP controlled Congress.
At the event at the border, which was a regular stop for Republicans amid the surge in border crossings during then-President Joe Biden’s administration, the GOP senators are teaming up with members of the National Border Patrol Council. And they are highlighting how the passage of the domestic policy measure “secured transformational border security funding,” according to One Nation.
THUNE PREVIEWS SENATE REPUBLICANS’ MIDTERM MESSAGE
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and fellow Senate Republicans speak to reporters at an event at the nation’s southern border with Mexico, on Jan. 9, 2026. (One Nation)
“This is a remarkable, remarkable difference in just a year,” Thune said at the event. “It’s been an incredible year of progress when it comes to the southern border and the American people are experiencing the benefit of that in the form of having safer streets and safer communities and safer neighborhoods.”
But with Democrats enjoying decisive victories and overperformances in the 2025 elections and in a slew of special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year, which were fueled by their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation, the Republican senators are also using Friday’s trip to spotlight the tax cut and energy policy provisions in the bill, which they rebranded as the “Working Families Tax Cut.”
“The Working Families Tax Cut will make buying groceries more affordable for working Americans this year,” the Senate Republicans touted on social media on the eve of the border stop. “Every Democrat voted against it.”
DOUBLING DOWN: TOP HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS FOCUS ON HIGH PRICES ‘ABSOLUTELY GOING TO CONTINUE’
And they also highlighted that “Senate Republicans have worked closely with President Trump to lower energy prices and make life more affordable — and the results speak for themselves.”
Thune, at the border, pointed to the tax cut provisions in the GOP measure, including no tax on tips and overtime and reduced rates for seniors on Social Security, along with “the jobs that are going to be created by the pro-growth policies that we put in place….are going to lead us to a place where the American people are seeing their incomes go up.”
But Democrats see the cost of living as their winning issue heading into the midterms.
“If the Republican agenda actually made life more affordable for working Americans, then they wouldn’t be desperately flailing as families struggle to afford groceries, health care, and housing,” Lauren French, communications director at Senate Majority PAC, the top Senate Democrat-aligned outside group, told Fox News Digital. “Instead of focusing on working people, Trump and Senate Republicans are focused on bringing chaos and instability into our communities.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., holds a political and policy event Friday at the nation’s southern border with Mexico. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Joining Thune, the longtime senator from South Dakota, at the border is Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, number two in Senate Republican leadership.
There are also Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who faces a bruising GOP primary showdown in March against challengers Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt; and Republican Sens. Jon Husted of Ohio and Ashley Moody of Florida, who were appointed last year and will face voters this November.
HEALTHCARE, ECONOMY AND THE ‘ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’: WELCOME TO THE MIDTERMS
GOP Sens. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who are up for re-election this year, are also on the trip, as are former Rep. Mike Rogers and former Republican National Committee chair Mike Whatley, the GOP Senate candidates in battlegrounds Michigan and North Carolina who are backed by Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“We’re seeing signs already that the economy is starting to tick up and is starting to take hold as the President’s policies are getting in place,” Whatley argued last month in a Fox News Digital interview. “We need to make sure that we have the trade policies, the tax policies, the regulatory policies from this administration that are going to help our small businesses, our manufacturers and our farmers across North Carolina.”
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But Democrats are energized as the midterm year begins, as they continue to keep their focus on the issue of affordability.
“Donald Trump has lost the economy, is losing his mind, and is going to lose the midterms,” Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin claimed in a recent statement.
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Southwest
Body found during search for missing Texas teen Camila Mendoza Olmos as another teen girl disappears
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A body was found Tuesday evening as authorities in Bexar County, Texas, grapple with a series of disappearances involving teen girls who all went missing within a week.
The body was found during the search for 19-year-old Camila Olmos, though police said it is too early to determine whether the remains belong to her.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a news conference that investigators had “just recently found a body in a field” around 4:40 to 4:45 p.m., adding that the medical examiner will determine both the identity of the body and the cause and manner of death.
The body was found by a joint team of sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents in an area of tall grass near a landscaping business, a few hundred yards from Olmos’ home, according to Salazar.
MISSING CAMILA MENDOZ OLMOS: DASHCAM CAPTURES LAST SIGHTING OF TEXAS TEEN WHO VANISHED CHRISTMAS EVE
Camila Olmos was reported missing on Christmas Eve. (Bexar County Sheriff)
A firearm was recovered near the body, which authorities said had been an item of interest during the search.
Salazar said investigators do not currently suspect murder and noted there were indicators consistent with possible self-harm, though he stressed it is too early to draw conclusions while the scene is still being processed.
Olmos was last seen leaving her home in far northwest Bexar County around 7 a.m. on Dec. 24, authorities said. Her case came as two other girls were reported missing in the area. Fourteen-year-old Sofia Gabriela Peters-Cobos has since been found safe, while 17-year-old Angelique Johnson remains missing, according to police.
Law enforcement has said there is no confirmed connection between the cases.
MISSING CAMILA MENDOZ OLMOS: DASHCAM CAPTURES LAST SIGHTING OF TEXAS TEEN WHO VANISHED CHRISTMAS EVE
Angelique Johnson, from San Antonio, Texas, was reported missing. (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)
Texas Department of Public Safety said the Clear Alert for Olmos has been discontinued, though authorities urged anyone with information related to the cases or the whereabouts of Angelique Johnson to contact the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
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The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and the San Antonio Police Department did not respond immediately to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
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Southwest
Former GOP Sen Jon Kyl announces dementia diagnosis, steps away from public life
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Former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl announced on Tuesday he is withdrawing from public life after being diagnosed with dementia.
Kyl, 83, became one of Arizona’s most prominent Republicans during a career that spanned nearly three decades across both chambers of Congress, including a stint as Senate minority whip.
“I was blessed to represent the people of Arizona in Congress and to have numerous other opportunities to contribute to the political and civic life of our nation and state,” Kyl said in a statement. “However, the time has come for me to withdraw from public life. I have been diagnosed with a neurological disease manifesting as dementia.”
Kyl represented Arizona’s 4th Congressional District in the House from 1987 to 1995 before serving in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2013.
DAVID MARCUS: BEN SASSE IS DYING, BUT HIS LETTER TO AMERICA WILL LIVE FOREVER
Former Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl announced on Tuesday he is withdrawing from public life after being diagnosed with dementia. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
After leaving the Senate, Kyl joined the lobbying firm Covington and Burling, before being appointed in 2018 by then-Gov. Doug Ducey to fill the vacancy caused by the death of former Sen. John McCain.
Kyl held the seat for several months in the Senate before rejoining the firm in 2019, where he helped guide the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The longtime Arizona lawmaker described himself as “a very fortunate man” despite the diagnosis.
FORMER COLORADO SEN. BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL DEAD AT 92
Former Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, left, and Bruce Babbitt, right, former Arizona Republican governor and secretary of the Interior, wave to the crowd as they are recognized during Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s state of the state address Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
“My family and I now head down a path filled with moments of joy and increasing difficulties,” he stated. “I am grateful beyond expression for their love and support, in these coming days as in all the days of my life.”
Kyl moved to Arizona as an 18-year-old freshman to attend the University of Arizona, where he met his wife.
The university said Kyl devoted more than two decades to public service, leaving a lasting impact on water policy, national defense and intelligence.
“His leadership, integrity, and commitment to service reflect the highest ideals of public life,” the university said in a statement.
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Former Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., announced he is withdrawing from public life after being diagnosed with dementia. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said Kyl gave “decades of his life” serving Arizona, adding that he’s grateful for the former GOP senator’s “commitment to our state and country.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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